Biking in China

Many people ask me to include some time for biking in China when I plan their tours. 15 years ago I could recommend many places to bike especially in the cities. However today with the large number of cars (1000 cars added EACH DAY in Beijing alone) the streets are becoming very crowded and perhaps dangerous. Today I recommend smaller cities or countryside villages to go biking. Above you see me with a bike in the countryside near Yangshuo village outside of Guilin. This is a prime area to go biking because of the flat terrain amongst the hills and the interesting countryside. As of this writing a bike can be rented for about $1.50 per day here. Mountain bikes can also be rented for a little more. Local guides can take you out through interesting places and act as translaters or you can go out on your own too. For those that do not read Chinese, my t-shirt reads "I Have No Money"! It gives everyone one a laugh and keeps the "sellers" at bay or at least distracts them from stopping me. There are many other biking and hiking places to visit in China when you are taking a Tour to China. See my website at www.interlakechinatours.com and register to be updated with my blog as well. I will be leaving on my 49th trip to China this October going to Sichuan province to see how the progress is coming on putting the earthquake area back together and the Panda Preserve that was destroyed.