Prep Round-China Bike trip, 2-up, April-May 2012

**soberpete** · 02-20-2012, 03:32 AM

Indeed...
People obviously can't get motorcycles registered in Qingdao city center but can one get away with riding through it?

**fahni** · 02-20-2012, 07:29 AM

Hey Fred,

PM us when you can be sure of your exact dates for Beijing. Let's try to meet up and show you around BJ!

**Fred** · 02-20-2012, 07:47 AM

Hey Fahni, thanks for the offer, we might take you up as well on the offer !
Been several times to BJ, but that'd be nice to meet you guys up there and share stories !

Cheers,

Fred

**Maux** · 02-20-2012, 10:49 AM

OK, I pestered one of our good natured Chinese compatriots and at least from Dalian, Liaoning - Weihai, Shandong I have an idea of what you could expect.

Daliangang is the company (?) - 0411-39622988 (haven't called them myself)
Y170 - one seat
Y50 - motorcycle (maybe, maybe not?)
Call two days ahead to book the ferry.
The ferry leaves from Dalianwan, which is in NE Zhongshan, close to the center of town.

So if you want to loop around the NE clockwise via Mongolia >Ride> (Heilongjiang?, Jilin?) >Ride> Liaoning >Ferry> Shandong, it might cost you Y220 per person+bike to make part of your journey by ferry and get you from Dalian to the little city of Weihai.

Sorry guys, I forgot to ask about how long it takes and whether they have overnight ferryings (is it ferryings?).

Someone with a Mandarin inclined spouse could enlighten us much more with a quick call, I'm sure.

Things I forgot to ask: 1) Overnight? 2)When do they leave? 3) How long does it take? 4) Does the same company go from Weihai to Dalian? (I'm 90% sure they do, just makes sense but TIC).

**zhu** · 02-20-2012, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by soberpete

Indeed...
People obviously can't get motorcycles registered in Qingdao city center but can one get away with riding through it?

you can ride through any of the smaller cities at night no worries
most of the cops go home at dinner time
or during the day
just keep moving

**soberpete** · 02-20-2012, 01:13 PM

Originally Posted by zhu

you can ride through any of the smaller cities at night no worries
most of the cops go home at dinner time
or during the day
just keep moving

That's what I was hoping to hear

.
"Keep moving"
I heard that the Chinese police don't pursue anyone who flees. Apparently, this is because chasing them would be too dangerous considering the surrounding public. I believe this is true but there is another reason: old Volkswagen Santanas and bag o'bolt 125cc bikes aren't build for chasing.
I've ridden past roughly ten traffic officers who have tried to wave me down, sometimes running out into the middle of the road to try and catch me but they've never chased me in any way.

**soberpete** · 02-20-2012, 01:15 PM

0411-39622988

I'll ask one of my Chinese work-mates to give them a call tomorrow. I may give it a try myself.

**Maux** · 02-20-2012, 02:20 PM

I hope the numbers good. It would be great to have some more information about crossing each way, because as I said it is one more possible completion of a large loop around BJ and northeast China. I'd love to have some details and I'm sure it would be useful for other riders planing their routes.

My Mandarin is still crap so I could talk to them for 30 minutes and not get any more usable info, though I could figure out if they like hot pot more than hamburgers.

**soberpete** · 02-20-2012, 10:09 PM

Practice makes perfect.

**soberpete** · 02-21-2012, 02:05 AM

I just called the number that Maux provided and I accidentally asked about the ferry from Dalian - Yantai, not the one to Wehai. Just bought some Yantai apples from the supermarket and it must have stuck in my mind.
Anyway, here's what I just discovered about the Dalian-Yantai ferries:

Dalian – Yantai (6 hours, roughly)
08:30
14:00
20:30
22:30

Yantai – Dalian (6 hours)
09:00
12:20
20:00
22:30
23:50

165rmb per person
Motorbikes are allowed on, no problems there but after being redirected through three numbers there was nobody who knew the price (although I bet Maux's info is pretty standard for most of those ferries) or could tell me how the bikes would be secured to the deck. The last woman told me to ask the workers on the ferry for that info before hanging up on me. The first woman was the rudest of all though, probably because she was with the Weihai ferry and didn't have anything to do with the Yantai ferry that I asked for.