Yunnan, Sichuan, Gansu, Qinhai, XinJiang (YSGQX) Ride

[reyboomboom]

Those are very nice pictures indeed, very well done Meow! Just be careful!

[zhu]

Yes there are blocks, but you can go through, i think they are only for locals or for people who want to sneak into Tibet. The most they will ask is your id + registration of your moto.
Whats the name of that golden thing inside your carburator? You have to get a bigger one, then everything is ok.

golden thing inside your carby is investment fund retirement jet ,.just increase the cashflow to compensate for a lean economy

[MeowZeDong]

Hi Fahni,

I'm happy to help as much as I can. I did my ride May/June and was lucky to have pretty good weather on riding days; just rain in the mountains and one particularly scary lightning storm that I felt confused on how to handle. (What the hell do you do in a huge open space at a high elevation?! I felt calmed after seeing some villager walking slowly with his herd of cattle though).

I am not familiar with Jialing...I was riding a Galaxy XTR 250 that could handle about 350km of fuel in its tank. I didn't have trouble with it in high-elevations (got up somewhere in 4,000km). I spoke with enough people to get an idea on fuel stops and never had problems finding gas. I didn't really use a map but had one on hand...the roads are pretty simple - not many other roads out there to confuse things (as far as the route I took from Dali to Ganzi). But I use GPS on my local Smartphone I purchased here. It's in Chinese. I didn't get as far as Qinghai Lake unfortunately.

I'm out here in Chengdu now though - maybe we can meet if you have any questions! I'm looking forward to getting my license shortly and hopefully planning another ride. It was an amazing trip!! You'll enjoy it so much....

Oh and as far as blocks - Litang was shut down while I was there but not when I entered or left. I heard after I left, about 12 trucks of military troops came in and shut it down for a good week. Drivers were stranded. I haven't heard anything lately.....truck drivers/travellers are priceless resources. Whenever you stop, you can ask about road/weather/blocks/fuel from most that have just come from the town you're headed to. Not ALL of them may know how to answer...but the ones I spoke to were knowledgeable and helpful.

Wow MZD, awesome RR with epic pictures, thanks for sharing with us!

I am mulling the plan to do a trip from Chengdu via Qinghai Lake to Dunhuang, then Lanzhou and Xi'an. Would be nice to get some input on your experiences regarding roads (blocks in Northern Sichuan around Aba?), availability of petrol, climate and the likes. MZD, CC and all the others, any input? What do I have to prepare for in respect of high altitudes with my 150cc Jialing. Any changes in carb adjustment reccomended? I heard I should try to get through the northern mountains of Sichuan before Mid-June to avoid the rainy season. Is mid-June still ok?

Would be grateful for any feedback!

[MeowZeDong]

Thanks a lot ReyBB! :) Wish you safe riding....

Those are very nice pictures indeed, very well done Meow! Just be careful!

[Fletch]

I am so excited to have seen your post and will certainly follow your adventure with great interest. I have been planing (way to slowly) a similar trip through southern China and reading your first post has motivated me to move forward. I am 65 living in Montana (US) that has similar geography. My wife and I have bought a house in Lijiang but it will not be ready for us to move there until next September. If you send the location of your A yi's guest house we will stay there on our next visit. Your photographs are just excellent and my favorites are of the people that you meet along the way. Your picture of the beautiful little girl contemplating the butterfly is priceless. I wish you an exciting and very safe journey and will follow your adventure with great interest. Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences.

[MeowZeDong]

I am so excited to have seen your post and will certainly follow your adventure with great interest. I have been planing (way to slowly) a similar trip through southern China and reading your first post has motivated me to move forward. I am 65 living in Montana (US) that has similar geography. My wife and I have bought a house in Lijiang but it will not be ready for us to move there until next September. If you send the location of your A yi's guest house we will stay there on our next visit. Your photographs are just excellent and my favorites are of the people that you meet along the way. Your picture of the beautiful little girl contemplating the butterfly is priceless. I wish you an exciting and very safe journey and will follow your adventure with great interest. Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences.

Hi Fletch, much thanks for the comments. I hope you realize your dream and get out here! I guess Montana might have similar geography but I'm telling you, it's a WORLD of difference as far as road rules go...because there aren't any. So I hope you familiarize yourself first as safely as possible with the average mainland Chinese driver (uh, about a few million of them you'll encounter, I'm sure) and their reactions toward a rider. But I suppose if you've lived here before (I'm only assuming since you've a house in China), you know. :)

Good luck on your move out here! If you're in Chengdu, give me a holla!

[fahni]

Hi MeowZedong, thanks for the input!

Amazed to hear that the altitude was no problem for the bike. Is it EFI or carbed? Would be great to meet but I live in Beijing (drop me a line in advance if you plan to visit once). I will have the bike shipped to Chengdu in advance if I actually do the ride. Will try to squeeze out as much information as possible from every person I meet on the road.

Again, amazing story and great photography!