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.

[IMG][/IMG]

[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.
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
Several jars of pickled petrol later, and Fahni can complete the paperwork.

[IMG][/IMG]
Bikes accepted for shipping. We hope.

[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.

[IMG][/IMG]

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


[IMG]

[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.

[IMG][/IMG]

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

[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.


[IMG][/IMG]
Fort from GE image

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

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]Camping in the Rain

[IMG][/IMG]

[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.



[IMG][/IMG]
"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.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[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.

[lobotomous]

Day 4
200km
Grass.
Beautiful day riding through the grasslands. Searched for two Jin forts. No breakthroughs.
Had to adjust our route to make up time. Wonderful scenery and but challenging roads and slow going. Found a great camping site, very remote, on a hill surrounded by grasslands on all sides.
Fahni's bike has developed a fault with its carb. Need to look into it tomorrow.


[IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG]An inconclusive fort site

[IMG][/IMG] A stunningly beautiful pass in the grasslands.


[IMG][/IMG] Not so beautiful, but a common sight in China - Vast civil engineering projects in the middle of nowhere.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG] Our campsite. An incredible view. Don't think I have ever seen stars as clearly as in this spot.

[IMG][/IMG]

[lobotomous]

Day 5
350km total 1177km
Wind.
Our camping spot turned out to be as windy as it was beautiful. Very exposed spot and wind buffeting the tents all night.
Packed up and limped to the nearest town with Fahni's carb still misbehaving. Found an excellent mechanic.
While we had breakfast, he fixed the carb blockage, fitted a new fuel filter and fuel hose; put in a new spark plug cap to replace the one that lasted two days; changed the oil on both bikes; lube and adjusted both chains, replaced the dropped out clutch lever bolt. All for RMB110. Put on a bit more mileage today and made up the lost time for the first couple of days. Great scenery. Hard work as the roads still a mix of sandy tracks, concrete and potholes. The little bikes doing an excellent job.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

The 'twisting road' warning triangle seems to be wishful thinking!

[IMG][/IMG]
We came for the grasslands. Grasslands we got.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG] Another great camping spot.

[IMG][/IMG]

[lobotomous]

Day 6
400km
Straight.
After negotiating the mud track that forms the start of the G101, we finally found some tarmac and made the most of it. Made good time to XiLinHot.
Very straight roads. Saw some camels. Herders out here seem to live in proper Gers, although all the grazing lands are fenced off which seems sad. Found a good camping spot in some sand dunes next to the grasslands where we had a camp fire accompanied by clouds of mosquitos and other more exotic bugs.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]
Camels!

[IMG][/IMG]

What are we supposed to do with these bricks?


[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[lobotomous]

Day 7
230km
Continued our route West. Fahni's bike experienced an episode. Sounded bad. Roadside investigation revealed that the exhaust rocker had disintegrated, broken into bits.

Towed the bike 18km to the nearest village. The workshop we found was a tip. Didn't inspire much confidence, but no choice. Removed the rocker covers and found most of the bust rocker. Didn't seem like any had descended into the gearbox or cylinder. Mechanic searched his mountain of parts, old and new for a suitable set of rocker arms (the inlet one also looked on the way out).
Many phone calls and discussions later, eventually found a long-forgotten box at the back of a shelf containing compatible parts. Did a top end re-build, changed the oil all in about an hour and a half and for RMB210.
Back on the road we headed for a fort near Xanadu.
Investigations inconclusive, but local farmer appeared to know that the perimeter earth works were ancient. Took some pictures, then headed to Xanadu. Road improved not at all since October, but many more tourists. Hired a tandem to tour the site. Very impressive (site, not tandem). Worth a visit from Beijing if you can handle the rubbish road. Couldn't stay for as long as would have liked as we were already behind schedule. And it was extremely hot. Had to find somewhere to stay nearby and lucked upon a hill overlooking Xanadu with Yuan wall and beacon towers nearby. Nice local herder didn't mind us camping. Helped to rescue some two day old lambs.
Saw a giant owl.

Tomorrow a long trek back to Beijing. None of the farmers we met thought we can do it in a day. Refrained from bragging that we had already done so in October. Nervous about Fahni's bike as we think the oil pump is on the way out.

[IMG][/IMG] That sounded bad.

[IMG][/IMG] In the local mechanic's shop/tip

[IMG][/IMG]Oh dear. Shouldn't there be more of that rocker?

[IMG][/IMG]A popular pastime: standing round staring at partially dismantled motorbikes.


[IMG][/IMG]A local woman pops by to take delivery of her new "Fosti" 125. Bull bars and magic carpet farkles all pre-assembled. Yours for RMB 5,000

[IMG][/IMG]A local hardware shop.

[IMG][/IMG] More Yuan fort evidence.

[IMG][/IMG]
Fahni not convinced.

[IMG][/IMG]Swapping our bikes for something even more sedate at Xanadu.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG] Xanadu Gate

[IMG][/IMG] city walls

[IMG][/IMG]Temple foundations

[IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]