Zhongdian to Shaxi (2 days)

The ride from Zhongdian to Shaxi was over 200 km, with a night in the Stone Drum Town (Shigu), which is known mainly as the ¨first bend of the Yangtse¨ river after entering China from Tibet.

But, first things first. The ride out of Zhongdian began as another rainy and muddy day on the main road to Dali. The scenery was probably spectacular, but all we saw through our spattered glasses was the road and mud.

By the time we reached the high point of the day and descended towards Qiaotou for lunch, the sun had come out and we were able to wash off, drain the water out of our shoes and warm our feet. It felt like we rode down forever - it was probably 40 km.

In Qiaotou, we loaded everything back into the mini-van to transfer the rest of the way to Shigu. It was a scenic road, but very narrow, and would have been hell to ride on the bike. Besides, we'd already ridden 100 km for the day. We passed through an area known for its fresh fruit - and berries were in season, so we bought wonderfully ripe and sweet strawberries, blackberries and small nectarines.

The ride into Shaxi the following day, covering roughly 100 km, was one of the most varied. During the first half of the route, we saw rice farmers, coal dealers, stone masons, tile makers, cement factories...And the truck traffic was really heavy and the air polluted.









The second half of the day, after we got off the main road, was one of the nicest sections of the tour. We climbed over two scenic passes on a perfect road through rural areas and pine forests. We were all pretty tired, though, after two 100-km rides in a row, so it was nice to enter the oasis of Shaxi. Shaxi is a historical market town that began as a trading post for tea and horses in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618 - 907). It is probably the most intact horse caravan town on the Ancient tea route leading from Yunnan in to Burma and Tibet and is now being preserved through a cooperation between the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETH) and the People’s Government of Jianchuan County. They are trying to develop Shaxi and surrounding villages as a sustainable eco-cultural-economic zone, but it's tough. The real estate prices have already factored this potential in, even before the infrastructure is in place to attract many tourists, so we heard from the locals that it's tough to make a living.

We encountered a handful of visitors from nearby Dali, but Shaxi is a remote, small town, with so far little to offer, except relaxation (the nearby road to the 1300-year-old Buddhist rock carvings and temples at Shibao Shan was under repair, so we could not visit by bike). This is a poor area that still survives largely from rice farming.