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Cycling in Guangxi

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Cycling in Guangxi is for many people an idea out of the ordinary. I hear people claiming that Guangxi has nothing to offer except of Yangshuo and Guilin. Nanning is mostly mentioned because it is the gateway to Vietnam. So why go there? Are people right? Is Guangxi indeed a province to skip?

Cycling in Guangxi on the way to Hechi

If I am honest, there are more spectacular areas in China to visit. That doesn't mean Guangxi is not interesting. There are a few areas worth to cycle through.

The answer as usual is obvious. There's enough to see but you need time.

There are few entrances possible for the cyclists:

• Hong Kong
• Baise to Guilin
• Guilin to Nanning (for Vietnam)
• Other directions (including north Guangxi, ie Longsheng and surrounding)

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is an easy option to enter China. You will be easily able to get a visa in Hong Kong and transport into China is easy too.

Cycling in downtown Hong Kong .... nooooo

There are 3 ways are recommend to start your bicycle adventure in China, start : a train to the Hong Kong - China border at Lo Wu and from there:

• Take a bus in Shenzhen to either Yangshuo or Guangzhou.
• Take a train to Guilin

I would not recommend to cycle out of Shenzhen, done that, never more. It's a busy ugly road with little to see. Instead, take option #3:

• Take a boat to Gaoming (or if you like Macao) and start from there

I've done all the options mentioned here several times. If you have little time, take a train to Guilin and start from there. In case you want to explore the countryside in between Hong Kong and Guilin, either take a train/bus to Guangzhou and start there but much nicer is to have the boat to Gaoming, I did that twice (first time a boat to Zhaoqing which is no longer operating). Read here about my experience.

• More about the road between Hong Kong and Guilin here

Baise to Guilin

Baise is the border town with south Yunnan and Guangxi province. It sees few tourists. But it is a hub if you cycle the southern route in Yunnan to Guangxi which leads from Jianshui to Baise.

In Baise you have several options.

1. Going north to Xingyi and travel further into north Guizhou or south Guizhou
2. Going south to Nanning
3. Going east into the mountains and follow directions to Hechi and Liuzhou

The road that connects Nanning and Xingyi passes Baise. It's a big busy 4 lane road. I've cycled only parts of it (particularly a short part out of Nanning and about 15 km out of Baise south until the junction to Hechi).

• Baise through central Guangxi to Guilin.

Guilin to Nanning

It is about a week cycling from Guilin to Nanning. There are several ways to go to cycle from Guilin to Nanning:

• Guilin-Yangshuo-Lipu-Taiping-Guiping-Binjiang-Nanning
• Guilin-Yangshuo-Lipu-Toupai-Liuzhou-Datang-Binjiang-Nanning
• Guilin-Yangshuo-Lipu-Toupai-Xiangzhou-Laibin-Binjiang-Nanning

Nanning itself is a good place to get a day off from your bicycle. There's enough to keep you busy for a few days in parks and markets. If you need it, there's a good bicycle shop not far away.

The scenic road from Lipu to Taiping and Nanning

When you are in front of the railway station, go right. At the first traffic light, go left and go through the tunnel. You will find a big Giant bicycle shop after about 300 meters on your right hand.

The road to Pingxiang and Vietnam

Here is more about Nanning and more about hotel in Nanning.

The road from Nanning to the border is more interesting than it looks likes.

• Day 1: Nanning to Suyu
• Day 2. Suyu to Chongzhuo
• Day 3. Chongzhuo to Pingxiang and Vietnam

Other directions

Some people want to cycle all the way from Chengdu or Chongqing. It's possible. There are a few roads from the north coming into Guangxi.

From Xingyi, road 214 is a busy 4 way street that will lead you straight to Nanning. Another option is to use road 310 down south from Guiyang. However, this road is partly a motorway and thus not available for cyclists.

Karst limestone mountains in the south of the province

You can escape it by first cycling to Duyun and from there going south. This road too is quite a big busy road. The road will lead you to Nandan, the first city in Guangxi.

The best road for going into Guangxi from the north to my opinion is road number 321 which goes from Guiyang to Duyun and then through Rongjiang, Sanjiang, Longsheng to Guilin. The road to Longsheng, Sanjiang and Zhaoxing is further explore on these two pages:

More about Longsheng, Sanjiang, Zhaoxing and Rong'an

• Guilin to Longsheng via the Qingshitan Reservoir and dam
• The road from Longsheng to Sanjiang
• Longsheng, Ping An and the Longji Rice Terraces
• Sanjiang town
• Chengyang Qiao and the Wind and Rain Bridge
• Zhaoxing
• Sanjiang to Rong'an and Rongshui
• Rong'an to Yongfu

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