Six Days in Hebei (and Beijing)

First, I wanted to thank Crazy Carl and everyone for all of their contributions to this forum - I'm a new rider and have learned a lot through this site. I also want to especially thank Lao Jia Huo - who took me around to bike shops, helped me pick out a bike, and introduced me to the Beijing riding community - his help has helped make all this all possible!

This is my first post, so by way of introduction, I've been in Beijing since August of 2009 studying Chinese full time. I crossed the year mark this past summer and wanted to do a bit of traveling before reentering the world of work, vacation days, etc. So, earlier this summer I went through the process of getting a Chinese driver's license, buying a bike, and taking day trips in areas near Beijing.

I had been hoping to take a trip over the October break - but passport and visa delays forced me to postpone and a cold-snap made me worry that Postpone would slide into Cancel. Last year's November 1st snow left quite an impression. But late October brought a string of clear days and got me thinking: maybe it's not too late.

I initially thought I'd have to flee the cold and head south, but on a whim I checked the 10 day forecast in the north and saw temperatures over 10 with no rain - so, north it was.

I took the weekend to get my gear in order (wiring the GPS into the battery, attaching a case, etc.) and on Monday morning headed for the mountains.

Before leaving, my Chinese teacher asked me "what happens if you get lost" and I said "If I don't have a destination, I can't get lost!"

Day 1 Beijing - Wubeikou

Here goes nothing! - Getting ready to head off.
Attachment 2490

Given that I had only made the final decision to make the trip twelve hours before, I shouldn't have been surprised that Day One got off to a slow start. By the time I got my gear packed, said my goodbyes, and headed out of the city it was already after noon.

I plugged in Chengde as my first destination on the GPS and headed north. Beijing is remarkably flat, and from within the city, it can be hard to imagine how mountainous it is just north of city. After riding out of the city I branched north east and the road snaked through the mountains towards the Hebei border. The road was beautiful - well paved and lightly trafficked - and I quickly learned that a leading threat to was going to be oncoming traffic and cars passing into me. While I'm used to cars waiting until the oncoming lane is empty before crossing over and passing - apparently motorcycles don't count - so I quickly added this to the list of things to be watching for on the road (just after cars making right turns into traffic without slowing down or looking).

I packed light - no tent or sleeping bag - and wanted to avoid riding at night - so as I made my way north I kept out an eye for upcoming cities and potential hotels. As I approached the Hebei border I hit a small village in the hills under the Great Wall. The sun was starting to drop, Chengde was still over 100 km away, and I saw what looked like a police checkpoint ahead, so I decided to call it a day.

The view in Gubeikou:
Attachment 2496


I pulled into the hotel and was immediately greeted by an older gentleman - I asked for a room and he waved me around to the back and I parked the bike in a little shed behind the hotel. I unpacked, wandered around the village for a bit, found a general store that, miraculously, had long underwear (it had been a cold day), watched the sun set over the Great Wall, and sat down to dinner at dusk.

The sun setting in Gubeikou
Attachment 2495


As I ate dinner, the older gentleman, Mr. Tian, sat down with me and struck up a conversation. "You're a foreign exchange student! I knew it! Do like Bai Jiu? You like Whiskey? I've had Whiskey before! It was a 12 Year Old!" After I finished eating he insisted I join him and his granddaughter for dinner. He asked where I was going and I told him "Dalian" (at this point I thought this was still feasible) he laughed and said "way too far!" I pulled out my maps and he hunted for Dalian. At this point the cook had come out and joined us and Mr. Tian kept saying "My eyes are no good! What's this city here? It's not Dalian? Hmm, Dalian must be around here somewhere." His finger traced the coast and eventually he made it to Dalian at which point he laughed again and said "Way too far!" And I had to admit, it was too far. I wasn't in a hurry and had no real reason to go to Dalian so I decided the next day to just go the 100 km to Chengde and spend some time there. Mr. Tian finished his glass of Baijiu, I finished my beer, Mr. Tian got another beer for us to split ("This one's on me!") and I headed up to bed.

Dinner with Mr. Tian:
Attachment 2494


All in all, a successful first day - even if I hadn't made it far, I was out of the city and in a hotel.

Welcome to the forum Pat.

Nice bike and nice to see you will be feeding our need for ride reports :thumbsup:

Hanging in there for more. :popcorn:

Cheers!
ChinaV

welcome Pat!

and a very "warm" welcome, because I love reading about another guy who rides his bike through this great mountains! when you`re back, send a PM and we can sit together at Frank`s and tell one story or another!
Sabine

Nice Day 1 write-up, Pat, and welcome to the board. I very much like your style of planning -- basically none. That's my style too. Live in the moment, enjoy the ride. You'll wind up somewhere, and in China it'll always be interesting, as your buddy Mr Tian proved.

Looking forward Day 2 and more.

cheers
jkp

Hi Pat and welcome!

I don't know when you started, but I hope you are already back as it is getting really uncomfortable in Northern Hebei - believe me I know about recent temperatures :lol8:

Hope you have (had?) a nice trip and looking forward to see more.

Thanks everybody for reading! I got back into Beijing this past Saturday - and am writing this from the warmth of a coffee shop near Dongzhimen :icon10:.

And I don't know how I forgot this detail, but I'm riding a Qingqi 200 GY 3rd Generation.

Day 2 Gubeikou -> Chengde

Breakfast of Champions:
Attachment 2509

In the morning I ate a can of Zhou, drank a bottle of water, packed up, got my bike out of the shed, and checked out. As I was checking out one of Mr. Tian's friends walked up, a short, wiry older man. "How much did you pay for the bike? 13,000! My bracelet is worth more than that!" He rolled up his sleeve and showed me a gold band. I asked if he wanted to trade and he laughed and said "No way! I'd be losing money!" and then asked "Where are you from? America? Didn't you guys invade Iraq? Why aren't you over there now?" I confirmed that it was indeed America that invaded Iraq (I don't know how to say "Coalition of the Willing" in Chinese) and told him we had a volunteer army. He nodded and said "In America you have human rights. But China is good, now foreigners can go anywhere, it wasn't like that before. Now lots of foreigners come here and start businesses and make money." By this time the cook and another of Mr. Tian's friends had walked over. They poked and prodded the bike and after a thorough inspection sent me on my way.

What I had thought the night before was a police checkpoint was simply the border crossing into Hebei. I crossed through, stopped to take a few more pictures of the Great Wall, and then set off in earnest. The road continued to weave through the mountains and passed through several industrial areas and the ubiquitous construction sights.

One of many coal burning power plants I saw on the trip:
Attachment 2510

On the way I stopped off at a small store to rest for a few minutes and pick up a Coke. It wasn't until I walked out of the store that I realized I had actually bought a "Future Cola" (or in Chinese a 非常可乐 "Very Cola"). I'm no cola connoisseur, but to my palate, it tasted just like a Coke.

"The Future Will Be Better!"
Attachment 2511

I made it into Chengde around noon, found a hotel, and walked over to Bishu Shanzhuang - the Imperial Summer Villa where Emperors came to retreat from the heat of summer. As I walked around the enormous park, I couldn't help but think: This would be a great place to ride a motorcycle! And here I am hoofing it around on my own two feet! It is a remarkably peaceful place though - I wandered past boaters singing on the lake, people practicing Tai Qi, and groups of students learning about how foreign invaders had burned down large parts of the park.

The lake in Bishu Shanzhuang:
Attachment 2507

This creeped me out - a kid with wire for an arm in front of an abandoned, grown over building - straight out of a horror movie:
Attachment 2508

As the sun started to drop, I decided to find a restaurant for dinner. Walking out of the park I saw a European staring at a paper in his hand and surrounded by a group of taxi drivers. I heard the drivers laughing and saying "It's too far! We can't take you there!" while the European, oblivious to what the problem could be, continued to just stare at his little paper. I asked one of the driver's what was wrong and the driver said "He wants to go to Sichuan! It's 3000 km away!" I asked the European if he could speak English and he blankly shook his head handed me his piece of paper. It was in English and for a hotel in Chengdu. One of the other passengers in the car jumped out and, thankfully, could speak English. I told him this was the wrong hotel - and he rummaged around and found another paper - this time with a hotel in Chengde. The taxi driver recognized the name and off they went. And off I went to dinner and then to bed.

Chengdu, Chengde, what's the difference! A Coalition of Blithering Idiots. 白痴的自愿联盟.

keep it coming!

Hi and welcome. Good report, I like your relaxed style and humour, thanks.

Welcome Pat and thanks for this very entertaining report, i'm eager to read on!

That poor lost guy trying to get a taxi to chengdu made me laugh quite hard, haven't we all been there...

Day 3 - Chengde -> ??

After a couple shorter days on the bike, I was eager to rack up some mileage on Day Three. I was up early, had a Breakfast of Champions and set a course for Shanhaiguan, where the Great Wall crashes into the ocean. Under clear skies and slightly chilly weather, I turned south.

The route from Chengde to the coast is mountainous and rural. The road out of the city followed a river through the mountains passing villages, farm land, factories, and construction sights. Factories could be spotted from kilometers away by their plumes of smoke and at one point were dense enough to turn the blue sky into the familiar gray haze.

Where blue meets gray:
Attachment 2538

Around noon I found myself in a village packed full of construction workers. I saw a small restaurant with motorcycles parked out front and, feeling kinship, I stopped for lunch. As I ate, a small crowd formed and we discussed the intricacies of learning Chinese (One character has so many meanings! There are so many proverbs and idioms! Tones!), Iraq (again!), and the route I was taking. They were baffled as to how I ended up on this road and in this place - and unanimously agreed I had taken a wrong turn somewhere. Apparently there was another road a ways back that would have been faster. After finishing lunch, the crowd moved outside to see me off. I jumped on the bike and, putting my trust in the GPS, continued south.

Lunch:
Attachment 2539

And within ten minutes the road turned from concrete to dirt.

So this was what they were talking about in the restaurant:
Attachment 2540

It was slow going - the road was all dirt and rocks and wound up a mountain. And, for the first time ever, I was reassured to have the occasional two-stroke blue truck come barreling down in the opposite direction - at least the road was going *somewhere*. And, when I was passed by a lady on a scooter, I was more than happy to let her lead the way.

I'll follow you!
Attachment 2537

The road passed through villages tucked in on the mountainside and the views were spectacular. Eventually it crested over the mountain and gradually began the slow transformation back to a paved road - from dirt to rocks to broken concrete to concrete. The descent was much easier as the road had basically reformed with only occasional lapses back to its natural, dirt state. Finally, I made it back to the bottom of the mountain and continued on a larger, though still not large, road.

The dirt mountain pass had taken awhile to cross and I was now starting to race against the sun. I hit a town with hotel, but as it was "only" three thirty or so, I thought I could continue on to the next town.

If I had thought this through a bit more it may have occurred to me that I probably only had another hour or so of daylight, I was still in the mountains, the roads weren't lit, it was entirely possible the next hotel would be several hours away, the GPS could lead me through another dirt road, the temperature was going to drop once the sun set, and probably another half dozen reasons why I should just stop.

But, none of that occurred to me until the sun started to drop behind the mountains. And then I couldn't think of anything else as dusk turned into pitch black. I flipped on the brights, slowed down, and vowed to never be so stupid again. The occasional truck blew past, but mercifully at this point, most of them had pulled off to the side of the road and turned on their hazard lights.

It wasn't quite this dark, but it felt like it!
Attachment 2541

It was freezing. I kept my eyes glued to the road and watched for anything resembling a hotel. It crossed my mind to stop in one of the villages that I was occasionally passing - but instead I watched the GPS click down the number of kilometers left before hitting the next big city along the coast. 110 km slowly dropped to 90 and then to 70 and around 60 I finally saw the glow of a town in the distance. Arriving I saw a sign for what I thought said "hotel" (酒店) so I gratefully pulled over, went in, and asked for a room. "This isn't a hotel, it's a restuarant!" It turns out "酒店“ *can* mean hotel, but it can also mean: wine shop, bar, or restaurant. I actually would have been fine with wine shop or bar.. but restaurant? "But, there's one down the street. We'll take you!" These were the best words I'd heard all day.

They walked me down to the hotel and I handed the girl at the counter my passport. She was thoroughly baffled. She flipped through for awhile before finally finding the page with my picture and name. She squinted, looked up at me, and said: "I can't read this, do you have anything else?" Picturing myself back on the motorcycle searching for the coast in the dead of night, I nervously said: "Driver's license?" She looked at the license and said "You've got a Chinese name? Good enough!" Relieved, I unpacked and went back to the 酒店 for a hot dinner and a cold beer before calling a night.

Would very much like to read about days 4, 5 & 6. :thumbsup:

[As an aside, is there a setting somewhere that will allow visitors who aren't logged in to see the pictures?]

Day Four ?? -> Shanhaiguan -> Beidaihe

The next morning, feeling rejuvenated and eager to drive in the daylight again, I got up and continued on the course for Shanhaiguan. I was doubly grateful that I hadn't passed through this area at night - the scenery continued to be great, rolling mountains as far as the eye could see.

Within a half an hour I hit another stretch of the Great Wall. It was largely broken down, mostly just towers with very little in the way of wall between them. I'd be seeing this section again in another 60 kilometers as it hit the ocean in Shanhaiguan. After passing the Great Wall, I hit coal country. Apparently there was a mine nearby and it seemed to have covered the whole area in a layer of dust.

Coal in the shadow of the Great Wall:
Attachment 2637

As I approached the coast the landscape gradually flattened out. I turned northeast towards Shanhaiguan and arrived in the city around lunch. The ocean is actually several km away from the city center, so I decided to go straight to the Great Wall. It turns out that this section of the "Great Wall" was actually rebuilt in the 80s and is now safely protected by a ticket window. I had heard that it's possible to skirt the entry fee by riding up the coast a bit and then circling back around on the beach by foot - so I u-turned out of the parking lot and looped around to the beach.

Parked on the beach:
Attachment 2641

I parked in front of the Wall and then walked back down to the section that hits the ocean, this side being safely protected by barbed wire.

Where the Great Wall hits the ocean:
Attachment 2640

A man staring off to sea:
Attachment 2638


After spending some time on the beach I rode into the city, found lunch, and then road into the walled part of the city. It's become Qianmen-esqe (completely restored and... kitschy) and was eerily quiet. The streets were empty as were most of the buildings.

It was only three o'clock, Beidaihe wasn't far, and having exhausted all the sights and sounds of Shanhaiguan I set course for Beidaihe. Just outside of the city I hit a round-a-bout with a man in a hard hat dangling two turtles out in front of the passing cars. I did a double-take and pulled over. "How much?" I asked him. "150" he replied. "150? Are they pets or are they food?" "Food!" "Oh, OK, thanks!"

Somebody's dinner:
Attachment 2639

Within an hour or so, I arrived in Beidaihe. It was largely abandoned and while there were hotels everywhere, they were also mostly closed up for the winter. After cruising around for awhile, I finally found a hotel along the coast with people in the parking lot, but it turned out that that hotel was closed too. I asked one of the attendants if there were *any* open hotels in the area, he jumped on his motorcycle, gave me a big wave, and I followed out to the nearest 4 star hotel. I blushed when they said 360 RMB and, not wanting to appear ungrateful to my new friend, I almost accepted.. but after all, we had just met, so at the risk of hurting his feelings, I smiled, thanked him for going out of his way to help, and told him I wanted to check a couple of the other nearby hotels. I think he actually approved of this "thriftiness" and, just around the corner, there was another hotel at roughly half the price. Tired, hungry, and turtleless, I checked in and called it a day.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pat

[As an aside, is there a setting somewhere that will allow visitors who aren't logged in to see the pictures?]

---

You need to post the photos and link them to an outside image hosting service. That will allow for much larger images in your ride report and also let non-members see your pics. The reason for that is the huge amount of bandwidth photos use and the associated cost.

Thanks for another interesting installment, reminds me of the first time I saw the wall with Chinabiker. I wonder if they will ever make the entire wall only visible by paying a fee :lol8:.

Cheers!
ChinaV

No turtle soup for you? I probably would have passed too (unless they where the chocolate, pecan & caramel turtles).:lol8:

How come LeeLee has the power to get you writing and we don't? :lol8:
Good work Pat, keep it coming.

Ah the wall.... must ride up to that some day!

Good work, more please!

ChinaV - thanks for the heads up on linking to pictures, think I've got it figured out now.. although I'm still hitting the 5 image limit and it says even the "medium" sized flikr photos are too large.

Day Five Baidaihe -> Tangshan

In the morning I set course for Tangshan, subject of the recent movie about the 1976 earthquake that killed roughly 250,000 people. After four days of beautiful skies, pollution had settled in, and gave the day a gray tinge. The coastal roads were largely flat, tree lined, and surrounded by farmland. As opposed to the small farm plots I had seen in the mountainous areas, the farmland here reminded me of the States, large plots of open land.

A pretty typical sight:
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5165/...3d36c7d8a6.jpg

I was making good time when suddenly the road began revert back to its natural form: dirt. Actually, dirt would have been nice, this was much closer to broken rocks. I pushed forward, bouncing over the rocks while trying to weave through the most intact parts of the road. After roughly an hour of this, and nearly in tears, I came up on a semi that was completely blocking the road. I pulled up to the cab and a couple of wide-eyed workers jumped out: "What are you doing on this road!? There's a newly paved road just to the south!" Oh my. Fortunately there was an access road right where we were, an within minutes on was a new road - so new that it wasn't in the GPS yet...

One of the "nice" stretches:
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5206/...95ca246a0e.jpg


A stream, a restroom, and... very efficient "plumbing:"
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5008/...0661f4a8b8.jpg

Delighted, I opened it up, but within minutes the road ended in a T intersection. My heart sank. I turned north, and was confronted with two choices: a policeman guarded highway entrance or getting back on the broken road. Reluctantly, I turned back on the broken road. This portion was heavily trafficked and I passed by a couple factories and a line of trucks that, making a wild guess, were probably too heavy to be on this road. I wove through the trucks and moments later hit this:

Construction Ahead, Please Go Around:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5207/...27c63efe28.jpg

To the north and south there were two access roads that led into the fields. Neither were in the GPS. I puzzled over this for a few minutes when a husband and wife road up from behind on a scooter. I asked them how to get around and they waved for me to follow them... past the "road closed" sign and towards the clearly visible backhoe in the distance. Sure enough, the road was closed, but my new companions weren't fazed by this, we turned around, went back to the southern access road (I would have picked the northern), and after five minutes of dirt roads emerged on the other side of the construction.

Again I was faced with two choices: the broken road or a paved road north. This was easy. The GPS said broken road, so, thinking "It's got to get better soon!" I turned back on to the broken road. Then, somewhere deep down, I heard my mom say: "If that GPS told you to drive off a cliff, would you do it?" Probably. But I'd had enough of this road, so I turned around, went back to the intersection and headed north.

And five minutes later I hit a row of orange cones protecting a perfectly paved road. "Not again," I thought. The man setting up the cones was on his hands and knees, peering at the cones and making sure they were perfectly aligned. I rode up and asked him how to get around. He got a big smile and said: "Are you a foreigner??" I laughed, and resisted the urge to say 'No.' He was thrilled: "Wow! It's my lucky day! I've never met a foreigner! Do you have any paper, you've got to write your name down! Just think, if I hadn't come out here today, I wouldn't have met you!" We traded phone numbers and took a picture:

There's always a new friend just around the corner:
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5084/...beb14ceb90.jpg

I asked him again how to get around and he said "You don't have to go around! Just go through!" I'm sure he was more than happy to let me cross this cone barrier - but, being thoroughly conditioned that lines of cones are not to be crossed, I asked "What about the cops?" He said "There aren't any cops! The road's perfectly fine!" This I could believe. He walked over, pulled up a couple of his perfectly aligned cones, and with a big smile, waved me through. This one encounter had made the morning of riding over a broken road worth it.

I rode through the new gap, waved goodbye, and a hundred meters later came up on a construction crew hard at work. As I approached, one of the workers waved me over and I began rehearsing excuses in my mind. Fortunately, they were just laying a line of tar and he wanted to be sure I went around and not over it. I weaved around it and after that the road was perfectly clear and perfectly empty.

The rest of the ride was smooth sailing. I made it into Tangshan in the late afternoon, found a hotel, and walked over to the earthquake memorial as the sun set. It was quiet and I read the plaque remembering the disaster which ended with these lines:

"The great changes of the last decade declare again this truth: The Chinese Communist Party is great and the socialist system is superior. The People's Liberation Army is loyal and dependable and the Chinese People are unyielding. We erected and engraved this monument to console the friends and families of the deceased, to commemorate and cite the heroes and martyrs and to inspire and educate the people of today and future generations" 1986,7.

Inspired, I found a restaurant, ordered a Kung Pow Chicken and asked for a beer. The waitress listed off three names I didn't recognize, so I asked which ones were Chinese. She said they're all Chinese and came from Shanghai. "Ok," I said, "then give me the most popular one." And sure enough she brought me a Heineken. It's no Yanjing, I thought, but it'll have to do.

Thanks again Pat for another instalment, a great read as were the last ones! You do tell a good story! Seems you now also know the risk of relying on gps in china, if you're on a shitty road, chances are that there's a new one not far that only the locals know about. Still though, how lost we'd be without our devices...

For posting pictures, take a look at this thread.

Glad to see your good fortunes in meeting people on the road who can assist you. Loved the pictures! The one of the restroom reminds me of some scenes from the movie "Slumdog Millionaire".

Hey Pat - where is Day 6? Returning to our lovely Beijing traffic?