Please, not another Zhejiang ride report!

[felix]

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


Some dude hearding ducks




Everything we love about zhejiang


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?




A 'get us to the next town' fix for corporal clegg's 812th clutch lever of the day.


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


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.





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.


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.


The view from our room window


The swimming hole just below (you have to go downstairs through the kitchen to get there)


The water is deep and clean and the rocks are good for diving




If you swim 30m upstream you can jam your shoulders into the rocks and get a free massage


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




And goes along a massive waterfall


And then across so can can see it




Noodles drying on the roadside


Still along the route i showed above, plenty more zhejiang awesomness






Yup, that's the road going up


Looking back down


There is so little of this shit compared to everywhere else in china that it's actually exciting when you hit it!


Bridge break


Panda


Wee mountain village







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.



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.






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.



That's about it!

[MotoKai]

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?



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

[Serpentza]

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

[felix]

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!

[Fred]

Nice RR Felix, thanks !

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

[Longren]

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.

Thanks for the inspiration!