* Cycle through traditional villages - best local scenery and less traffic.
* Learning culture from the ethnic groups (Dong,Miao,Zhuang) and the majority of China (Han).
* Diversed experiences in two provinces.
* Superb landscapes of the limestone terrain and rice field terraces.
* China's intangible cultural heritage (group singing, the last gun tribe,etc.).
* Backroads cycling at Lingqu Canal built in 214BC and organic grape farm experience.
* Countryside biking around the Li River areas with spectacular Karst landscape.
* Flexible tour itineary and fully supported by guide and van.
Guizhou provinces is mountainous but with plenty of cultural values for multi-activity cyclists. If you with to join this tour but are just a 'very basic' beginner for long-distance cycling, or who 'hates' uphills, please don't worry because you can choose to fully / partly use our electronic bikes, the extra fee is only CNY150 per day. We will still recommend this tour to all - level cyclists, this tour is one of the top 3 tours in China for 2018 and 2019.
This is an updated route of the old Dragon's trail bike tour (popular among westerners) from the Southeastern Guizhou province, where the habitat of Dong and Miao people lives, and the tour is a mix of the cycling and cultural excursions to rural areas of China.
MTB / E - Bikes (optional) / Hybird Bikes (flat bar).
It is very convenient to take bullet train or plane to Guizhou nowadays. The place to meet your guide and driver of this tour is called Congjiang Railway Station, trains are available to Congjiang from many cities in China (Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guilin and Guiyang, etc.). You can also fly to Guiyang or Guilin first, then go by train to Congjiang.
This area of China is home to Dong and Miao ethnic groups, which are linguistically related minorities. As we will pass by numerous wooden houses, often on stilts with animals living underneath. The local people wear brightly coloured embroidered clothing and observe strong cultural traditions including a love of storytelling and music. Traditional handcrafts are still made and widely used here, including weaving, batik and embroidery.
After arrival at the train station, transfer to Zhaoxing Village of Dong tribe, one of the largest Dong villages in this country.
The tour is flexible and fit the cyclists of all levels. You will ride the way you like: skipping the uphill or even challenging in the scorching heat or torrential rain. Your demand will be accommodated based on your physical condition and preference. Please choose one of the options during the communications with our tour specialists.
Zhaoxing is famous for its grandeur of Dong villages with five Drum Towers, five coverd flower bridges and five opera stages. Each individual Drum Tower represents one village or one big clan. The Dong people here still wear traditional costumes and speak their native tongue. The small town is waken up early in the morning with a market where you can sample local snacks and observe local life, it is then getting very quiet during the day when most people work out in the farmland.
The Dongs don't have a written language of their own. Their history, tradition and philosophy have been passed down from generation to generation in the form of songs. Dong people are good at choral singing accompanied by unique wooden pipes dances and the never-ending songs. We may be treated to some traditional music while during our staying. If time permits, you can walk up to Tang'an, another authentic Dong village located up on the mountain.
Besides the option of walking in the town or the nearby village - Tang'an, you can also choose to ride with us from a remote village called Dimen after 2 hours' drive (a short distance of 20KM small undulation route, then finish the ride). Finally arrive in the historic city - Liping, tasting local food, wandering around the old street. It will be a warm-up ride today and less than 30KMs, so we can prepare better for the bike rides in the following days.
Note: If you choose option 2 by cycling out of town, we will not have enough wandering around the town of Zhaoxing. So adding one extra night into the trip is suggested.
The best scenery hidden in the deep mountains might not be a big deal to us all. Let's focus more on your cycling, photographing and visit of mimority villages. The bike ride takes us to smaller villages not popular on internet, the ancient lifestyle and innocent smiles on locals' faces are no long beyond your reach. No doubt, CYCLING is the best way to see the REAL RURALITY OF CHINA. The lunch today will be simple due to the poor conditions of smaller towns. If weather permits, you will see the local ladies weaving fabrics and dying them in their traditional method, kids chasing each other on the playground, old men smoking and chatting together. You are even possibly invited by the locals to visit their home. All of experiences will definitely make this trip a memorable one.
After finishing the cycling section, we will skip the busy roads with a lot of traffic and drive to Basha Village - the last gun tribe in China (possessing a gun is prohibited in the country). This evening it is one of the highlights of the trip as we are probably the only international tourist group staying. The village still retains its traditional characters with wooden houses, high racks for air-drying rice, and their granaries on stilts. A insight walking at the village allows us to know more highlighted histories and cultures.
Longji rice terraces (Longji Titian),known as 'The Dragon's Backbone' by the westerners, locates in Longsheng (a county of Guilin). The entire mountainsides have been transformed into rice fields creating a dramatic landscape like great chains, or ribbons extending from the foot to the top of the hills. This maximizes use of the limited arable land and water resources in the mountainous area.
A short drive around 1 hour takes us from Chengyang to Longji Rice Terrace Scenic Spot. After store our big bags, we will carry small bags for better walking from the parking lot to our hotel on the mountain), we can decide to walk the longer version (4 hours) all the way from the bottom to the top or driving uphill to the higherest parking lot and walk the highlighted view points. The Terraces were first started in the Yuan dynasty and finished in the Qing dynasty by the Zhuang people and look as if they were sculpted into the mountainside. The Longsheng Hot Springs, called "a heaven of peace and happiness" and "paradise on earth," are the centre piece of the national park.
You can sample the local specialty rice: cooked with peanuts, beans or other ingredients baked in bamboo tubes on an open fire. A short explore on foot in the village takes us to famous vantage points: the' Nine Dragons and Five Tigers', and the 'Seven Stars with the Moon', where you can enjoy breath-taking views.
Except the interesting stories and legends about the emperor Qin (known as the starter of the Feudal monarchy of China) and his greatest achievements, the scenery around the less-visited towns and villages of Xing’an county (one county of Guilin too) are also worth for a bike ride. Before continue our cycling though the farms and fields where local farmer work, we will drive/bike to a hidden natural Karst landform tunnel cave and spend couple hours there. The interesting walking part of the cave lasts around 1 hour but not recommended for people with knee or back problems, as the walking path is narrow and close to the cliff and waterside, not very high though.
The smaller uphill and undulations in the morning ride won’t bother us too much, until our arrival of the mountain bottom where the Tour of Guangxi locates (perfect asphalt roads for road bikers), the UCI rated the Tour of Guangxi as the most important bike race in China now and it is also the last stop for the whole season (some teams from the Tour of France). The little challenging bike uphill part rewards us one of the prettiest parts around the Li River and awesome views. Makes our arrival to the Xingping town very quickly.
The cycling route is following the River Li, where most spectacular mountains are sitted. Xingping is an interesting place to wander around and lots of small cafes and handicrafts offers us the best chance for shopping souvenirs. The best food will on our table for dinner, as the guides always knows where to eat.
‘Guilin is the most beautiful part of the world and Yangshuo is even prettier’ .For thousands of years, poetries were written like that. The whole province of Guangxi (including Guilin and Yangshuo) were regarded as the ‘real south’ for the less ambitious local kings or royal brothers who were exiled by the only ‘rightful’ emperor in ancient China’s feudal society. The area is still being regarded as one of the best place to spend the rest of life after retirement in China nowadays. We will bike one more day to explore the local rural lives and the views never tired of seeing, tasting traditional local snacks and food, before finishing the memorable bike tour together with GCT.
The downtown of Yangshuo is very commercialized, so if clients agrees, we will arrange hotel for tonight in the countryside or even move back to downtown of Guilin city. Please finalize it with our sales man based on your wishes and further travel plans.
You will free to leave today or you stay longer in Yangshuo. Our bike guide and supporting van driver will finish their jobs after the breakfast today or leave earlier back home last night. So if you need a free drive with us back to the city, please let them know ahead.
"We are a family of three. we have one adult daughter who joined us - 18 years old. The trip was perfect from the time we were picked up at the train station throughout the week of cycling. The bikes were in good condition. Our guide Forest was fluent in english and a gentleman. He looked after our needs from first thing in the morning until the evening. You could feel comfortable with no knowledge of Chinese language. The roads we traveled had very little auto traffic and the roads were in excellent condition. We are not hard core cyclists and he chose a great itinerary. We cycled 25-35 miles daily. The van was always close-by if someone wanted a rest or needed a cycle repair. The scenery was stunning and the hotel choices were all great. All lodging had A/C and western toilets. We never required our own toilet paper. The hotels reflected the culture of the area. Our meals were of high quality and prepared by the proprietors of the small hotels in which we stayed. I plan on booking with them again in a different area of china as they are members of Easy Tour China ." -- Tour comment and video from client of US, written on April of 2019.
2023 - 2024 Price (based on twin-beds rooms and non-holiday dates)P.S Popular Holidays in China: Qingming (Early April), National Holiday (First Week of Oct.), rooms price in some areas during Chinese school summer vactions will be doubled or tripled. (July).
$1980 p.p ( from 2 people's group ) Please contact to get more discounts if you have more people coming.
Single Room Supplement: $210
*Please note that obtaining your own travel insurance is required in order to participate on this biking tour. It will need to include a minimum coverage of medical expenses with emergency evacuation, personal liability and accident insurance. Our biking leader will need to see a copy of your insurance at the group meeting on the first day. We reserve the right to refuse you if you do not carry such an insurance policy.
