Ok, I am planning a trip for early next summer. There are still a lot of things to be sorted out, especially if I can get 3 weeks of straight holiday at what is the busiest season in our office but that aside, the specs look like this:

Route: Chengdu – Nuo’ergai (wetlads at the border between Sichuan and Qinghai, the area where the huanghe starts) Qinghai Lake – Dunhuang – Lanzhou – Xi’an – Guoliang Tunnels – Taishan – Beijing)

Distance: estimated 6000 km

Time: 3 weeks

Bike: my trusted JH 150GY-3 with an Adlo top box a saddle bag and me as solo rider

Planned date: starting end of May (20th?) until around the 10th of June. I have family business in BJ on the 13th of June.

There are still a lot of uncertainties in general and even more detailed questions that I am pushing back and forth in my head. So I thought I ask the experienced riders here on MCM for their input.
Here we go:

Distance
6000 km will be a long haul in 3 weeks and this will be my first long-distance ride, There are possibilities for shortcuts like skipping the leg to Dunhuang and rather just ride around lake Qinghai before heading to Lanzhou or skipping the last part and shipping the bike from Xi’an back to BJ. If I do both, that should cut the whole trip down to a more manageable 4500 km.

Climate
I have to be back in BJ on the 13th and I don’t want to go after the 13th because then the rainy season will have started in the mountains north of Chengdu. But if starting end of May, the mountains and Qinghai plateau in general will still be very cold. Is it going to be ok, or do you think it will still be too cold?

Altitude
There are two systems that will be affected heavily by the high altitude: bike and ride. After probably two to three days after leaving Chengdu I will have to cross passes around 3600 asl and the highest climb will be around 4300m maybe one week after I left Chengdu. I know that the rider can adjust to higher altitudes by just taking it slowly, giving the body time to get used to the thinner air. So if I stretch the time a bit, it should be possible to minimize the adverse effects on the rider system.
But for the bike it is a whole different story. It is carbureted so the lower oxygen level is going to take its toll on the performance of the bike. Do you think I should rejet the carb? If I do that to make the bike fit for higher altitudes, I will have to rejet again when I descend into Gansu. Or do you think it will be enough if I just take out the air filter when approaching the high lands? Any other suggestions?

Fuel
As far as I can see from GM, there will be some long stretches in sparsly populated regions. Will I be able to get refill regularly? My tank is 8.3 liters which gives me a maximum range of around 270 km. I am thinking of taking a 3 or 5 litre cherry can.

Road Conditions and Blocks
From other ride reports I picked up the suggestion (I think it was CrazyCarl) to get knobbies for the trip as there will be a lot of gravel roads and I have to prepare for snow in the mountains.
I am mulling the idea of also going to Aba county because everybody tells me it is f***ing beautiful. But I heard rumors of road blocks because of the self-immolations of monks and nuns in that area. Does anybody have some input on this?

Route
According to GM, there is no way (at least no official road) to enter Qinghai if I ride via Zoige and Luqu. But if you zoom in on GM it seems like you can branch off on a dirt track in western direction north of Luqun to reach a village called Kecaigang and then in northern direction from there to make the bridge between G213 in Gansu to S312. Then there seems to be a connection between the western end of S312 in GM to the S203 in Qinghai. I then would like to hop from S203 to S101 which should be not a big deal because the terrain is much flatter. Then I would like to traverse from Guomayingxiang to G214 in the gap between Mt. Riyue Shan and the big Yellow River reservoir south of it. Does anybody have any experience or advanced road knowledge in this area?

Luggage and gear
I want to ride one up with an Adlo top box and two soft bags. I will bring good protective gear, rain suit, MX boots, some basic tools, spare tubes, gps. Any other suggestions? Camping gear recommended?