Trans China Trip - need help
 

Howdy, We've been in the woes of trying to plan a trans-China trip entering China from Laos in the Yunnan provence and riding through China to Kashgar in the North West. We fully expect that this will take 3-4weeks and are looking for assistance from anyone who has done a similar trip.

As the expense of such a crossing with our own GS is extremely high, we've been quoted over US$20,000 for one motorcycle we are looking at alternatives such as joining another group or creating a larger group to reduce the costs.

If you know someone that is interested in such a ride or is undertaking this as a group then please contact me by PM.

Timeline:
Enter China in late Feb, March 2009
Pass through Yunnan, Sichuan, Tibet, Xinjing provences leaving by Kashgar into Krygystan.

Cheers,

TurboCharger

Hello TC, US$20,000 does sound high.
We've been quoted 2500 euros per bike from Kaz (Urumchi) down via the Taklamakan to Lhasa, then the low road over to Kashgar and out into Pak. About 3 weeks I expect.
John's Information Service & Café On The Silk Road and in Tibet kashgar turufan dunhuag xian xinjiang silkroad in kashi
Actually met the guy in Sept and I've asked him a few times if this is the full price and it seems so, but still learning the ropes with China & prices and moveable goal posts. I think it may reduce costs a bit to keep it in one province (Xinjiang + Tibet - or whatever they call it)?
I asked but not sure if a bigger group gets a substantial reduction. It seemed to be only 10% when I estimated 4 people or so.
I read all groups are charged at 10 pax minimum - if you are 1 you pay for 10. Not sure if this is an urban myth.

Any trans China experts? Let's hear it.

Ch

Hi Chris, I think we has "spoken" before The cost can be spit in two portions. The cost of "officialdom" and the agents cost.
The permits/insurances/registration/license type costs are per bike/vehicle and not negotiable. Our agent also had to pay a "Bond" of YMB10,000 at the Customs in Korgos as we said we did not have it. We then had to travel Yinning to get the bike insured and the safety inspection, (MOT), done.

The guides I talked to in 2007 when I was in Kashgar, including John of John's Cafe and Abdul Wahab, said that the guide costs are shared between the group and would be calculated as the costs of the guide, his driver and the car they used, plus their living expenses for the trip. That added up to (USD) $100 to $150 per DAY.

Had we paid all that was asked by the agent we used, from Urumqi, it would have amounted to $4500 for two bikes... in the end we paid $3000 after doing a bunk from our hotel in Urumqi. We paid $1500 and that got us the permits/licence/registration etc and the guide/driver/car from Korgos to Urumqi. The other $1500 was for the agent to process us out from Kashgar and that included the guide/driver/car nonsense to Tashkorgan. The guide is not allowed further than that.

Cheers,
John

I am also planning to do such a trip, I have only just started to look seriously into it.

Leaving Cambodia at the end of May, into Laos, then China. I figure that the weather will not be suitable to travel until this time (wimpy fair weather person that I am) I would like to go all the way and exit into Kazakhstan. It does seem that this China option is expensive and relatively difficult, although not impossible, to set up.

My budget is small only perhaps $6,000, to take me to Europe and riding a relatively small bike a 250 or 400 as they are cheap and available here leaving more travel budget.

I am very open minded with regards to route at this point, also considering taking a route through the middle east too but the China option interests me more.

I am wondering if it is possible to sticky messages for people who want to travel through china so that there is more likelihood for teaming up to reduce costs.

M

Hi John, thanks for the reminder. In that case 2500 euros looks OK for our long route. Did you use John to get out of Kashgar?
It will sure be fun to ride out of Tashkurgan without an escort breathing down your neck.
Steamer, I am told by various agents you need to start applying 3 months before you get there, maybe even longer if crossing many provinces.

Ch

Hi Chris, thats what I thought... and no. We had to go with the original agent as he had the import docs from Korgos and would not release them! We tried to exit at Tash but they would have none of it! We chatted to John for a few days while were were there, staying in the Semen Hotel. Lovely name that.
A little note... when you get to Tash, the customs work on Beijing time, NOT local.

It is, but there is no where to go really. Its just the one road as far as I remember. Don't forget, this is a military zone, so wandering too far off the track could prove bothersome:whistling: There is a checkpoint a few hundred metres after you clear cutoms and then one a few hundred metres before the border proper.

On thing that we did not know, is that there is no need to make Sost in Pakistan in one day if you fancy a dawdle and a photo shoot.
They have rope beds you can use at a couple of the Pakistani checkpoints if you talk nicely to them.
Sost is also where the immigration and bike carnet procedures take place... but at opposite ends of the town. Carnet office is on the right in the middle of the town.

John

This was discussed here a while ago. China will be easiest to purchase a bike there, or a Chinese registered one near there. My suggestion is to go to MyChinaMoto.com - Chinese Motorcycle Community and Resources a forum site, and ask the guru himself 'crazy carl' who is also a member here (he runs the mychinamoto site and started it and used to work and live in China but recently moved back to the US).

On advrider, member 'beemer boy' who is an American living in Thailand, bought a used Chinese bike in thailand and rode it into China as it was registered in china. He did have problems with it, but ended up buying a brand new bike and rode it back home to Thailand, and as far as I know, he still owns it. Try to track him down on advrider. His ongoing thread/blog was very enjoyable to read, and had many, many photos of his ride, but this was the summer of '07, so not sure how easy it is to find that thread.

From what I understand, it is really near impossible to bring your own bike through China as a tourist, but I suppose, if you have the money, it can be done, but also, from what I have read and corresponded with people who have done it, it is a far easier and less costly proposition to buy a Chinese registered bike in China. I would suggest to research the Qingqi brand's 200cc (that is the problem with Chinese bikes--the small engine sizes) enduros as Qingqi is the OEM for Suzuki's small dual sport DR200's, so they will have the quality. Any chinese bike brand is easy to get parts for in china, but as far as quality goes, Qingqi is supposed to be one of the better brands. Plus, you can sell the bike at the end of the trip to someone who needs a Chinese-registered bike for their own trip.

Buying a bike locally seems to be the cheapest option, but I wonder how easy it would be to sell in Kashgar. The guy in the link below seems to have made it through OK on his own bike, but yes I understand it costs about $4,000 to get into the country and pay for "escorts" which probably would double the cost of my trip.

China (part 1) - A taste of the Chinese medicine He admits that he was lucky to get his BMW in, and it appears from what he says that he was only able to get a visa for him and his bike for 12 days including 3 days while the bike was being held by officials. Still if one pays $2,000 for a bike in China and sells it for only $500 the other end its still $2,500 cheaper than taking the official route I guess. Reading this guys story is also enlightening:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tst...028.php#003028 will check out mychinamoto

Cheers yáll for the advice and help

Mick :scooter: