A birthday bike trip... or how we tried to outbike the smog

Step 1: Find some bikes

So my friend Erin and I decided to take a holiday over the national holiday. I was off from teaching and she was in Beijing for one more week before going back to the USA. So we are both into biking and adventures and decided to try to get to Chengde over three days. It’s about 200 km from Beijing center but we thought, no sweat. Erin has loads of friends and we were able to get some road bikes. One super nice one, and one average one. They didn’t quite fit but they would be good enough, right? We packed our backpacks, I printed some maps, we bought some snickers, and we were off! Sunday afternoon, we start our ride- and immediately my bike breaks; my handle bars stop turning. Oh no! bike trip over! There’s a Giant store nearby and the guy goes to repair it. Oh, he doesn’t have the part but can put some sticky stuff in its place. But will it work for the next few days? Probably, is the answer. Ok, off we go. 

We found some helmets, we found some bikes. Let's do it!

Step 2: Get out of Beijing 

Originally I had thought we could get in about 80 km and make it to a pretty reservoir by the town of Miyun. However, we ended up biking in circles to exit the city center and it got dark fast. We decide to stop in a town called Huairou. It’s near a pretty lake but in the dark, we couldn’t find the lake. The highway we took out was very polluted and we just wanted to stop biking. We found a place to eat that was fantastic: I had this amazing dessert that is glutinous rice with cream inside. Wow! A party in my mouth! The first 2 hotels we stopped at were all full for the holiday so we had to bike back to Huairou center and finally found a hotel that would take us. And the bikes ;-) Off my bike and boy am I sore; haven’t been riding since moving here. My hamstrings, my groin, my back. Ow!!

Pit stop along the route.

are we there yet?

Step 3: Eat a great breakfast for the long ride ahead.

Hotels in China have amazing breakfast buffets. I mean, the best. You can get eggs, veggies, dumplings, porridge, fruit, noodles, rice, the list goes on. We hop on our bikes, sore as ever, and decide to ride to Gubeikou, about 75 km away, a little town by the Great Wall. It’s quite polluted today and we think that if we keep going east, we can stay away from it! I find a route off of the highway that takes us through pear farms, rivers, rolling hills, up into the mountains. We find a stop for lunch on the side of the road; eggs and tomatoes, corn pancakes, vegetables, so great. We finally find the town and an inn to stay at. The couple running the inn are amazing. Erin speaks with them in Chinese and they are happy to help us, give us dinner, and become friends. People from the town stop by during the evening and are completely entertained by us! I was equally entertained by them. Exhausted and sore, we go to bed, hoping the pollution passes over us.

The town of Gubeikou


Some homemade food

Step 4: Do something ‘great’ on your birthday

The pollution was still gross, so we decided that another day on our bikes was not worth ruining our lungs. So we go and find the Great Wall at Gubeikou. The entrance is not far from our inn and it’s not crowded at all. We climb many stairs and all of a sudden, there we are! On the Great Wall! I didn’t know what to expect. In my head, I had images of what you see in movies and photographs, but this was totally different. Barely touched stone paths that seemed to go on forever across the mountains. You could see watchtowers popping up for miles and miles. I could image on a clear day it would be even more powerful than it was this day. How did they build this? It was so steep and intricately made.We wandered around for a few hours, stopping at a watchtower for some yoga of course.  (what else do you do on the Great Wall on your birthday?) 

Yes it looks blue. It wasn't. Yes it looks steep and dangerous. It was!

We had decided, because the pollution wasn’t letting up, to get a van to take us and our bikes back to Beijing that evening. However, when we were walking back, we bumped into the Beijing Hikers (a tour company that takes people on the wall). We asked if they had room in their bus and voila, we were on the bus back to Beijing with the group of hikers. Things like this happen so often in China, I find. People like to lend a hand, say yes, and things fall into place. So after 2 full days of biking, a day of hiking, we took a long, polluted, traffic jammed bus back to Beijing. All in all, successful biking trip with its typical China ups and downs. A great way to spend my birthday in this new country!

A little great wall yoga

Erin is much more flexible than me.

Step 5: Be grateful

Sadly, came back to the worst pollution I’ve seen since arriving. Over 300 aqi! But I think it should blow over and it’s back to school next week! I am so happy I am experiencing all that China has to offer!