Cycling UK Forum

Hello all
I am planning a big travel (one month) in China, between Xi’an and Beijing.
I would like to cross the Shaanxi and the Shanxi regions and visit (among others) Luoyang,
Pingyao, Datong and the WutaiShan sacred mountain.
I have decided to start at the end of August and I would like to have some information

1) Do you know a Chinese forum (like this one) where I can get useful information and ask questions?
2) Are the road (in those regions) well paved? And how can I get detailed maps? (I would like to have paper road atlas and downloaded maps suitable for gps).
In my last travel I have visited Stanford -the famous library in London- but they hadn’t detailed maps.
3) Do you know a site which I can use to have an idea about temperature, rain and wind in those regions? Do you know a web-site (also in Chinese) providing historical weather data?
4) Do you know web-sites (also in Chinese) where I can found a list of hotels and lodge?
5) Do you know web-sites having detailed city maps.
6) Has anyone visited the WutaiShan? Is the road very steep? I have read that in September it can be snow. Is it possible that roads are closed or dangerous due to snow?

Any other information, suggestions and hints are welcome.
Thank you in advance

PS
The rough track of my trip:
http://viaggibici.altervista.org/Asia/t ... mezzo.html
I will refine it as soon as I collect new information and documentation.

It is not in Chinese but http://www.wunderground.com has historical weather information for a lot of locations. Type in a location and then near the bottom of the next page you will see a "History" box. Enter a date, say 1 Sep 2010 and then on the next page which opens click the "Month" tab to see graphs and figures for that month. However, this may not give you the information you need on mountain roads unless you can find a city they have data on in the area you want. You can see what they have by just typing "china" in as the location then select it from the next list and you can then select a province and then all the cities in that province.

The Lonely Planet Thorn Tree has branches on cycling (on your bike) and China - both have people who can help you.

Have you searched the web?? Many of your questions can be answered there.

Also, have you looked at Guidebooks, eg LP or Rough Guide?

Have a look at www.crazyguyonabike.com - lots of Chinese cycling info there.

You don't say if you are a Chinese speaker - I'll assume you are not.

For maps, most people get 'English' ones eg Nelles in UK (or other western country) and then buy Chinese ones as they go - easy and cheap in large Chinese towns. You use the Chinese one for names in Chinese, essential for roadsigns, asking the way, etc.

Google maps are pretty good and can be blown up to show town detail.

You don't say what your budget is - if cheap then unlikely to find hotels on the web. Every Chinese town has hotels, you just have to look for one. The tell tale sign is that they usually have 3 or more clocks on the wall over the reception desk, which is usually visible from the road (honest, this is how I spot them). You can legally stay in all hotels, but in reality you may be refused in smaller or very cheap ones.

I would think that snow is unlikely in early Sept, but the last 2 years have had early bad weather, but not till late Oct.

Most Chinese roads are superb and put ours to shame. There are exceptions and the worst is when they reconstruct a road as it can be torn up for 100s of kms and still open. You cannot cycle on the growing number of motorways, but these take the traffic off the old main roads which can become a joy to cycle.

Why your route - Bejing will be a nightmare to cycle into.

Thank you BeeKeeper! It is just what I wanted and Fortunately I spoke (not very good) English better than Chinese…ehehe

Hello simonhill thank you, too.
I have studied Chinese for one year in order to prepare such travel, but my Chinese is very poor.
In fact I have bought a Nelles maps. It is 1:1750000
Yes you’re right, I am going to find information on internet. I have just returned from a bike tour in England and now I am starting to clarify all details for the next planned Chinese trip.
Tell truth I don’t want book hotel in advance. I just need to have one or two addresses in each city which I can use for emergency cases. In Belorussia and Russia -last year- there was very few hotels. Distances were huge and most of towns were little villages.
So know that there are hotels in all cities is comforting.
I apologize but I have another question: what time does shops close? And is Sunday an holiday or not?

Why not contact your embassy in Beijing? The UK embassy has a web page with some useful advice - especially about places to avoid. Check the Travel Advice page here: http://ukinchina.fco.gov.uk/en/ Shop opening hours and a lot of other info: http://www.justchina.org/china/china-opening-hours.asp This bit says there is paperwork involved in importing a bike: http://www.justchina.org/china/gettinga ... icycle.asp

Govt type offices, banks, etc close on Sat and Sunday. In larger towns almost all shops are open 7 days a week, often till about 10 in the evening. Markets are also usually 7 days a week.

In small towns or villages, it is common for everything including food stalls and restaurants to close at about 6 in the evening, beware as this can catch you out and leave you hungry. It is very different staying in a small town and a large town.

As I said, lots of info on the lonely Planet site.

Thank you again! they are very useful information.
And what about the roads? I Know that the north China is full of coal mines. How are the roads? Is there a lot of traffic? I am trying to contacting some people who did similar travel (for example http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=R ... 5215&v=15w as you suggested) but any info are welcomed!What place/route do you suggest to cycle?

You never explained why you chose youre route, but I am guessing that it is based on a tourist itenary, rather than a cycling one.

My first (non cycling) trip to China was 20 years ago and luckily I did many of the toursity sites then. My two recent cycling trips (2X2 months) have been in the south, mainly Yunnan. Wonderful scenery, good roads, interestng sites, minority peoples and very few mega cities.

Yes Simonhill you are right. I apologize.
Generally I like to plan my trips basing them on a theme. If you look at my site you will find that most of my itineraries had been ispired to literature and poetry (Leopardi, Pasolini, Ungaretti, Montale (who are italian poets), Thomas Mann, Tolstoj, The Arthurian cycle, romantic poetry etc...).
I don't know chinese literature very well so I decided to follow a historical-spiritual itinerary:
the four bigger capitals of the ancient empire (xi'an, Luoyang, Datong, Beijing) and the sacred places near them:
the sacred (to taoism and bhuddism) mountains: HengShan, HuaShan, WutaiShan, SongShan, and the caves of Yungang and Longman.
Naturally I realized that I cannot visit all of them in 30 days. So I am trying to understand how I can reduce my itineray or change it at all.
I believe you are suggesting to visit south china, aren't you?
In fact the south of China seems to be more interesting from a touristic point of view, and I can even decide to change my trip. But I need to be inspired because I don't like "to go and start" without knowing what I am going to visit. This is another reason I am asking information and suggestion on internet ....ehehe. So thank you very much for yours!

From my experience, I keep away from anything too touristy in China. Once it is on the Chinese tourist trail it becomes very busy and usually very expensive (yes the Chinese pay big bucks for these places). Added to that all their 'infrastructure' - food, music, tour buses, etc then I reckon they are places to avoid. It just looked like you wer going to be headed for lots of these places. OK if you have a good reason, but I would rather avoid, particularly on a bike.

The thing about the south (and the west) is that there are plenty of sights, but they are not over-run by the Chinese tourist machine.

Almost always, I preferred the small town China to large town, which is very western, full of designer shops and apart from the people and the language almost indistinguishable from the west.

Have a look at Bill Weir's blogs on crazyguy.

Bill Weir's blogs are full of information! they are extremely interesting. Thank you!

Maybe I have ignored a basic problem:
"how can I bring my bike in China?"
I have called some airlines and the prices are not so cheap: Air China asks 170+170 euro (about 150+150 pounds).
It is nearly the price of my bike!!

So another solution could be to buy a bike in china. Is it possible? How much does it cost?
for example:
bike from GIANT are so expensive than in Europe? What kind of bike can I buy with (let's say) 200 pounds (=2000 yuan) in China?

Thank you very much.

You don't say where you are flying from and to??

I usually fly Emirates - they give you 30kgs in Economy and take bikes free.

It is nearly always best to take your own bike with you because it is all set up for you. I know of plenty of people who have bought bikes in China - they are OK quality and reasonable price, but I doubt as cheap as £200.

As i said before, you may get better answers on the Lonely Planet site - I seem to be the only 'Chinese' cyclist replying here. For example there was a recent question there about a good bike shop in Xian - it was answered by a cyclist who lives in Xian. see here: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/t ... ID=1616024

Thank you again simonhill,
finally I decided to bring my bike.
I have discovered that Lufthansa airline allows you to bring your bike without packing it into a box or a bag!!! It's wonderful!

http://www.lufthansa.com/online/portal/ ... &cid=18002
I have bought a ticket today.

PS
I have filled the web with my posts ...ehehe...

From what I read http://www.lufthansa.com/mediapool/pdf/ ... 980310.pdf they will charge you 150 Euro for your bike!! They don't state if this is one way only, but I think it may be (ie each time you check in). That is 300 Euros - it seems a lot to me.

Sorry I have no info myself, but my friend Andy Clapperton cycled Beijing-London on a Chinese-bought bike back in 2005/06 - see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4933738.stm

Sure Andy would be happy to help you - you can find him on Facebook. He's been teaching in Shanghai for a while now, and is still a mad keen cyclist, so might have lots to share with you.