Where to start when you think of riding a bicycle in China? Some things have to be considered. Everybody needs a visa and even if you have a month valid visa, you can extend it only twice, so your total time is 3 months. A 6- or even 12 months visa is available in Hong Kong though. Further you have to consider the weather situation. Winter in the north is not recommend for cycling. But June in the south can be very wet. This article talks about some areas, recommended for typical cycling reasons.

So, if you would want to start riding a bicycle, where would you start? The best thing, with a country like China is that you have so many choices. But there are some areas where cycling is more interesting then other areas. Cycling Beijing, Guangzhou or Shanghai is not recommended though not suicidal as some claim. Personally I don't like cycling in big cities. How about cycling in Tibet? Possible but you need more time per distance as you are traveling on altitude above 3500 meter. And with children, hmm.. I would certainly not start in Tibet.

So, where could you start? There are a few areas in China where cycling is great to do. Even if you do not consider to cycle long distances, a bicycle is certainly an excellent way to explore some areas. I will recommend three areas in this article.

1. Yunnan

Yunnan is for many first time bicycle travelers the first experience. It makes sense because it has a mild climate, has plenty of challenges, has the option to see some of the Tibetan culture and you are cycling on altitude but not on an altitude impossible. Starting point in Yunnan is of course the capital: Kunming, of all Chinese cities, still my favorite.

Yunnan is most famous for the north western corner: Dali-Lijiang-Zhongdian (Shangri-La) and it is this loop many cyclist do. Many take the overnight bus from Kunming to LijIang and start their journey to Zhongdian and Dali. It makes sense as Lijiang is easy to reach and basically the road from Lijiang to Dali goes down. However, you do have to climb!

The Lijiang valley is excellent to do on bicycle and in Lijiang town you will find plenty of bicycle rentals. Recommended for the whole family!

Even the road from Lijiang to Dali is good to do although there are alternatives. But if you have about 3 weeks, you may not have the time to do more. Don't forget that Yunnan is as big as France or Texas.

Alternative areas can be the Baoshan area near the Burmese border, but even if you travel by bus or fly in it still takes time as towns and cities are quite far from each other.

Travelers to Laos would enjoy the ride to Xishuangbana. The old main road is for the most now in use for local traffic and mostly not busy. Unfortunately the road is also not much upgraded after finishing the motorway. It takes about 7 to 14 days to cycle from Kunming to Jinghong. I did it three times, and every time I enjoyed it.

North west Yunnan is virtually untouched by tourism. It's understandable as there is not much spectacular to visit. However, I did the journey from Chengdu to Kunming in September, with quite a bit of rain. It was already too cold to travel from Chengdu to the west to Kangding and Litang so I choose this very little traveled road. On the way there's some exceptional beautiful sceneries, cities and forests to find. Think of a coffee house that Dracula could have build in Zigong, or the bamboo forest near Junlian on the border of Yunnan and Sichuan.

Zhaotong is also interesting enough, as is Sonming. But who has ever traveled to these places? Not many I can assure you and it's a shame.

2. Yangshuo

Yangshuo, a little town south of Guilin is since long time travelers favorite for travelers of all budgets. The best way to explore the area (unless you only want to see Moonhill and a few caves along the mainroad) is .... by bicycle. Yangshuo is probably more Shangri-La then Shangri-La (Zhongdian) is. The limestone mountains are so spectacular that even if you don't care about landscapes, you will be still in awe. By bicycle you are able to cross small paths through the rice fields to even more spectacular sites.

Another option is to load your bike on a raft and cycle back from where the raft drops you. Yangshuo is not only the best option for families to be in nature in China, it's also one of the easiest to reach and explore areas.

3. Sichuan

Sichuan is probably more for the seasoned cyclist who has time. There are several options. Leshan is an obvious choice, but you could easily do that by bus/taxi. Many cyclist choose to cycle from Chengdu to Tibet, a journey that for the last few years was allowed if you have a permit. At the moment it is not possible.

However, you can do a great 14 days in west Sichuan where you will see as much Tibetan culture as you want. Just follow the directions to Kangding but instead of using the junction west of the mountains of West Sichuan, go north to Danba and Barkam. This road is seldom visited but worth. Not too difficult too but you may have to camp a night or 2 out.

Another little visited area lies north east of Chengdu. This is the road to Xian. The first 100 km out of Chengdu is not much fun but then the roads get quiet. The most spectacular sight here is Guangyuan. It's one of those "small" big cities that have little to offer. However, just outside the city center on the way north there are Buddhist caves virtually unknown to most travelers. These caves are similar to Luyang. Maybe these caves are slightly smaller but they are certainly worth a visit

Further north you will be able to keep direction to Chenggu and from there to Foping and cross the mountains to Xian. This road is also very little visited. It follows on the north site a river that flows almost all the way to Xian, so it goes all the way down. If you love nature, this is your area.

Conclusion

The main message for people who think of getting a bicycle in China is considering what you want to see and how much time you have. If this is your first visit, you may want to visit all the "must visit" sites as the Great Wall, Kunming Lake, Shanghai, Yangshuo Yangtze 3 Gorges Damn etc. These sites are worth a visit, no doubt. But as China is so big, there's much more to see. The best advice I can give is this: choose an area, go there and cycle there. Most likely it will keep you busy for a few weeks. Yunnan can take 2 months without a problem, so does Sichuan. Yangshuo and the surrounding can easily take you a week to 14 days. And these areas are only the top of the so called iceberg.