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8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
I just got back from an 8 day loop from Harbin to Heihe, Mohe, Beijicun (China's northernmost point) Genhe, Hailaer, qiqihaer, daqing and back to Harbin. Overall the riding was great, and I had a good time. I'll put the pics and report up over the next day or two.
Day 1:
I left Harbin at about 7am and was accompanied by a friend of mine out of the city. His name is 王承旺 and he is a travel journalist. I was lucky to meet him at a motorcycle market when I was buying a helmet a few days before my trip. He has ridden his Bmw 650 all over China multiple times, and writes about his experiences. He gave me a ton of really useful information and tips for my trip.
The bikes (mine looks like a toy next to the bmw)
Attachment 7983
After getting out of the city, Wang headed home, and I continued on the national highway 202 towards Beian. I had planned to get to Hei he on the first day. When I stopped for a drink of water I remembered I had a friend in Beian, which was on the way to Heihe, and decided to call him and see if he wanted to get lunch. I called, and it turns out he lives not in beian, but in a city an hour south of it. So I found out where I need to go, and found the road on a map which would take me there. After going back and forth 4 or 5 times, and wasting over an hour, I gave up and found a different way.
Great weather for looking for roads that don't exist:
Attachment 7984
Later I found out that road didn't exist anymore. (The first of many times i would learn the lesson: BUY A GPS) After wasting a lot of time looking for a road that didn' exist, I arrived in Hailun about 3pm and found my friend. In typical Dongbei fashion, they insisted that I must stay with them for a few days and eat delicious food until I couldn't move， then eat more. After dinner we played some pool and I went to bed.
Hailun, pretty much the same as every other small city in China:
Attachment 7986
Their son was terrified of me, the first foreigner he had ever met:
Attachment 7985
I only made it about halfway to where I had planned to stop for the night, but I wasn't really on a schedule, and it was good to hang out with friends.
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Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
Day 2
After eating breakfast, I denied the invitation to stay a few more days and headed out about 7:30. And thats where the day started to get confusing. As soon as I left the city, I found the road that the map said (Note:buy a GPS) would take me to beian. As soon as I turned onto the road, I hit a checkpoint ( I have no Idea why there was a checkpoint. the road was empty) I was extremely glad my MCM friends had convinced me to go the fully legal route. I showed the cop my papers and was on my way. So I headed down the road and it turned to gravel, then ended at a hole in a fence. I didn't think much of it, as I am in China, and this kind of thing is pretty common. So, I followed the well-worn dirt patch through the hole in the fence, and after it was too late, I realized...
That I was on a 高速公路: (motorcycles are forbidden)
Attachment 7987
by the time I realized it, it was to late to turn around and go back through the hole. No problem I thought, I'll just exit at the next stop. Turns out that was 30km away. I pulled over and asked a road worker, and he told me just ride, I didn't really have a choice. So I rode until the next stop, a small town called Tongbei. As I went past the toll booth on the exit ramp, I exchanged a glance with the toll collector, we both looked confused, shrugged our shoulders and I rode past. So now I was in tongue, and the only road going where I wanted to go was an expressway. (Note: buy a GPS) The map showed a road that went from where I was back to the G202 I was on the day before. Simple enough, I thought. 2 hours later I had been going in circles and getting confused at forks in the road, and ended up giving up and going back to Tongbei. (Note: buy a GPS)
Too many of these:
Attachment 7988
Attachment 7989
I filled up with gas, and went to ask some locals how to get to Beian on a motorcycle. Eventually I was lead to this:
Attachment 7990
Which after a little offroading turned into this:
Attachment 7991
Then because a nice easy to follow road was too easy, it went into a village where they were repaving, and had an unmarked detour that took a few tries to figure out how to pass
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8023/7...5e1e049e_c.jpg
IMG_1085 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
After awhile I made it to beian, then continued on my way to Heihe. A bunch of roads turned out to lead to random places, and Im not really sure what happened, but the road my map said was a normal road, had since been changed into an expressway, and the las 30km to heihe seemed impossible. I asked the woman at the tollbooth if there was another road, but she said she didn't know. So I went back to the small town I had just passed, and asked. An extremely nice man made me get of my bike, eat some ice-cream with him, drink a bottle of water, then told me to follow his friends who where going that way. After many turns and weird shortcuts I never could have found myself, I made it to Heihe, and set out to look for a place to sleep. In the inner city the hotels were all a bit expensive, and had to place to put my bike. I went to the outskirts and found an nice little place for 20RMB. The owner turned out to be awesome. He let me put my bike in his garage. I was the first American he had met, so he wanted to go out to dinner together. His daughter had gone to school in Harbin, and actually lived about 2km from where I live. His family and I went out for BBQ and a beer and had a good time, then went for a walk along the Heilongjiang river, which borders Russia.
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
I like the photo's.I remember someone asking you(probably someone from Beijing or Shanghai) why you would live up north due to the cold winters.One answer well for me is the clean air, blue skies and open spaces just like in your photo's.
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
Great curtain raiser on your ride! This only goes to prove there is adventure everywhere, at every fork of the road, at every hole in the fence.
Don't get too troubled about suddenly finding yourself on an expressway, especially in northern China. Around Beijing, you can enter legally and they'll give you the same toll card they give to cars, and happily take your toll when you exit. The National Highway Law, as we've debated ad nauseum in MCM, actually does NOT forbid motorcycles, but merely prohibits riding two-up or exceeding 90kph. But so many provinces have jury-rigged their own local restrictions, the public now widely believes that bikes are forbidden. Chalk up another win for hearsay.
As for pictures, you might consider posting your pix to a server somewhere and just putting the links in your ride report. It's much easier to manage, and you can post larger pictures, and more pictures per post. Like this:
http://euphonius.smugmug.com/Journal...01_hKi4M-L.jpg
Looking forward to further installments!
:popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn:
Cheers!
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
Quote:
As for pictures, you might consider posting your pix to a server somewhere and just putting the links in your ride report. It's much easier to manage, and you can post larger pictures, and more pictures per post.
What host do you use? flickr and photobucket both have issues for me behind the great wall, and my vpn takes foreverrrrrr to upload photos. Is there another decent option that is great wall friendly?
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
I use smugmug, which I think costs about $40/year. there are other free options, and others in this forum are familiar with those, both inside and outside the GFW.
good luck!
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
The room. Not much, but for 20RMB (about 3 bucks) I'm not complaining
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8429/7...56f1dcc1_c.jpg
IMG_3766-10 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
DAY 3
Delicious breakfast compliments of the owner
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7273/7...1c534ae9_c.jpg
IMG_3769-11 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
Tighten the chain and change the oil
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8290/7...f99f4821_c.jpg
IMG_3770-12 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
Chinese oil change=put old oil in plastic bag and throw it away... not exactly the most "green" method
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8142/7...20697709_c.jpg
IMG_3772-13 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
After the maintenance I ran around looking for an extra bungie chord, with no luck. A guy said he could help me find one but just ended up following me around blabbing and actually turned out to be pretty annoying. When I gave up and went back to the hotel to grab my bike, I was feeling lazy and decided to take a cab. The blabbing guy told me his friend would take us in his 3 wheeled motorcycle on the curb. I was stupid, hot and tired, and forgot to ask how much before I hopped on. After driving less than 1km, we arrived. I asked how much and the guy held up 3 fingers. I gave him 3 rmb and he said, "no, 30" I said "are you kidding me, that was less than a kilometer, I'm not giving you that much" He looked angry and a little confused that the foreigner wasn't surrendering to being cheated and took a bit of an aggressive stance. I told him I'd give him 5 and he could shove off. Then he stepped closer to me, and his friend was looking nervous. I would have like to have grabbed the tire iron out of my backpack and pounded him into the ground and tell him to stop cheating people, but I didn't want to get chased down by all of his other 3wheeled motorcycle friends, so we settled on 15 rmb and I shrugged it off. It was partially my fault anyways for forgetting to ask how much before we left. He was the only black sheep out of all of the people I met on the whole trip. Everyone was was extremely hospitable, and great to be around.
After that ordeal, I figured it was time to move on. I grabbed gas, and headed out with the intention of making it to mohe. The weather was sunny and the road was beautiful and empty. Perfect riding conditions.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7113/7...7a248538_c.jpg
IMG_3680-1 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
It paralleled the Heilongjiang river for almost the whole time. I stopped in a small town (I forgot the name) for some noodles, and randomly saw the biggest church I've seen so far in China
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7122/7...b3ba4923_c.jpg
IMG_1106 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
I have no idea why it was in such a small town.
I ate lunch and the owner of the noodle shop was really exited there was an American there. He called his wife and made me talk to her on the phone, then called a bunch of his friends over to see. We had a good chat while I ate, and he gave me some useful information about the roads.
After lunch I continued on. It was mostly uneventful, but I did see the remnants of a few days past
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8005/7...c44a0804_c.jpg
IMG_3786-14 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
Probably a safe bet to say there was some alcohol involved in that. I stopped to take a photo. I thought I was in the middle of nowhere, and hadn't seen a person or car for a long time. Suddenly a head pokes out from the bushes on the hill above.
"Don't take a picture, you can't take a picture of that"
"Why" I asked.
"Its ugly, you don't want to take pictures of ugly things"
"Its interesting. I've ridden over 2000km, and haven't seen anything like it"
"Interesting?"
"I'm going to take a picture anyways"
"Where are you going"
"Mohe"
"add some more gas, there aren't many gas stations on the way"
And then I took a picture and rode off. After awhile I was getting tired, and the sun was going down, so I decided I wouldn't make it to Mohe that day. I stopped at the next town that had an inn. I ended up in a town called the eighteenth station. I ate some dumplings and had a good chat with the owner, then went off to bed.
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
Very much appreciate the switch to flickr for your excellent and interesting pix!
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Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
Hi steve just to let you other people on here know the town with the big red church is called" HUMA" about 200 km from Heihe on the S209 Heading north which is on the border with Russia but with no town on the Russia side
just i small point to help you with your log keep up the good report steve .....
Attachment 8003
Good luck and drive safe
steve
ho by the way i should be up in Harbin in the next 4 weeks see if we can meet up and have a beer
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
HarbinSteve
After the maintenance I ran around looking for an extra bungie chord, with no luck. A guy said he could help me find one but just ended up following me around blabbing and actually turned out to be pretty annoying. When I gave up and went back to the hotel to grab my bike, I was feeling lazy and decided to take a cab. The blabbing guy told me his friend would take us in his 3 wheeled motorcycle on the curb. I was stupid, hot and tired, and forgot to ask how much before I hopped on. After driving less than 1km, we arrived. I asked how much and the guy held up 3 fingers. I gave him 3 rmb and he said, "no, 30" I said "are you kidding me, that was less than a kilometer, I'm not giving you that much" He looked angry and a little confused that the foreigner wasn't surrendering to being cheated and took a bit of an aggressive stance. I told him I'd give him 5 and he could shove off. Then he stepped closer to me, and his friend was looking nervous. I would have like to have grabbed the tire iron out of my backpack and pounded him into the ground and tell him to stop cheating people, but I didn't want to get chased down by all of his other 3wheeled motorcycle friends, so we settled on 15 rmb and I shrugged it off. It was partially my fault anyways for forgetting to ask how much before we left. He was the only black sheep out of all of the people I met on the whole trip. Everyone was was extremely hospitable, and great to be around.
This is similar to the scam I experienced a month ago.I think the anti foreigner "garbage" has some thing to do with it I am told.
I also was put in the situation(argument) where the guy stepped forward in an aggressive manner and it looked like he was going to hit me I pushed him back and he wanted me to hit him I wouldn't.He then called the police and said I hit him and he wanted to sue me.The police took his side even though there was not a mark om him.
I am told this scam is increasing in China and if they can get a foreigner rilled up enough to hit the agitator easy money can be made.
Under no circumstances don't even push people I have since been told.You can yell your head off but don't touch them or you will be sued.
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
Quote:
Hi steve just to let you other people on here know the town with the big red church is called" HUMA" about 200 km from Heihe on the S209 Heading north which is on the border with Russia but with no town on the Russia side
Thanks. Do you have any idea why such a small town randomly has such a big church? Is there something special about that town? It looked like the church was the nicest building there, which seems quite unusual for China.
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
Also curious to know: Is this a church with a gas station, or a gas station with a church? Inquiring minds!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/steveinharbin/7629998382/
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
Day 4
Shibazhan-Mohe-Beijicun-Realizing beijicun is a tourist trap-Mohe
I started the day from Shibazhan and mostly was great riding on empty roads in good weather. A few patches of roadwork gave me the opportunity to further test the Lifans offloading skills.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8289/7...842b9989_c.jpg
IMG_1123 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8434/7...c159a7bc_c.jpg
IMG_1122 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
When passing these heavily loaded trucks on narrow bumpy roads I was a little scared of getting knocked in the head by a falling log
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8155/7...8d3d498f_c.jpg
IMG_1118 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
Dongbei isn't known for its citrus, so this citrus god in the middle of nowhere didn't really make sense to me
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8028/7...e6b1ebc3_c.jpg
IMG_1112 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
Despide being in the middle of nowhere, these speeding cameras were everywhere, I passed at least 10 each day.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8433/7...3354c18b_c.jpg
IMG_1130 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
A little later as I climbed up out of a valley there was a great view, and a tower to take pictures from. Too bad when I pulled up to it there was a 20rmb entrance fee, so I turned around and took a pic of the tower instead.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7132/7...2d89626a_c.jpg
IMG_1133 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
After some more uneventful cruising, I made it to mohe and looked for some noodles. I found a nice little place and the owner wanted a pic together. Turns out our expressions weren't the most enthusiastic.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8026/7...0fb2d6e7_c.jpg
IMG_1137 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
Then as I was eating I met this guy tom, who had spent some time in Miami
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8026/7...ed796ffd_c.jpg
IMG_1138 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
He worked in this museum about a big fire that had destroyed a lot of the area in the 1980s. He treated me to lunch and then showed me around the museum. Dongbei hospitality is legendary.
Mohe
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8167/7...fe3548e9_c.jpg
IMG_1139 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
Then I left for the Arctic city, the northernmost point on China's map.
Some Russian-ish style house
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8157/7...b71cae7c_c.jpg
IMG_1151 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
As a left the town on a small road, it quickly turned into a road exactly like the expressways, except it wasn't. It seemed odd to me that it was such a big fancy road just to go to a small village. That was foreshadowing that I was headed for a tourist trap.
I arrived and it turned out the city was just there for tourism, it wasn't even really a village. You needed to buy a 60rmb ticket to enter, so I said screw it, and went back to Mohe for the night.
Tourist trap
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8149/7...5175cd1d_c.jpg
IMG_3829-15 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
Mohe however was a lot of fun.
View of the city from the park
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7249/7...3067432e_c.jpg
IMG_3844-16 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
This guy was piss drunk, and kept trying to get me to chug beers with him, even though I told him I was driving and did not want to drink.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8145/7...0dc5cf1a_c.jpg
IMG_1153 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
"Don't worry, you won't get in trouble"
"I know, I just don't want to"
"Don't worry, Im the top leader of Mohe"
"haha"
"You don't believe me, look"
Then he got up and stumbled around in a circle. He kept hugging me and saying incoherent things. I was just waiting for my chuar to get cooked.
"well if you drive, take me for a ride with you"
"I don't think thats a good idea..."
"No don't worry, have a beer"
After a while his friends noticed he was a little out of control and came and grabbed him. I ate in peace and they ended up picking up my tab, which was a nice surprise to an interesting dinner.
I walked around for awhile and enjoyed the nice weather. Then I went back to the travel inn and sat outside with the owner and his friends. They asked a lot of questions about America, then called their daughters to come and try out some English word with the American. The daughters were 20ish and both embarrassed/scared, and didn't say a word for the 15ish minutes they stood there. After awhile I headed back to my room to look at the map and pass out for the night.
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
Quote:
Also curious to know: Is this a church with a gas station, or a gas station with a church? Inquiring minds!
All your needs in one stop. Fuel for you bike and your soul.
Quote:
Under no circumstances don't even push people I have since been told.You can yell your head off but don't touch them or you will be sued.
Its definitely best avoid any conflicts, especially physical. Especially in the places where you are the first foreigner the people have ever met. You don't want to give them a violent/bad tempered first impression of your country/culture. Who knows how long that bad impression could last. It might be years before another foreigner goest to that place.
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
Hi steve
All i can find out about the church in Huma is it was bulit in August 2011 as christian church with 20% backed by government money so they can have their little men looking on ????from the inside
the rest of the money to build the church came from local donation and some money from the banks as well the Town is regarded as a tourist town so i think it was built as a tourist attraction
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
Quote:
All i can find out about the church in Huma is it was bulit in August 2011 as christian church with 20% backed by government money so they can have their little men looking on ????from the inside
the rest of the money to build the church came from local donation and some money from the banks as well the Town is regarded as a tourist town so i think it was built as a tourist attraction
Huh. I never would have guessed that town was regarded as a tourist town. I should have gone in and checked it out a little more.
Quote:
ho by the way i should be up in Harbin in the next 4 weeks see if we can meet up and have a beer
Send me a message and let me know when you around. I'm always up for a beer with a fellow motorcyclist.
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
Thanks for sharing this great report with us Steve. You did a great job, getting legal, getting a bike, and getting away into the countryside. I did 5 years in Harbin (finally got paroled), and your report brings back memories of the Dongbei spirit perfectly - very friendly, outgoing, and always up for a drink (albeit warm beer).
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
Day 5 Mohe-Genhe (Inner Mongolia)
This was one of the best days of the trip. Empty beautiful scenery, and I met a lot of really cool people.
After getting the usually baozi zhou and xianyadan for breakfast, I headed out to look for the road to Inner Mongolia. It was a dirt road, and they don't usually have signs. I asked a few people and finally found an old man who was like an atlas. He new everything about every road in the area. He told me very precisely (maybe the only time I got really accurate directions the whole trip!) how to get to the road I needed and I headed off. It was great riding, and there were very few cars. I passed a guy who had a flat, but I didn't have a patch kit with me. I wish I could have helped, he had a long way to push, and there weren't many people passing by.
The good stuff
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8017/7...b3c1f1c3_c.jpg
IMG_3853-24 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
Not a person around for miles, nature, silence, clean water... Am I really in China?
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8003/7...cdb1e141_c.jpg
IMG_3856-25 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
After a few hours I got to the border of Inner Mongolia, where the road was suddenly paved
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7249/7...72914018_c.jpg
IMG_3863-1 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
I passed another guy with a flat, and once again wasn't able to help. I decided next place I stop I'm buying a repair kit. (which I should have had in the first place-I forgot it on the kitchen table when I left) I continued on enjoying the scenery.
The road started to parallel a beautiful empty river, and I saw a way to get down, so I took advantage of it, and decided to rest for awhile. There I met some locals who had come to bbq for the day.
Places like this are why I wanted to go for a long ride
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8284/7...a02b4e43_c.jpg
IMG_3876-17 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
They used electricity to kill the fish hiding between rocks, then bbq the fish. First time I had seen that. Seemed a little dangerous to strap a car battery to your back then go wading, but hey, TIC.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8010/7...6ed6ec4e_c.jpg
IMG_3885-18 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7138/7...5ed89615_c.jpg
IMG_3894-20 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
A pair of Inner Mongilians. I don't think they had ever seen a foreigner before.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7140/7...4c6f545d_c.jpg
IMG_1164 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
They offered to let me join in their bbq, but I heard thunder in the distance and decide it was better if I got going, as tempting and delicious as it looked.
After awhile I started getting chased by the storm, which made for some great scenery, but was a little scary, as lightning was strking really close by.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7273/7...d1a2058a_c.jpg
IMG_3907-33 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
I was doing a decent job outrunning the storm, and only ended up getting a little wet before I made it to Genhe, where I decided to stay the night. I only had a map of Heilongjiang, and needed to wait until the bookstore opened in the morning to buy one. I decided to wander around and check out the town.
I stopped for some bbq to see if Inner Mongolias mutton was as good as everybody says it was. It was. The best I've had so far in China by far. After going through the typical awkward moments where they are not sure if the foreigner can communicate with them and they all shy away, I met some really cool people there.
The crazy bbq lady
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8025/7...5df5e81e_c.jpg
IMG_3914-23 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
The humble stinky tofu man who really should have been a philosopher. We had a few beers together and he shared his insights on human nature.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8166/7...e6130595_c.jpg
IMG_3915-24 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
After that I wandered back to my Inn and sat outside and chatted with the owner. The weather was perfect, and even better, there were no mosquitoes! Apparently they don't have many in Inner Mongolia. After awhile I headed in and went to sleep.
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
Quote:
Thanks for sharing this great report with us Steve. You did a great job, getting legal, getting a bike, and getting away into the countryside. I did 5 years in Harbin (finally got paroled), and your report brings back memories of the Dongbei spirit perfectly - very friendly, outgoing, and always up for a drink (albeit warm beer).
Thanks, I was really grateful to have the information and help from everybody on this site. The whole process would have taken 10 times as long and been a lot more expensive if I hadn't had other peoples experience to learn from. MCM really is an incredible resource for anybody wanting to ride in China.
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
HarbinSteve
Nice... makes China look liveable.
Thanks for the great pics and ride report. :clap:
Cheers!
ChinaV
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
Day 6 Genhe->Noname truck stop
I woke up and headed out to the bookstore to finally get a map. When I got there it was closed, so I looked for some breakfast.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8426/7...f97659cc_c.jpg
IMG_3916-1 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
After I ate, I was able to get the map, then it was decision time. I have a few friends in various parts of Inner Mongolia, so I wanted to see if I could go visit them. It turns out, Inner Mongolia is BIG. Really really big. So, I decided not to triple the length of my trip, and to start heading back instead.
A lot of people had told me to go to Hailaer, so I decided to head there. The scenery was pretty plane, except for some parts where they must have decide it was too natural and needed to add some coal mines and power plants
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8006/7...247c64a9_c.jpg
IMG_1189 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
After awhile, I got to Hailaer and remembered why I hate cities
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8155/7...70c16a5e_c.jpg
IMG_1190 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
After being stuck in traffic on huge crowded streets, I wanted to get back into the open as soon as possible, so I decided not to stay and look around. I just cruised until it started getting dark and found a small Inn to sleep at. It turned out the owners son was on summer vacation, so I watched part of an English movie and then went to sleep.
,
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
I've been a little lazy about posting days 7 and 8 mostly because they were uneventful and a little frustrating. Not much to write about.
Day 7. I had originally planned to return home on day 7, but, for lack of a better word, was cockblocked by the Expressway. I had a relatively small distance to cover to get back from Eastern Inner Mongolia to Haerbin. No problem I thought. I would have never imagined how much difficult it would be to get between the two biggest cities in the province.
Starting the day, the ride was nice. Inner Mongolia is an awesome place to ride. There was a couple bad stretches of road where it was getting repaired, but that just made the ride more interesting.
Signs are all in Chinese and Mongolian
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IMG_3966-28 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
Stopped to take a picture from a scenic pullout and this group of guys from Guilin wanted a pic together
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IMG_3961-27 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
Starting to get dirty
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IMG_3982-30 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
Mongolian roadblock
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IMG_1198 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
Getting dirtier
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IMG_1212 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
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IMG_1213 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
I made it to qiqihaer, and figured it would be an easy stretch to Harbin from there. Nope. The only road connecting the two is an Expressway, a very busy expressway. People told me to just get on it, but I hate riding on them, especially in busy sections. I feel like I'm in a cage or something, and you can't stop to take pics. So it was off to plan b. I found an old road that should have taken me to daqinq, but it turned out it was closed. So after some local advice...
I ended up on this for awhile:
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IMG_1228 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
Then as I was working my way Southeast on various small roads, It began to dawn on me that it was getting dark, and I probably wouldn't be able to make it home. That was a little disappointing, but I didn't really have a choice.
I started looking for a place to stay, and ended up making it to a small town called Lindian. I found a cheap Inn, and got the only room left.
Maybe good luck for China, but not so much for us Laowai:
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IMG_1236 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
Shoes after a day of mud
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IMG_1235 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
I got some dinner and walked around to check out the town. I met a cool family who ran a small store, and sat on the curb talking to them for awhile. Some of the neighbors joined in, and we were having a good chat. Then one guy invited me to drink with him, which seemed very normal at first, as its the dongbei custom. But after I refused the first few times, he started getting really pushy. Then he started asking me a bunch of questions about my bike, and then tried to get me to drink with him again. I was starting to get a bad feeling about him, but I couldn't get him to leave. Then a couple of friends of his came over and kept pushing for me to go with them. It became a lot harsher than the typical dongbei hospitality. I don't think they were up to any good. Then they wanted to go 玩玩中国的女生 and the like. They kept telling me not to worry about money that they would treat me blah blah blah, but I wanted nothing to do with that group. They were starting to get mad that I wouldn't go with them, but finally they disappeared. Needless to say, I was not going to leave my bike outside (where that group knew where it was) that night! Thankfully, a lady in the group I was chatting with who also didn't seem to like those guys much offered to let me put it into her hair salon for the night, and I could sleep soundly. I wish I would have got a pic of the bike in the salon. After that ordeal I headed off to sleep.
Except it wasn't sleep. The cardboard think walls in the Inn didn't do a good job of keeping the noise from the neighbors "activities" out of my room. So I Listened to the iPod for awhile, and eventually all was quiet again.
Day 8 RAIN RAIN RAIN->Home!
It started off with a storm, but I was determined, I would get home today, no matter what. So I set off. I found a good road that connected LinDian to another road that would take me home.
But... After getting 60 or so Kms in I found out that it was closed. I would have been able to bypass the closure normally, but the hard rain made the thick Donbei mud impossible to get through. Even the tractors were having trouble, I would have never been able to get up the embankment again.
So, I had to stop in the rain, and get out the map and look for plan b. Unfortunately, the map was not waterproof. I looked as quickly as I could, and after asking some people, the only way to get closer to harbin was to go to Daqing.
After winding around vaguely lost on the roads for servicing oil rigs, I made it. I got directions how to get out without going through the busy city from a man selling corn on the street. They were absurd. Right, left, left, right, two lights, see a building, left right, right. I wish I had a video. He was super-helpful, but Him and I both knew I wouldn't be able to remember all of the steps. He repeated them twice, then we both ended up laughing. He said "just remember the first three steps then ask again" haha.
I ended up getting stuck in the huge city center, which I'm pretty sure motorcycles are banned from, but made it out alive in one piece. After driving out of daqing on the bridge over a stinky bog, I was headed in the right direction. But then another road was closed, more wondering, and now my soaked map was starting to fall apart. Things were not looking so great.
After some more screwing around with crumbling maps/asking many a local I made it to a road that would take me to hulan, near Harbin. It ended up being closed, but I was able to make it around the detour. Little did I know I would be in for the most potholed/rutted/washboard/rocky 20km/h 4 hours of my life. I kept thinking it couldn't possible drag on for much longer, but it did. On and on and on.
At one point a man was hitchhiking, so I picked him up. He offered to pay for the ride to the next village down the road, but I was going that way anyway, and he hopped on. After another 30 or so bone rattling minutes, I dropped him off, then he insisted on treating me to jiaozi for lunch. I met his wife and enjoyed some good food. After going 2up on that road with no problems, I give the suspension on the Lifan 5 stars.
Eventually I made it back to roads I knew, and bolted home. I took of my muddy clothes and hit the sack. A nice 8 days enjoying clean air, and silence.
Sorry not many pictures on day 8, Rain rain rain and my little point and shoot ended up becoming a casualty to it. So much for the "waterproof" pockets on my jacket...
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IMG_1238 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
Some of my favorite scenery along the way
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IMG_3695-1 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
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IMG_3688-8 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
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IMG_3707-11 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
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IMG_3779-13 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
The far side of this one is Russia
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IMG_3788-15 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
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IMG_3818-23 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
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IMG_3853-24 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
Posted this one before, but I love it, so here it is again
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IMG_3856-25 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
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IMG_3874-28 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
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IMG_3896-30 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
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IMG_3939-38 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
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IMG_3946-2 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
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IMG_3968-39 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
This was a creepy/weird/abandoned road. I didn't see another person for maybe 50km, which is quite something for Chinese standards.
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IMG_4013-40 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
That was a great ride report. Made me sad to remember however how much I missed on my China travels because I never mastered the language. Go on ya!
Cheers,
Dan K.
Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
Thanks for the report mister. Typing on my balcony looking out the window at the sea of high risers disappearing into the eternal smog, it makes me wonder if you're talking about the same country...
Beautiful pictures, love this one!
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Re: 8 day Dongbei extravaganza!
Quote:
Made me sad to remember however how much I missed on my China travels because I never mastered the language
My Mandarin is far far from mastered, but it is really cool to get the local perspective on things. For such small/middle of nowhere places the locals knew a lot about world politics and it was really cool to talk to them.
Also, its better late then never, get studying and come back for another ride! Even a little goes quite a long long way.
Quote:
Typing on my balcony looking out the window at the sea of high risers disappearing into the eternal smog, it makes me wonder if you're talking about the same country
Yeah, I wondered the same thing while I was there. It was hard to believe I was in China. The thing I appreciated the most was silence. I could stop riding and only hear the trickle of a creek or the sounds of insects. Now I'm in Harbin, with mucky air and 24hrs a day NOISE. Trains, trucks, construction all non stop. I'm looking forward to getting out again. I guess its good motivation for us to get off our butts and ride out of the city.
