South Yunnan Xishuangbanna

South Yunnan Xishuangbanna (also spelled as Xishuangbana) is a great area to cycle in. However, to get there is another thing. If you have limited time, you may consider taking a bus or flight from Kunming to Jing Hong. But if you have the time, the main old National Highway between Kunming and Jinghong is still a great (minimum) 8-10 days ride. Be prepared for serious mountains and in some areas some bad road conditions.

I have cycled this road twice, up and down, the last time in march 2006. By now the expressway that connects Kunming with Jing Hong is almost finished. There's a short piece before Simao which will be finished early 2006. After Simao, until Meng Yang you will cycle on the national highway which in fact is the express way. It's no problem. After Meng Yang you will have the choice to follow the busy express way to Jing Hong or take the old road which is virtually abandoned these days. I have written a few pages that describe the road from Kunming to Jing Hong in South Yunnan Xishuangbanna in more detail:

• Yuxi
• Mojiang
• On the way to Pu'er
• Simao
• On the way to Jing Hong
• Jing Hong to the Lao border
• Mohan

Dian Lake, just south of Kunming

There are two other roads leading to South Yunnan Xishuangbana.

The first one is probably the easier of the two. It leads all the way from Dali to Lancang and Jing Hong. It's mostly a quite busy but in reasonable good condition road. There's lots of mountains and great scenery but little traveled except by bicyclists.

The other road is even more remote. It's a dirt road which goes south out of Jianshui and goes Yuanyang following more or less the Lao border. It goes all the way through the mountains and ends in Mengxing. The report of this road, I have only one, is that the road is in very bad state and very difficult. There's a few villages but be prepared for hard work.

There are not many cyclists on the road. Most of the cyclist choose to cycle the loop Kunming-Dali-Lijiang-Zhongdian. It's a bit a shame since there are so many other places to visit. It's understandable if you have limited time. Once in a while you will meet other cyclist. Here's one of my favorite meetings, just north of Simao I met a Chinese guy. Here's my story.

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