Dear Noobie,

Greetings and welcome to MCM. I hope you stop fretting needlessly and just get yourself a license and a bike, and post some great ride reports and stick around long enough to render your username inappropriate.

In all my riding in China, I've never been booted from a town or city or village, and I've ridden in many "banned" cities. But the real joy of riding in China is getting OUT of the cities and into the vast and infinitely varied hinterlands, which is where you're most likely to find the "real China" you seek. When in that exurban/rural China, you'll be swallowed up by motorcycles, one ant in an army of millions. There is no sense of restriction whatsoever outside of those cities. To the contrary, the motorcycle is king.

And as long as you are legally licensed, plated and insured, the worst that might happen in a banned city is a slap on the hand and a fine of 200 rmb or less. And if you can convincingly suppress your decent grasp of Chinese most traffic police will be happy to just shoo you along with a warning.

Happy riding, and may you soon shed your noob status.

cheers