Cycling Trips
Dali is a great place for cycling, with quiet country roads and sweeping mountain vistas. Most travelers in Dali choose to rent their own bicycles and explore Dali on their own. Many of them come back to Dali complaining that they spent most of the time along the highway - breathing in truck exhaust and enduring a neverending stream of horn honking - or carrying their bikes through rice paddies, unable to find their way. Don't make the same mistake! Check out ClimbDali's cycling itineraries:
Half-Day Dali Cycling Ride: Ride out of Dali OldTown and make a beeline for ErHai Lake, tracing your way along a route that is partially paved, partially dirt, and partially footpath. Pass through a few fishing villages and rice paddies en route to historic XiZhou, and enjoy some local BaBa (round bread) before taking a van back to Dali.
Cycle Lake ErHai (2 days): Cycle through villages on the western shore of the lake, stopping in XiZhou for some BaBa, up to the dye-works at ZhouCheng, then along the main road to the eastern shore of the lake. Cut across the fields to Shuanglang, where we will spend the night at the Sky And Sea guesthouse. The next morning, we will continue through Wase and other small fishing villages, past Little PuTuo Island, before catching a ferry back to Dali.
Tea Horse Road Cycle Tour: This is the asphalt equivelent of the Southern Silk Road (known locally as the Tea Horse Road). Depart from New Dali for an exhilerating 1 hour downhill ride, followed by a steady climb up the YangBi River on the opposite site of the CangShan Mountains from Dali. We will stop in the YangBi town for some lunch, and tour the historic section, including the 400-year-old Cloud Dragon Bridge (YunLong Qiao).
Keep cycling until you run out of energy, and then we'll find a guesthouse to sleep and enjoy a dinner in a local restaurant. The second day, we will continue cycling through small villages on a quiet country road, through a Eucalyptus plantation, a miniature suspension bridge, and terraced rice paddies before pulling into Shaxi in the afternoon. Tour what is perhaps the best preserved market square along the entire Tea Horse Road and the restored old town of Shaxi, before settling into a cozy guesthouse.
From here you can continue on to LiJiang/ShangriLa, or return to Dali.
ShuangLang Mountain Bike Ride: This is mountain biking for novices. This trail winds its way from a fishing village on the other side of ErHai lake from Dali, where we will follow a dirt road up into the mountains, passed remote villages and down to Wase before making a loop back to ShuangLang.
