Cycling in China

[ChinaRides]

Hello everyone,

I hope that my message finds you well. My name is Mohsin and I am an expatriate from the UK, working in China for the last 12 years. Over the last 5-6 years I have been cycling a lot around here and I wanted to share the culture of cycling in the country as there is not much information about it online. So, over the weekend I started a channel to talk about and share this. Working full time and doing something like this costs a lot of energy, time and resources, so I have been hesitant until now. Nevertheless, I made the first Vlog on Sunday. Please let me know what you think, any constructive feedback would be appreciated. Wishing you all a good day.

Mohsin



Edited by admin to embed the YouTube video here.

[admin]

Very interesting video, thank you!

[Nearholmer]

Definitely.

[Emwmarine]

I need to take a brave pill and think about china as a bike touring destination

[simonhill]

I toured a couple of times in China, mainly in the South in some fairly remote regions like Yunnan, 2x2 months.

Pre the Beijing Olympics. It was pretty easy to get a visa for 25 quid in Bangkok and then extend it on route. As the Olympics loomed, they really clamped down on visas. They became expensive, much harder to get, interviews and all sorts of hassles so i gave up.

Another problem was registering for hotels. The Chinese nationals have their own ID card and that just gets logged into the computer system and you're registered. If you've only got a passport, it's got to be done manually and a lot of the cheaper hotels can't or won't do this. I got thrown out of a couple of hotels cuz I wasn't properly registered. You end up having to stay in the more expensive tourist hotels or staying illegally (unregistered). A hassle and all part of the authoritarian state with the ID card controlling more and more stuff, eg access to the internet etc. etc

It's a shame because it's a great country for touring. They've built loads of motorways and so you've got the old.A roads to yourself. Lots of towns with good food and stuff. Even the basic food was surprisingly good.

On the whole the people in the remote areas just stared or pointed at you. The little kids sometimes ran wailing and hid behind their mother's skirts. I don't suppose they saw many foreigners on bicycles.

I enjoyed touring there, although sometimes it was really tough in the remote areas in the big mountains, but that's what it's all about

[ChinaRides]

Very interesting video, thank you!

I'm glad you enjoyed it

[ChinaRides]

I need to take a brave pill and think about china as a bike touring destination

I've been here for over 10 years now and one of the reasons that I stay here is because of the cycling culture. It's a big part of who I am and really enjoy riding my bike and the cycling communal spirit in this region.

[ChinaRides]

I toured a couple of times in China, mainly in the South in some fairly remote regions like Yunnan, 2x2 months.

Pre the Beijing Olympics. It was pretty easy to get a visa for 25 quid in Bangkok and then extend it on route. As the Olympics loomed, they really clamped down on visas. They became expensive, much harder to get, interviews and all sorts of hassles so i gave up.

Another problem was registering for hotels. The Chinese nationals have their own ID card and that just gets logged into the computer system and you're registered. If you've only got a passport, it's got to be done manually and a lot of the cheaper hotels can't or won't do this. I got thrown out of a couple of hotels cuz I wasn't properly registered. You end up having to stay in the more expensive tourist hotels or staying illegally (unregistered). A hassle and all part of the authoritarian state with the ID card controlling more and more stuff, eg access to the internet etc. etc

It's a shame because it's a great country for touring. They've built loads of motorways and so you've got the old.A roads to yourself. Lots of towns with good food and stuff. Even the basic food was surprisingly good.

On the whole the people in the remote areas just stared or pointed at you. The little kids sometimes ran wailing and hid behind their mother's skirts. I don't suppose they saw many foreigners on bicycles.

I enjoyed touring there, although sometimes it was really tough in the remote areas in the big mountains, but that's what it's all about

I really like Yunnan too, a beautiful paradise for climbers. To be honest, I have not travelled a lot to the countryside regions, nor had to deal with the visa issues as I work full time here, but I do know about people in remote areas being curious about non-native people. To be honest, from my experience it is just a human curiosity about the unknown. I usually strike up a conversation with people and share experiences in those situations.

Thank you for sharing your experience

[ChinaRides]

Hi everyone, I hope my message finds you well. As I have mentioned in my previous posts, I am vlogging cycling culture here in China, talking about cycling related topics, history, food and other unique, maybe unknown things. I am adding a link to my third vlog, I hope you enjoy it. If there are any questions you have, please let me know and I will try my best to address them.

Mohsin (China rides)



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVGtMWy98Ho

[ChinaRides]

Good day/evening to everyone

I hope you had a lovely week. Here I am with another weekly update from China. If you have any questions or suggestions about the content, please feel free to let me know. I want to improve in my videography/storytelling, so any advise is welcome. Have an awesome week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60ToBkLv_T4

Mohsin (China Rides)

[Navrig]

Can you add a map or link to let us see where you are cycling?

Looks fantastic and very interesting. Keep the videos coming.

Found your Strava profile on YoutTube. Sorted.

[SimonCelsa]

How do you get on with the language, you sound quite fluent. I assume you are speaking Mandarin and not Cantonese, or can you do both.

Where did you learn the dialect, in the UK or whilst working out in China?

Thanks for posting, interesting to watch.

[bohrsatom]

I just watched the first video and really enjoyed it. A good mix of cycling, culture and tourism. Keep it up.

One question: how safe do you feel riding on those 4-lane highways?

[ChinaRides]

Can you add a map or link to let us see where you are cycling?

Looks fantastic and very interesting. Keep the videos coming.

Found your Strava profile on YoutTube. Sorted.

Good morning. There is a strava link on my Youtube page which you can use to see the maps and general information about the ride.

Thank you so much for your kind words. Cycling here is really joyful and I am glad that experience is carrying over.

[ChinaRides]

How do you get on with the language, you sound quite fluent. I assume you are speaking Mandarin and not Cantonese, or can you do both.

Where did you learn the dialect, in the UK or whilst working out in China?

Thanks for posting, interesting to watch.

Morning Simon,

I have been living here for more than 10 years, so I picked it up along the way. Over the years, I've make an effort to communicate with people and learn about the culture. I guess that curiosity leads to a need to learn the language haha. I live in the North (Tianjin), so you are correct, it is Mandarin. I can't understand a word of Cantonese.