Guizhou and into Yunnan

Our ride descriptions give an account of the ride that we completed. As part of the description we also provide links to Wikiloc or Google maps and elevation profiles based on mapping data available through the internet. The ride profiles are smoothed to give what in our opinion is a more beneficial view of the profile. We use paper maps, GPS and on line data to plan and conduct our rides. We are happy for you to use our descriptions, but be aware that we do not guarantee the accuracy of the information provided as situations surrounding any ride change over time.

• Distance           60.6km
  
• Max Elevation    1180m

Guiyang to Huishui Ride Profile

The Guizhou hotel buffet breakfast was one of the best so far so we ate as much as we could stuff in before leaving. We headed south out of the city down to the railway station. The wide grand four lane highway ends at the the station and turns abruptly onto a narrow, rough cement road through the less cosmopolitan part of the city, a great contrast from the slick Hong Tong Mall and the high rise hotels.

We came onto a six lane highway out of town and were surprised by the number of Guizhou police on duty along the road. On average there was one every 250m for the next 17km. They all looked too young to be police and were smartly turned out with sparkling white gloves on. It was like having a guard of honour. Just slightly less numerous were the street cleaners who were diligently sweeping the road and pavements. We decided that some important person must be expected but never got to know who it was. 

By midday we reached Qinyan, Guizhou. This Guizhou town was originally built in 1378, in the Ming dynasty to house troops.

Its stone building, temples and narrow cobbled and stepped streets remain virtually intact and it is now understandably a Guizhou tourist department hot spot. As always there was an admission charge but the girls at the desk let us leave our bikes in their back room while we wandered round. It is a fascinating place, enclosed with an impressive wall with four arched gates.

It is famous for some strange culinary delights: Pigs trotters, a special tofu, chicken peppers and many types of smoked animal parts.

In one of the Guizhou temples were some incredible fossils of flowers and leaves. In another there was an example of an old loom for weaving silk and rows of bonsai trees.

Not long after leaving Qinyan, Guizhou we had our third puncture in four days, this time Steve's back wheel. The edges of the roads here are littered with broken glass, bits of plastic and metal. A man went past us on a motorbike with a large, apparently live, snake coiled around his handlebars. 

After booking into the only hotel we could find in Huishui, Guizhou we had just enough time to get showered before the Guizhou police were knocking on the door again. It seems that the hotel staff really struggle to fill in the registration forms as they can't read the English on the passports and visas. On the corner of the street sat a whole row of women waiting for sewing work.

• Distance           36.4km
  
• Max Elevation    1180m

Huishui to Changshun Ride Profile

• Distance           70.8km
  
• Max Elevation    1430m

Changshun to Ziyun  Ride Profile

The rain was just drizzle as we rode out of town. The road was reduced to a single lane as they were re-laying the concrete. It started to pour with rain and we couldn't stop because there was so much traffic on the narrow road. Karen thought she could cycle over the new section of concrete to the other side of the road but it was still wet and a little man who was sheltering from the rain came out and shouted at her.Now soaked, we managed to stop at an office to shelter until the worst passed and we could get our ponchos on. It continued to rain heavily for the next two hours and the road climbed up slowly through the Guizhou countryside of big pointy mountains. The hills were wooded and the views fabulous as the clouds started to clear and the sun came out. Everyone was very friendly and greeting us as we passed.

According to the Google map of Guizhou, the road ended after 35km and we presumed that the remainder of the ride would be on an unsurfaced track. It was a nice surprise to find that it is now all tarmacked. We sat at the side of the road for a snack and a man came up to chat. He had a speech impediment and so had developed good skills in mime so we could actually understand some of what he was saying. 

Passing a small scruffy village we spotted a building that was obviously a Christian church and turned off to get a closer look. It was a small, simple Catholic Church, one of the first we have seen here. A group of teenagers were playing in the yard and insisted we go up and have a look at the inside.

At the top of the next climb we had puncture number four, again glass. Dropping down to the next valley we were back in the middle of the motorway building. We had to ride through the construction traffic along a very muddy, rough track for about 500m and we got covered in gunge. At the top of the last pass before Ziyun, Guizhou there was a row of about a dozen people sat at the side of the road, each with a basket full of different types of mushrooms picked from the forest, hoping to sell them to passing drivers.

There was a car wash on the way into Ziyun,Guizhou just a lady with a power-washer. She washed the bikes, the bags and even scrubbed our shoes for us so we could get into a hotel without causing consternation. 

Searching for food that evening we walked all round the town but found nothing to entice us except a few kebab stalls on the market place. Then we stumbled across a whole street of restaurants, all of the 'private dining room' type. The most promising one had a big tank of river fish outside. The classic Guizhou meal consisted of a large pan of broth set on a gas ring in the middle of the table. The fish was very thinly sliced and served with raw cabbage, bean sprouts and slices of turnip. The vegetables go into the broth to cook and the fish is dipped in for a minute to cook before dipping it in a soy/chili/coriander marinade. Very good but very expensive at 200 Y. The three young waitresses couldn't take enough photographs of us with their mobile phone cameras.

• Distance            109km
  
• Max Elevation     1600m

Ziyun to Wangmo Ride Profile

The plan was to set off early but we didn't leave town till 8.50am. The first 35km were relatively easy, flat and downhill on a newly resurfaced road. Trying to get through the village of Houchang, Guizhou was well nigh impossible. It was market day and from near and far everyone was heading there, huge groups walking down the roads and across the fields with their baskets. The whole road was blocked by the mass of shoppers and sellers and the buses and lorries were trying to blast a way through them with their screaming horns. The ethnic dress here is predominantly blue so the whole street was a sea of blue tunics and navy, tartan like head scarves.

Later, a man on a motorbike came up beside us and asked us to stop to talk. Having seen us riding through the village he wanted to try out his English. He was teaching English at a local school. We talked about our journey and told him we were on our way to Wangmo, Guizhou. He warned us the road was 'dangerous' but we assumed he meant the drivers. 

Just before the start of the first climb we saw a traffic accident. A bus had come down the hill and smashed into a tree at the side of the road. As we climbed up and up there were a lot of landslips, with large parts of the road fallen hundreds of feet into the valley below. A second accident involving a lorry and a car made us think about the advice of the English teacher. The views over the Guizhou mountains were wonderful and although it seemed remote there were always plenty of people around, walking along the roads, tending their land, herding their cattle and ponies.

For lunch we had noodles (yes, again) in a roadside place. A huge group of locals gathered and discussed our map and journey. We wish we had produced a leaflet in Chinese to explain what we are doing. 

Puncture number five was mended with an audience of Mum, Dad and two children who were walking down the road and just stood around and watched silently. The last long ascent was to 1,630m and having found no roadside food all day, we stopped at the top to eat our last remaining fruit and nuts. A group of young teenage girls walked past and also tried out their English on us. They were so excited to meet us and took lots of photos on their mobile phones as well as trying on our sun glasses.

At nearly 4pm we set off on the downhill. The road here runs down a narrow, steep sided valley. A flash flood during the summer had ripped down tons of debris, boulders and earth from the mountains and scoured away all of the road and its bridges. Instead of a smooth surfaced descent there was just a steep, rough, cleared track through the piles of boulders. It was quite impossible to imagine what this force of nature must have looked and sounded like.

• Distance             59.7km
  
• Max Elevation      910m

Wangmo to Ceheng Ride Profile

Today would be another hard climbing day with 1,800m of ascent and it was drizzling at 8.00am. Sick of noodles for breakfast we went into the local version of MacDonald's and had chicken burger, fries and orange squash, lots more calories.

By 10am the skies cleared and the sun came out. Layers of clothes were soon discarded and for the first time in two weeks it was sun hats, shorts and t-shirts. The first climb was a long one but at the top the road skirted around the top of the valley giving views over the forested mountains and the satisfying sight of the village we had ridden through far below. Drenched in sweat and shaking with exhaustion we stopped at the col for a drink and food. No sooner had we parked the bikes than a car drew up and a Chinese couple got out and insisted on taking photographs of us. We weren't looking that pretty.

On the other side we dropped down about 600m to a pretty valley with a reservoir. A roadside restaurant there had a tank full of fish and we choose a couple to be cooked up in broth for our lunch. From here the road followed the river valley upstream with a few climbs. A couple of three wheeled vans passed us both carrying a huge stack of mattresses. Every time we stopped to rest other vehicles would pull up and we were offered lots of cigarettes.

• Distance           57.2km
  
• Max Elevation    1480m

Ceheng to Anlong  Ride Profile

For most of the morning we were slowly climbing up into the Guizhou mountains. Initially the slopes were wooded but as we got higher the terrain was more barren with bare stone and grasses. We rode through Ceyang, Guizhou and it was Sunday market. Among the goods for sale were rows of young pigs being sold for fattening. They were lined up on the pavement, all wrapped in wicker baskets, with no room to move. They were very distressed and squealing. Further along the road was this, more pampered pig, strolling along the road.

Once up at 1,300m the road went through flat open valleys between the steep sided conical Guizhou mountains and lots of small villages. We saw women spreading out lengths of indigo dyed cloth to dry in the sun. The women's head ware changed from tartan scarves to strips of white cloth wound round the head many times to form a 'polo mint' type of hat. The morning's slow climb was arduous and our average speed was only 9kph.

Our lunch stop was well planned as just as we sat down with our bowl of noodles it started to pour with rain. By the time we left it had stopped. After lunch the riding was easier and faster with more level parts and some downhill. We arrived in Anlong by 3.30pm so had time for a nap before tea.

There was a busy night market just down the road from the hotel with lots of food stalls. One had tables with glass hotplates, heated on a gas ring. There was a selection of plates of different meat, fish and vegetables.

We chose about 10 different ones and they were cooked for us on the hotplate with the addition of plenty of chilies and soy sauce. It was delicious.

• Distance           72.6 km
  
• Max Elevation     1420m

Guizhou -Anlong to Xingyi Ride Profile

Along the busy road, with all the trucks belching out their thick black exhaust, were racks of glass noodles drying in the sun. Further along a group of men were slaughtering and plucking ducks. It looked quite barbaric. During the course of the day we saw "four weddings and a funeral".

At Dingxiao, Guizhou there was a minor road marked on the map going through Maling Gorge. We thought we might escape the traffic going that way. The road was no quieter and certainly not as minor one. It snaked down into the gorge, passing lots of stalls selling barbecued sweet corn. The gorge was impressive and so we decided to cough up the entrance fee and go and have a look.

It was 80 Y each to go in and another 30 Y each to ride on the glass elevator into and out of the gorge(who wants to walk up a couple of hundred steps when you've cycled all that way?) There were only a few other tourists so it was peaceful and we spent an hour walking on the pathway along the bottom of the narrow, 200m gorge. There were several waterfalls cascading down the sides, one of which you could walk behind.

• Distance           82.5 km
  
• Max Elevation     1550m

Guizhou -  Xingyi to Luoping Ride Profile

• Distance            48km
  
• Max Elevation    1920 m

Guizhou -  Luoping to Shizong Ride Profile

• Distance            67.5km
  
• Max Elevation     2290m

Guizhou - Shizong to Luliang Ride Profile

We left town on the old G324 road to avoid riding through a tunnel. It climbed a small hill through pine forests which were alive with bird-song. It rejoined the dual carriageway and we rode through farmland with bright red soil, contrasting with the grey rock mountains behind. The maize had been harvested and the corn stalks were collected into sheaves standing in neat rows along the edges of the fields.

The road climbed gradually to 2,100m, through isolated villages where the main form of transport was ox-carts, most of them travelling in the wrong direction along the hard shoulder. 

At Zhaokua the highway ended and became the G78 and bikes were definitely not allowed. Turning off onto the old G324 we were back onto a rough and poorly maintained road. It was busy with heavy lorries transporting coal and quarry materials. In places it was just as rough and difficult to negotiate as the G321in Guanzhou had been.

At least it was warm and sunny and mostly downhill. Luliang is close to an Air Force Base and low flying jets flew over our heads as we approached. The road into the town was lined with stone masons carving grave stones out of pale grey rock. We rode a couple of circuits round the town looking for a hotel near the centre but could only find old, grubby ones. There was something going on in the town square, masses of flowers and these large paper and flower creations. We ended up riding back out to the edge of town to book into the big Tong Le Hotel, apparently the best in the area. 

We were befriended by one of the young trainee hotel managers who spoke very good English. He had just completed his degree in Hotel Management and Tourism. He invited us to join him at the hotel staff's evening meal which was only 10Y each.

• Distance            45km
  
• Max Elevation     1960m

Guizhou - Luliang to Shilin Ride Profile

The route to Shilin followed the G324, which was a dual carriageway, an improvement on yesterday, but there were some big holes in the tarmac. Most of the traffic uses the G78 so it was fairly quiet.The stone carvers on this road were producing lions, all shapes and sizes

At the entrance gate the advertised price for entry was 175Y each, for two of us nearly our whole day's budget. We turned round and left. Actually, as we rode back along the road into town we saw enough sculpted and shaped rock to satisfy our needs and all for free. We also had to mend two more punctures.

• Distance            86.1km
  
• Max Elevation     2140m

Guizhou - Shilin to Kunming Ride Profile

The morning was cold and cloudy as we set off. Still following the G324 we left Shilin and the road was almost deserted. There were yet more strange rock formations littering the fields. Immediately there was a climb but it was slow and easy. After that was a really long descent. The road was wet from the lorries that use water to cool their brakes and the road surface was covered in oily residue which splashed all over our shoes, bags and bikes.

With relief we reached the highest point after 70km at 2,187m. The guard on duty looked a bit tired and didn't pay us much attention. After that we expected a nice long downhill but there were still a few short hills to go.