TBR China ADV Riding

The KHAN RUN 2014 up to Nei Mongolia was on the agenda during my Beijing stay...





Inner Mongolia (Nèi Měnggǔ), officially Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region or Nei Mongol Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the north of the country, bordering Mongolia and Russia. Its capital is Hohhot, and other major cities include Baotou, Chifeng, and Ordos.
In Chinese, the region is known as "Inner Mongolia", where the terms of "Inner-Outer" are derived from Manchu. Inner Mongolia is distinct from Outer Mongolia, which was a term used by the Republic of China and previous governments to refer to what is now the independent state of Mongolia plus the Republic of Tuva in Russia. In Mongolian, the region was called Dotugadu monggol during Qing rule and was renamed into Öbür Monggol in 1947, öbür meaning the southern side of a mountain, while the Chinese term nei menggu was retained. Some Mongolians use the name "Southern Mongolia" in English as well.


Took of from Beijing going North towards the Mongolia / China border for the "Khan Run 2014", a mate based in Beijing joining with his BMW GS1200-LC for a few days.
We met up North of Beijing at the Changping traffic circle, rain - rainy weather.....





Heading out of Beijing towards Zhangjiakou (Hebei province) passing the Badaling Great Wall section during the early morning.
Zhangjiakou, is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hebei province, bordering Beijing to the southeast, Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Shanxi to the southwest.
Leaving Zhangjiakou riding North towards Xilingol (Nei Mongolia = Inner Mongolia in Mainland China).
Crappy foggy rainy weather all the way, not much picture taking took place....





A quick visit to Shangdu (Xanadu, was the capital of Kublai Khan's Yuan dynasty in China, before he decided to move his throne to the Jin dynasty capital of Zhōngdū, present-day Beijing. The "friendly" Shangdu gate keepers (security guards) refused to let us pass the gate and into the grounds, oh well ~ heavy rain / foggy weather and no time to waste arguing about a visit to some ruins = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shangdu and onwards to Xilingol we went....





Xilingol or Xilinguole is one of 12 prefecture level divisions of Inner Mongolia. The seat is Xilinhot, while the area is 202,580 km2. The league's economy is based on mining and agriculture. Xilingol borders Mongolia (the country Mongolia) to the North, Chifeng, Tongliao and Hinggan League to the East, Ulanqab to the West and Hebei province to the South.




















Overnight in Xilingol, local hotel, cheap ~ nasty... the usual out in the Chinese cities and towns....


 
Brilliant clear and sunny day for our high speed run from Xilingol over to famous border town Erenhot....









































 
Erenhot is a county-level city of the Xilin Gol League, in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, located in the Gobi Desert along the Sino-Mongolian border, across from the Mongolian town of Zamyn-Üüd. Erenhot info = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erenhot





Nicknamed Erenhot "Dinosaur City China" some years ago as this is not my first time here, went through Erenhot a few times heading to Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia).
















































































China - Mongolia border crossing and some souvenirs for sale by roadside pedlars....

















Sunset and evening pictures around Erenhot....





























Tasty and spicy lamb skewer dinner at Erenhot restaurant....






































Our Erenhot hotel for one night, apparently the best one in "Dino-City"...





 
 
Flat BMW GS12LC rear tyre, quickly fixed with sticky rope ~ old fashion style, quick and simple repair to continue rollin' towards Baotou....





Wasn't the 08/08/2008 the Beijing Olympic Opening Day? Seems the mountain village got a new public toilet that day....

 
Well ~ the crappy muddy sections as usual in between and a white bird hit the MTS front during the Erenhot to Baotou ride….













 
Leaving early morning for a visit to the Baotou mountains and the famous Wudangzhao Lamasery….































 
Wudangzhao Lamasery is the largest and most well preserved Tibetan Lamasery in Inner-Mongolia. It belongs to the group of the three grand lamaseries in China together with the Potala Palace in Tibet and the Kumbum Monastery in Qihai. In Mongolian "Wudang" means "Willow", the temple is situates right amidst the willow-shaded area and that is why it was named "Wudangzhao".


The famed Wudangzhao Lamasery is situated approximately 70 kilometres northeast of Baotou. The entire compound boasts of six main halls, the most elaborate them being the Sugabi Prayer Hall. The extensive collection of Buddhist art is an integral feature at the Lamasery which includes ancient sculptures and frescos of gold, silver, wood and soil.








































































































 
Departing Baotou going South towards Ordos with a quick stop at a touristy desert section (Xiangshawan) of the so called Kubuqi desert = Singing Sand Ravine, Resonant Sand Bay or Resonant Sand Gorge. You will notice that all the names have to do with sound – that’s because of a unique natural phenomenon where the sand at Xiangshawan Desert makes interesting echoes which varies according to weather and how you walk on the sand e.g. when sliding down from the 90-meter-high, 45-degree sand dunes of Xiangshawan Desert, one can supposedly hear the sound of car and aircraft engines! It is also said that the sand also produces a light “shhhh” sound as you walk on it.


However, it is very difficult to hear such sounds today as Xiangshawan Desert has become quite crowded and noisy with tourists (like a zoo following the standard of most popular attractions in Mainland China). Nobody can explain this strange phenomenon – not even scientists and researchers studying this sound. There have been quite a number of folk stories on this sound – some say that a Tibetan lamasery was located here and it was suddenly buried in sand (together with all the lama monks who were chanting when that happened) by a sandstorm so it was thought that the sound was produced by the lingering spirits of the lamas who are still chanting.
Xiangshawan is approx. 45 kilometres from the city of Baotou...


























 
Another Khan Run 2014 overnight stop = Ordos.....


Ordos is one of the twelve major subdivisions of Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China. It is within the Ordos Loop of the Yellow River. Although mainly rural, Ordos is administered as aprefecture-level city. The administrative seat is at Dongsheng which had a population of 582,544 inhabitants at the 2010 census. Another Banner is being urbanized quickly around the city of Ejin Horo with about 251,894 inhabitants at the 2010 census which is the seat of Ordos Airport.
Built for over a million people, the city of Ordos was designed to be the crowning glory of Inner Mongolia. Doomed to incompletion however, this futuristic metropolis now rises empty out of the deserts of northern China. Only 2 percent of its buildings were ever filled; the rest has largely been left to decay, abandoned mid-construction, earning Ordos the title of China’s Ghost City......


Spirited laps around the Ordos International Circuit, built in 2010, is a motorsport facility located in Kangbashi New Area, Ordos City, Inner Mongolia, China. It hosted a round of the China Touring Car Championship, Scirocco Cup China and Superleague Formula in 2010. The circuit is 3.751 km long with 18 corners.... http://www.oic2010.cn

















 
When I was a kid, read a lot about Genghis Khan and a visit to the Genghis Khan mausoleum was planned for a long time....


Genghis Khan (Chingis / Chinghis Khan), born Temüjin, was the founder and Great Khan (emperor) of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his demise.


He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of northeast Asia. After founding the Mongol Empire and being proclaimed "Genghis Khan," he started the Mongol invasions that resulted in the conquest of most of Eurasia. These included raids or invasions of the Kara-Khitan Khanate, Caucasus, Khwarezmid Empire, Western Xia and Jin dynasties. These campaigns were often accompanied by wholesale massacres of the civilian populations – especially in the Khwarezmian controlled lands. By the end of his life, the Mongol Empire occupied a substantial portion of Central Asia and China.


Pretty impressed while in the actual tomb (altar room) one of the rather large Mongolian tomb guards handed me a blue Mongolian scarf to carry along while continuing my Khan Run 2014 journey.....
























































 
Great write up and pics TB-R, how many KM's was your Khan Run 2014?
 
Get your kicks on route G109 from Ordos (Nei Mongolia) to Datong (Shanxi) over 600km's and 14hr. riding, everyone warned me about that dangerous stretch of road but had to see it for myself once in my life. If you never go ~ you will never know....


Thousands of overloaded coal truck stuck in traffic jams or fighting for every road space and possible spot available speeding along. They are overloaded and leave nasty grooves in the asphalt and quite dangerous to ride between the grooves due to spillage of motor oil and diesel, feels like riding on ice....


Lets name this post "daily life on China highway G109" and pics say more than a thousand words.....





















































































































































 
G109 National China Highway.... dusty ~ dirty ~ dangerous but there is only one way to get out of this - I know what is behind and don't ever want to do that again, so up and onwards I rode along the groovy highway.....


Lets name this post "daily life on China highway G109 the sequel" and once again pics say more than a thousand words.....






































































































































 
As many know, TIC = This Is China and The Middle Kingdom called China works in mysterious ways and the "safety rules & regulations" in some provinces (Inner Mongolia / Shanxi) require re-filling a motorcycle out of tin buckets (flimsy leaking tin cans most of the times of all sizes and shapes).
Remember the slogan "Safety First" please as the petrol station attendant fills up the flimsy and filthy tin cans with petrol and one has to fill up 10-20m away from the petrol pumps.
Not an easy task as its quite difficult to fill the petrol tank that sits high on import bikes like a Ducati-MTS and BMW-GS12 with full and heavy leaking tin cans.


Well ~ while strolling through a Chinese style supermarket the other day in Baotou found a great device to protect the paint work from scratching and some petrol spillage.... TOILET SEAT MATS and they had them in fashionable pink colour, bought a bunch of them and made some locals happy and smiling along the route....












































 
Datong (Shanxi), two night stop over to catch up with work projects and a bit of a decent clean up and sightseeing....
Don’t let first appearances deceive you – gritty, polluted and unattractive it may be, but Datong is the main jumping-off point for two of northern China’s most spectacular sights.
The phenomenal Yungang Caves and the gravity-defying Hanging Temple can both be chalked off in a single day,...


Here we are at the famous Hanging Temple out at the mountains.... The Hanging Temple, also Hanging Monastery or Xuankong Temple is a temple built into a cliff (75m above the ground) near Mount Heng in Hunyuan County, Datong City, Shanxi province, China.
The closest city is Datong, 65 kilometers to the northwest. Built more than 1,500 years ago, this temple is notable not only for its location on a sheer precipice but also because it is the only existing temple with the combination of three Chinese traditional religions: Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.
The structure is kept in place with oak crossbeams fitted into holes chiseled into the cliffs. The main supportive structure is hidden inside the bedrock.
The monastery is located in the small canyon basin, and the body of the building hangs from the middle of the cliff under the prominent summit, protecting the temple from rain erosion and sunlight. Coupled with the repair of the dynasties, the color tattoo in the temple is relatively well preserved.
December 2010, it was listed in the “Time” magazine as the world's top ten most odd dangerous buildings.


































































































 
West of Datong, the monumental Yungang Caves, a set of Buddhist grottoes carved into the side of a sandstone cliff, are a must. Built around 400 AD at a time of Buddhist revival, the caves were the first and grandest of the three major Buddhist grottoes, the other two being the Longmen Caves in Luoyang and the Mogao Caves in Gansu.
These are the best preserved, but prepare to be disappointed by their surroundings – the atmosphere has for years been blighted by nearby coal mines, and the benefits afforded by the recent addition of parkland have been eroded by a huge and even more recently built shopping mall. However, it’s still well worth the trip.


Arranged in three clusters (east, central and west) and numbered east to west from 1 to 51, the caves originally spread across an area more than 15km long, though today just a kilometre-long fragment survives.
If it’s spectacle you’re after, just wander at will, but to get an idea of the changes of style and the accumulation of influences, you need to move sequentially between the three clusters.
The earliest group is caves 16–20, followed by 7, 8, 9 and 10, then 5, 6 and 11 – the last to be completed before the court moved to Luoyang. Then followed 4, 13, 14 and 15, with the caves at the eastern end – 1, 2 and 3 – and cave 21 in the west, carved last. Caves 22–50 are smaller and less interesting.

















































































































































































































Side-note: some cave areas were blocked off and under restoration / renovations during my September 2014 visit....
 
Tour + Bus + Hotel = Rotel, the hotel on wheels.... ROTEL TOURS, met them early morning just outside the Holiday Inn hotel in Datong (Shanxi) while departing Datong for the final stretch back to Capital City Beijing...


The 50-year-old German company Rotel Tours operates these coaches in many countries around the world and appeal to budget-conscious travellers who want to see the sights but don’t like “roughing it” too much … a soft bed, solid walls to keep out the beasties, etc.
The Rotel holidays are described by the organizers as journeys for active people, regardless of age.... http://www.rotel.de

















 
Arrived back in Capital City Beijing taking the rather nice section of the G109 National Highway in mostly Hebei province and Beijing municipality, new asphalt road and very little traffic ~ no overloaded coal trucks....


























Straight to Frost (Chef Jeff's) in Sanlitun area (55 Xingfucun Zhong Lu, 幸福村中路55号 / Tel: 64179148) for a well deserved outstanding tasty burger......














Distance travelled. let's just say a rear tyre cruising at higher speeds ~ no need for any tyre plugs, they won't save this tyre....








...quick pit stop in Beijing for the "mooncake holidays" and a decent wash and clean, basic bike service incl. a new rear tyre and North China cruisin' continues...
 
Another overnight run up North starting in Beijing with a mate visiting from Shanghai and he used a BMW GS1200LC for the ride...
Heading up North out of Beijing in the the general direction towards Fengning (G111 Highway), quick simple lunch at roadside restaurant in some unknown village....
































After the lunch break continuing the ride to the Datanzhen area to look for some place to stay for the night.

















 
Yurt hotel.... well ~ skip a visit to the "The former temporary palace of Genghis Khan in Fengning County, Hebei, China" park and adjacent hotel near Datanzhen and find something better.
We stopped and stayed for a night as a thunderstorm and heavy rain was just starting in the late afternoon....

















Check-in and check-out while parking the bikes stylish in the middle of the hotel lobby.....
























































Extensive Baijou (Chinese booze) collection...
Baijiu, also known as shaojiu, is an alcoholic beverage from China. It is sometimes infelicitously translated as "white wine", but it is in fact a strong distilled spirit, generally about 40–60% alcohol by volume (ABV).





























 
Great twisty road going back to downtown Beijing.


Twisty Road GPS data: North entry via Y082 = 40.67659 / 115.73767 -- Mountain Peak X012 = 40.53500 / 115.75439 -- South exit X012 & G110 = 40.47646 / 115.84380







































































 
One of my favourite Beijing afternoon rides goes out to the Miyun Reservoir and onwards along the famous Black Dragon Pool Road with a snack break in the middle….
Back to Beijing downtown district via some of the deserted Great Wall areas, rough riding route = http://goo.gl/maps/8vL83






















































































 
Late August 2014 the Beijing Municipality Traffic Management Bureau http://www.bjjtgl.gov.cn launched a new campaign and enforces some regulations and restrictions to use motorbikes and tricycles within the 6th. Ring-Road of Capital City Beijing once again.
They really cracked down hard on some days in September 2014 and the new campaign posters hang all over the city in various ways…..











1) 京A (Beijing A Plate) bikes on any Beijing Ring Road
2) 京B (Beijing B plate) bikes inside the 4th Ring Road, or on any Beijing Ring Road
3) Non-Beijing plates inside the 6th. Beijing Ring Road
4) 3-wheeled carts (not sidecars)


100 CNY traffic ticket fine and 3 points on divers license (that latter is what hurts as by 12 points the driver license is confiscated), riders and police reporting that traffic cams are being used as well.....




































































 
Last weekend before the National October holidays and a quick final mountain ride out West of Beijing after yet another hearty breakfast at my favourite Beijing breakfast venue before heading out for a ride...
Michael's German Bakery http://www.michaels-german-bakery.com














Sunday ride route took us along parts of the G108 / G109 / X022 and some side roads around the historic village of Cuandixia, also spelled Chuandixia, a village dating from the Ming Dynasty located in Mentougou District in Beijing, China = http://www.cuandixia.com























































































































Farewell and good-bye to Capital City Beijing, the MTS arrived safely back home in Shanghai just before the China National October Holidays and a traffic ticket free adventure once again.....








Beijing and North China cruising in the planning stages for Spring 2015...to be continued...


Some basic day rides out of Beijing listed below, all start and end at Michael's German Bakery....
Michael's German Bakery (GPS: 40.023856 116.512364)
Bakery > Chongli > Chicheng > Bakery = http://goo.gl/maps/LgT3w
Bakery > Cuandixia > Bakery = http://goo.gl/maps/mwoq3
Bakery > Shidu > Bakery = http://goo.gl/maps/oxhWL
Bakery > Black Dragon Pool Road / Miyun Reservoir > Bakery = http://goo.gl/maps/8vL83
Bakery > Jinshanling Wall > Bakery = http://goo.gl/maps/IxkgB
Bakery > Mutanyiu Wall > Bakery = http://goo.gl/maps/QgxuS
Bakery > Jiankou Wall > Bakery = http://goo.gl/maps/RjLXY
Bakery > Simatai Wall > Bakery = http://goo.gl/maps/PebHe
 
Another year went by in a flash and has been the same all over again as people keep telling me for decades, don't do this ~ don't do that - can't be done - very difficult... what can I say ~ personally I think most of it is just people talking out of their ass with either very little or absolutely no knowledge or first hand experience of what they're talking about. Well ~ knowing your shit or knowing you're shit......

2015 biking in some different non-Asian countries is on the agenda as usual but for sure TBR ADV Cruising China will continue once again during 2015 and onwards in a different way as taking bike transport to a new level... Rock'n & Rollin' around all over the lovely motherland with the perfect bike hauler to get me conveniently to the nicer riding regions with all the gear, tools, parts and of course the motorbike conveniently within easy reach and retracing old routes and rides done during the 1990's and 2000's.....
Seeya somewhere cruising along the roads across China!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! Rock on and all the very best for 2015 ~ ride hard and stay safe!!!
 
Sounds like you have a lot of new ride projects coming up Butch, love reading your trips, always a little different. Hopefully will have some time in the spring, will try hook up with you in China if you're there.


From a cold Ghanerao, Rajashtan, India - Wishing you a great, safe 2015.



TB-Racing said:
Another year went by in a flash and has been the same all over again as people keep telling me for decades, don't do this ~ don't do that - can't be done - very difficult... what can I say ~ personally I think most of it is just people talking out of their ass with either very little or absolutely no knowledge or first hand experience of what they're talking about. Well ~ knowing your shit or knowing you're shit......

2015 biking in some different non-Asian countries is on the agenda as usual but for sure TBR ADV Cruising China will continue once again during 2015 and onwards in a different way as taking bike transport to a new level... Rock'n & Rollin' around all over the lovely motherland with the perfect bike hauler to get me conveniently to the nicer riding regions with all the gear, tools, parts and of course the motorbike conveniently within easy reach and retracing old routes and rides done during the 1990's and 2000's.....
Seeya somewhere cruising along the roads across China!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! Rock on and all the very best for 2015 ~ ride hard and stay safe!!!
Click to expand...
 
Look forward to your upcoming China road reports Butch.
I will be in Shanghai/Suzhou/Qingtian from January the 5th to the 17th.
 
A happy new year to you also and look forward to your trip write ups on your up-coming travels in China
 
Chinese New Year, annual week long public holiday, besides waking up the neighbourhood with fireworks ~ strippin' time for some spring cleaning and detailing as unpredictable crappy rainy weather....

















....to be continued....
 
Maintenance, spring cleaning & detailing ~ all done and ready to rock n' roll again after a quick 50k's shakedown run this afternoon...






































Replaced more nuts & bolts with Titanium metal work of art from Pro-Bolt UK and other special parts suppliers, still a large box full of special TI parts to install in the future...








 
TB-R, what are your reasons to exchange the standards bolting for Ti ones?
 
brake034 said:
TB-R, what are your reasons to exchange the standards bolting for Ti ones?
Click to expand...
No worries ~ nothing to do with any weight savings, surface corrosion inside the allen / torx heads and somehow wasn't really happy with the standard OEM bolts + nuts and misc. hardware and started a year ago to slowly change over to TI wherever possible.
Got some more one-off custom TI race spec. parts in the works overseas and still need to do the fastener hardware on the wheels (brake discs, etc.).
Rest assured, not using MIC = Made In China mystery hardware, only from various reliable and established suppliers like Pro-Bolt UK http://www.pro-bolt.com and others.









Anti-seize to prevent galling & proper torque specs. are applied with the right tools.



Installed a new set of rear Kellermann indicators (Micro Rhombus black / LED) http://www.kellermann-online.com/en this morning, as the saying goes = A Bikers Work Is Never Done....



 
​


Well ~ all the gear loaded into the ADVan and started my short Spring 2015 China road trip for vehicle & gear testing...



It's a 3000k’s trip from Shanghai with some detours to get there, we've got a full tank o' gas, a list of GPS waypoints to find, it's getting dark and the radar detector has been updated ~ lets rock n’ roll to Southern China....​
 
Stopover at the Zhuhai Race Circuit (Guangdong) http://www.zic.com.cn and https://zh-cn.facebook.com/ZhuhaiInternationalCircuit for the Pan Delta Super Racing Festival 2015 (Spring Edition) hsoting the AUDI R8LM Cup Races = http://www.audir8lmscup.com and the China Superbike Racing series plus a few other events like the Red Bull Drift Battle. Absolute brilliant atmosphere with great people around - anyhow, let the pictures do the talking…. nuff said’….

Great times rooting for two mates, BLACKBRIDGE MOTORCYCLES BEIJING = http://blackbridgemotorcycles.com competing in the China Superbike Races.

























































Blackbridge Motorcycles Beijing web-links = https://www.facebook.com/BlackBridgeMotorcycles and https://instagram.com/blackbridgemotorcycles/

 
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