The mountainous region in the northwestern edge of China bordering Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia is called the Altai. Like neighboring Siberia this is a region of snow-capped mountains, pine forests, surging rivers and pristine lakes.
The furthest point in the world from the sea, rivers here flow into the Artic Ocean. 
The easiest way to get here is by overnight sleeper bus from the long distance bus station to Buerjin a 600km journey. Bikes are charged as a full ticket price on the roof of the bus but they go for just a few RMB if you put them in a bike bag as you get 10kg of luggage free of charge. Chinese sleeper buses with two tiers of narrow beds are the most comfortable way to travel long distances on the still potholed roads. Although space is limited and regular bumps catapult your whole body skywards it is possible to get some sleep on the bus as at least you are lying down.
Buerjin has been built to the same plan that it seems most towns in China are designed to; wide straight streets lined by tiled concrete blocks. It has a few good noodle bars, there is a Giant bike shop and the Xinhua bookshop sells a useful map of the region.
Hanasi Lake is the premier tourist attraction in the region; it is a spectacular 170km ride there from Buerjin.A three-day ride the road will be completely surfaced by the end of August 2001.
Day 1 Buerjin-Chonghuer 90km Starting out from Buerjin the road crosses a the river then heads flat out along grassy plains until climbing up over a small pass and down into the fertile lushness of Chonghuer.
Day 2 Chonghuer- Jia Deng Gu 55km By September 2001 the road works will be complete and there will be a surfaced road all the way to the lake. When we rode this route the road surface was rocks covered with sand. The first 15km to Suwukebasitao are a steep climb up onto a plateau.
Suwukebasitao is a tiny Kazak village 1km off the road; the shops and noodle bars that line the only street which are painted in bright blues, reds and whites have horses and camels tethered outside. As we rode into town the people a mixture of Russian, Kazak and Chinese dressed in long riding capes and Russian style hats fixed their attention on us, it felt like the scene from a Spaghetti western as the stranger rides into town.
We chose the restaurant at the far end of the town and stopped for noodles. The friendly fat owners explained to us that this was a summer town as the snow in winter is several metres high. Mostly shepherds herding sheep, they also come here to raise horses, which they sell for up to 3000RMB (370USD) each. They told us that they knew trails all around the area and could take us on a horse trek if we wanted. Interested to know about the trails I found it was possible to go to the lake without using the road, but they were unsure if the bikes could go that way.
We decided that we would continue to the lake alone by road and would be back to investigate further later. The next 40km climbs up and down from valley to valley each full of Yurts the Kazak shepherds traditional tents. The open grass plains of each valley slowly fill with trees as we approsach the river. The road finally descends to Jiadenggu where there are a few restaurants at the intersection of the road.
