Yuanyang - spectacular rice-paddy terracing, the 45th World Heritage Site in China. For details, please read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuanyang_County,_Yunnan
A few year ago, we went to Yuanyang with a tour group. We travelled from Kunming to Yuanyang in a tour bus. It was raining that day, I remember from 南沙 ( Yuangyang new town) at the Yuanjiang river side we went a long steep way up to the mountain. Almost at the top of the mountain, the rain and mist started to clear, a town on a mountain top新街镇( Yuangyang old town) emerged. The view was magical/fantastic which I still remember now. We couldn’t see much scenery that trip because of the rain/mist. I thought we have to come again and may be we could challenge that mountain road with a bike.
Before we went this time, I had used google map to see how difficult the ascend is. From Yuanjiang the river side 200m from sea level to 新街镇( Yuangyang old town) 1600m from sea level, about 30km all uphill.

201305 Yunnan 1 of 2 https://picasaweb.google.com/irkmwon...Iq0woyAl_nyjAE

Great photos of your trip. The rice paddies were spectacular! Thanks for sharing.

Curtis

Yes, thanks for sharing. Did the bike perform well?

Beautiful photos!

Thanks for sharing!! Could English-language only speakers manage such a trip on their own, or would they need a guide?

Wow! What a great ride and great adventure. My wife and I enjoyed every picture!

Maybe you should get a bonus from the department of tourism

Great stuff. I'm looking forward to part 2 of the photos.

From what I've read before, there are not many people in China interested in bike touring, so I hope you guys are spreading the word there on how wonderful it is.

Beautiful country, beautiful pictures. Thank you.
p.s. I don't mean to be personal, but why is your companion covering her mouth and nose. Is there air pollution up there?

Really enjoyed your photos. Especially liked the one with the stoker all bundled up and the guy walking by wearing a short sleeved shirt. I'm a cold blooded stoker and can really relate to that!

It's probably because having a suntan is considered lower class in China - middle and upper class people tend to protect all of their skin from the sun at all times when outdoors, to remain as pale as possible and so appear wealthy. At least that is how my Chinese colleagues have previously explained it to me.

The same thing was true during certain historical periods in Europe and North America, but now things have changed again so that a suntan has become fashionable again in Western cultures, but this was not always the case.

Chris,
You are quite right about that. It is also proven that sunlight is a major cause of skin aging. She uses any possible methods/means that she could think of to avoid that. At Yunnam, it was OK, since we were at altitude of +1300m most of the time, temperature was around 26 degree C or something even under strong sun/clear sky. At the end of this trip when we returned to Shenzhen where the air is polluted/temperature is high and humid, after getting off the train, we had to ride a few km to a bus station where we could get transportation back to Hong Kong, she got sick/felt difficult to breath/vomit, shown signs of heat stroke. Luckily she got better after resting sometime in an air-conditioned koisk. That sure taught her and me a good lesson. She still does covering-up now but cautiously.
I see you are from Switzerland, I am planning a tandem trip to Germany. Can I ask questions about train ride with a tandem in Germany? Should I start a new post here?

If you would look at our pictures again, the air is clear and the sky is blue. That is one of the major reasons that I like to ride in Yunnam, perhaps that is because of the high altitude and less densely populated. You get clear blue sky in Tibet too.
With regard to air pollution, I always take a 3M mask of grading N95 with me when I go cycling in China just in case. Covering with a handkerchief wouldn't make much difference.

Bike touring is getting more popular in China in particular going to Tibet, perhaps because of the challenges that young guys like to do while not because of in love with cycling life style/environmental protection. Cycling to Lhasa is a very popular route now, I have heard that there are hundreds of cyclists going in everyday in the peak season of June/July/August. They have to race to get guest house room.

Glad that people here like my report.

If you are an adventurous type of person, I don't see why you cannot manage. We used google map for navigation. If you cannot speak, use body language, I have seen European went into kitchen to pick what they like to eat. I have seen/met European( some on bike) travel in China on their own. In fact, I have met a few in Yuanyang, some stayed in same guest house that we had. I think that guest house get mentioned in Lonelyplanet or something, is famous among European backpackers.

The bike is great, we like it a lot. It has the ability to be taken apart in pieces which suit our need of travelling by public transport. The small wheel is strong, the frame is a bit whippy but comfortable which is good for touring, feel secure when riding hard on the saddle and descending in high speed, though we are skinny, 250 lbs.
However, there are things that we don't like. The original Origin 8 brakes failed catastrophically and were replaced by Avid BB7, the 160mm discs were later upgraded to 200mm front and 185mm rear. Since the bike is long and heavy and sometimes I have to maneuver it by lifting with the stoker's handle bar, the anodised aluminium seat collars were not strong enough in particular those at the captain's seat mast, they were subsequently replaced by BF with steel collars.
The latest edition of the bike:-

Thought about riding back to Kunming, it would be a hard boring job, especially the hot/humid 南沙 and the crappy road from 200 to 1900m altitude, we then decided to take the bus. We then have extra leisure time to spend on fooling around. At last we found a guest house in a village of多依樹 Duoyishu, it had a room with great view for Y180 which is a little expensive compared with the others. Then, one morning in the room we saw some low level cloud/mist coming up, the view was magnificent. We were satisfied with the results, it worth every bit of hard work/ troubles of getting up there by bike.

201305 Yunnan 2 of 2 https://picasaweb.google.com/irkmwon...IPa-LCY96y-sQE

Beautiful. Thank you.

I like to cover up, too, to protect my skin. I use a UV visor buff. The coolmax fabric works nicely when it is hot - keeps the sweat out of my eyes, etc.

https://www.buffwear.com/buff-headwear/visor-buff