QiQiHar to Beijing June 2013

[lobotomous]

Greetings all.
Here is the overdue ride report from a trip that Fahni and I completed last month.

The plan was to stick the bikes on the train up to Qiqihar in Heilongjiang, then spend a week or so riding back to Beijing through Inner Mongolia, rough camping as much as possible.

Some difficulty in plotting a route because of inconsistencies between Google maps, 高德 maps and paper maps. We used GE as far as possible to seek out dodgy sections including a couple of serious river crossings. In addition, I was keen to look at some sections of Jin, Yuan and Song Great Wall, many of which are now no more than barely visible earthworks. Our proposed route took us along many Great Wall sites, but again, documentation was sketchy.

The GE image shows the proposed route (in Blue) and an approximate detour (in Red) made to make up time after problems on the first couple of days and to avoid the dodgiest terrain.

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[lobotomous]

Day minus 6
23rd June, 2013 Putting the bikes on the train.
Met at Beijing station to do the paperwork and stick the bikes on the train. This turned out to be more of an ordeal than we had bargained for. On a sweltering day, ended up in an endless farce related to the amount of petrol in the tanks.
As Fahni has some experience putting his bikes on trains in China, we did a cursory draining of the fuel before pushing them into the shipping lobby. Guards not happy with that, so we wheel them out and do a more thorough emptying of them. To get past the reserve tank level, I remove the fuel tap assembly from my tank, as it needed a new washer anyway. I also drain the carb.
With a bit of persuasion, the guards accept the bikes, weigh them and then Fahni completes the paperwork. All good.
Three hours later Fahni gets a phone call saying they will no longer accept the bikes. Back to the station. We spent another hour getting the last drips out of Fahni's tank using a rag cable-tied to a fish tape. The official still says he can hear fuel in my tank. I take the tank right off the bike, hold it upside down and shake it from side to side to show there is nothing inside. Get one of the officials to agree that it is empty and then put the bike back together.
10 minutes later another official comes along and says he can still hear fuel in the bike. I am nearly hysterical by this stage. One of his colleagues clearly doesn't believe him, but it becomes a face issue. I am getting agitated. What more can I do? Push the bike out again and perform the rag-on-a-fish-tape pantomime for their benefit. Of course nothing comes out, but face is saved and he finally accepts the bikes for the second time.
Aaaagghhhhh.
We hope this isn't a sign of things to come. Some have suggested that the official wanted a bribe. I suspect he was just a fool.
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Several jars of pickled petrol later, and Fahni can complete the paperwork.

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Bikes accepted for shipping. We hope.

[Lao Jia Hou]

Putting the bikes on the train ... We hope this isn't a sign of things to come.

Unfortunately, it was! Good thing you didn't lose your cool, and then leave the bikes with some "official" whom you have made lose face.

In retrospect, however, the most difficult challenges are frequently also the most memorable.

Great report & pics - thanks. Maybe see you tonight.

[lobotomous]

Thanks for all the kind comments guys!

Bikerdoc: sorry you can't see the pics - they are certainly better than the words!
They are embedded from photobucket, which I seem to be able to access from Beijing OK from behind the GFW.
Not sure what to suggest.

[bikerdoc]

tried to view on two different computers in two different locations; home on ADSL, and then work office via WIFI Ch!na Unicom direct and not thru work intranet. Both methods the photobucket photos aren't loading. At work, the pages load and I can see photobucket links scrolling as though the pages is trying to load the photobucket links... but nope.

[lobotomous]

tried to view on two different computers in two different locations; home on ADSL, and then work office via WIFI Ch!na Unicom direct and not thru work intranet. Both methods the photobucket photos aren't loading. At work, the pages load and I can see photobucket links scrolling as though the pages is trying to load the photobucket links... but nope.

I was looking at a colleague's computer today and the pictures loaded but took ages.
Could it be a browser issue? She was using IE, whereas I can load it fine on both Safari and Firefox. And my internet connection is rubbish.

[lobotomous]

Day 0 - 28th June, 2013
Beijing to QiQiHar on the train
Met back at Beijing station with all our gear. Busy
A good day to leave Beijing - pollution index of 477. The scale only goes up to 500!
Got the 4:45pm T47 train to QiQiHar. We opted for the relative luxury of a soft sleeper. Shipping ourselves cost about the same as shipping the bikes - around RMB500 each.

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[IMG][/IMG]A good day to be leaving Beijing.


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[lobotomous]

Day 1
121 km
Mud.
Arrived at QiQiHar station around 8:30am, found our bikes. I reinstated my fuel tap while Fahni went to get petrol. Loaded up the bikes with our gear, filled up and left QQH by 10:00am. Started to rain and we somehow left our initial route. What was marked as a road soon became a mud track. And then just mud.
We were sliding everywhere. The very sticky mud got everywhere. It stuck to the tyres like glue and jammed against the fork and mudguards, causing my front wheel to keep locking up. I must have dropped my bike at least 4 times, but by then there was no going back. Removed front mudguard, which allowed a little more progress, but then the mud was all over the chain and sprockets.
Fahni: "what's that horrible clunk clunk sound?"
Me: "Oh, that's mud collecting on my centre stand and then springing back."
Fahni: "Erm, no, I don't think it is. I think your chain is slipping."
The mud was so caked onto the chain that it was clogging with stones and causing the (brand new and properly adjusted) chain to slip over the teeth.
Eventually we made it to the road. Found a kindly soul with a pressure washer. Had to dismantle part of thr bikes to dislodge all of the mud.
Made it to MianZiShan for the night. Very little progress. My bike's chain must be about a foot longer than it was this morning.

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[IMG][/IMG] Doing the kettle trick.
[IMG][/IMG] So much safer than filling up from the pump.
[IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG][IMG] Removing the front mudguard to prevent the wheel from locking up.

[/IMG][IMG][/IMG][IMG] Mud, mud, glorious mud.


[/IMG][IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG]"Before"

[IMG][/IMG] "After"
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[lobotomous]

Day 2
155km
Rain.
Loaded up and left the hotel by 8:00
Made some ok progress. Concrete roads on our planned route and not yesterday's mud tracks. Major triumph of the day was finding and being able to confirm our first Jin Fort. Although probably not Jin
This was followed by a wild goose chase to find Fort no. 2, but we were prevented from finding if by muddy fields. Memories of yesterday stopped us from going too far.
Back on the road and rain started. Fahni's bike playing up. Checked fuel, spark and air. Maddeningly each time we did so, bike went for a few more km before giving out again. Came to a fairly definitive stop in the middle of nowhere just when the rain really kicked in. Set up camp in the rain amongst goat and sheep herds and packs of wild dogs. More rain.


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Fort from GE image

[IMG][/IMG] Fort on the ground (NE corner)

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[IMG][/IMG]Camping in the Rain

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[lobotomous]

Day 3
275km
Rained most of the night. Got up around 5:00am after rain stopped to fix Fahni's bike. Took fuel and air systems apart. No obvious big problems. Eventually tested spark again. Hmm - now it does look weak. Crappy spark traced to corroded HT lead and spark plug cap (on a year old bike?). Cap can't even be persuaded to make a decent connection after chopping off the corroded bit of HT lead. Total crap. Concocted a makeshift cap out of a spare connector and made it to the next town to get a new one.
Made good time during the day despite several navigation errors.
Beautiful scenery.
Searched for a third Jin Fort. Found the right location, but evidence proved inconclusive. i.e. no sign of it.
Kept riding until around 7:00. Camping near a river.



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"This all seems to be OK - let's check that spark again"
[IMG][/IMG]Improvised ht lead and spark plug cap!

[IMG][/IMG] Fitting a new cap (which would subsequently melt onto the plug) *note to manufacturers* polyethylene is not a suitable spark plug cap material.

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[IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG]*Note to other China-based minimalist tourers* The Adlo box is an exact fit for a Watsons 4.5 lt PET.