Those look like some genuinely good times man! I'm so ignorant of the riding in and around Beijing that I usually just assume it's loaded with traffic but that seems to not be the case as it's full of beautiful countryside and interesting roads.

Cold weather I think is nice for riding as long as you've got the right gear....usually cold air brings clear skies and radiant warming. Many of the pics look like something I would expect to see in the North East US; minus the temples on rocks. No matter how many times I see things like that I still wonder why and how they did it?

Nice that you can camp out there too. One benefit of larger bikes is you can take two people and still pack camping gear. I love how people just pop out of nowhere in China. You could see nobody for 100kms of riding and stop somewhere. Within 10 minutes some curious on-lookers are bound to show up...usually excellent folks too.

When were these trips? Also, do you happen to remember the name of Caludio's restaurant?

CC