Please, not another Zhejiang ride report!

I wasn't going to bother with a rr for this last trip since i've already written a bunch of reports from that region before:

Suzhou - Fuzhou and back
Sheng Si islands (yes, those belong to zhejiang)
Zhejiang is the shit

So this report is mostly an excuse to recommend a couple of great spots we found to anyone who might be riding that region.

The trip begins with Corporal Clegg on his Qingqi QM200 plus myself and Panda riding two-up on our QM250. Here are a few pics from that part of the journey.

The reservoir a the base of moganshan, time for a dip
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...666.JPG?psid=1

Some dude hearding ducks
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...674.JPG?psid=1

https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...677.JPG?psid=1

Everything we love about zhejiang
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...689.jpg?psid=1

Though here is a reminder of what might be waiting at the other end of the hairpin. What do you do when there's nowhere to go and no way to stop?
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...684.JPG?psid=1

https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...691.JPG?psid=1

A 'get us to the next town' fix for corporal clegg's 812th clutch lever of the day.
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...692.JPG?psid=1

It was great fun riding with clegg and i highly recommend him to anyone! Couple of tips to the man himself:
- clutch levers are cheaper in bulk
- goodbye ceremonies need not be so dramatic
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...695.JPG?psid=1

The next day we part ways as we are on different schedules; the Panda and I continue southwards in search of a spot i'd stumbled upon three years ago, before magic satellites recorded every road i take. Some great riding along this resevoir.
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...739.JPG?psid=1

https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...740.JPG?psid=1


Great spot no.1

Deep in the mountains between taizhou and wenzhou, there's a little roadside hotel with the best swimming hole i ever found in china. It is located exactly under point A on this route.
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...20b.jpg?psid=1

Maps are offset in china, so that point is only correct on maps. If you want the actual GPS coordinates for the hotel, they are:
lat 28.461800
lon 121.020300

We got there on a tiny road coming from the big reservoir to the north. Googlemaps says that the road doesn't connect but it does. If you're coming from the north, the hotel is just after this bridge.
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...773.JPG?psid=1

The view from our room window
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...776.JPG?psid=1

The swimming hole just below (you have to go downstairs through the kitchen to get there)
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...778.JPG?psid=1

The water is deep and clean and the rocks are good for diving
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...780.JPG?psid=1

https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...783.JPG?psid=1

If you swim 30m upstream you can jam your shoulders into the rocks and get a free massage
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...792.JPG?psid=1

Anyway the room was 60rmb a night and is the prettiest and quietest spot i've ever stayed. (in eastern china)


Taking the road south of there in the morning is a fucking treat too! It's carved right out of the rock in the side of the mountain
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...821.JPG?psid=1

https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...817.JPG?psid=1

And goes along a massive waterfall
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...823.JPG?psid=1

And then across so can can see it
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...825.JPG?psid=1

https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...829.JPG?psid=1

Noodles drying on the roadside
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...832.JPG?psid=1

Still along the route i showed above, plenty more zhejiang awesomness
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...837.JPG?psid=1

https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...838.JPG?psid=1

https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...848.JPG?psid=1

Yup, that's the road going up
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...851.JPG?psid=1

Looking back down
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...854.JPG?psid=1

There is so little of this shit compared to everywhere else in china that it's actually exciting when you hit it!
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...870.JPG?psid=1

Bridge break
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...875.JPG?psid=1

Panda
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...911.JPG?psid=1

Wee mountain village
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...926.JPG?psid=1

https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...942.JPG?psid=1

https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...951.JPG?psid=1


There used to be a ferry connecting the north and south edges of qiandaohu. Now they've built a bridge! Frankly i'm kinda losing interest in this lake. There's a lot of construction going on there to turn it into the next mass tourist attraction. One or two more years and the water will be brown and full of litter, and a plate of fried rice will be 50 kuai.
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...962.JPG?psid=1


Great spot no.2

This one is 80km from shanghai and you've probably all heard of it, it's the little water town of Xitang.

More specifically, it's the room we stayed in that really was the perfect end to our trip. The room is right on the canal and has a private little blacony/terrace where the panda and i just sat for hours with beers and bbq, watching the world go by on the other side.
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...973.JPG?psid=1

https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...977.JPG?psid=1

https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...981.JPG?psid=1

The room was a seriously reasonable 230RMB for the night and has one of those old chinese 4 post beds inside. Here the number of the guy who rents it out: 13750749423 (chinese only)
He came to meet us outside the old town, helped us park the bike in front of the police station (safe) and then brought us in the back way so we didn't have to pay the entrance fee.

Here is a route to get there from shanghai without hitting any border crossings or police controls.

This is a really good place to bring a girlfriend/wife/panda.
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...009.JPG?psid=1


That's about it!

ZJ is the shit! Thanks for sharing.
Great photos and some interesting places close to Shanghai!

But gotta ask, what's going on in this pic?

https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p...695.JPG?psid=1

I'm guessing you guys are working on a concept-bike for a Custom Qingqi similar to some Harleys out there?

http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/a...torcycle02.jpg

That looks great! A little far for me to do a quick trip there.. but who knows, when I have my mental break-down and dissapear into the middle of China on my CB, I may pay that place a visit

Motokai, that's what happens when you have to kill some time in a town of 100 inhabitants and it's past 8.30 so everything is closed and they have all gone to bed. You get creative...

Serpentza, it's about 1400km from shenzhen on big roads. Two days of iron-butt riding on that new beast of yours and you're there!

Nice RR Felix, thanks !

I recognized some roads around Moganshan, especially around the reservoir. ;-)

You're right, we hate these pics, it makes us feel totally inadequate. :-S
Now that the rain has cleared a little, I think we might just risk a ride into the country.
:thumbsup:
Thanks for the inspiration!

Dear Longren,

Greetings and welcome to the forum. Hope you'll post about your rain-free ride, and share a bit about what you are riding, and where.

And no need to feel inadequate. Any ride is better than no ride, any picture is better than no picture! We're all equals in MCM.

cheers

Thanks for the warm welcome, euphonius, along with the encouragement which has resulted in a successful search for avatar installation instructions! "Cheers" to the thought of a virtual Hainan-cold-one.
I'm sorry to report that the ride was not so successful, however. The rain had cleared so we sped (carefully, of course, officer) away hoping to do some sightseeing in the mountains, but a collapsed front wheel bearing put a stop to that. Fortunately we were not too far from a bike shop, and I managed to crawl back there for repairs. Chinese quality, eh, 8,000km on local OEM wheel bearings!
Now checking the satellite image for tomorrow...
B-)

hope you had fun, and welcome

Damn you, i wish I could've stayed out... if only to continue showing your bike up with my sexy golden forks and shiny new cutch levers. There's always next time, thanks for the routes, unfortunatly I took my phone apart and didn't put it back together right so now I'm back to 180rmb doesn't-matter-if-I-break-it phone (-gps of course). I suddenly remember why I always bought the cheapest phone I could find.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by corporal_clegg

Damn you, i wish I could've stayed out... if only to continue showing your bike up with my sexy golden forks and shiny new cutch levers. There's always next time, thanks for the routes, unfortunatly I took my phone apart and didn't put it back together right so now I'm back to 180rmb doesn't-matter-if-I-break-it phone. I suddenly remember why I always bought the cheapest phone I could find.

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Nice ride guys! :thumbsup: How much of that ride can you get through without a dirt bike?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wrangler

Nice ride guys! :thumbsup: How much of that ride can you get through without a dirt bike?

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That'd be most of it wrangler. A few shitty stretches here and there but generally the roads were great.