For a group of 16 Chinese cyclists, the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail showcased New Zealand exactly like the movies.
They arrived in Oamaru on Wednesday after cycling the Mt Cook, Tekapo and Lake Ohau sections of the trail.
Cathy Liuyang and her husband, Lee Litao, who own a bike shop in Kunming, a city of about seven million people in southwest China, were blown away by the scenery.
''I just loved it. I think the best trip, the best places of my life,'' Mrs Liuyang said.
''There's not too much traffic. It's just amazing, we have no words. There's no difference between the movies and reality.''
Their visit came after Christchurch-based company Adventure South's business trip to Korea last year.
''We met them while visiting a cycleway in Korea,'' Adventure South owner Geoff Gabites said.
''What was exciting was while we were there looking at the Korean cycling, they were expressing their interest to cycle New Zealand trails.
''Out of that has come this first trip. We got the 16 spaces filled up really quickly and there's a whole range of people waiting to hear about [Alps 2 Ocean] when they get back.''
In the off-season, Adventure South runs international cycling tours in Japan, Vietnam, India, Korea and Peru, and it is through these connections they hope to attract more cyclists to the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail.
''We've made this contact. We're now working on what we do next,'' Mr Gabites said.
In June he will travel to a trade show in Shanghai, looking at targeting the Asian market.
''We'll extend that out and go and visit Bike Asia and other companies to set up a business plan to deal with this and try and work out what it could get to.''
