Hey Beijing Bikers!

After the Xanadu trip last October of Barry, Lobotomous and me, I am planning another trip to the north of BJ. I spent quite some time on Google Maps and intend to do a 4 day trip on the easter weekend (29 Mar – 02 Apr). The rough schedule is to have one day to get out of BJ on twisty side-roads, two days of off-road riding and one day to get back into the capital.

Expect the famous beautiful twisties of the northern mountains and some sandy off-road tracks once we enter the border area between Hebei and Inner Mongolia. I am planning of camping throughout. It will definitely be cold (probably way below zero during the nights. One of the camping spots I checked on GM is at 1600m altitude), so bring your warm riding gear and sleeping-bags! But the cold is also part of the plan as I am hoping to avoid the snow-melt and have low water levels in the two rivers we will have to cross. I tried to map a route that is never far from some major roads but still, it might sometimes get difficult to get water and fuel so a big fuel tank is a big plus.

Sorry that I only have self-made maps available but as there are no roads in the northern part of the tour, I cannot create a route on GM.

Easter 2013 by fahni, on Picuna

Short overview: We will start out in the direction of Changping where we will pass through the valley of the Ming-tombs, then head in the direction of Chicheng north of which we will have the first un-marked roads. Then we will make a semicircle north around Fengning through some sandy parts and river valleys, and thenhit tarmac again with the G 111. For our way back to BJ I would like to stay on side roads along the Luanhe river and return to BJ via Miyun.

Leg 1 (ca. 250 km): From Deshengmen we would head out along the G6 to Changping where we will leave the expressway and follow the S212 further north past Shisanling/Ming tombs until we hit the S323. We stay on the S323 for just about 10km before we continue in northern direction on a small road (X004) connecting the S323 to the S309. On the S309 we go north-west and shortly after we pass the Baihepu reservoir enter another side-road (X405) that leads towards Yaojiawan and Yangtian. From here on, we follow the G112 northward to Baicao where MCM member Shuben recommended to take a left and ride north on the X404. At Sancha, we turn onto a small side road (or just a river? Hard to say on GM) to the north-east and somewhere in this area we will set up camp for the first night.

Leg 2 (ca. 100 km)
Next day will start with a ride along the river east/north-east and into another valley (this might be the first tricky bit) for about 18 km before we hit the S244 which we follow north for another 12 km. There I would like to go through the Qiansongba Forrest Park. But if there is an entrance fee and we can’t go around the gate, we can still detour a little bit further south to get to Hetong along the X507. Either way it will be around 30km. From Hetong drive further northeast and then along the Luanhe for another 30 km to the Waigoumen village north of which is the Daheigou Mountain where camping spots abound.

Leg 3 ( ca. 100 km)
The plan is to ride a little bit further north into the Daheigou Mountain range before turning east and crossing the Luan-River close to a small village called Xiaocaiyuan (小菜园) within the first few km. I cannot really tell how difficult the crossing might be. Could be easy as last time with Barry and Lobotomous, could be swift and deep. If we cannot make it through the river, there are bridges appr. 15km north and south of that point. From there we have maybe another 15-20 km before we hit blacktop (here aka X523) which we follow further down south until the G111 where we see the Luanhe again. We will take the river as a guide in the direction of Miyun and should look for a camping spot around this area.

Leg 4 (ca. 200 km)
On the last day we have to reach Fengshanzhen which spreads along the G112 and after that head towards the Yanshan Mountain. West of the Mountain I would aim for the S244 and when it runs out continue southward along the little river that has not been named on GM (south of 虎什哈镇). That would lead us to the Jingshanling section of the great wall from where the way is quite obvious: G101 to Miyun and then onto the G45 expressway back into the city.

Here are some more maps:

Easter 2013 by fahni, on Picuna




Easter 2013 by fahni, on Picuna


Easter 2013 by fahni, on Picuna


Easter 2013 by fahni, on Picuna


Easter 2013 by fahni, on Picuna


Easter 2013 by fahni, on Picuna


Easter 2013 by fahni, on Picuna


Easter 2013 by fahni, on Picuna



After the experience of our Xanadu trip, I am pretty sure that this will be no trip for street bikes and even the JH600 had its problems on our last trip. So I am calling out to all the JH150GY (and maybe QJ150 or farmer bike owners) to join me for the ride and have four days of easter fun!