I know two routes of interest that involve the Anning - Fumin valley. Both start the same - i usually leave town by heading west on Renmin Lu until it ends. I then hang a left onto Chunyu Lu and ride this south until it meets the G320 highway, which goes over to Anning. There's a short climb shortly after the turn onto the highway, but then it's basically downhill to Anning. In Anning proper (the town) i take a right towards Anning hotsprings. At the hotsprings there is the option of the bus back to Xiaoximen (bike on bus inside), and there is a convenient place to stop for some liangmian. The route then heads to Qinglong Zhen and on into the Anning-Fumin river valley, which is basically flat, but is following the river downstream, so it's actually slightly downhill, allowing cruising speeds up to 30km/h, even on a mountain bike.
The option in routes is at 76km out from Kunming, where there is a turn off to climb out of the river valley. The climb is pretty hard, and gets noticeably cooler as you go up. This brings you up to the back of Haobao organic farm, which is another suitable food stop, as it has a restaurant in the greenhouse. From Haobao back to Kunming is a pretty easy, mostly downhill 35km. All told, this route is around 120km. Choose this route if the sky is clear and you love climbing.
The other route option is to skip the turn off at 76km, and just carry straight on to Fumin. This section of the valley is almost a gorge with white water, big rocks and a steeper (downhill) gradient. It's arguably the most beautiful part of the valley. Fumin would also be a good food stop. It also has a bus escape option back to Huangtupo (bike on roofrack). From Fumin back to Kunming (G108) would be gradually uphill (i've only ever ridden this section in the other direction). This brings you back into Kunming via Kunsha Lu. There's a badly lit road tunnel just before you get back into the city, which is safest to walk through. All told, this route would be around 130km. Choose this route if you like easy but long rides in beautiful scenery.
Regarding bikes from Xiong Brothers - check them thoroughly at pick-up, as a friend of mine had trouble with one recently.
I usually ride out from Salvador's, as this is somewhere that everyone seems to know, it's central, it's easy to keep an eye on your bike from the outside bar, it has a fairly good selection of fuel-food and it's fairly straightforward to get onto Renmin Lu from there (Longxiang Jie to the intersection at the bottom of the hill, then Xichang Lu to Renmin Lu).
i've emailed emotis, and we'll fix a time and place to meet and post it here. then, if schedule suits, cici kong or anyone else can join if they wish.
6.0 earthquake shakes Yunnan
Posted byi don't think it sounds odd that the casualty figures are so low. the weather was good, it was during daylight, the area is (relatively) low population density and remember that the Richter scale is logarithmic, so 6 is ten times smaller than 7.
however, i concur that we're likely to hear of more dead and injured over the coming hours and days.
First case of H1N1 in Yunnan reported in Kunming
Posted bycartoons... there was a great SARS-related poster which i saw in Shanghai of a guy strolling along, nonchalantly spitting a massive bomb.
Yunnan dairy industry recovering from melamine scandal
Posted bythere's also Green Kunming - they've got some awesome stuff: www.greenkunming.com/
Recipe: Laonai Yangyu - "Grandma's potatoes"
Posted byah man, that looks yummy. i like a bit of hua jiao you in the mix, some garlic, and plenty of chilli. pair it up with the rubing dish from last week, wash it down with a few LCJs, and you're set
Starbucks to market Yunnan coffee in China outlets
Posted byjust imagine: "Salvador's opens 50th store in Peru"
what then? the horrors! a successful indie brand from Kunming has gone global, and that makes them "bad", just because of their success?
and i expect Salvador's would have the sense to change their menu for different markets, as most international chains in China have.
brands are everything, and the market is always right.