Biking in the Tropics

I never thought that I would say that I would be biking in the tropics in the rain forest in China, but there I was on a mountain bike in the tropics in China. Ryan, my cousin, and I spent a week in Xishuangbanna. For those of you who are not familiar with Chinese geography, Xishuangbanna is the most southwest region in China that borders Myanmar and Laos. For two days we rented bikes and explored the surrounding areas around Jinghong (the main city). The coolest day was when we found a dirt trail that took us through villages, rubber tree plantations, and tea plantations. For about four hours we cruised around the towns and finally up a dirt hill. To be surrounded by such beautiful scenery was so amazing and to see some of the local minority villages is indescribable. Coming from Shanghai, one of the biggest and fastest growing cities in the world to being in villages where the farming is done by hand and the grains are set out to dry on the roads and basketball courts is such a huge change. What I like most about China is how diverse it is. I have been so many places around China these past two years, but Jinghong felt different from any place that I have been. Since it borders Myanmar and Laos, it has more of an Asian Pacific feel compared to the typical China feel.

When we got back to Jinghong it was super mellow. We found a cafe called Mekong Cafe that served a great drink called the Mekong Bang Bang. Basically it was fresh pineapple juice and their moonshine (bai Jiao) and they only cost 10 RMB each (about $1.40). I also love Yunnan Province because they have good coffee, which beats the heck out of instant coffee. There was also a lot of good fresh fruit juices and shakes. I probably could have stayed longer but we booked a three day trek and so we were limited to only two days of biking.