Biker Jim

Xining It was another cold day, but no rain. There was a huge traffic jam getting out of town due to a car-truck crash blocking most of the road. Then there was the slow Chinese Army convoy of about 500 trucks going down the road. We spent about 40 miles passing the trucks. The road crossed high yak pastures and two 12,000 ft. passes and a 12,200 ft. tunnel. There was new snow from yesterday and the temperature on top was 36 F. Fortunately, we traveled a day ahead of schedule, or we would have been caught in the next snow storm. This area is near Tibet, and the terrain and people look like Tibet. Xining is a large city with strong Tibetan influence. We visited a Tibetan style monastery with huge golden Budas and a ... read more

Jiayuguan Today was a drive across high desert into a very strong head and cross wind on a nice new road. The temperature was in the 70's, a great relief from the last few days. Jiayuguan is the western end of the Great Wall, and tomorrow we will try to drive out and take some photos of our bikes at the wall. ... read more

Hami Hami is an agricultural area famous for mellons. They are everywhere this time of year. We got stopped by the police again so they could check our passports and take pictures of our bikes. I followed my GPS down a non street, through an underpass populated by scooters, along some skinny streets, and finally got to the hotel. I had the biggest moped in town. I barely fit between the barriers. We ate at a local hole in the wall, had a great meal, met a bunch of locals, and got free beer from the restaurant owner. Everyone was happy.... read more

Urumqi We have arrived in Urumqi, the largest city in Northwest China (5+ M). The drive down the new road could have been pretty much anywhere in the world, except for the new cities and power plants being built everywhere. There is a huge mall next door with all the most expensive stores, and a block away are the traditional hole in the wall shops. The contrasts are amazing. It is getting hot again We are expecting 100+ tomorrow in Turpan.... read more

Kuitun After finally getting our Chinese documents, we headed east to Kuitun. We drove on new roads across some arid plains and then over a 7000 ft. plateau with a spectacular new bridge and tunnel system. On top, it looked just like Colorado. The Chinese seem to have no way to collect tolls ftm motorcycles, so we just ride around the end of the toll gate. Sometimes a guy comes out to direct us around. After running our third toll gate, the police stopped us at their checkpoint. The took lots of pictures, smiled a lot, gave us drinks, and we were off. So far, Chinese officials have been great (except for the DMV).... read more