nowadays it seems that all of the chinese frames are with fully-internal cable routing, meaning that you can only feed cables through the headset.  This is a pain in the neck when you just want to build a simple bike with old components lying around in the garage.

Anybody know which frame is the semi-internal cable routing with modern geomtry?  big tire clearance 38mm, 40mm, or 42mm etc.

Yeah, it's getting hard to find Chinese frames with proper semi-internal routing these days. Almost every new open-mold is fully hidden through the headset now.

If you're looking for modern geometry and 38–42 mm tire clearance without fully hidden routing, you still have a few options:
   •   SPCycle G058 – semi-internal, T47 BB, up to 50 mm clearance.
   •   LightCarbon LCG071 (older batches) – semi-internal, similar clearance, sometimes still in stock if you ask.
   •   Some sellers on Taobao/WeChat still have older molds (2020–2022) with semi-internal routing – search for "旧款半内走线".

Otherwise, you might need to look for used frames or ask manufacturers if they can still do a semi-internal version on request

Thanks a lot! very helpful information!

Flyxii still has some semi internal frame offerings. Not sure how modern you'd consider their geo.

The Carbonda CFR 1056 and Speeder cycling SC-R48D are also options.