South Sichuan Yi tour – First week of October – A great trip to have some great BBQ’s, see beautiful waterfalls and canyons and learn more about the Yi people, a unique minority group in that part of China.
10/1
This trip had seven of us total. 3 Americans, one South American guy, a Colombian girl and 2 Chinese people. It was nice to finally have a good roof rack to put the bikes on instead of packing some in the van or all on the back which is not as safe. We planned to meet around 9 in Chengdu, but didn’t get on the road until ten. Since it was the national day holiday week vacation in China, the roads were crazy with traffic so things took naturally longer then usual. We had a great lamb and beef hotpot near Yaan and continued towards Hanyuan over Niubi shan pass. I had planned to drop them off before Hanyuan so they could bike down, but it was getting dark soon and super cold and windy up there. There’s a reason the top is littered with wind mills. Its always a wind tunnel when I’ve been there but great views. We went down to get our hotel which had great views of the lake besides it and had nice dinner at the hotel.
10/2
They left in morning around 9-10 and began riding along the reservoir which is pretty. There are a few tunnels along the way but not too bad. The road is still a little busy until the turn off to Ganlou. We ate at the junction of the turn off and then we did a side trip in the van down the road a dozen kms or so to check out Daduhe canyon which is pretty amazing and has some nice waterfalls and views. Because of some traffic and stuff it took almost three hours by the time they began biking again. They headed back on the road which is a steeper uphill along a river to the large town of Ganlou. They arrived as it was getting dark and starting to rain. We ended up having a local style pork bbq on the side of the street where I usually do. Since Ganlou is a mountain town it is narrow so the traffic and beeping can be obnoxious but they did like it still.
10/3
The next day they left town and the first 8-10 kms is easy but after that there is a steep climb about 8 kms so I loaded their bikes and took them up. We stopped near the top where I know a beautiful view and some locals gave us some yams and snacks. We went up the road a little further had to go another 35 or more kms to get to village with food options (noodles) but super cute kids that took selfies with us and asked us when were going to return. The road is generally along a ridge but still is mostly up and downs, mostly on an incline. A couple people went to bike some more but others got a ride for a little further. We ended the day by heading in the van 140 kms to Xichang the regional capital and a tourist geared place. We passed through Yuexi and went over a pass which had a ton of fog. We got down to the highway which had construction so it took extra time of course. We got to our hotel and headed down the road for a nice meal.
10/4
Today we all took the day off to do what we wanted in Xichang. For lunch we all got together and then afterwards I drove them over to the Yi peoples museum of the history of slavery, which has English and is actually pretty decent. Afterwards a few of them walked along the lake for a bit and the others biked around Qionglai lake which is about 35 kms and is really pretty. The one Chinese girl really liked the lake and thought it was the highlight of the trip for her. We all gathered for dinner and walked down the road to have a local style bbq that was 59 rmb each for all you can drink and eat which was great.
10/5
We grabbed breakfast before headed back up over the mountain to continue the trip. We were making good progress since there wasn’t that much traffic but then there was a huge landslide in front of us that delayed us around 2 and a half hours. Some of them cycled up a bit while we waited. We finally got through and picked the others up and continued on. We stopped to eat at a decent place in Zhaojie town. We continued and when we got to intersection a overzealous cop flagged me down and tried to give me a hard time, but I have a license and everything was legal. From here is where they were to begin biking anyway so they continued downhill through an amazing gorge. Even better then Daduhe Canyon I think with more waterfalls and amazing views. Nata had a wasp or something sting her which was too bad but luckily she was ok. Because of the landslide we were a little delayed so we got to town a little late to Leibo. We got our rooms then headed down the road and had another great meal as usual.
10/6
They took off around ten. There was a big climb, about 20 kms or so, so it was a good challenge for the last day. Going over the pass was a foggy and cold. On the other side we all gathered at a tea and drinks shop that also had a fire going. We went a couple more kms to a town to have lunch and then headed over to Jinma lake which is really nice and luckily hardly any people which was a surprise. We headed to the other side of the lake which had a outdoor restaurant roasting a suckling pig so we had some of that and some fish and other things for a massive feast for our last night. Even though it was expensive it was worth it.
10/7
We left after ten to head back to Chengdu. The road along the river is bumpy but pretty fast. Then its twisty through bamboo forests and hard to pass other traffic. We got on the highway and I was expecting a ton of congestion but there wasn’t much traffic to my surprise. This time of year was colder then usual and cloudy, but at least we avoided the rain. We were lucky we in the south which isn’t that high, because west Sichuan was hit with tons of snow since many places are over 4000 meters. We arrived to Chengdu earlier then I thought around 4. Another awesome trip and everyone had a great time.
