Well, biking across a *tiny* part of China, its a REALLY big country! Every year I do one or two, 2-3 week long bike treks – usually in Asia. Last year was biking across Sweden and biking from Melbourne to Sydney – both 1000km in distance. My last trip in Asia was biking from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City. Biking is absolutely the best way to see a country because not only do you get the worlds best view but you get to meet real people who are not in the tourist industry. If you go where tourists go, you only get angry deisel spewing busses and cranky tour groups. On bike I get to talk to happy locals who get a really good laugh at a very large man on a very small bike.
In any case, my last trip in china was awesome, it was from Shangri-la to Dali. Absolutely spectacular, probably the best bike trek I have done so I am very glad to be back in the same reigon biking again.
About this trip, here is a map of China which shows an overview. My last trip is in green, this trip is in blue:
Before I get into my actual route, lets talk about where YOU can meet me on this trip!
Meet and Greets
Meet and Greets
Hong Kong S.A.R. of P.R.C, 22nd March
Sai Kung, 23rd march (TBD)
Guiyang, Mainland China 25th March
My Bike Route
Where is Scooby RIGHT NOW?
You can also try and meet me on my bike ride, click on the below to see where I was 10 minutes ago. This is a search and rescue GPS tracker so its pretty darn accurate. Find Scooby Now! [NOTE: Not active till 20th of March]
Air Quality
When most people hear I am going biking in China they say something about the “horrible air quality”. I have no doubt that in large cities like Beijing that air pollution is a problem just like it is in many US cities. When I travel by bike I avoid large cities like the plague because a big city in China looks like a big city anywhere else on the planet. I dont even like big cities in America. My last two week bike trip to China, the air quality was better in China than it at my house in America! Here are some photos from the trip, note the sparking clear skies:
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China Travel Tips
- If you want to be connected while in China, arrange with your cellphone carrier to provide you access, a typical rate is $10/day for 1/2 megabyte. All hotels have wifi but often you cant connect or its so slow as to be unusable. I found my cell data to be 10x faster than wifi at virtually every hotel.
- Google and Facebook are blocked in China to protect the masses from all the softcore porn there. If you want access then setup a VPN before you leave home. Check into legal issues before doing this.
- Install WiChat before you go. WiChat is Facebook for Asia and it will help you communicate with your guide and anyone you meet if you hsve it.
- Be prepared for turkish toilets.
- To be continued