Michael Woodhead

ANZAC Bridge from Blackwattle Bay, Bicentennial Park #Sydney

Weihai[wei] also has a well preserved former Royal Naval base on Liugong Island, though the most interesting bits are now off limits as a PLA Navy facility

Just come back from Qingdao and Weihai. Was surprised by the amount of German and British buildings - whole suburbs - that are preserved intact

My recent #cycling trip through Tibetan areas of Qinghai was marred by frequent dog attacks. I didn’t capture any on film (too busy defending myself with a big stick and some stones) but this clip from a motorist gives you some idea. #China

Bad cop, good cop!

They have a lot of solar powered people!

I just cycled through via the Yellow River. Inner Mongolia was very frontier too!

Is this them building a high speed rail line along the route of the Long March? bsky.app/profile/mich...

Scheduled for completion in 2028, the Chengdu to Xining high speed railway line will have stations in remote places such as Langmusi and Labrang (Xiahe) monasteries.

The most arduous section of the Long March was through the swampy grasslands of northern Sichuan. Thousands died there. Now they’re building a high speed railway line and they have roadside coffee carts ( ‘Latte brings long life and wealth’).

Why is SMH using the American term ER to describe an Australian Emergency Department? Can only guess they’re using AI to write headlines and intros.

Sad to hear that Newtown’s Dean’s Diner is closing. Proper burgers.

Trading places: In the early days of the Chinese communist party, Zhang Guotao was the main rival to Mao Tse-tung. He stufffed up bigtime on the Long March and ended his days as a born-again Christian in a Toronto old folks home in 1979 https//www.thestar...

In summary: I don't like wind turbines spoiling my view. Trump also opposes renewable energy.

YouTube video by YouTube Movies On The Beach (1959)

PSA: On The Beach (Stanley Kramer/Nevil Shute) is now on Youtube.

Great film, disregard the myth of Aga Gardner allegedly describing Melbourne as "the perfect place to make a film about the end of the world ." www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvD_...

The number of Chinese travelling the world is set to overtake those from the US: there are now 160 million Chinese citizens with passports (and rising) compared to 169 million US citizens, for whom there was a 5% decline in passports in circulation last year. english.news.cn/20250730/e30...

Liangpi (涼皮) is cold wheat noodles with a bit of veg and chilli. A specialty of Shaanxi, I got these along the Yellow River en route to the massive Longyangxia hydro dam and solar power farm. #China

Xining's Dongguan mosque before and after it was sincised. I took the first photo in 2012, the second one last month

Maybe a lesson for second rate powers? The Tangut emulated the dominant power of Tang dynasty China but then tried to be allies with the Mongols, who annihilated them

Passed by a few car sales outlets in China recently and just tumbleweed around those EU/US brands still offering legacy internal combustion engine models

I just revisited Linxia, Gansu’s Hui Muslim town known as ‘Little Mecca’. Unrecognisable from 10 years ago. Formerly poor but with a distinct character and charm. Now all high rises and fancy food outlets. They even have craft beer microbreweries

On my recent China cycling trip I visited the ruins of the Tangut Royal tombs near Yinchuan in Ningxia. The Tangut once lived between the Tibetans, Uyghurs and Mongols but they and their culture were completely wiped out by Genghis Khan in the 13th century

The Chinese say the changes are to comply with their new ‘foreign influence’ laws that ban any funding of mosques from Middle East sources. They take a zero tolerance approach to the Saudi-backed Wahhabi madrassas that supported the building of this style of mosques in China in the 1990s.

Spot the difference. Xiguan sinicised mosque, Yinchuan, Ningxia 2019 and 2025..

Is it OK to drink tap water in China if you boil it? Me making a cuppa in the hotel in Wuzhong, Ningxia

Qingdao uber alles.

Flashback to the start of my cycling holiday 3 months ago back. The old town is like a #Deutschland Baltic port of transplanted to the Yellow Sea #China

I recently visited Kachin border in Dulong river valley - now completely sealed, ending any contact between Drung people on both sides of border.

Bondi also has a Fruitologist

Back in wintertime Sydney after 3 months #cycling in China.

Nothing to report so here’s a feature on my travels in #China in the 1990s zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/1908947470...