Cycling in western Sichuan province<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAfter suffering an injury, I was in a hospital in Kunming for a while. I began a cycling trip around the world in 2006 in Thailand. Four months into my travels I entered Yunnan from Laos and was in Shangralila heading into Tibet. An SUV swerved into the opposite side of road onto my shoulder and hit me head on, resulting in a broken femur and a month long hospital stay. My face broke the windshield and I wasn\u2019t wearing a helmet.<\/p>\n
I was surprised and lucky to be alive so I thought maybe there was something for me in China. Maybe fate. Instead of going home, I got a horrible surgery and then recovered and taught in Kunming the next year and a half. I even had to get a second surgery in Thailand after a year, which is why it took so long to recover.<\/p>\n
I had the idea to do bike tours from when my accident happened. When I was in Taiwan I hosted dozens of bike tours and other events and have done so in other places I\u2019ve lived. When I came back to China I bought a motorcycle in Chongqing so that I could explore more of Sichuan and find better routes to travel on.<\/p>\n
12. Over the last few years you\u2019ve been guiding travelers around Sichuan: what are some of the best routes and journeys that you\u2019ve taken?<\/h3>\n Are are so many, especially out west in the Tibetan areas of Sichuan. My first bike trip here in 2010 was from Litang and back through Tagong, Danba to the Ya’an area. Around Ganzi in the northwest is also amazing and has some areas like Yaqing Monestary, Zhuqing, Xinluhai Lake and more.<\/p>\n
Down south heading on small roads towards Xichang there are great remote places with beautiful canyons in the Yi peoples area. Up North West you can go to ruoergai grasslands, Langmusi with two monasteries and first bend of the yellow river. There\u2019s plenty of short one to three day trips around Chengdu to Sancha lake or around mountains east of the city or over towards Dujiangyan, Dayi or Qionglai area west of Chengdu. Coming down the road from Jiange up from up north is also amazing.<\/p>\n
One of the best reasons to live in Chengdu is to have access to these and more places in Sichuan.<\/p>\nBicycling in Sichuan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n13. How do you feel Chinese people respond to your bicycle and camping adventures, given that it\u2019s something most of them haven\u2019t experienced before?<\/h3>\n When I started doing this, I assumed it would mostly be foreigners but a lot of Chinese like it as well, which is great. They like breaking out of their ordinary routines. Some of them do, at least. Chinese are such a large group that it’s hard to generalize, but many people covet this type of experience. To see new things, be in new places, be outside, and have an adventure. If you’re interested, you can visit my website at BikeWestChina.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Learn what life is really like for a university English teacher in Chengdu with this inside look, provided by an expat teacher with years of experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":56960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,26],"tags":[225,254],"yoast_head":"\n
13 Questions with a University English Teacher in Chengdu<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n