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Flew to Xi'an, rented a car

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  1. #31
    Quote Originally Posted by Titus:
    Nice.... you guys stayed at hotels along the way or any home-stay type places?
    Homestay places were the preferred choice, but we also did hostels and hotels. Basically whatever was available. We also brought a tent, but in China wherever there's a patch of flat land, rice gets planted. We did end up camping in the Himalayas though. There was one point past Litang where all of a sudden it poured down heavy cold rain at 4500m altitude. The ground was soaked everywhere and it was hard to put up a tent. We came across a Yak herder camp who built trenches to keep the ground from soaking. We asked to camp on their land and they were fine with it. They invited us into their tent for dinner, rice and potatoes and butter tea, and we had some small conversations. Good times.

    Food was no problem in China. There are good restaurants everywhere except for the Himalayas where we had to cook for ourselves. We realized though that many of the village shops were selling canned coconut juice. We got my sister who lived in Thailand to send us some curry paste packages. Mix with the coconut juice, add rice, nuts, and veggies, and one had a nice meal.
    Titus likes this.

  2. #32
    Quote Originally Posted by henkka:
    Where in Taiwan did you live ? I am currently living in Taipei, and I find Chinese cities to be far more chaotic.
    Anyone who knows Taiwan knows that Taipei does not represent Taiwan. The KMT put tons of money into that city and it clearly shows. Go beyond that and you'll end up finding scooters blocking sidewalks forcing pedestrians onto the road, illegal parking on the side of the road, a general lack of sidewalks and bicycle paths, and breathing shit air produced by shitty 2-stroke engines. The major cities I biked through were Guilin, Guiyang, Quijing, and Kunming. All very pleasant.
    chingleutsch likes this.

  3. #33

    Join Date
    Jan 2008
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    894
    Quote Originally Posted by civil_servant:
    Homestay places were the preferred choice, but we also did hostels and hotels. Basically whatever was available. We also brought a tent, but in China wherever there's a patch of flat land, rice gets planted. We did end up camping in the Himalayas though. There was one point past Litang where all of a sudden it poured down heavy cold rain at 4500m altitude. The ground was soaked everywhere and it was hard to put up a tent. We came across a Yak herder camp who built trenches to keep the ground from soaking. We asked to camp on their land and they were fine with it. They invited us into their tent for dinner, rice and potatoes and butter tea, and we had some small conversations. Good times.

    Food was no problem in China. There are good restaurants everywhere except for the Himalayas where we had to cook for ourselves. We realized though that many of the village shops were selling canned coconut juice. We got my sister who lived in Thailand to send us some curry paste packages. Mix with the coconut juice, add rice, nuts, and veggies, and one had a nice meal.
    Awesome.... hope I'm still in good enough shape to do something like that with my kids when they are a bit older LOL

    Yea one thing I noticed too is there's so much land in China but... seems tough to find a place that's "open" where you can boondock. During this trip to Xian, the road through the mountain passes had lots of places where I potentially could have pulled over but the road edges are all curbed off to prevent anyone from stopping. And anywhere you CAN pull over it's someone's home at a village or a shop. The only places I can pull over and stop were rest stops on the guodao national highways with big shoulders. Where as in the US or Canada you see something off to the side of the road and you can pretty much just drive off or walk into the wilderness
    civil_servant likes this.

  4. #34

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    How did you find the roads outside the cities ? The riding I done in Hainan sucked, the roads were not properly maintained. There were some potholes on the roads, but the main problem was the amount of gravel and other small rocks on the road. Me and my friends all had to change our tires 2-3 times each on a 1 week trip.


  5. #35

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    Apr 2008
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    When you stayed at homestays and tenting, how did you handle the reporting to the local PSB ? Is there a app for it, or you go and report yourself the PSB when you ride in to town ?


  6. #36

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    Agree, many parts of Taiwan is different from Taipei. But, saying that chinese cities are less chaotic is still a stretch. Where would you rather ride your bike, in between the cars in Taichung or SZ ? In my experience car drivers in Taiwan are more considerate of bicycles and scooters than in China.


  7. #37
    Quote Originally Posted by Titus:
    Awesome.... hope I'm still in good enough shape to do something like that with my kids when they are a bit older LOL

    Yea one thing I noticed too is there's so much land in China but... seems tough to find a place that's "open" where you can boondock. During this trip to Xian, the road through the mountain passes had lots of places where I potentially could have pulled over but the road edges are all curbed off to prevent anyone from stopping. And anywhere you CAN pull over it's someone's home at a village or a shop. The only places I can pull over and stop were rest stops on the guodao national highways with big shoulders. Where as in the US or Canada you see something off to the side of the road and you can pretty much just drive off or walk into the wilderness
    I guess that's how you fit 1.4 billion people onto a land that is 80% mountainous. Getting around by bicycle is a good way though. You can stop anywhere.

    I'm planning a one-month trip to China next summer, but not by bike as my kids are still too young. One thing I want to check out is that China has built a ton of highways all over the country with massive bridges and all. That means that most of the traffic, especially trucks and intercity buses, will now choose those new routes. That should really clear up the old roads, the ones that pass through the villages and up and down the valleys. I'm hoping to scout out some prime biking routes for the near future. Tough stuff to bike on, but well worth the scenery.

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    Titus likes this.

  8. #38
    Quote Originally Posted by henkka:
    How did you find the roads outside the cities ?
    A road map.

    Quote Originally Posted by henkka:
    The riding I done in Hainan sucked, the roads were not properly maintained. There were some potholes on the roads, but the main problem was the amount of gravel and other small rocks on the road. Me and my friends all had to change our tires 2-3 times each on a 1 week trip.
    Amateurs.

    Quote Originally Posted by henkka:
    When you stayed at homestays and tenting, how did you handle the reporting to the local PSB ? Is there a app for it, or you go and report yourself the PSB when you ride in to town ?
    No, you just camp and move on.
    Last edited by civil_servant; 18-09-2018 at 03:29 PM.

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