Shigu & Shaxi

This is the fourth part reviewing a hiking and cycling tour around Yunnan in China in January 2025. Click the links to see part one, part two, part three and part five.

I was back on the bike as I headed south, making my way towards Dali via the scenic route. I decided to split this section into three rides, staying overnight in Shigu and Jianchuan, before having a longer break in Shaxi.

Both Shigu and Jianchuan looked to be interesting towns, and by averaging only 60km per day, it gave me the flexibility to choose more scenic and mountainous routes, rather than having to ride along the more tedious main roads in the valley.





The first day began by leaving Hetaoyuan and riding along the road through Tiger Leaping Gorge, kind of retracing my hiking route from the previous day.

This was a pleasant ride, mostly slightly downhill with a few short climbs. The profile on Ride with GPS is completely wrong for this section, showing a few very steep climbs - this was mostly where the rocks were overhanging the road. There was also one quite long tunnel - I tried to avoid this by taking the old road around the side, but it was completely blocked off with no way through.

It didn't really matter though, traffic was light and the tunnel was well lit. The road in general was very enjoyable to ride, with nice views and a good surface. There were a couple of fantastic viewpoints, including the photo above, admiring the peaks of the Yulong National Park, together with a motorway and railway bridge for the newly opened Lijiang - Shangri-La line.



From Hutiaoxia there was a short section on a busier road, but there was a wide shoulder and cars drove slowly and courteously. I crossed a small bridge over the Yangtze to get onto quieter roads which were gently rolling, with nice views of rice fields.

There were plenty of villages along the way for refreshments and it was a pleasant, easy going ride alongside the river.

The last few kilometres into Shigu rejoined a busier road and I passed a viewpoint overlooking Shigu's most famous landmark - the first bend in the Yangtze River.

The unusual bend in the river has a special significance in Chinese history and culture. The more natural course for the river seems to have been to head south, where it would join with the Mekong and flow into South-East Asia. But, for some reason, the river took a sharp bend here, and instead headed north into Sichuan, before continuing all the way to Shanghai. Had ths unusual bend not taken place, some people claim that Chinese civilization may never have emerged.

Similarly to Egyptian or Mesopotamian civilizations developing alongside their great rivers, some of the earliest Chinese civilization emerged in the fertile floodplains of the Yangtze.



Shigu itself is a small and not very touristy town. There is an interesting museum dedicated to another important moment in Chinese history - the Long March, which passed through Shigu during the Chinese Civil War of the 1930s. The Communists, led by Mao Zedong, retreated deep into the mountains of Yunnan to evade the nationalist Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek. The Communists crossed the river here and headed north into Sichuan, where they would end up facing a new threat, from invading Japanese forces.

Shigu itself is named after a 16th century stone drum, which is displayed in part of the museum complex.



I enjoyed my night in Shigu and the next day continued south. I chose a circuitous and hopefully scenic route through the mountains, rather than stay on the busier road through the valley.

The route began with a flat section where a lot of construction was taking place, so the road was a bit broken, but this soon ended and I entered picturesque countryside.

I turned off to start the climb and had to sign a register to continue on the road - this is quite commonplace for vehicles on mountain roads in China, although usually I was just waved through without needing to sign.

The climb turned out to be very beautiful. It ascended steeply through forests, punctuated by small villages and plots of arable farmland. Towards the top there were a couple of larger settlements with shops and restaurants.



I would certainly recommend climbing this way to see a different side of rural China, far away from any tourists. The descent was quick and easy, with a lot of hairpin bends, particularly as I got closer to the valley.

The rest of the ride into Jianchuan was fairly unremarkable. I delayed joining the main road as long as possible, taking back roads through villages where I got a glimpse of local life. Then I took the main road for the last 15km, which was absolutely fine for cycling in terms of traffic, but was not particularly interesting.

The same can not be said of Jianchuan - my destination for the evening. This was a pleasant surprise, as it was a lively working town with a large historic center. I ate a delicious fish hotpot and explored the town by foot, strolling along cobbled lanes, through parks and visiting charming temples. It was a very nice town to walk around, with a friendly atmosphere and plenty to see.



The first few kilometres out of Jianchuan were on the quiet main road, before I turned off to take a slight detour through some rural villages. This was a very nice part of the route, following rolling roads through rice fields and plantations. Some of the smaller roads were not marked on the map, but they were easy to follow, and I have tried to mark them manually on the Ride with GPS route.

Before long I started the main climb of the day, which was much easier than the one between Shigu and Jianchuan. The gradients were mostly gentle and the road was enjoyable to ride, passing through forests with the leaves turning to different shades of orange and brown.

From the top a short descent took me to the town of Shilong, where there was a very rough cobbled section (think Paris-Roubaix type cobbles). It only lasted for around 1km, before I passed a lake and joined a new, wide road which descended all the way down to the valley, a few kilometres from Shaxi.

Shaxi & Shibao Mountain

Shaxi is regarded as being the most authentic and original of all the historic towns in Yunnan. It has still received considerably reconstruction, but in co-operation with a Swiss organisation, it was done to faithfully replicate the original town. As a result, it has a slightly less Disneyland type feel than Lijiang old town.



Shaxi was an important settlement on the ancient Tea Horse Road, and the historic center is compact and great for walking around (bicycles are officially prohibited). It was quieter than Lijiang and Shuhe, but there were still a few Chinese tourists on the main streets.



It is also famous for its food, with delicacies including wild mushrooms and cured ham. I enjoyed a wild mushroom hotpot, which the server made abundantly clear I needed to wait for 15 minutes before eating, in order to avoid potential poisonous or hallucinogenic effects!



I highly recommend staying in Shaxi for a couple of nights if you are in the region - with or without a bike! It had a different feel to the other towns and was a nice place just to wander around and relax.

Shibao Mountain

During one of my days in Shaxi, I did a trip to nearby Shibao mountain. The site is considered to be a holy place amongst buddhists, due to the huge number of grottoes counting stone carvings of buddha, monks and different animals that are dotted around the mountain.

It is a large area, with several hiking trails, so it makes for a fun day or half-day out exploring. When I went it was cold and slightly wet (the only day of rain during my time in China), but I still enjoyed it.





In the morning I took a Didi from Shaxi to the northern entrance to the mountain. This is the main entrance, with a large car park and ticket office. Entry was free at this time of year, but I paid a separate ticket to use the shuttle bus. After waiting for ten minutes, the shuttle bus arrived and took me to the high point of the park near the main grotto complex.

From here, my plan was to visit several grottoes and then hike along a trail all the way back to Shaxi. In total this was only around 10km and was mostly downhill, so not a very demanding route. The grottoes and carvings were very impressive. The main Shibao site was situated on several levels, with beautiful sculptures and dated from between the 9th and 13th century, when the region was part of the Nanzhao Dynasty and kingdom of Dali. It is recognised as one of the primary buddhist sites in China.

I visited several more caves and hiked up to a nice viewpoint at Lion Pass, before I began the descent back to Shaxi.



The descent was on a very well constructed trail and was extremely easy to follow. It was mostly stone steps, with many Buddhist sculptures and cave complexes along the way. It was extremely quiet (I only saw three other people on the whole trail), perhaps partly due to the inclement weather.

If you wanted to do a more challenging hike, you could also walk up this way from Shaxi, rather than getting a Didi to the start as I did.



Towards the end of the trail are some of the most impressive grottoes, built into caves and the cliffside along a narrow stream. From here, you exit the Shibao Mountain complex and join a road.

For ease of navigation you can follow the main roads back into Shaxi, but I took a detour through the back streets, which was very interesting to see some more modern Daoist temples.



If you are staying in Shaxi for multiple days, I highly recommend visiting the mountain. It has some similarities to the far more famous Leshan and Emei Mountain Buddhist sites close to Chengdu, albeit on a much smaller scale!

After returning to Shaxi, I enjoyed more of the delicious local food, but unfortunately developed a mild case of food poisoning, which would make the ride the next day tougher than I had hoped!


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