Going to Guangxi

There are two ways for going to Guangxi. That is, if we talk about using the bicycle. The first route is what I call the Northern route. It is describes on the Northern Route page and on the specialsouth Guizhou page which entirely dedicated to the south road in Guizhou. On this page I would introduce you to another rarely traveled road: Jianshui to Baishe.

The road from Kunming to Tonghai and Jianshui is described here, so we skip that part. Jianshui is a pleasant city with a some tradition left in the form of a beautiful Confucius Temple (I don't know if it still happens, but when I visited, there were twice a day music performances, and they were great). West of the city a Seventeen Span Bridge to be found but we concentrate on the road going to Guangxi.

Stage one, Kaiyuanm and Yanshan

If you are going to Guangxi, t's easy to find the direction to Kaiyuan. You have to leave Jianshui on the south side (where you entered the city too) and go east, road 323. It is in the direction of Gejiu but if you are going to Guangxi, there is no need to stay in Gejiu. Those who want to proceed to Vietnam will want to stay a night in Gejiu.

Kaiyuan is an industrial city with a population of 200.000. It's not really a pleasant city although the heart of the city is in recent years rebuild. The local government claims to pay significant attention to environmental problems. There's not much reason to stay here longer then one night.

In Kaiyuan you can choose to cycle back north to Shilin and the Stone Forest. I choose cycling to Guangxi following the 323.

This road from Kunming to Guilin is relatively downhill. In fact you come from the Yunnan plateau of 2000 meters and you go down to more or less sea level. Does it mean it is an easy road? It is not a difficult road and the condition of the road is in general good, not too much traffic but also, not much to see.

Around Pingyuanjie there's a lake with some good views to the southern mountain ranges. Yanshan has a good range of excellent and cheap hotels. When I was there, a whole new part of the town was build, including some new hotels. That said, there's no reason to stay there longer then a night.

Stage 2: Baishe (going to Guangxi)

It's now another 3 or 4 days to Baishe, (not to be confused with Baisha, one is located near Lijiang, another Baisha is located near Yangshuo). Some maps name Baishe, Bose but road signs all name it Baishe.

The 323 follows the You Jiang, a small river all the way down. In fact, it is 4 relatively easy days in a valley. During that journey, I camped out my first night after Yanshan. If you decide to do so, be prepared to find a lot of Chinese coming around to see what the "lao wai" is doing. Camping is quite alien in China.

Next stop will be Funing, another pleasant town at the riverside. You are in fact now about 80 km's in effect from Vietnam but there is no border crossing.

As most of the road went down, and I was quite fast, I decided not to stay in Bo Ai, about 100km from Funing but to continue to Baishe in one jump. As mnost of the journey was downhill I had no troubles.

Bose, or Baishe is quite nice. Just north of the town is a nice lake and the town breathes a relaxed atmosphere. The city center is now totally rebuild. There are plenty of cheap and not so cheap hotels.

Going to Guangxi, being tired

Baishe is the first major city in Guangxi. Baishe is located on an important junction. Going north, you will go to Xingyi. The road south leads to Nanning. Both roads I do not recommend as road number 324 is a very busy 4 lane modern motorway. If Nanning is your destination, you have little alternative. And if Xingyi is your destination, I would recommend to take the Northern Route.

A very nice continuation in Guangxi is however possible. You cross right through the heart of Guangxi to Hechi.

This road is hilly and quite beautiful and not very difficult. You will pass some Guangxi minority villages. It's a 3 days ride to Hechi. This page describes that road that connects Baishe with Hechi and leads to Liuzhou, Yangshuo and Guilin.

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