Glorious Youth: Four Madmen Cycling from Guangzhou to Lijiang in the Fall of 2012

18 Days, 1,700 Kilometers, Four Bicycles – A Wild Last Hurrah of Youth

Some roads are meant to be measured by the soles of your feet. Some landscapes only reveal their beauty through the lens of sweat. In 2012, as whispers of the "end of the world" floated through the air, four post-80s "fools" chose the most insane way to respond—cycling all the way from Guangzhou to Lijiang. This wasn't a spontaneous getaway; it was a pilgrimage of youth crushed beneath rubber tires.

The Beginning: Searching for "Things That Will Make Us Smile at 80"

In our early twenties, we all wanted to do something that would make our 80-year-old selves grin from ear to ear. That thought planted itself like a seed in our hearts, took root, and began to grow.

In 2008, I nearly missed a trip with friends because I overslept, but Olympic traffic restrictions ironically helped me catch up—giving birth to the legendary tale of a latecomer "taking a taxi to chase a tour bus."

In 2009, I was assigned an internship in Alaska. Upon entry, I was mistaken for a dangerous person and sent to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for questioning. From there, I took a small plane to gaze at North America's highest peak, witnessed June snowfall and September auroras, and paddled through the Nenana River in a storm with an elderly couple. The most unforgettable moment was hiking into bear-infested wilderness to find the magic bus from Into the Wild. I found the bus but lost my way back. Three days without food, I trekked over 200 kilometers, barely alive when a helicopter rescued me. Sitting in the copilot seat, staring at the密密麻麻 buttons, hearing the roar of the rotors, I thought: I'm not dying, and I just got a free helicopter ride.

In 2010, I returned to the U.S. and worked at Yellowstone National Park, where I dealt with crappy wages and layoffs. My resignation was rejected, and HR threatened to deport me. Luckily, "Broken Leg Edward" drove me to the bus station—his leg was held together with steel pins, yet he could still drive and swim. An 18-hour Greyhound ride later, I stormed into Olympic National Park in Washington State, where I met Armando, a Mexican gangster. Every cop in Washington knew him; his brother was an Olympic boxing champion whose name even appeared in the fighting video games we played.

In 2011, I graduated from university and buried my head in books.

In 2012, on the eve of the apocalypse, a few fools decided to ride bicycles from Guangzhou to Lijiang in 18 days.

Day One: Two Directionally Challenged Losers' "Hellish Start"

October 3, 2012 | Guangzhou → Foshan → Zhaoqing | 125 km

Two first-class directionally challenged idiots, with a bike computer that showed "about 350 km" right after departure, began this crazy journey. The first day's 125 km was relatively easy, but no one knew this was just the prelude to a nightmare.

Days Two to Five: Flat Tires, Swarming Mosquitoes, and Vicious Dogs – Cycling's Version of Survivor

Zhaoqing → Deqing → Fengkai | 130 km

Sunscreen ran out. Tires went flat. While riding at dusk, swarms of mosquitoes attacked like bomber squadrons—straight into your face! In dim light, wearing sunglasses made it impossible to see; not wearing them meant you couldn't see either—because the mosquitoes would assault your eyes!

Fengkai → Wuzhou → Cangwu → Da'an | 140 km

Highly recommend Da'an Town's food: giant bread rolls for 2 yuan each, and authentic 螺蛳粉 (snail rice noodles) for 4.50 yuan a bowl. Simple ingredients, unforgettable flavors—I still drool thinking about them.

Da'an → Guiping → Guigang | 125 km

Muscles started protesting. Pain shot through my right heel. I had to wrap it in bandages and push through.

Guigang → Binyang → Silong | 115 km

The nightmare arrived. County roads were nothing but potholes, hill after hill, shaking us to the bone. Forced to ride at night, our flashlights nearly dead, several vicious dogs suddenly lunged from the darkness, chasing us at 20+ km/h. We were climbing uphill at only 12 km/h. Adrenaline maxed out, we somehow cranked the smallest gear to nearly 30 km/h to shake them off. From then on, night riding and barking dogs became red alerts in our brains.

Silong Town is a place where people eat dog meat. We don't eat dog, but we ended up in a shop that sold it. The owner had a fierce face. He promised free greens and free rice refills—but when the bill came, he went back on everything. Looking at his butcher-like physique, we swallowed our anger.

Days Six to Eight: Watermelons, Honey, and Kindness from Strangers

Silong → Wuming → Bozao | 134 km

County towns were shrouded in a sea of dust. Every breath felt like suffocation. But roadside watermelons were ridiculously cheap—10 yuan for three! Sweet and refreshing, we had one for dinner, one for a midnight snack, and one for breakfast. Amazing. Wuming's 桂林米粉 (Guilin rice noodles) were also authentic—5 yuan a bowl, perfect in color and taste.

The only inn in Sitang Town was full, so we pushed on to the lotus flower base in Bozao Town. Dragon Horse Inn cost 10 yuan per person. The bedroom was okay, but the bathroom was terrifying. Next door, someone was chanting Buddhist scriptures, and old songs played late into the night and early morning—but it had a certain charm.

Bozao → Pingguo → Tiandong → Tianyang | 114 km

Blazing sun, endless uphills. Xiao Quan's honey fell and broke—shit happens! Passing through Tiandong County, the "Hometown of Chinese Mangoes," we saw lots of wedding cars—must have been a lucky day. The funniest sight was a small tree covered in kids who cheered wildly when they saw us, as if we were the national team. Adorable.

Tianyang → Tianlin | 110 km

This stretch was easy, with cool weather. On the national highway near the Yunnan-Guizhou border, we had lunch in Layu Village. A kind local noticed our gear and asked where we were headed. When he heard Yunnan, his face turned serious as he warned us about the road conditions. After lunch, he sent us off with a table full of food and water. In Guangzhou, if a stranger gave us stuff, we'd assume bad intentions. But here, only gratitude. Maybe only far from the noise of the city can we let down our guard and feel the pure hearts untouched by the muddy world.

That night, Xiao Quan and I met Wen Fen and Rui Jiang. Fellow Cantonese, same departure day, same destination, same post-80s "losers." They had just graduated; we had quit our jobs a year after graduating. When like-minded madmen meet, a chapter of "bromance-fueled youth" begins.

Days Nine to Eleven: The Four Pillars Unite, Karst Terrain Strikes

Tianlin → Longlin | 147 km (131 cycling, rest hitchhiking)

Insane suffering, heart-pounding night rides, chased by 中华田园犬 (Chinese rural dogs) twice! The Four Pillars rode together for the first time—chaotic and thrilling. On the road, we met a teacher and student from Shandong who planned to bike through every province in China in four years. The teacher had abandoned his family for the road—we couldn't relate, but maybe only his student understood.

Longlin, Guangxi → Xingyi, Guizhou

Super insane! Karst terrain meant endless kilometers of uphill, countless sharp turns, and almost no guardrails. Even hitchhiking felt like walking on thin ice. We screamed at the treacherous landscape from the car, drawing stares from locals who seemed to think: These city folks have never seen anything. Haha, thank goodness we hadn't—otherwise, life would lose another surprise.

Xingyi's nightlife was explosive! Every street corner had KTV, bars, and nightclubs. Grilled tofu was 1 yuan for four pieces—so good! If a fight hadn't almost broken out, we'd have eaten at least eight each.

Xingyi → Kunming (by train)

Cycling to the train station, we passed through the Maling River Gorge. In the rain, looking down, the only word was "stunning." Han Hong's song "The Sky Lights Up" tells the story of this place: On October 3, 1999, a cable car crashed. A young couple lifted their two-and-a-half-year-old child at the moment of impact. The child survived; the parents did not. It turned out to be a tragedy caused by illegal overloading. That song infuriated every local official.

On the train, we met another madman cycling from Shenzhen to Bangkok—Huang Xiaonan, riding solo, with a live blog on Douban.

Days Twelve to Fourteen: Rest in Kunming, Dali's Wind, Flowers, Snow, and Moon

Kunming

Enjoying blue skies and white clouds by Dianchi Lake. Sunbathing on the scenic road, gazing at the mountains and water—pure bliss. Kunming's city center has double-decker buses, and bike teams are everywhere. Merida and Giant bikes are as common as taxis. The Merida shop here was incredibly welcoming—even with a crowd of customers, they adjusted our bikes and added chain oil for free. Compare that to the Merida shop in Tianhe, Guangzhou, where I spent over 2,000 yuan on a bike and they charged an extra 20 yuan just to install a speedometer. Maintenance meant a half-hearted brake and gear adjustment, and they told me to clean the chain myself. Night and day.

Kunming → Anning → Lufeng | 112 km

We tried the legendary 野山药炖腊排骨 (wild yam stewed with cured pork ribs)! Unforgettable flavor! But beware—in Yunnan, "one jin" means "one kilogram." You'll find out how pricey that is when the bill comes.

National Highway 320 was the true devil. Forget karst terrain, 60 km of uphill, or rainy rides through canyons—this road made all of that look easy. Jagged rocks, crater-sized potholes—every bump was a supreme test of iron buttocks. After surviving that stretch, we had an 11 km downhill with stunning views. But don't look back—I glanced back for a second and nearly fell off the cliff.

Lufeng → Dali (by train)

Dali's old town wasn't too crowded. If you want to avoid Lijiang's Dayan Old Town crowds, come here.

Wind from Xiaguan, flowers from Shangguan, snow on Cangshan Mountain, moonlight over Erhai Lake—Dali's four wonders. Without a few cups of light wine, how can you withstand such romance?

Days Fifteen to Sixteen: Cycling Erhai Lake, Disappointment and Emotion in Shuanglang

Dali Old Town → Erhai Lake

Near the south gate of the old town, the Xiangsi Hostel was comfortable, the owner warm, and the walls covered with glorious tales of past travelers. My waist pouch broke—even a man has to thread a needle sometimes.

The ride from the old town to Erhai's shoreline was pure bliss! By the lakeside, art lovers were painting. A few losers secretly watched children doing morning exercises under the blue sky and white clouds, unwilling to leave. Time steals our youth but can't take away our childlike hearts.

"The years we cycled together around Erhai Lake"—an old fisherman hadn't caught a fish yet, but he'd already hooked the souls of four losers. Xiaoputuo Island is said to be perfect for moon gazing, and Erhai witnessed another happy couple tying the knot.

Shuanglang, Dali

All the travel guides say Shuanglang is beautiful, but when we went, the whole town was under construction—bleak and disappointing. But an old barbershop touched me: he was cutting hair, she was waiting. A tiny, humble room, but immense happiness.

Seeing a second-grader carrying so much stuff, I couldn't help but ask: Are you still the person I knew on campus? Compared to Lijiang, I truly love Dali more.

Days Seventeen to Eighteen: The Finish Line, Lijiang

Shuanglang → Heqing

The Dali-Lijiang highway was so long, full of "shit-eating slopes"! Continuous uphills, exhausted bodies, harsh UV rays, heads down, sweat pouring. When we saw that "Lijiang" sign, life suddenly felt full of hope.

Heqing → Lijiang Old Town (Finish Line)

Brothers, for the final stretch, let's have a highway experience! Wild young fools speeding on the expressway—life has no second take, don't ride at high speed.

At the 2,012 km mark, we caught a glimpse of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. The finish line was near.

Lijiang's old town was too commercialized—a bit off-putting. But we met some amazing people here, and stories from all over converged in this place. There's a dish called "水性杨花" (water-natured, willow-flowered)—it blooms when the sun comes out and withers when the sun sets. Lively little dogs ran through the old town. Dongba script—the only living pictographic language in the world—is recorded on slightly poisonous荛花 (Wikstroemia) paper. After hundreds of years, the colors remain vivid. It's called "paper that lasts a thousand years."

A bowl of noodles cost 20 yuan—so expensive! The snack street had lots of things that looked good but tasted average, 10 yuan a portion. We each ate about 50 yuan worth and found it just okay.

Day Nineteen: Lashihai Lake, Shuhe Ancient Town, and That Crazy Night

Lijiang Old Town → Lashihai Lake → Shuhe Ancient Town → Lijiang Old Town

Lashihai and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain both required entrance fees—we budget travelers skipped them. Lifting our bikes in Shuhe, a foreign tourist exclaimed, "OH MY GOD!"

The night before parting, we went into the 2416 Bar in Dayan Old Town. A dozen beers cost 98 yuan, about 25 yuan each. That night was packed with stories:

A girl could dance every style of ethnic dance. The guy on the right was a drinking god—chugging faster than chugging, then blowing the foam. He drank more than the four of us combined. The guy on the left was even more impressive: he bid 200 yuan for a cocktail and gave it to a girl from Chengdu he'd never met. She actually joined him for a drink—200 yuan for a Lijiang romance, totally worth it!

Epilogue: The Ride Ends, Youth Continues

18 days, 1,700 kilometers, four bicycles, four madmen.

Someone once said: in your early twenties, do something that will make your 80-year-old self smile. I smiled because I've done so many things that make me grin even a second later.

What cycling taught me isn't how to conquer a mountain, but how to find yourself in the sweat. Those nights with flat tires, the fear of being chased by dogs, the kindness of strangers, the "bromance" of teammates—these are the truest footnotes of youth.

If you're also searching for "something that will make you smile at 80," don't hesitate. Hit the road. While you're still young, while the apocalypse rumors still linger, while your knees can still take the bumps, while your heart can still race for the scenery.

Because some roads—only by cycling them do you truly walk them.

Cycling Tips: - In Yunnan, "one jin" equals "one kilogram"—check your bill carefully - Night riding is risky; watch out for vicious dogs - Must-eats: snail rice noodles in Da'an Town, grilled tofu in Xingyi, wild yam stewed with cured pork ribs in Dali - Lijiang is heavily commercialized; Dali is worth more of your time - Always check your brakes before riding—don't get ripped off by bike shops like I did

"Go on—there are roads still waiting ahead. Look up at the blue sky, look around at the wild fields. On the road, glimpse this kind of life. Pause. Stare. Reflect. Smile. And let the wheels start turning again."