Thanks Hok! Yes, my very limited Chinese is something that challenging my trip more than anything else:))
Good point on personal info leaflet in Chinese!:)
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Thanks Hok! Yes, my very limited Chinese is something that challenging my trip more than anything else:))
Good point on personal info leaflet in Chinese!:)
So now I though about the travel route in more detail.
There are still numerous open issues/grey areas (where to spend nights, No. of ride-free days etc) but general view on milestones is below:
Day 1
Beijing - Hohhot 490 km
Hohhot - Baotou 186 km
Attachment 19605
Day 2
Baotou - Bayan Nur 251 km
Bayan Nur - Wuzhong 371 km
Attachment 19606
Day 3
Wuzhong-Zhongwei 142 km
Zhongwei - Wuwei 293 km
Attachment 19607
Day 4
Wuwei - Xining 338km or 423 km or 526 km (the shortest way is a curvy one through the mountains though - see pic)
Attachment 19603
Day 5-6-7
Around Qinghai Lake & sightseeing:
Xining - Gangca - Shinaihaixiand-Xining 543 km
Attachment 19604
Day 8/9
Xining - Dingbian 678 km
Day 10
Dingbian - Taiyuan 542 km
Day 11/12
Taiyuan - Beijing 491 km
This framework still allows me to have flexibility and add extra days on the road if needed.
Will keep thinking and onboarding your advises.
Been reading along...
Just want to add a few lines if I may. If you are aiming for 500km in a day, it will depend what routes one chooses and how busy the roads are from all the myriad of road users, because if one is on anything other than a solitary mountain track, or a Gaosugonglu - expressway, then be prepared for any eventuality, and possibly either not attaining 500km but considerably less, or riding will past sunset. Some aren't comfortable riding at night, and I might agree if it were early say from sunset to 3-4 hours past, but after that usually the roads vacate of most of the 'other types of road users' and settles into a rhythm of taxis, buses, trucks... and the latter are usually more often the vehicle types seen most commonly when it gets really late, especially midnight and beyond. For me this is when roads become more navigable. But not everyone agrees.
My point is, plan for 500km in a day but work towards 300km as an average, unless you can jump on the gaosugonglu.
Make yourself a cheat-sheet, with all kinds of Chinese words (pinying) and characters that you can show to someone when you need assistance, whether it be food, accommodation or even motorcycle parts. Will make your life easier and as suggested a contact that can be reached any time who can help you explain something. The biggest issue with this though is that persons ability to understand and explain a wide range of things (not easy really as it sounds).
There's a list of bike part names in CHS - English here on MCM...
A small Lonely planet phrase book also can be very helpful...
Carry your DL, passport and copies of these...
Banking ATM cards... cash... and keep your wits about you... especially riding. Smile a lot...
Don't sweat the small stuff...
Carry basic toolkit, spanners, Allen keys, screw drivers, puncture repair kit and depending if your bikes tyres are tubeless or not will dictate what you need in the event of a puncture etc.
A simple first aid kit ensemble can be useful...
Zip ties, and some gorilla or duct/duck, electrical tape and some wire...
I could go on, but been plenty of suggestions already.
Shiny side up, rubber side down
Thanks a lot bikerdoc!
Will try to do everything properly!
Actually, I do like riding at nights - again, Chinese night roads might be different, but usually I feel comfortable.
But of course, the first day of riding is diffetent from the fifth one in a row - so better to plan less mileage after day three etc before you have a bit of rest.
hi, Alex
I'd like to share some experience on your 'Day 4 Wuwei to Xining' route.
I took exact route, shown on your screenshot, for several times. these are county roads with less cars and picturesque views. there are two mountain passes, one of them is almost 4000 m high.
but both mountain passes and parts of route are unpaved. no asphalt, just gravel. and it would not be a big problem maybe, but along this route is new highway in construction with many heavy trucks carrying construction materials and producing tons of dust, which will cover you and your pillion with thick layer of it.
so I recommend you not to take that route.
instead I'd like to suggest to take North-West direction from Wuwei by G312 (parallel to G30) and get on G227 somewhere near Jiaojiazhuangxiang or Chenhuxiang/Laojunxiang areas (there are few county roads on flat lands). then by G227 go down to Xining. of course, it will make your way much longer. but G227 is going through beautiful mountains and I think it's worth it.
Hi a_steel!
Yes, I also consider that mountain rout to be tricky, that's why various options are under review - so thank you for your comments!
I also noticed that for the route via G227 you are suggesting (when looking into details) Googlemaps show some parts being toll roads (3.6km, 2.5 km, 84 km) - does it mean that these are might be just pay roads but not expressways so I can go there on a motorcycle with a pillion?
G227 shouldn't be a problem. I took that route this May and nobody stopped me at gates. so should be OK. and one more advice - better not to ride it at nighttime. if you will leave Wuwei at early morning, before sunrise, then you will arrive Xining before dusk.
hi, Metalmonkey
actually, I am planning go to Chengdu by motorcycle and park it at one MCM member place there. then go to Chnogqing by train. I plan to start around 17-19 of September and reach Chengdu within 2 days.
I will go south from Xining to Amuquhuzhen (阿木去乎镇) town by small county roads, and then get on G213, which will lead me down to Chengdu. Google satellite map shows that some of county roads are unpaved, so I will go and check them this weekend to see whether my small bike can go there.
if you wanna join me - you're welcome. only one question how you suppose get your bike from Shanghai to Xining?
So far so good! Please see my indicative route below. Plan to leave BJ on Saturday, 16 Sep.Quote:
Originally Posted by Metalmonkey
I still might need to adjust it a bit once I finalise the list of places for overnights and probably even make some bookings - but generally it looks like this:
Attachment 19651
P.S - Oh, I've just recognized that it was me not who was asked! :)) Apologies for misunderstanding. Have a nice trip!
How many kilometers in that? Looks awesome, good luck, enjoy and have fun!Quote:
Originally Posted by Lexeyich
Google Maps say it is 4700km. We'll see:)Quote:
Originally Posted by moilami
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lexeyich
So you are going to ride both ways now? and not ship your bike?
Reasons ???
Sounds like a better way IMO.
Yes, this is a Plan A:) I do not like the concept of Plan B so will try to do everything as planned by Plan A:)Quote:
Originally Posted by prince666
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lexeyich
What the hell, impressive, that is quite some! Hope your bikes don't break.
Bike should be fine based on my old bike which was a TR-G as well, clocking up over 70.000km with "0" problems .:scooter::scooter::scooter:Quote:
Originally Posted by moilami
Actually, a couple of reasons behind this:Quote:
Originally Posted by prince666
- opportunity to see more cities and provinces
- potential shipment logistics challenges and risks that I cannot control
- travel budget will not change substantially (would need to add pre-shipment and shipment costs ca. 1500-1800Rmb I understand), two one-way air tickets (2500-3000Rmb)
- uncertainty with the luggage (understand the bike must be empty of luggage, helmets etc) so this needs to be brought by plane
- and some others
I have looked at shipping many times before and due to the above reasons and a few more, I find its just a lot easier to just ride.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lexeyich
Looking at your return route, this would be the time I would consider to try to entry the toll roads.
Well, last weekend I gained practical experience of riding on various roads on my way from Beijing to Qinhuangdao and back.
On Friday night (ca. 8:30pm) we jumped on a bike to go towards Beidaihe and spend a couple of days on the seaside. I took G1 express way and on my less than 3h journey was stopped by police three times (they have stopped almost every vehicle though) due to additional security measures and I even got a ticket for riding with a pillion passenger.
With all these stops and police checks we have arrived to the hotel just after midnight and were told that our room was given to other people as we "showed up too late". My comments that in the booking I have explicitly put in writing a note on our late arrival at ca. 11pm (and have this comment printed on my booking confirmation) resulted in nothing except "sorry, sorry, high season, many people". So we had to look for another hotel in the middle of the night.
On our way back we were not allowed to take express way so we had to go via smaller roads incl. G102. It took us 10 (TEN) hours to get back. We left hotel at 2pm and arrived home at 12am.
First 30-50km were Ok-ish but then suddenly two bridges were closed for reconstruction so I had to ride around and after several attempts managed to find some small dirty roads as alternative routes. I hoped that it will be the only problem but then I experienced thousands of dirty and dusty trucks around Tangshan area.
Closer to Beijing there were several road accidents, weight controls, police checks, each of them created multi-km traffic jams of trucks, tractors and local cars. I will not comment on road behavior of some drivers. Several episodes will become my sleeping dogs for some time at least.
So indeed we covered 330km in 10 hours with having no big fun of the journey:) Would need to take this experience into account before I decide on the route and schedule for my longer trip.
TIC for real :lol8:
Hi Alex
And welcome to the roads of China.
Now maybe you understand why people question your remarks about doing 1700km in 2 days without going on the Toll roads.Quote:
1700 km from BJ to Xining so with no hurry it should take 2 days for us to arrive
And that 300/500 KM Max would be more realistic.
With your small ride, it what most of us who have been riding for a long time here in China just call that the "NORMAL".
So 4 hours took you to the beach and 10 hours to get back.
You have gained some needed experience IMO and hopefully, as you say should help you plan your next trip.
The main thing you got back all ok.
I had to amend my vacations plans this time due to the need to fly back home for 2+ weeks for family reasons and also to do some paper work that appeared not possible to be handled from here. So I was back to China only last week and unfortunately had no time for any long trip :( I just visited a couple of new places around BJ (Goubei Mountain etc).
So the plans have slipped towards next year.
Good to see you are back in China safe and well.
As I have pointed out to you on WeChat there are some great rides over around the west of BJ.
You will be surprised how good there are, ( I was ).
Hope you can complete your ride next year, keep me updated with your plans as I could be in that area.
Should be around Hainan over Chinese new year (2018) hoping to meet up with my local club.
At this time I will be in Thailand with my bike parked up in Kunming.
So I will travel from Kunming to Hainan and back.