Three China-based members of mychinamoto - myself, JamesW and Albion - spent three days exploring (i.e. getting lost in) eastern Hubei province.

JamesW and Albion were on Zongshen GY200's (aka Sierras) and I was on a Zongshen GY125 with a 150 engine. The bikes peformed well. My 150 couldn't go so fast up twisty inclines, but then again I'm a newb to motorcycles.

Out there in the countryside, motorbikes - and bike repair shops - are everywhere! When we stopped in a town, within seconds we were surrounded by a crowd of curious, friendly locals, asking about us and our bikes.




Navigating was a bit tricky, because our road map showed the roads with numbers, but in the real world the roads rarely have signs, and the locals usually don't know the numbers either. In my experience, when asking Chinese folk for directions, they'll readily tell you which direction to go in, but when asked how far to go in that direction, they'll only tell you something vague like "not far" or "far".












Wherever we camped, the local villagers would come out and ask what we were doing. As soon as we told them we were travellers on our way to so-and-so, their confrontational tone would immediately melt away into smiles and friendly talk. We were even offered meals and places to stay.




Starting the day off with a hearty breakfast: egg and tomato with noodles.








Mud? CHECK