Southern China 21-Day Grand Tour
This cycle tour begins in Wuzhou, Guangxi. We will leave the city by bike and ride along the Xun River, then head north on our way towards Yangshou. The area around Guilin, particularly to the south, is famous for the karst landscape (limestone hill formations) jutting up from an otherwise level ground and the subject of countless traditional Chinese paintings. This area is also riddled with caves used extensively by locals to hide when the Japanese invaded during World War II. From Wuzhou we head north for four days to Yangshou where we will take a day off to do some local sightseeing, or just hang out in this backpacker traveller town.
We will continue north to Guilin and stop by some of the parks in the city before enjoying a pleasant evening on the outskirts of town. After a spicy rice noodle breakfast, a morning staple of Guilin for over 2 millenia, we’ll head north to the infamous Longsheng region. We’ll stay in one of the minority villages along Longji, or Dragon’s backbone, named after the man-made terraced landscape full of rice that spreads over the surrounding mountains. Depending on the season you’ll be able to enjoy marvelous panoramas as you observe the rice fields at various stages of growth.
The next stop at Sanjiang brings us into to one of China’s richest minority culture, the Dong people, best known for their music and Wind & Rain Bridges. Entering Guizhou we’ll really start to see how this region retained its “wild wilderness” title for millenia, not having officially been recognized as a defined province until as late as the 20th century. We’ll spend next 4 days meandering through The dramatic mountains that fill the province have, until recently, been pretty difficult to navigate. This has resulted of pockets of ethnic minorities with incredibly rich culture and traditions still very present to this day.
Guiyang is renowned for its colourful culture, represented by various ethnic diversity and its unique topography. The region is home to more than 30 minority ethnic groups including Miao, Buyi, Dong and Hui. Consequently, it has abundant folk culture and traditions that give rise to colourful ethnic minority activities.
Leaving Guiyang we start our progression southwestward towards Yunnan Province. Over the next 5 days we’ll ascend approximately 1000m, traveling through areas rich in natural wonders. First will be Anshun and a stop at China’s largest waterfall, Huangguoshu Falls (Yellow Fruit Tree). From there the route passes through numerous rural towns populated by ethnic minorities, predominately varying sects of the Miao minority, before crossing into Yunnan Province. We’ll pass on of the most sought after cycling roads renowned around the world for its beautiful scenery.
As we make the final push into Kunming we pass through various ethnic minority villages and have more opportunities to observe traditional small-town and rural life.
Southern China 21-Day Grand Tour
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1
Taiping
Cycling Distance
80km
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2-3
Lipu
Cycling Distance
120km
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4-5
Yangshuo
Cycling Distance
60km
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6
Guilin
Cycling Distance
90km
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7
Longsheng
Cycling Distance
70km
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8-9
Sanjiang/Chengyangqiao
Cycling Distance
115km
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10-12
Dujiang
Cycling Distance
290km
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13-14
Guiyang
Cycling Distance
220km
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15-16
Anshun
Cycling Distance
90km
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17-18
Panxian
Cycling Distance
180km
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19
Fuyuan
Cycling Distance
66km
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20-21
Kunming
Cycling Distance
220km