Cycling in west China

[Vorpal]

I honestly don't think you need to worry too much about what is 'too tough' for your gf, even if she isn't as experienced and fit as you are.

I say this for two reasons....
1) you are carrying her stuff
2) she will get fitter and more experienced as she goes

Also, at 60 km per day, you have plenty of time, and it won't hurt anything if you walk up a few hills.

Take your time and enjoy your trip

[serbring]

I honestly don't think you need to worry too much about what is 'too tough' for your gf, even if she isn't as experienced and fit as you are.

I say this for two reasons....
1) you are carrying her stuff
2) she will get fitter and more experienced as she goes

Also, at 60 km per day, you have plenty of time, and it won't hurt anything if you walk up a few hills.

Take your time and enjoy your trip

You're totally right!!!

[steve.y.griffith]

Meant to add some of of those prefixed G roads will be dual carriageway/motorway which may not be good for cycling however you should be able to find an alternative. Also re navigation except the G prefixed roads , roads in China are not numbered on sign posts . Usually they have the place names in Chinese and the Romanisation. But would be a good idea to have each day written down the key places in want to go to in Chinese as you are very unlikely to come across anyone who can read the Romanisation.
You can easily travel light in this part of China food is everywhere and you can buy pretty much everything except waterproofs and large shoes.
You will definitely reach the places lonely planet doesn't even touch.....

[serbring]

@Kieran: Probably yes. Maybe at Dushanbe? I was there the 28th of July 2015. Thanks for the information.

@Steve: Thanks I rearranged the route with S roads. I tried to search for a Chinese papermap, but I haven't found any in Italy. I found some on amazon.co.uk but they cost more than 80£. How is openstreet map? I have installed the app on my phone. Unfortunately there is no baidu app for windows mobile.

I'm preparing a phrasal book. Which one would you reccomend?

[simonhill]

I took a map with English names. I then bought a local map in one of the many bookshops. You can just compare the two.

Local map essential for Chinese placenames. You can copy place names to notebook to show to locals or work out road signs. Even fairly amateur copying of Chinese characters is usually legible to the locals.

Most Chinese can read, so having things like place names written down makes life easy.

I bought a small Chinese to English dictionary in China. When in doubt I looked up English word then just showed the Chinese word. With a phrasebook it can get complicated. Using the dictionary and just pointing at eg hot and water with a shaking head usually got the message over. I reckon phrasebooks often over complicate things .

Beware showing whole book as they will just start reading. I used to hold a piece of card under the word I wanted them to read.

[serbring]

Thank you so much Simon! Do you think we something warmer than light long clothes there?

[simonhill]

You said you were going in August so I would think that heat rather than cold will be your concern. It will probably be pretty humid as well.

I was there in Oct and Nov and weather was good except for when a cold spell rolled out of the Himalayas.

If you are worried you can get detailed information on different towns using weather websites like wunderground or AccuWeather.

[serbring]

Hi all,

I'm back from China. The trip was not as adventurous as I expected but it was absolutely nice. I enjoyed the landscape, the food, but as steve.y.griffith said, Chinese mass tourism has a huge impact on the area. They are destrying the landscapes massively building anything. In any view around urban areas there many cranes! Unbelievable.

[steve.y.griffith]

Good glad you had a good trip . It's very difficult to explain to anyone who hasn't been there the speed of development and impact on environment. After living there and many years of visiting I now limit myself to a very few places in the South , Western Hunan湘西 and nothrpren parts of Guiyang province 北黔。 there are still some amazing places but you have to do your homework and travelling there will take time. Anywhere unspoilt wil be very remote indeed.

Many people head for Zhangjiajie 张家界famous ir it's Avator scenery. I found it a very large theme park. Far better to head for a place call Laosicheng 老司城 accessed from the town of Yongshun. 永顺。ancient centre of the Tujia people's kingdom. Wonderful scenery and interesting remains .