My 3rd visit to China and by far the longest, I pushed my 60 day visa to 61 days during a 5-month long cycling trip through Asia. I crossed from Tajikistan with new friends from Belgium via  Kolma Pass, the only border crossing between the two countries and previously unreliable for foreigners. The scenery at the border was incredible, with Muztagh Ata towering overhead at more than 25000′. Orignally I had planned on taking a train to Chengdu and cycling straight to Laos from there, but a guy I met just a few days before crossing into China, had cycled 10000km in China and made some recommendations. Meeting this guy was incredibly fortunate, as it led to incredible experiences in China, making it my favorite country to visit at the time of this writing.  My time in China included the following:

-Cross from Tajikistan with new friends from Belgium on October 8th

-Cycle to Kashgar, sneaking into a yurt one night to get out of crazy wind

-Train to Turpan, spend nearly a week there cycling ancient cities on a rented bicycle (mine was shipped to Chengdu).

-Train to Chengdu, reunite with bicycle

-Cycle to Litang on the Tibetan Plateau, meeting new friends Han Lo and Yie Jie en route. Witness a Tibetan Sky Burial.

-Yading National Park, Shangri-La, Tiger Leaping Gorge, Lijiang, Shaxi, Dali, Kunming, Jianshui, Pugao, Erguanzhai, Riwu, Jinghong

-Cross into Laos December 7th