The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

The Best of China: Pandas to Peaks

October 14th to October 28th

Ride Coordinator: Marita Moberg
Report by: Daniel Kirby

If you’ve never visited China, put aside all your preconceived notions about that vast country and keep a sharp eye out. You’ll be amazed at every turn!

It’s impossible to sum up a bike ride in China in a few words. I might try by saying vast, welcoming, hilly and green, surprising, enlightening, beautiful. And on this trip of only two weeks, we experienced all this and more.

Our trip started appropriately with a visit to the Chengdu Field Research Center for Giant Pandas, where we learned that they’re called “Giant” to distinguish them from the Red Panda, which isn’t really a panda at all, but more related to raccoons. Our Spice Roads guides were full of information about these cuddly symbols of China, as they were about many facets of China and Chinese life. Happy Hour and dinner gatherings were often times when our local guides discussed everything from health insurance to marriage customs to education and jobs for the growing population.

The terrain in the several provinces where we rode (Sichuan, Guizhou and Guangxi) varied from flat to undulating (a word we heard often) to hilly. The roads were almost always paved and not too busy, and the weather almost always dry, frequently sunny, sometimes a bit overcast. In all, we were fortunate to enjoy two weeks of splendid biking conditions. Yes, there were days with significant elevation gains, but, as is usually the case, the best views are the reward for the effort of the climb. The spectacular views that unfolded before us—wide, green valleys and tall, snow-capped mountains—proved the point. On those days when the hills loomed large to some, the Spice Roads leaders found ways to accommodate everyone. …16, 17, 18… They’re counting us again. Is everyone accounted for?

One of the benefits of bicycle touring is that we get to see people and places at ground level going about their daily lives. This was the case as we biked through the Liujiang Ancient Town, a rebuilt or conserved town that offered a glimpse of what life in small-town-China was like a few hundred years ago. A popular spot with tourists, the town offered ample opportunities to acquire more souvenirs or to sample the local delicacies. In the Dong village of Xiaohuangcun, we watched as members of this ethnic minority produced their famous indigo-dyed egg white fabric. On another day, on the road between Yongle and Rongjiang, we stopped at the village of another ethnic minority group, the Miao, and were shown many examples of their traditional indigo-dyed batik fabric. (More souvenirs?) Nor was the Chinese nightlife lacking; some of us enjoyed the famous Sichuan Opera in Chengdu and the Dong Song Show in Zhaoxing. Both events were wonderful, colorful, noisy musical events not to be forgotten.

At every turn there were new sights and sounds and smells, but two events stood out above all. The first, our early morning hike up the endless stairs to the top of “Emei Shan” (Mount Emei), more than 3000 meters high, was refreshing, but the view of the snow-covered Himalayas that stretched out in the distance was breathtaking! We were among a select few who ever witness this sight with perfectly clear, blue skies above and fluffy, white clouds below. The second was the last days’ rides from Yangshuo along the Yulong and Li rivers where our path wove among the stately karsts, for which this area is famous. The somber, overcast skies those days provided a surreal backdrop for those fantastic forms. Maybe they, like we, were a bit sad that this was the end.