For my second bikepacking tour thinking… China!
Everything I've read or watched about other people going through China looked like an absolute blast.
Carefully refined this route to follow the Xi river system from source to sea tracing the ecosystems and watershed that leads to the most populated megacity on Earth. Wanted to do a more meaningful and interesting route than before. Hoping to challenge my preconceptions of Chinese culture and expand my worldviews more. Been learning Mandarin with good discipline for 6 months now 你们，我山行车在中国还是我不要等！
It feels daunting to do this alone, maybe a bit of anxiety holding me back from fully commiting to it. I previously did 2 months bikepacking alone across Europe, and that was great.. but that was 5 years ago and my confidence feels a bit lower now. Any advice from people who have done something similar? What do you guys think of the route?
by CrowsinPrismBand
2 Comments
As long as you’re out of the cities you will find people willing to help. Expect no English so become proficient at using translate on your phone or learn enough Chinese to get by. Free camping is fine in some places but largely outside of the cities you’ll be near small towns or farmland and obviously you shouldn’t camp on peoples property.
Expect to be questioned by local police in smaller towns but they mostly just want to see your passport and know where you’re going ect – they might ask you to book a hotel or guest room if they think you’re camping.
You should only need to carry 2 days of food and water as there are plenty of small towns with stalls ect that sell water – though I haven’t done your exact route
I rode through China from Vietnam and to Xinjiang like 10 years ago and I’m going to try and share some tips that will might help.
– there is zero English outside of the city, so its best to have some phrases written down. I.e: can i camp here? Can i have some water? Etc
– for foreigners you need to stay at a “foreigners allowed accommodation” have that written down as per tip #1
– google map is inaccessible. look for an offline map solution + gps
– there will be people who will offer you food or cigarettes. Hah, take it. And be sure to look grateful. Its insulting if you dont. I almost got into a fist fight because of this
– look for Warmshower hosts.
– i camped alot after Gansu onwards as we can hide in the rocky plains. Cops will make you pack up and literally drive you to a motel if you get discovered. If the farmers find you, they’ll have you join them on a drinking party till 4am and introduce you to the 50 year old village spinster.