Emily routed the most direct route today because the forecast called for rain. The good news is it rained in the morning while we were having breakfast and then it stopped before we got going so we didn’t need the rain gear. The bad news, I guess, was that we brought the rain gear and we were on some busy roads. It was gorgeous out in the countryside but there were times when I was so distracted by the traffic and pedestrians and obstacles, I realized I wasn’t taking in the views around me. We also lucked out with the cloud cover so it wasn’t as hot as it could’ve been. There were some brief moments of sun and blue skies but it never quite cleared up enough to be hot. Riding with the scooters in Guilin was something. Keeping an eye out for traffic was too. Once outside of the downtown area, we got onto a really nice bike path next to the river. Further along it became muddy and didn’t really seemed used though. We had a decent stretch of quiet roads before it got busy again. I’d say today was 25% quiet, 75% busy/noisy? There was too much unnecessary honking from traffic approaching from behind. I assumed it was to let us know they were coming but most of the time they could’ve gone right by since we were on the shoulder. Just before leaving for China, we discovered there was going to be a triathlon in Yangshuo that’s taking place tomorrow. Emily and Brian wanted to do it but couldn’t get any info before arriving. When we arrived in Yangshuo, the bike path we wanted to take was closed, maybe for the tri. So we actually ended up on a road that took us right by the event venue. We stopped in to see if they’d allow sign ups still and they didn’t. One thing I didn’t consider before the trip was the air quality. It was pretty poor in the city centers and my lungs weren’t happy but out in the countryside it was okay, thankfully. The poor air quality was in spite of a surprising number of EVs. Got a good laugh when I learned that Pam brought four cameras, if you include the phone camera, to avoid having to switch lenses. Makes sense. I’m not going to change lenses much.