China

Image from goparoo.com

China | Urumqi | Beijing | Chengdu | Yunnan
China is the most populous nation in the world, with a vast and diverse environment and landscape.

The terrain of western China is rugged and elevated, with the towering Himalaya, Karakorum, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain separating China from South and Central Asia. Forest steppes and the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts occupying the arid north and northwest near Mongolia and Central Asia, and subtropical forests being prevalent in the wetter south near Southeast Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers flow from the isolated Tibetan Plateau and continue to the densely populated eastern seaboard.

To match the diverse, mesmerising landscape is a dynamic cultural history. China is the curator of the world’s oldest continuous civilisation, full of diverse cultures and immense numbers of people bustling in modern mega-cities.

China | Our Verdict

Our journey took us from the towering Tain Shan mountain range which separates Central Asia from China, right through to the subtropical climate of the South-east.

We entered China at its most Westerly point and our first stop was the frontier town of Urumqi (also the world’s most inland city). From there we spent three days on hard seats travelling across 2,000 miles right the way to the imposing, modern city of Beijing.

We spent a total of six weeks in China and our experiences varied from the bustling cities of Beijing and Xian to the remote and peaceful Labrang Monastery where we got a glimpse of the enchanting Tibetan culture. The itinerary looked a little something like this:

Beijing - Great Wall, Forbidden City, 798 Art District, friends and good food
Tai Shan - 6,666 steps up the Sacred Mountain.
Xian - Terracotta Warriors
Lanzhou - just passing through
Xiahe - Labrang Monastery
Chengdu - cute pandas, and pretty city parks
Kunming - getting the bikes
Yuan Yang - rice terraces and test rides

We thoroughly enjoyed China, a really fascinating country, although the rapid pace of urban development is quite shocking.

China Blog

For more details of our adventures see our China blog post.

Buying touring bikes in Kunming

We spent about a week in Kunming getting kitted out for our ride. We ended up getting our bikes put together at a small friendly bike shop where we could choose the best parts for the job. We managed to pick up some UCC panniers (a popular make in China), all the spares we needed, lights, helmets and cycle kit from teo bike shops in central Kunming: Xiong Brothers and The Cyclist.

For further information on our cycle tour across Southeast Asia take a look at our cycle tour page which includes route information and notes.

A note on Chinese Visas

We applied for our Chinese visas through www.travel-direct.com. We originally had Urumqi (in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region ) on our visa application however were informed by Travel Direct that this would likely result in our application being refused. Similar experiences from others are reported on Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree forum. The advice seems to be to leave Xinjiang off your itinerary on the visa application.