en route to Chuandixia a bike rider toils up the hills outside Beijing. It was a hair-raising drive with numerous blind corners and switch-backs. My driver had done the road many times before (unlike many of the others on the road), and he seemed intent on recording a personal-best time for the trip.
Even when we rounded a corner to see a nasty prang where a 4WD had gone under a truck he was undeterred.
The scenery was glorious in the early morning clear, and one by one we counted off the six mountains we had to cross before arriving in Chuandixia