My big bike trip

I'm doing a bike trip this summer with the goal of reaching Shanghai from Beijing. Why this route? Well, I'd like to commemorate the imminent opening of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail service. I will travel the same route in one of the slowest ways possible and return back to Beijing on the train itself, going the fastest way. I view this as kind of a contrast between old and new. I will be able to experience China at its most primitive level (the countryside) and then at its most advanced on the train back. In between, I will stop at all the cities that have train stations on the route and spend the night in each one. How long will this take? I'm aiming for three weeks.