Good morrow all mcm’ers and lurkers!

Even though i only moved to shanghai a few months ago, i have decided that before the end of this year i will pack up and move to Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, to pursue the next chapter of my china adventure. I'm pretty excited as this will move me further west into the country, closer to the all places that i'm really interested in trundling over on two or three wheels.



I'm posting this thread to see if there are any kind members on the forum who are familiar with the city and could give me a heads up on what life is going to be like as a rider out there. This information is difficult to come by without going there or knowing anyone out there. I'm wondering about things like whether the motorbike ban is actually enforced or not. I read on Chinese forums about the official ban, and apparently no bikes are allowed within the 3rd ring road.



I find this a bit hard to believe as that’s basically all of xi’an, so I’m wondering if there’s anyone who rides out there that could tell me how strict they are about this.

I’m also wondering about the biker community out there. If there are bikers, there are probably good local spots to go biking. I’ve been spending some time on google earth looking at the mountains just south of the city and they certainly look like a great craic!

I heard that there is a community of CJ750 riders out there too. I don’t know anyone yet, but if any of you are reading this I’d love to hear from you! I shall be moving there with my own CJ which I will possibly convert into a camper-bike for the journey. I’m wondering if there are ‘special’ rules out there for sidecars, are outside plates tolerated, are we allowed to drive in town, etc… My beloved CJ is the reason I moved to china in the first place, I would be very sad if I couldn’t ride it every day as I did back when i lived in Suzhou.



If anyone out there is reading this, looking forward to meeting you and swapping stories/routes!

Multicheers,

Felix