Qinghai Lake Group Biking Tour
10-Day Qinghai Lake Biking
Qinghai Lake is the largest salt-water lake in China. This 10-day tour will provide an amazing opportunity to experience Qinghai'™s natural beauty, rich culture and exotic foods. This group biking tour starts at June 20th in 2016.
Highlights
- Cycle around the beautiful Qinghai Lake
- Have a chance to see a large-scale cole flowers
- Get close to Bird Island to watch birds
- Enjoy popular and profession biking route in China
Suggested Itinerary
Pick up from the airport and check-in with a help to you guide. The rest of the day is free for your own arrangement and to prepare for the bike tour tomorrow.
Commence the first leg of this biking tour from Xining to Huangyuan County. The ride is 70 km long and lasts for about 4 hours. Pass through Duoba County which is a Tibetan county, and then continue riding tour to Huangyuan County passing through Huangyuan Canyon.
Trip Note: Restaurant choices and conditions along the trip are very limited, but we will arrange meals at the best possible restaurants to ensure you have a taste of real local food..
Today's ride is 120 km long for about 7 hours. Start with a long moderate hill climb on the state road to Qinghai Lake. You will have probably gotten used to breathing in the high plateau air! From here the Dao Tang River (means reverse flowing river) is visible. The river flows from east to west, which is rare because the general geological pattern in China is higher in the west and gradually descends towards the east. Depending on how you feel after the climb, continue on the flat at the south eastern corner of Qinghai Lake and enjoy the sunset.
Qinghai Lake is China's largest inland salt water lake. The ellipse-shaped lake looks like a huge poplar leaf sitting on the alpine prairie. Scenery in Qinghai Lake varies according to seasons. Summer and autumn are the most comfortable weather conditions and the lake's scenery is most beautiful during these seasons.
Today's riding distance is 140km for about 7 hours. The morning's ride will first follow the busy national road. In June and July, the wild rapeseed flowers are in bloom, blanketing the landscape with shades of yellow and gold. There is little civilization around most of the lake, so we will stop in a quiet spot along the way for a picnic lunch to recharge our energy with some snacks and fruits.
The route in the afternoon will lead us away from the traffic onto quiet roads alongside the lake. We will cycle in an area of peaceful tranquility until we reach our overnight stop in Hemahe County. It is a small town located at the intersection of the road to Bird Island and Saltwater Lake at Chaka. Tonight we will camp near the village.
Today's ride is 70kms about 4 hours. On the way you will probably come across a few young curious but friendly Tibetan lamas. Those who wish can climb up a small mountain with a Tibetan style tower made of rocks and tree branches on top, to get a fascinating bird's view of the crops, the winding road leading to Bird Island and Qinghai Lake in the distance.
Between May and July, around 100,000 migratory birds - Red-Crowned cranes and King Shags migrate from South East Asia to Bird Island to breed, and literally cover the whole island. Tourists can get a close up view of these birds from within the well hidden observatory during the birds' breeding season.
Set off along the west bank of the lake for another 25km, then on the national road again to Quanji, where we will have lunch and also visit the local market to buy fruit. In the afternoon ride to Gangcha, where there is time to relax a bit and take a shower before wandering around this little Tibetan town with its various ethnic groups. After supper take in the amazing sunset over the seemingly-endless lake.
This morning get up before dawn to see a bit of Gangcha itself, with its traditional yurts, beautiful prayer flags, and mysterious praying stones. Then make an early start leaving Qinghai Lake behind and head back towards Xihai.
On the way pass though several small villages to the see the day-to-day activities of the local people. After a picnic lunch, ride through the most beautiful natural grazing grounds outside of Xihai.
Ride for about 60km lasting 5 hours today. On the way you will probably come across a few curious lamas by the roadside. Hudong Sheep Farm is one of the major breeding centers for purebred Qinghai sheep. The farm has beautiful scenery with lakes, marshes and meadows, and you may see some rare animals roaming about. Camp near the village by night.
The final leg of this biking trip stretches 160km long for about 9 hours, passing Riyue Mountain and Daotang River on the national highway. As this is the same route as the first day an option is available to return from Hudong Sheep Farm by mini bus to the your hotel.
Trip Notes
1.Food and hotels
Restaurant and hotels along the trip are very basic. We will try our best to arrange the restaurants for you.
2. Best time to hike
Best time to hiking in Guilin is from middle of April to October especially the autumn.
3. Time to go:
The best time for Qinghai Lake biking is June to September. July and August is the most expensive months. Our group tour starts at June 20th in 2016 with a view to bird watching and numerous cole flowers. And you can avoid the crowds, have a better price and have fun to share with other travelers.
4. What to pack
Good outdoor shoes, sunglasses, sun block and hat are necessary.
5. Booking Procedure:
Step 1: Submit your name, email address and traveling dates for the tour. The price may vary according to the location of your hotel.
Step 2: Choose to make payment via PayPal and your request will be listed as our top priority. We guarantee a 100% refund if you are not satisfied.
Step 3: Receive a reply within 24 hours. The tour will be tailor-made to meet your requirements and the booking confirmed.
Step 4: Enjoy the tour!
6. Payment Methods:
We now offer three payment methods: PayPal, credit card authorization via fax, and wire transfer. PayPal is recommended for its safety and efficiency. You can pay with USA dollars, Australian dollars, European dollars, and British pounds directly with your credit card or debit card if you do not have a PayPal account.
7. Cancellation Policy:
In the event of cancellation, we will refund any payment made to China Highlights (unless any cancellation fee is applicable) within 14 days of our receipt of your written cancellation request. Visit here for more details.
8. Travel Insurance:
Travel insurance is not included. We carefully selected some insurance providers from your region that give you the best value for money. Click here to go to the travel insurance page.
Price includes:
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Liu Yuan was a superb guide and a lot…
Liu Yuan was a superb guide and a lot of fun to spend time with during my first visit to Beijing. It was a wonderful intensive three days. more
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Great weather and a good trip out with Lily!
Many thanks to my guide Lily for customising the trip to make it as efficient and enjoyable as possible. She arranged to start an hour earlier to beat the crowd and I got to enjoy the Great Wall before the crowd streamed in and while the weather was cool. I requested to switch the next attraction to visit from Temple of Heaven to Ming Tomb and she not only accommodated the prompt request, but made all the necessary arrangements even before the trip coordinator managed to reply! Kudos! Our driver was jovial and friendly, always on top of traffic conditions and took detours to beat slow moving traffic. Hassle free day and I wouldn’t have been able to cover the two attractions so easily and comfortably without them! more
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This was our first time traveling to China, so we really wanted to experience some of the major historical sights of Beijing together with a tour guide. Our itinerary was very carefully planned out according to our interests and tailored to our needs. First, we went camping on the Great Wall and hiked from Jiankou to Mutianyu, and the next day we got an in-depth tour of the Forbidden City as well as a tour of the Temple of Heaven and a taiji experience in the gardens. Our tour guide, Ivy, was truly wonderful in preparing and organizing our personalized itinerary. She is very friendly and knowledgeable, and she was always able and willing to answer all of our questions. Ivy provided us with a truly amazing first visit to China and I would warmly recommend China Highlights for everyone who wishes to travel to China and I would especially recommend Ivy as a tour guide for your trips! more
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Superb service and wonderful time in Beijing
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Amazing Trip
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Tour to the great wall from the airport
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Great tour, fantastic guide!
This tour was fantastic! I loved hearing about the history of the Forbidden City and admiring the views at the Great Wall. William was a fantastic tour guide. We were a group of families with several young children, and he was very accommodating and flexible with timing and arrangements. I totally recommend this tour and William as a guide! more
May 2023,
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Four excellent sightseeing days in Beijing
We had wonderful four days in Beijing. The entire trip was tailored exactly to our wishes. From experiencing local food, to exploring the major sites of the city up to hiking the great wall of China. Additionally, we had two amazing guides Ina and Fan taking care of all the tickets and coordination required. Also, they could not only tell us everything about the sights we visited and give us an insight to local customs and traditions, but they did so in perfect German. The chauffeur service from Mr Chang was also excellent, getting us from A to B without any hazzle. The past couple of days were one of the most carefree trips we have had so far. more
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Great tour from William
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Apr 2023,
Lawrence
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Beijing 2 day private tour
The tour itself was great, private driver to and from, my guide Ivy was great English speaking guide. She was very knowledgeable and passionate about her country. Was a great time exploring the Great Wall of china and then my second day did a city tour (forbidden city, hutong tour, summer palace). Felt extremely safe, and was confident having an English guide. Thank you china highlights. (Provide them what you want and they’ll make it happen). Prices are reasonable as I looked at a few places but for private tour, my own schedule, and confidence of getting around safely you can’t go wrong. more
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Very enjoyable
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Amazing Beijing Experience
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Great experience
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Excellent service and tour guide!!
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Maggie was such a tremendous help for…
Maggie was such a tremendous help for our recent Beijing trip. Very prompt and helpful in helping us plan and adjust/amend to our requests. more
Apr 2023,
Hi
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We travelled first to Beijing for a few days before moving on to Wuhan for the wedding and then for a few days in Guilin along with my son and daughter in law. It was a great trip and all went smothly with the help of the guides we had along the way. William in Beijing and Jenny in Guilin were excellent. Chas in HK was also very helpful in getting us to the right place and the right time to fly home. more
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