Beijing-Shanghai late June

[ZMC888]

This is serious and constructive advice. Thank you. Wonder if anyone uses tarps? I've got everything I need except gotta pick up oil in bj and a puncture repair kit.. Bought tire irons.. The bike cones with a tool kit and spare inners....i have a hydration kit... Panniers.. What else? Downloaded the app ups Motion x plus..

Had this crazy idea this morning of going to jinan to see the qingqi factory and the mountains around there... Really liked crazy Carl's post on here about that factory... Has anyone ever done Beijing to jinan in one day? Baidu says it's 420 odd kms.... Doable? On a dual sport x2x? Will the engine like it? Will I?:)[ATTACH=CONFIG]19399[/INSERT]

Tarps...get one and bungee cords and you can use it over you with a hammock, excellent idea it can be stormy at this time of year.
Jinan, good for shopping or a western meal if in the southern part near 1000 Buddha mountain, the rest is sprawling dusty, polluted and hot.
Qingqi factory. The early thousands were a time when the Chinese pretended foreigners were VIPS and pretended to listen to the advice of laowei, times have changed, I wouldn't bother.
The mountains between Jinan and Taishan are quite pretty, not high or extensive, you can be through them in an hour, but the altitude and shade cool things down a bit.

[ZMC888]

What I would bring....
-GPS or map.
-Camelback or similar water bladder.
-Hammock, mosquito net, tarp, mossie repellent bungee cords.
-Limited supply of food.
-Waterproofs and clothes.
-Money and cards, passport driving license all sealed in plastic.
-Chain lube and bicycle pump with gauge (similar to an MTB trail pump).

Some logical points....you can believe that you can camp all the time, but in hot weather after probably one night of being dirty and insect bitten you'll probably want a night in a binguan or hotel. So if you are passing a nice looking one by all means stay there. But remember the camping equipment is great as it gives you the ability to turn down overpriced and shitty hotels. Tooling around at dusk hunting for a binguan sucks, but knowing you don't need one is great as it takes the pressure off you.

[bikerdoc]

Tarps...get one and bungee cords and you can use it over you with a hammock, excellent idea it can be stormy at this time of year.
The early thousands were a time when the Chinese pretended foreigners were VIPS and pretended to listen to the advice of laowei, times have changed, I wouldn't bother.

Spot on with those comments... IMHO.