{"id":1991,"date":"2011-08-10T12:12:20","date_gmt":"2011-08-10T15:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/?p=1991"},"modified":"2011-08-10T12:16:38","modified_gmt":"2011-08-10T15:16:38","slug":"top-5-reasons-to-cycle-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2011\/08\/top-5-reasons-to-cycle-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 5 Reasons to Cycle China"},"content":{"rendered":"
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1.\u00a0The Silk Road:<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s\u00a0 It’s the most evocative name for a highway (or network of highways) in the world.\u00a0\u00a0It leads you from ancient capitals like Beijing, Luoyang or Xian far to the west, in the footsteps of legendary travelers like Xuanzang, Marco Polo or Ibn Battuta.\u00a0\u00a0Test your mental and physical fortitude against the rugged terrain of Shaanxi and the Gansu Corridor, camp in the shadow of the Great Wall, ride through the fiery oven of the Gobi, discover ancient Buddhist cave temples, and ride over the mighty Tien Shan into the Central Asian republics and on towards the Mediterranean.\u00a0\u00a0Or else end at Kashgar and its legendary Sunday Market.\u00a0\u00a0There is no more perfect long-distance bicycle expedition in the Eastern Hemisphere.<\/p>\n

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Dreaming of food; a hungry lunch hour on the Aksai Chin, riding from Kashgar to Mt. Kailash.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/strong><\/em><\/span>2. The food:<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Na\u00a0\u00a0Napoleon said that an army marches on its stomach.\u00a0\u00a0Well, a cyclist rides on his or her stomach, and China is one of the best countries in the world in which to fill your belly.\u00a0\u00a0The variety, tastiness and cheapness of Chinese food is truly amazing, and kept me happy on many a long day in the saddle.\u00a0From familiar Cantonese cuisine to fire-belching Sichuan fare to the hearty laghman noodles of Xinjiang, there\u2019s plenty to choose from as you make your way across this vast country.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s a great chance to learn some Chinese, or else do as I did on many an evening and wander into the kitchen of a tiny eatery and start pointing at ingredients.\u00a0\u00a0It will all turn out well, and even with a cold pijiu (beer) or two to wash it down (or to quell the fire in your mouth!), it will still be comfortingly easy on your budget.\u00a0\u00a0Best snack food for the road?\u00a0\u00a0Tiny baozi dumplings; hang a bag of them on your handlebars and nibble as you pedal.<\/p>\n

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Skinny, hairy, dreadlocked but exultant; five of us XTreme Dorks make it to Lake Manasarovar, Tibet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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3. Tibet:<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The authorities have done their best to be killjoys and prevent independent bike travel in this most photogenic of places, but if you can swing it, there\u2019s no better place to test your stamina, rearrange your views on the world or take the pictures of a lifetime.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ve ridden in Tibet twice:\u00a0\u00a0once to sacred Mt. Kailash from Kashgar, and once from Yunnan to Lhasa and on to Kathmandu.\u00a0\u00a0The unearthly clear high-altitude light, monasteries carved high into cliff faces, epic river fording and massive passes; it\u2019s not an easy trip (disregard the above entry on food in Tibet!!), but it may be the most rewarding place on earth to ride.\u00a0\u00a0Get a long Chinese visa first, enter from China, and keep your ear to the ground about police checkpoints and the like.\u00a0\u00a0With a bicycle, you avoid being dependent on the authorities for transport, which is half the battle.\u00a0\u00a0And good luck!!<\/p>\n

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Entering China for the first time, over the Khunjerab Pass on the Karakoram Highway.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/strong><\/em><\/span>4.\u00a0 The variety:<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

China is truly immense, bigger than the continental US, and it has an unbelievable variety of landscapes and cultures to offer.\u00a0\u00a0Sure, the industrial cities of the east may all look the same shade of grey smog, but get out to the centre, the west, the far north, and the wonderful southwest and a world of difference awaits.\u00a0\u00a0Subtropical forests and hill tribes in Yunnan, the deserts of the Gobi and Taklamakan, the picturesque limestone hills of Guizhou, the troglodyte houses carved into the Loess Plateau, the magical Tien Shan, the great gorges of the Salween, Yangtze and Mekong, the forested northeast, Tibet\u2026.the list of landscapes and places goes on and on.\u00a0\u00a0And the cultures you\u2019ll encounter:\u00a0\u00a0Muslim Hui and Uighurs, Tibetan Buddhism, the Miao (Hmong) in the south, the Bai and Naxi in western Yunnan, the Mongols in the north.\u00a0\u00a0Who said Chinese culture was Mao suits and red stars?<\/p>\n

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5. The unexpected:<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Just when you thought you were coming to grips with your corner of China, you\u2019ll come across something that you completely didn\u2019t expect.\u00a0\u00a0A huge Christian church shimmering in the heat haze in rural Shaanxi.\u00a0\u00a0An ancient cave monastery that doesn\u2019t show up in your guidebook or on your map.\u00a0\u00a0A group of old men playing ancient music in a temple courtyard.\u00a0\u00a0A new reservoir that has swallowed up the road on your map.\u00a0\u00a0Two hundred kilometres of motorway construction sending you on an endless unmapped detour.\u00a0\u00a0Strange and unusual foods on sale in the local market.\u00a0\u00a0A chance encounter with young students eager to practice English.\u00a0\u00a0Or (less common now but still a possibility) getting arrested by the police for infringing some rule that only they know exists.\u00a0\u00a0(Four trips to China, four arrests, but nothing worse than a small fine and a scolding.)<\/p>\n

So go on!\u00a0\u00a0Get on your bike and get to China!<\/p>\n

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Camped in the shadow of the Great Wall, Gansu Province<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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