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:

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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