Just got an interesting opportunity to spend the summer in Northern China. I’d go in a second except I’m totally commited to racing IMMOO next fall and I’m not dropping out. Is it possible to train in rural China? Right now I’m thinking no, and that I’m going to stay home. What say you?
I have to say there is always next year for the race and might not be a next time for a trip like that.
Why would you not be able to train? You can run anywhere, if there is water you can swim, get a cross bike. If you can do a century on muddy unpaved roads on a cross bike you can do pavement on your tri bike.
China has lots of pools. Can you speak Mandarin or Cantonese? You can probably meet lot of interesting athletes and triathletes. I am sure you would have fun if you bring your mountain bike as they don’t have the best of roads in remote areas.
I’d be living in Xi’an. Any idea about local riding conditions?
I spent part of last year in Prague and it was a fitness disaster that I don’t ever want to repeat. Cobblestones, pollution, pork, and crazy drivers almost buried my fitness. Training abroad, esp in developing areas, can be really hard.
Xi’an is a historical city and has been the capital city for several dynasties. (literally it means ‘western capital’ - home to those ‘terra cotta soldiers’) However, compared to the cities/provinces along the coast, it’s one of the less developed regions. You’ll most likely to face the same problems you described - crappy road, pollution, crazy drivers. The city streets will be too crowed to ‘train’. (Note that in China, bicycles are the vehicle used to work, to school, to market, to parks… not the ‘training tool’ we use here in the US.) Riding in the rural area is not recommended due to the safety reason. As China becomes more westernized, the crime rate has gone up too. It’s fine to ride a rusty old bike to a local attraction; a state-of-art tri/road bike is would be a perfect target for local thugs.
Will you spend the summer at a college? If so, you should be able to swim and run on campus. However, I doubt you can find the access to the local pools. In spite of these disadvantages, I’d say that a visit to a historical city like Xi’an would be an unique experience.
I’ve never been to China but my best friend( a non tri person) goes there quite regularly on business, often to out of the way places. Based upon his description, I’d guess that cycling will be the hard part. You can run anywhere and there may be a pool nearby. But the road surfaces may be full of potholes and traffic may make cycling very unfriendly.
Of course I’m only speculating.
I lived and studied in Chengdu a few years back. I would be extremely careful about riding your bike on country roads. There are many very aggresive drivers who are used to slow bikes and riders who are prepared to yield to cars. Also, depending on where you live, be careful about the quality of the air when you’re running. I tried to keep up my running but had to quit due to the fact that many people in the city used coal to cook and heat their homes, producing a grey cloud that hung about the city. I remember coming home from a run one time and blowing about three pounds of black snot out. Sorry to give you such a grim image, but keeping up your training might be pretty tough. Best of luck!!
Chengdu, Sichuan Province??? OMG! I was born and grew up in there!!!
How old are you? I would be interested to hear what it was like even fifteen or twenty years ago. When I was there, 2000, you could definitely see how the center of town was changing in relation to the suburbs and backstreets (Western-style store fronts, etc.) However, most everything around where I was, Sichuan Daxue, seemed to be about twenty to thirty year old concrete.