Songpan: Waterfalls, hot springs, Tibetan villages and cross country trails.

Songpan is a fairly nice walled city located in the mountains of North West Sichuan. The town itself has some good Tibetan goods shops and friendly people, but the real draw is the mountain area around the town that is perfect for mountain biking.

Happy trails: happytrailschina@hotmail.com offer horse treks around the region, they are happy to give out info, maps and even guide bikers around the trails, you can negotiate to stay in the horse trek group tents and eat the group food. They ask for half price 30RMB a day if you don’t take a horse.

The steep rugged trails that criss-cross this mountain area link tiny Tibetan villages full of fascinated children who fight for a chance to ride pillion on the back rack. Often too steep to ride up the push to the top is made worthwhile by the stupendous views from the top and the hectic downhill runs which require skill and concentration.
I tested out the trails to the waterfall (pu bu) and Er Dao Hai hot springs, these trails are fantastic to ride on but do require a medium level of skill on the decents. Big rocks on very steep uneven mud trails. I did one day through pouring rain, often with both wheels locked out sliding down the trail with 100 meter drops to avoid, great muddy fun but not for all the family.

There is one main mountain range dividing Songpan from the Waterfall and hotsprings and a wide choice of small trails crossing the mountains. You will have to climb at least 800m to the lowest of the passes and the trails are very steep so expect to push the bike as much as 50% of the way up, it is possible to cycle but you will find at the altitudes of over 3500m you will be out of breath to quickly to ride anything but short bursts.