China

This is the first of a group of posts about my cycling trip to China in August 2016

So China was on my list of places to visit, but then fell off, solely in regards to the extreme environmental damage they are doing (or more accurately, allowing to be done) to their own country; I felt maybe it would not be pleasant. Then someone I had connected with via CrazyGuyOnABike emailed me to ask if I was still interested in touring there. BAM.  Sold.
I created a whole Blogspot page dedicated to the preparations, in order to leave the posts to cover the journey.
I will be taking my Bike Friday folding bike, since the tour will be a loop (I will need to leave my bike case behind in Beijing), front and back panniers. Still, if I have time, I may investigate if I can purchase a bike on my way back, since Giant bikes are made in China and Beijing has a huge Giant bike store.  It took a little finagling, but I did find Giant's China website and was able to navigate it in its Chinese language version, with a little help from Google Translate. The models are pretty much totally different than the ones found in the States, but I am knowledgeable enough to know what I am looking at, as long as the component list is in english.