Posted by: Ekki
Re: Tell us how you think travel Beijing China by - 09/19/07 03:56 PM
Ni hao & hello. first of all I cycled 4 months across China from Laos crossing into Yunnan all the way to Beijing. I can only say that China was the most interesting country I visited so far and I'm just waiting for an opportunity to go back there.
Cycling is not always easy or recreational there. The traffic can be annoying and ignorant and the high mountains are a major challenge. But the culture, the people, the great diversity and also the security compared to other countries is just great. I was camping a lot but also staying at small hotels along the road. I was always approached curiously and friendly and there was no single boring day.
Beijing itslef of course is not the best place to see China as it is very different to he provinces. Nevertheless you can get around easily on a bicycle. And dont worry, so far I've always found a way to cycle from and to airports. Most of the cyclists in this forum will confirm that going on a taxi is not really asked for. For us cyclists the most interesting thing is to do it alone, to find the way and to get in touch with the real life along the road. That also includes busy roads, dirty places and not only sightseeing.
To find maps I went to major book shops in the provincial capitals. Unfortunately that means crossing half the province before you'll hold it in your hands. Because these book shops only used to have maps of the local province. (so in Lanzou you'll only find a map for the Ganso province etc.) Plus the map will be in Chinese, means all you can do is "compare the characters" if u dont read Chinese. In other places it occurred to be nearly impossible to get useful maps. I luckily found a map before I came into China - so thats the advice. Bring what you can get.
There are a lot of bicycle shops around and even more places where you can get technical help in the streets. So in China I naver had a problem to find a tyre or a tube. Special Shimano parts of course are not so wide spread, mainly in the capitals. In Beijing there was no problem at all. People helped me also to find a box for my bike when I went on the train to Moscow.
I do hope China will stay visitor-friendly and open like this and I hope the progess will not destroy too much of the culture there. Because thats why we come! And please understand that most of the long distance cyclists are a different kind of tourist. As for me, I always want to get off the beaten track and get in touch with the real life. That means the typical sight seeing is only a little part of the fun. And on the other hand my budged was never really that big (of course I was very rich in China), but I dont like to be treated as the rich foreigner. I preferred to eat in little places rather than expensive restaurants, to stay in little private guesthouses rather than in the 5-star-tourist hotels. So I expected to get around in China on about 3-5 Euro a day.
Visit my website: http://www.ekkis-world.de/Touren/TouringChina-engl.html
Cycling is not always easy or recreational there. The traffic can be annoying and ignorant and the high mountains are a major challenge. But the culture, the people, the great diversity and also the security compared to other countries is just great. I was camping a lot but also staying at small hotels along the road. I was always approached curiously and friendly and there was no single boring day.
Beijing itslef of course is not the best place to see China as it is very different to he provinces. Nevertheless you can get around easily on a bicycle. And dont worry, so far I've always found a way to cycle from and to airports. Most of the cyclists in this forum will confirm that going on a taxi is not really asked for. For us cyclists the most interesting thing is to do it alone, to find the way and to get in touch with the real life along the road. That also includes busy roads, dirty places and not only sightseeing.
To find maps I went to major book shops in the provincial capitals. Unfortunately that means crossing half the province before you'll hold it in your hands. Because these book shops only used to have maps of the local province. (so in Lanzou you'll only find a map for the Ganso province etc.) Plus the map will be in Chinese, means all you can do is "compare the characters" if u dont read Chinese. In other places it occurred to be nearly impossible to get useful maps. I luckily found a map before I came into China - so thats the advice. Bring what you can get.
There are a lot of bicycle shops around and even more places where you can get technical help in the streets. So in China I naver had a problem to find a tyre or a tube. Special Shimano parts of course are not so wide spread, mainly in the capitals. In Beijing there was no problem at all. People helped me also to find a box for my bike when I went on the train to Moscow.
I do hope China will stay visitor-friendly and open like this and I hope the progess will not destroy too much of the culture there. Because thats why we come! And please understand that most of the long distance cyclists are a different kind of tourist. As for me, I always want to get off the beaten track and get in touch with the real life. That means the typical sight seeing is only a little part of the fun. And on the other hand my budged was never really that big (of course I was very rich in China), but I dont like to be treated as the rich foreigner. I preferred to eat in little places rather than expensive restaurants, to stay in little private guesthouses rather than in the 5-star-tourist hotels. So I expected to get around in China on about 3-5 Euro a day.
Visit my website: http://www.ekkis-world.de/Touren/TouringChina-engl.html