Possibly a long shot, but I'm currently up in Shangri-la, heading up trekking then back down towards the Laos border and I'm thinking of looking for a touring bike plus extras for around the 2000 rmb mark and cycling down through Laos. Is this a) a realistic amount to find a bike decent enough to take me through that sort of distance? and b) Can anyone point me towards any good bike shops (maybe ones that sell second hand) within a few days cycling of the Mohan-Boten border crossing? (so Jinghong, Mengla, Menglun....) Any help would be really greatly appreciated as I know a little Chinese, but not enough to find this on Chinese websites.

Thanks,
Iain

Outside of it being the rainy season, it's probably a lot more interesting to ride from Shangrila to Jinghong than Laos.

Buy your bike, rack, panniers, in Kunming at the Xiong Brothers bike shop.

www.gokunming.com/[...]

They may have a used mountain bike to sell you from their collection of excellent condition rentals. Also, they have cycled through Laos, but you need to speak some Chinese if you want info. After, pay some rmb to bring the bike with you to jinghong under the bus. Anywhere from 50 to 100rmb depending on driver.

If you are going to buy a bike right before Laos, then Jinghong is your best bet. It's the last major city with real bike shops.

There are usually Giant and Merida bike shops in every prefecture level city. The most useful one for you would probably be the Giant shop in Jinghong. It's just around the corner from the Mekong Cafe. Simao (Pu'er) will also have bike shops.