8 day Dongbei extravaganza!

[prince666]

Hi steve just to let you other people on here know the town with the big red church is called" HUMA" about 200 km from Heihe on the S209 Heading north which is on the border with Russia but with no town on the Russia side

just i small point to help you with your log keep up the good report steve .....



church.jpg



Good luck and drive safe


steve


ho by the way i should be up in Harbin in the next 4 weeks see if we can meet up and have a beer

[bigdamo]

After the maintenance I ran around looking for an extra bungie chord, with no luck. A guy said he could help me find one but just ended up following me around blabbing and actually turned out to be pretty annoying. When I gave up and went back to the hotel to grab my bike, I was feeling lazy and decided to take a cab. The blabbing guy told me his friend would take us in his 3 wheeled motorcycle on the curb. I was stupid, hot and tired, and forgot to ask how much before I hopped on. After driving less than 1km, we arrived. I asked how much and the guy held up 3 fingers. I gave him 3 rmb and he said, "no, 30" I said "are you kidding me, that was less than a kilometer, I'm not giving you that much" He looked angry and a little confused that the foreigner wasn't surrendering to being cheated and took a bit of an aggressive stance. I told him I'd give him 5 and he could shove off. Then he stepped closer to me, and his friend was looking nervous. I would have like to have grabbed the tire iron out of my backpack and pounded him into the ground and tell him to stop cheating people, but I didn't want to get chased down by all of his other 3wheeled motorcycle friends, so we settled on 15 rmb and I shrugged it off. It was partially my fault anyways for forgetting to ask how much before we left. He was the only black sheep out of all of the people I met on the whole trip. Everyone was was extremely hospitable, and great to be around.

This is similar to the scam I experienced a month ago.I think the anti foreigner "garbage" has some thing to do with it I am told.

I also was put in the situation(argument) where the guy stepped forward in an aggressive manner and it looked like he was going to hit me I pushed him back and he wanted me to hit him I wouldn't.He then called the police and said I hit him and he wanted to sue me.The police took his side even though there was not a mark om him.

I am told this scam is increasing in China and if they can get a foreigner rilled up enough to hit the agitator easy money can be made.

Under no circumstances don't even push people I have since been told.You can yell your head off but don't touch them or you will be sued.

[HarbinSteve]

Hi steve just to let you other people on here know the town with the big red church is called" HUMA" about 200 km from Heihe on the S209 Heading north which is on the border with Russia but with no town on the Russia side

Thanks. Do you have any idea why such a small town randomly has such a big church? Is there something special about that town? It looked like the church was the nicest building there, which seems quite unusual for China.

[euphonius]

Also curious to know: Is this a church with a gas station, or a gas station with a church? Inquiring minds!

[HarbinSteve]

Day 4

Shibazhan-Mohe-Beijicun-Realizing beijicun is a tourist trap-Mohe

I started the day from Shibazhan and mostly was great riding on empty roads in good weather. A few patches of roadwork gave me the opportunity to further test the Lifans offloading skills.


IMG_1123 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr


IMG_1122 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

When passing these heavily loaded trucks on narrow bumpy roads I was a little scared of getting knocked in the head by a falling log


IMG_1118 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

Dongbei isn't known for its citrus, so this citrus god in the middle of nowhere didn't really make sense to me


IMG_1112 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

Despide being in the middle of nowhere, these speeding cameras were everywhere, I passed at least 10 each day.


IMG_1130 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

A little later as I climbed up out of a valley there was a great view, and a tower to take pictures from. Too bad when I pulled up to it there was a 20rmb entrance fee, so I turned around and took a pic of the tower instead.


IMG_1133 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

After some more uneventful cruising, I made it to mohe and looked for some noodles. I found a nice little place and the owner wanted a pic together. Turns out our expressions weren't the most enthusiastic.


IMG_1137 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

Then as I was eating I met this guy tom, who had spent some time in Miami


IMG_1138 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

He worked in this museum about a big fire that had destroyed a lot of the area in the 1980s. He treated me to lunch and then showed me around the museum. Dongbei hospitality is legendary.

Mohe


IMG_1139 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

Then I left for the Arctic city, the northernmost point on China's map.

Some Russian-ish style house


IMG_1151 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

As a left the town on a small road, it quickly turned into a road exactly like the expressways, except it wasn't. It seemed odd to me that it was such a big fancy road just to go to a small village. That was foreshadowing that I was headed for a tourist trap.

I arrived and it turned out the city was just there for tourism, it wasn't even really a village. You needed to buy a 60rmb ticket to enter, so I said screw it, and went back to Mohe for the night.

Tourist trap

IMG_3829-15 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

Mohe however was a lot of fun.

View of the city from the park


IMG_3844-16 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

This guy was piss drunk, and kept trying to get me to chug beers with him, even though I told him I was driving and did not want to drink.

IMG_1153 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

"Don't worry, you won't get in trouble"

"I know, I just don't want to"

"Don't worry, Im the top leader of Mohe"

"haha"

"You don't believe me, look"

Then he got up and stumbled around in a circle. He kept hugging me and saying incoherent things. I was just waiting for my chuar to get cooked.

"well if you drive, take me for a ride with you"

"I don't think thats a good idea..."

"No don't worry, have a beer"

After a while his friends noticed he was a little out of control and came and grabbed him. I ate in peace and they ended up picking up my tab, which was a nice surprise to an interesting dinner.

I walked around for awhile and enjoyed the nice weather. Then I went back to the travel inn and sat outside with the owner and his friends. They asked a lot of questions about America, then called their daughters to come and try out some English word with the American. The daughters were 20ish and both embarrassed/scared, and didn't say a word for the 15ish minutes they stood there. After awhile I headed back to my room to look at the map and pass out for the night.

[HarbinSteve]

Also curious to know: Is this a church with a gas station, or a gas station with a church? Inquiring minds!

All your needs in one stop. Fuel for you bike and your soul.

Under no circumstances don't even push people I have since been told.You can yell your head off but don't touch them or you will be sued.

Its definitely best avoid any conflicts, especially physical. Especially in the places where you are the first foreigner the people have ever met. You don't want to give them a violent/bad tempered first impression of your country/culture. Who knows how long that bad impression could last. It might be years before another foreigner goest to that place.

[prince666]

Hi steve

All i can find out about the church in Huma is it was bulit in August 2011 as christian church with 20% backed by government money so they can have their little men looking on ????from the inside
the rest of the money to build the church came from local donation and some money from the banks as well the Town is regarded as a tourist town so i think it was built as a tourist attraction

[HarbinSteve]

All i can find out about the church in Huma is it was bulit in August 2011 as christian church with 20% backed by government money so they can have their little men looking on ????from the inside
the rest of the money to build the church came from local donation and some money from the banks as well the Town is regarded as a tourist town so i think it was built as a tourist attraction

Huh. I never would have guessed that town was regarded as a tourist town. I should have gone in and checked it out a little more.

ho by the way i should be up in Harbin in the next 4 weeks see if we can meet up and have a beer

Send me a message and let me know when you around. I'm always up for a beer with a fellow motorcyclist.

[Lao Jia Hou]

Thanks for sharing this great report with us Steve. You did a great job, getting legal, getting a bike, and getting away into the countryside. I did 5 years in Harbin (finally got paroled), and your report brings back memories of the Dongbei spirit perfectly - very friendly, outgoing, and always up for a drink (albeit warm beer).

[HarbinSteve]

Day 5 Mohe-Genhe (Inner Mongolia)

This was one of the best days of the trip. Empty beautiful scenery, and I met a lot of really cool people.

After getting the usually baozi zhou and xianyadan for breakfast, I headed out to look for the road to Inner Mongolia. It was a dirt road, and they don't usually have signs. I asked a few people and finally found an old man who was like an atlas. He new everything about every road in the area. He told me very precisely (maybe the only time I got really accurate directions the whole trip!) how to get to the road I needed and I headed off. It was great riding, and there were very few cars. I passed a guy who had a flat, but I didn't have a patch kit with me. I wish I could have helped, he had a long way to push, and there weren't many people passing by.

The good stuff

IMG_3853-24 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

Not a person around for miles, nature, silence, clean water... Am I really in China?


IMG_3856-25 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

After a few hours I got to the border of Inner Mongolia, where the road was suddenly paved


IMG_3863-1 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

I passed another guy with a flat, and once again wasn't able to help. I decided next place I stop I'm buying a repair kit. (which I should have had in the first place-I forgot it on the kitchen table when I left) I continued on enjoying the scenery.

The road started to parallel a beautiful empty river, and I saw a way to get down, so I took advantage of it, and decided to rest for awhile. There I met some locals who had come to bbq for the day.

Places like this are why I wanted to go for a long ride


IMG_3876-17 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

They used electricity to kill the fish hiding between rocks, then bbq the fish. First time I had seen that. Seemed a little dangerous to strap a car battery to your back then go wading, but hey, TIC.


IMG_3885-18 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr


IMG_3894-20 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

A pair of Inner Mongilians. I don't think they had ever seen a foreigner before.


IMG_1164 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

They offered to let me join in their bbq, but I heard thunder in the distance and decide it was better if I got going, as tempting and delicious as it looked.

After awhile I started getting chased by the storm, which made for some great scenery, but was a little scary, as lightning was strking really close by.


IMG_3907-33 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

I was doing a decent job outrunning the storm, and only ended up getting a little wet before I made it to Genhe, where I decided to stay the night. I only had a map of Heilongjiang, and needed to wait until the bookstore opened in the morning to buy one. I decided to wander around and check out the town.

I stopped for some bbq to see if Inner Mongolias mutton was as good as everybody says it was. It was. The best I've had so far in China by far. After going through the typical awkward moments where they are not sure if the foreigner can communicate with them and they all shy away, I met some really cool people there.

The crazy bbq lady


IMG_3914-23 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

The humble stinky tofu man who really should have been a philosopher. We had a few beers together and he shared his insights on human nature.


IMG_3915-24 by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

After that I wandered back to my Inn and sat outside and chatted with the owner. The weather was perfect, and even better, there were no mosquitoes! Apparently they don't have many in Inner Mongolia. After awhile I headed in and went to sleep.