Few weeks in South West China

[Brice]

This November, I took the opportunity to do a solo ride in some areas that I enjoyed during past trips with my 4WD. The journey is the destination, I visited very few touristic places, just wanted to ride and experience South West China, its landscapes and its people in an another way and different season than in a cage.

The trip lasted one month, 6500km and crossed 5 provinces anti clockwise in South West and South China (GuangDong, GuangXi, GuiZhou, Sichuan and Yunnan). I have no precise itinerary to follow, the idea is to reach Chengdu, the capital of the Sichuan province then to head west on the Tibet-QingHai plateau then to go back by Yunnan. I'll try to avoid most of the big cities.

To see the interactive Google map:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en...04b481987f42cd



The bike is a QingQi QM 200 GY, a Chinese production that uses a copycat Suzuki DR200 engine. This is one of the best and most reliable dirt bike made locally. 200cc could seem small for western riders but considering the roads here it was good enough most of the time for me and my 30kg bag.

Check this thread to know more about the QingQi range.

This specific bike was owned first by CrazyCarl then ChinaV, two fellow members of this forum. When I bought it, it was better than a new one, ChinaV has reviewed and upgraded whatever might failed based on his experience during a previous trip in Yunnan and Sichuan with Carl. Being a local production, this bike shares many parts with the armada of 125/150cc basic Chinese bikes available everywhere plus Suzuki (HaoJue in China) has a huge network of resellers/mechanics so finding common parts should not be a big issue.

Here the bike when I bought it from ChinaV.



The objective of the first day was to leave as quick as possible GuangDong Province or at least the Pearl River Delta which is a crowded and industrial area.
First stop, 80 km from the departure, I took a small ferry to cross one of the numerous rivers of the delta. Highways being forbidden to motorbikes I couldn't use the huge bridge behind the two folks.



For the locals to see this kind of bike and a foreigner is always an event, they are curious about the price, where I'm going and where I come from.
My Chinese being very limited, the conversation turns short often after few sentences. Ting Bu Dong (he doesn't understand), is always the last thing I hear...


Cost of passage is less than $US1.


Lot of traffic on the Delta. Rivers are used to carry goods and raw materials between factories and cargo ships.
Like on the road, size matters here, the bigger has always priority.




Another bridge just before Wuzhou my first stop at the end of the day. The water is clear which is a big change from the Delta, one of the most polluted regions of China. Wuzhou is less than 300km from my hometown, on good tarmac/cement roads my average speed is around 60/70 km/h. It seems slow compare to Western countries but roads here are full of hazards so being cautious is the best way to stay safe (more to come on this subject later).


For this trip, I have a big bag which weight less than 30kg plus a small tank bag for papers, maps and electronic devices (GPS, camera, phone). The 200cc engine will carry me (100kg) and the bags for the coming month unabated, only the clutch then suspensions will suffer later on dirt roads. On the opposite side of the exhaust, you can see a black cylinder, this is the toolbox made of a sewer tube. No plate on the bike, it is legally registered and insured but the plate was lost during a previous trip, Police never mind of this.
The side stand is a little bit short specially when the bike is loaded with the bag. I have to check that the road is flat.


More to come, stay tune...