Guilin to Nanning

The will always be a discussion if cycling from Yangshuo and Guilin to Nanning is worth to do. There's two main roads you can use. But the first question to ask yourself is, why go to Nanning?

Nanning as a destination itself is, in my humble opinion not worth unless you are on the way to Vietnam. It's just another big Chinese city. You can get a Vietnamese visa here and the city is not unpleasant with some big parks to escape from the daily busy streets.

Cycling from Yangshuo and Guilin to Nanning, that's what I am talking about. There are mainly two roads leading to Nanning. Both are nice, both are mostly quiet and have accommodation at reasonable distances available. It takes both ways about a week cycling which of course depends how many kilometers you are willing to make. So, let's see.

Most people stay in Yangshuo since it's a much nicer place and the things you want to see are in this area. Yangshuo is around 60 km south of Guilin.

The first day out of Yangshuo is going south, taking the direction to Wuzhou. You can have a stop in Lipu. Here you have decide where to go. If you decide Liuzhou, follow the road west. Going south leads to Wuzhou. And, to be complete, going east leads in the end to Guangzhou.

Bicycle repair in China

Guilin to Nanning using the direction Wuzhou

From Lipu it's a nice quiet short road to Mengshan. However, if you decide to take this road, you may want to skip staying in Lipu as Mengshan is almost 90 km south of Yangshuo. The road after Lipu is quiet and scenic. Since the road (leading east from Lipu) to Guangzhou is upgraded, the road to Wuzhou sees hardly visitors. In the past busses took this road to connect Guangzhou with Guilin. Nowadays it's only a few trucks traveling between Wuzhou and Guilin.

The road condition is good for cycling, it's mostly flat. After Mengshan the next town of some size is Taiping, it's around 85 km south of Mengshan. Taiping has a lively market and is a center point for the surrounding villages. It's also a junction. The road spilits here in two parts: east is leading to Wuzhou, almost 100 km. West leads you into the southern areas of Guangxi and to Nanning.

Stalls on the road from Guilin to Nanning

The next town is Guiping. When I did this road it was Januari and it was cold, around 10°C. On the way to Guiping you pass a more hilly area though it's not a difficult to road to cycle. Further south is the much bigger city of Guigang. But again there's nothing spectacular to visit here.

Your next stop is either Litang or Bitang. Both towns are similar though Bitang seemed to be a bit nicer. But both cities are also just good enough for an afternoon to spend.

The last part leads you to Nanning. It's a reasonable hilly road so start early. It's not too far, about 75 km total into Nanning using the old road.

Guilin to Nanning using the direction Liuzhou

Traveling by bicycle from Yangshuo and Guilin to Nanning through Liuzhou means you have to take the junction in Lipu going west. You can cycle to Liuzhou in one day but it'll be a long day. Easier is to stay a night in Zhaisha. But if you decide to stay here, you may want to skip Lipu for the night as Zhaishais about 100 km from Yangshuo. It's another 100 km to Liuzhou.

Bananas on their way to the market

This road is nice and quite scenic though some cyclist told me they found it boring. True, it's not spectacular, especially after the Yangshuo area but it's good.

After Liuzhou you have to follow the direction to Datang, south west of Liuzhou. Datang is a kind of dirt town existing by the grace of a junction. The road going north leads to Yizhou and hechi and is described on this page

The road south leads you in a few days to Nanning. The first part to Bitang is mostly flat through a large agricultural area. Pleasant cycling through a quiet countryside. You will pass small villages, nothing spectacular but nice. If the weather is good, this is an excellent ride just to remember how beautiful cycling for the sake of cycling can be. Easy, nice and good views.

The last part from to Nanning is about 75 km, see above.

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