Baihuashan, Beijing

It's very difficult for us the keep our hands off the handlebars, so we decided to go for a short ride on November 4th.
Destination: Baihuashan 百花山 (100 flour mountain)

We left at 7 in the morning under blue skies and at single digit C temperatures.

The first stretch, along the 5th ring road of Beijing, was pretty boring and it
became very bad on the G108 afterwords. Very bumpy road surface and very chilly in the gorges between the Western mountains, where the sun shines
in for only 2 hours per day during the winter. From G108 (at km 74) we turned off to North into a small valley.
There is coal mining going on everywhere and black is the dominating color.
After 130 kms and 2 hours of riding we finally arrived at the bottom of the
mountain road we came for, having a short break to warm up on the sunny side of the slope.

http://photos.imageevent.com/chinabi...1104090001.jpg
Short break on a pile of coal dust


Meanwhile we reached 1000 m asl and the road to Baihuashan will climb for almost another 1000 m within 12 kms.

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In the distance - the road to Baihuashan

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Mid way up the mountain

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Looking south

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Andy on his way up

http://photos.imageevent.com/chinabi...1104093059.jpg
The final hairpins

http://photos.imageevent.com/chinabi...1104093914.jpg
We reached the top - altitude almost 2000 m and only 60 km West of the center of Beijing

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View to the South from the summit

http://photos.imageevent.com/chinabi...1104094147.jpg
West

http://photos.imageevent.com/chinabi...1104095528.jpg
North

http://photos.imageevent.com/chinabi...1104095746.jpg
East

http://photos.imageevent.com/chinabi...1104100041.jpg
Little monastery

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A look into the black valley we came trough


After a good hour of enjoying the views we started our way home, passing through another black valley.


http://photos.imageevent.com/chinabi...1104110605.jpg
Imagine to live there!

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A nice one again - the road to Baihuashan

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Coal pot

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A rare sight in this area

We returned the same bad and boring route back home with some mixed emotions.


http://photos.imageevent.com/chinabi...Baihuashan.jpg
The map (click to enlarge)



More pictures


Andy & Robert

hi Andy, awesome PIC's & report ,
and as you said "Only 60 KM's from the center of Beijing"
it is a really great riding area,
I hope to be there with you on the next one
all the best
TIM L

WOW :eekers:

2000 meters! Must have been cold up there! That's just the kind of road I love.

They certainly don't have anything like that here in Australia. Nice report and thanks for the pics!

BEAUTIFUL photos!!! Please clarify this: I read somewhere that 'big bikes' were not allowed in China, things must have changed!!??
Colourblind

Quote:

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Originally Posted by colourblind

BEAUTIFUL photos!!! Please clarify this: I read somewhere that 'big bikes' were not allowed in China, things must have changed!!??
Colourblind

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To the best of my knowledge:

Every 2 wheeled, combustion engine powered vehicle is a motorcycle (I don't know how all the different 3 wheelers are defined).

Every motorcycle has to fulfill certain standards (god knows which:confused1:) and go through the CCC (product safety standard) process. Additionally, emission standards have to be fulfilled, which are obviously different, depending on the city or province.
Further, it seems that emission standards are depending on engine size.
Smaller than 50cc (I think this is also the max for 2 strokers), 50 to 200cc (250cc ?) and above.

Some cities and regions ban bikes completly (e.g. Guangzhou), while other places limit the number of licenses or have different ones. In Beijing for example, there are "A" and "B" plates. The A's cost 15,000 RMB and allow you to ride in the whole city, while the B's are not allowed into downtown but cost only 1,000 and are not issued to foreigners.

All this is valid for domestic as well as imported :scooter:.

Since there are only max 250cc domestic bikes, except the Jialing JH600 and the CJs (the experts may correct me), all others are imported.

Not many foreign bike manufacturers are willing to spend the efforts to obtain all necessary certificates, so there is only a small number of foreign manufactured bikes around (the legal ones). To my knowledge these are BMW, Ducati, HD, Honda and Yamaha.

Since import and other duties sum up to approx 180% of the overseas EXW price, the retail prices here are extremely high.

Notes
- Everything is possible in :chinese:, nothing is easy and patience is the root for all success.
- Every village has different rules



Andy

Hi Chinabiker

many thanks for the info.
Would you have info about the use of foreign driving licence as well?? Again, I was told that one has to have their foreign licence converted to a Chinese one, is that correct?

I do quite fancy the Jialing JH600 if and when I do get the chance to ride China!!

Colourblind

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by colourblind

Hi Chinabiker

many thanks for the info.
Would you have info about the use of foreign driving licence as well?? Again, I was told that one has to have their foreign licence converted to a Chinese one, is that correct?

I do quite fancy the Jialing JH600 if and when I do get the chance to ride China!!

Colourblind

---

There is a pretty straight forward procedure in most places, permitting foreigners to obtain a driving license under the condition of holding a residence permit. So far, so good - for residents.

As a non-resident, say tourist, it is more difficult and subject to miles of red tape, days, weeks, months and $ ,€,£, ¥, but it is not impossible.

Converting a foreign dl is not possible, but a requirement to apply for a Chinese one (at least in most places).

Many people just come here, buy a bike with rego and just ride without dl.
O.K., as long as you are not caught in big cities or involved in an accident, not recommended though.


Andy

P.S. Do you live in China ?

Andy & Robert,

Thanks for taking us along on a nice little ride. You can just feel the cold in some of those pictures. Hats off to you guys for braving the elements :thumbsup: .

Was late to work after 20 minutes of browsing your photo album and map this morning. Somehow this resulted in a 60 km ride instead of the usual 30. :riding: It was 20ºC, brrrrr....:lol8:

Cheers!
ChinaV

I made my first ever (and impromptu) trip out of Beijing this Saturday and Sunday. Here's my story...

Last Saturday, around 3:30pm a friend and I decided to go out for an
afternoon ride toward the hills around Beijing on my newly purchased
150cc Guangdong-made motor-scooter bought in the Wudaokou area (the engine is a "Maima麦马"). The tachometer read 336 km before the trip which represented my entire life's riding experience.

At about 5:20pm, precisely the time when we should turn around to go home, we passed a sign (see pic of #?) that
said "Baihuashan 85km"("100 Flowers Mountain 85 KM"). My
friend recalled she had been there once as a kid, but hadn't gone back
since. I asked her if she was willing to go again and return to
Beijing the next day. Thus began our adventure.

I figured 85 kilometers would take about 1.5 hrs. One hour later, at about 6:30 I
remembered I had no passport and found out she carried no ID, which
meant we could not stay at a hotel. As the sun went further down, the
air exhibited irrational temperature fluctuations with pockets of
frigid cold in the valleys. 7:30pm, after over 2 hours of 2-lane mountain highway (G109)
got us within 20 km of Baihua Mountain. We were getting cold but had
made it through the last major pass and found a perfect place to eat
and stay. They assured us no hotel registration was necessary out there.

Attachment 1715 _ _ _ _ _ Attachment 1709

Later that evening, we heard a pack of wolves howling just outside our
hut. The vicious watchdogs in the cages abutting our hut were going
nuts. It was then that we realized that our windows were wide open but
for a screen. This scared the shit out of her but I figured they were
probably just a pack of semi-wild dogs. The next Monday's google
search confirmed the area has wolves.

We woke up and purchased a second layer of clothes each, for I had
only shorts and a t-shirt and she lacked body fat. That cost 100RMB for both of us.

Since the air was pristine and the road had almost no traffic, I got
my camera out and gave it to my riding companion (setting T-priority
on 1/1000 and ISO 800). Though it was her first time to handle such a
beast, after major cropping and straightening efforts, I am able to
share with you the most magical ride I've ever had. As the driver,
it's difficult to really take in the views (unless you stop), as all
attention must be on the road at all times, especially in China. So I see my trip much as
you do.
Attachment 1712 _ _ _ _ _ Attachment 1716 _ _ _ _ _ Attachment 1717


On Sunday, we got caught up in a major thunderstorm in Beijing,
so we had to hang out at McDonalds for a half hour before getting home
at around 4:30pm. As for the rest of the trip, I could not have
imagined better weather.

I am not nearly as sore as I was after horseback riding last weekend, but that is
mostly due to geting back and shoulder massages I received while driving whenever
things tensed up too much or upon request.

After looking at Google Maps, I found out we had ridden to within a few
miles of the next province, Hebei Province! Just imagine where we
could have gotten had we left at 9am ;)

And so, I had a truly amazing vacation.

Fun Facts:
Traveled: 250-300 km
Top Speed: 70 km/hr
Gas cost less than $10 bucks total
Baihua Mountian is 2,218 meters high (7,276 feet)
My friend actually shouldered the pink purse the whole way
Her goggles cost about $3 in case you find them fashionable
Only took 25 hours in total
My tachy is over 630 km now

More photos to follow...

dear bryphoto,

great ride report and welcome to the pack. i'm sure i'm not alone in anticipating your pictures, especially any pix with wolves or a pink handbag...

where do you plan to go on your next ride?