China | GlobeRiders Silk Road Adventure

Saying goodbye to Kazakhstan and Central Asia, we head east towards China. The border is a bustling hub of activity in a remote part of the world where traders from many of the former Soviet republics come to deal goods. We'll be crossing the Korgas Pass and moving through three provinces on our way to Xi'an. The western region of China is the remote area and after 2,000 years it just has the traditional way of agriculture and trade and almost no industry in ancient times. After liberation and the establishment of Xinjiang Autonomous Region, the central government paid more attention to promote this area by either giving a lot of money to help the social construction and also by encouraging young people to come into this area. Despite the many nationalities that live here, a group of American motorcyclists is an unusual sight and draws a crowd. Getting licensed to ride in China is a specialty of Sim, our partner in the Middle Kingdom. Well this is different from province to province and like this year we just drive in it's much easier because all the driver's license, vehicle's license and vehicle plate we have done before and get everything ready. It's great to be back in China. It's totally different here in some ways than where I was in the east but it's really exciting and this time I get to keep this fancy license plate. With a little help from our new friends, the bikes are licensed and ready to go. Leaving the town of Xinjiang, we head out for the first day of riding in western China. Our destination is Erumqi, about 250 miles away over a variety of roads. I thought when we were crossed into China I was kind of apprehensive because I thought it was just going to be total crowds everywhere we went but western China is not like that at all. It's wide open spaces, few smaller type towns and stuff. A lot of the roads have been decent, a lot of the roads have just been horrible. They've just been full rain. This area actually is a long expressway. Originally it's a national road 312. It starts from Shanghai to all the way to northwest part of China. The total distance is around 4,800 kilometers totally. As the old national highway is replaced by a modern freeway, road construction in western China is a fact of life that we'll have to get used to. It was the bad road that was good. The nice road is just boring like heck. You fall asleep, you sit there and sing songs, listen to yourself, try to not fall asleep and that's why we want to drive faster than the chase vehicle because at least it gets your attention. But the first part was really fun. Going over ditches, through barriers and when you come to a barrier, I found out the trick is have the black visor down and you think you are important and then they just look and they see 16 of us coming and the gate go up automatically. It's great. This is one of the best roads I've ever been on but actually like the little detours much better. Fighting around dirt and everything. Highway development in the region is an important part of China's overall plan to promote the growth of the western parts of the country and a sign that greater changes will surely follow. For now, it's still possible to experience life in the small villages along the national highway before the changes. Chicken is a very big dish and it's popular in this area and it started originating from Xinjiang and this area especially. One chicken and together they put some other things like potatoes. This kind of dish is similar. It's now become more and more popular in this area. At lunchtime when Rick was pulling all the chicken legs and the chicken beaks out of the food, that's kind of exciting. Then he was eating them. Figuring out how to say soy sauce. Once I get that one down I think maybe the food will be quite all right at that point. Up next, the city furthest from any ocean in the world. I just looked at the trip odometer and we've done about 8,100 kilometers now since Istanbul so right around 5,000 miles so we're moving. With the development of the region occurring at a rapid pace, the population of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region has risen to more than 20 million, including many different ethnic minorities. Urumqi is the capital of the province and the world's most inland city. Since Urumqi is located in the center of Eurasia, it has the typical dry continental climate with a long summer and a long winter but short spring and autumn. In this area there's a rich production of fruits like apricot in May and then apples, peaches, pears and melons and grapes in autumn. And here is the international market but it keeps tradition from the ancient Silk Road and here is the market and the biggest bazaar, biggest bazaar in the city and all the people will come in here during the day or the weekend to buy things which include the local handicrafts like Uyghur hat and the knife and the Uyghur instrument, carpets, food, etc. I thought everyone living in China were Chinese. Not so. You take the northwest Xinjiang province up there, it covers one-sixth of the entire area. Islam is their faith and they have retained their own distinctive dress and culture and dance and their way of living. Well, right now it's kind of interesting because all of a sudden maybe it's because we crossed our last border but it's like, this trip will actually end. We don't have that much further to go so I don't, I haven't counted up but there aren't that many more riding days. We still have a lot of distance to cover and a lot of things to see but I'll be home in three weeks so all of a sudden this trip that was just going and going and going, it might actually end. I like the motorcycle because I feel like I'm within the atmosphere. I can smell things, I can experience the heat, I can feel the cold and when you ride there is no shade, you know, you're like, ah. The most useful skill that I had it was having a number of years on dirt bikes and I've certainly put up the test on this trip here. I think the biggest thing is to tell myself to try to ride my own ride. I tend to stay in back where I can avoid the testosterone, what's left, the testosterone urge to get in there with the guys and maybe ride over my head so I try to be patient and stay within what I think are my limits. But it's by no means an easy thing to do. You can't just, you have to have the skills, the technical skills, you have to have just the wherewithal to do something like this but you also have to have the mental aspect to just endure, you know, it's like you just deal with stuff. The travelers centuries ago had to go much slower. The roads didn't exist as we know them today. Which way you went was determined by was there a war going on, who had raised tolls, etc. When one tries to compare what happened on the Silk Road 500 years ago, 800 years ago, a thousand years ago, the travel on the Silk Road then compared to what we've done, I think it's quite a contrast. Our journey is much quicker even though it was almost two months. Our journey has a support van, we have water in the support van and we have water on our motorcycle. The dangers are different, yeah, we're not going to lose our water and die of dehydration out in the desert. Warriors and bandits aren't going to show up and steal our camels, you know, but a flat tire or getting sent off a road by a large truck, same thing. You need to get to the caravansary or you need to get your hotel at night. Turfan is a remarkable oasis on the Silk Road. Lying 154 meters below sea level, it is the lowest spot in China and the second lowest depression in the world. It's one of the major towns in Xinjiang that remains closest to traditional Uyghur culture. It was an important staging post on the Silk Road and was the center of Buddhism before being converted to Islam in the 8th century. It's also the hottest spot in China with temperatures regularly exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit. And it was like 180 degrees Fahrenheit or what 42 degrees Celsius in the shade and when you ride there is no shade, you know, you're like ah. Many of the smaller streets in Turfan are covered by grapevine trellises, which provide shade from the heat. I think it's incredible, it's awesome, blazingly hot. I mean these people under such extreme weather conditions laugh and smile more than any other people I know. Hello, right there buddy, come on, yeah, that's my man. Hello, hello, how are you buddy? Good, hello, melons. So every summer during May to October is the high tourist season in this area. Many foreigners from all over the world and also the guests from all part of China, they come to Urumqi, Turfan, Kashgar for visit. The different minority nationalities and the different natural resource makes the tourism one of the best part in China. The relative coolness of the evening brings vibrant activity to the streets of Turfan. Little chance of rain means that these young men can enjoy a game of outdoor billiards. The city street market pulses with activity late into the evening, with vendors selling everything from kebabs to more unusual foods. The coolness from this fountain makes one forget about the heat and how bone dry the region really is. In the morning, looking out over the rooftops of Turfan, we watch as the city wakes up. This tower and the mosque next to it were built in 1777. The temple is empty but services are just about to begin today. One of China's greatest public works projects are the irrigation canals surrounding the city. More than 3,000 kilometers of these channels bring water from the nearby mountains into the city for irrigation of the farmlands. Here, the channels are above ground but they travel for many miles below the surface of the earth to reach this point, which reduces loss by evaporation. Known as the Kurez, more than 1,000 of these wells are located around Turfan and they're unique to this part of China. Some of them were constructed more than 2,000 years ago by hand without modern machinery or equipment. Grapes are the primary recipient of the water and the crop for which Turfan is best known. Grape Valley is on the outskirts of the city. This is a true oasis with overflowing life in a parched desert. The valley is filled with great trellises and well-ventilated brick buildings that are used for drying the grapes. It's a wonderfully refreshing place to visit in the midday heat. Sweet raisins are a major export of Turfan. In the afternoon, we're invited to take lunch in a local home, which is an opportunity to taste the delicious fruit of this rich oasis. Of course, there were sweet raisins and the famous Hami melons, but the real treat, traditional hand-pulled noodles that are known across China as the best in the country. Simple, delicious food in a beautiful setting with kind and generous hosts. It's moments like this that make a journey along the Silk Road so rewarding. The legendary flaming mountains outside of Turfan provide the backdrop for the start of riding on day 41 of the Silk Road adventure. We've traveled almost 6,000 miles so far without any serious mishaps, but reminders of the dangers we face are constant companions on a journey like this. Bikers don't usually like to talk about it, but there is that at every given second from the moment that motorcycle is on in the morning until you turn it off at night, any given second, there's an absolute potential for death. There's an absolute potential to crash and really hurt yourself. On this kind of trip, you might die. Certainly last year, one of my comrades did die, and I'm unfortunately all too aware of that, but we've not intentionally stuck ourselves in harm's way beyond the ecstasies of the trip itself. It's not like we've jumped out of an airplane with a chute packed by somebody we don't know or gone over the falls in a barrel. Keeps your blood running and keeps you young, and you kind of cheat a little bit and get away with it, and it's kind of fun, you know, and as long as you don't overstep your boundaries, you go home upright that day, you know. The vast emptiness of the Gobi Desert provides us with a real geocache opportunity, a gift for the next riders who come this way. Here we are at our secret location, Globe Riders 05 Silk Road group, and the canister of love. What are we doing, Chris? Starting a new tradition? Yes, we're going to start a Globe Riders tradition right here on this very spot. We're going to mark it with a GPS waypoint, and in two years, when the next Silk Road tour comes through, they can dig it up and find the buried treasure. We've got our GPS unit. We've got the GPS. We're going to mark the exact coordinate. We're going to give it to the guys. The lucky person who finds it first, boy, what a trip. Gets the treasure. It is the treasure, and they have to bring it back, proof positive that they actually found it. So here we go. And also, we'd like for them to carry the tradition on, so they're going to have to bury something also. They have to deposit something back in this canister for the next Silk Road tour to come along as well. So we're going to keep it going. Yeah. All right. All right. Let's go dig. To the top. Noodles, you're doing a wonderful job. He's got the digging goggles on too. Look into the camera. Digging goggles. The canister is being placed, and we dub it pleasure nipple. Pleasure nipple. The old pleasure nipple. All right. Continuing across a seemingly endless desert, we leave Xinyang and cross into Gansu Province along the Hexi Corridor. On both sides of this province, there are mountains. So that's the reason we call this corridor. The terrain is just like a corridor. And before the caravan goes through the corridor and they stay overnight in these cities, we even call these cities bright stars, or evening stars of this area. And this city gets prosperous because of the location. And only along the Hexi Corridor, along the corridor, there are some people living. And along the corridor, just a few cities like Dunhuang and then Lanzhou. We're getting into more traffic, more populated, densely populated areas and things. There's such an energy here. The people are always just moving around. I don't know. It's just fun to be a part of it and see something that's happening. And I think this country is really on the move. There's going to be a lot of things coming out of China. I'm ready to go. What's it like riding in western China? I've enjoyed myself thoroughly. The Gobi Desert has been a lot of fun. Our hotels here are nice. It's just been a wonderful trip. Mostly desert. Nice and warm. Nice wind, little sand, grit, but great ride. When we ride, I try to control the speed and the position, something like this. Generally, I think I can control easily. But sometimes there's difficulties to handle. Some people like to ride by themselves. Every people have their own personality. When you travel in a group, you have to take into consideration what everybody else wants. You shouldn't just go off and do your own thing and hold up the group or cause some problems with the group in doing that. Sometimes you come to a city, you like to just stay a little bit, but on a group like this, you have to keep on going. And you sit in a saddle six hours, nine hours a day. When it's hot, it's not easy. When it's cold, you shiver. It's arduous. We had some stretches where you couldn't see the hand in front of your eyes. And meanwhile, you're going maybe 30, 40 miles an hour and you have no idea where you're going. And the field is wobbly because it's all sand. And do you go a little bit to the right or a little bit to the left? You can't tell. It's all clouds. We'd hit extremely soft dirt, consistency of talcum powder. The dust was so thick. At one point, I was following a dump truck and I never did see the dump truck. And it was a challenge. As it turns out, we end up with one man on the ground on that particular encounter. So, and we had several other ones like that throughout the day. It's kind of boring. Not much happening. And I figured to liven things up a bit, I'd just do an endo. He's taking some soil samples to bring home. I can save them for a while. They'll be pretty good. It might be mixed with a few fillings, but other than that, they're in good shape. Okay, so we remove my cases. We're ready to roll. A little bit of a mess on these roads. There's construction, so they're detouring us off the highway and onto these dirt roads. But it's just absolute mayhem with trucks everywhere. Three wide and stuff. Soft gravel and hard pack and whatnot. I took a couple spills and lost the windshield on the last one. And I've determined that that'll be the last bill of this trip. So a few aches and pains, but nothing serious. The bike's in good shape. But it was just, more than the spills, it was just the tremendous tenseness all day dealing with the roads. You go in and off of the paved, which is rough in itself, and then you get onto the dirt. Did my good deed for the day. Yeah, Roger got a flat tire, and I was able to dig up my air pump and fix it kit just in the nick of time. How's the riding today? Oh, pretty dusty. Pretty dusty. And to think that we're doing this route because of the road construction on the route we're supposed to be taking. Hard to believe. A lot of road construction on this road. And definitely the strategy is just to take your time and try not to follow anybody too closely and eat too much dust. Other than that, it's actually kind of fun. In the morning, I was a little bit freaked out because I was dodging the trucks. But then I got into the groove, and the one thing that happened is the group spread out. There were a couple incidences, and I stopped to help, and then I stopped, and they didn't need my help, so I kept going. And the upshot was, I was riding by myself. I knew there were people behind me, so if anything happened, I had backup. But I didn't worry about anybody else. And then I started having fun. Because it was me against the conditions. The conditions were the dust, and the roads, and the puddles, and the trucks, and the buses. And I could make whatever decisions I needed to. And I had a great day. Well, we're going to make it. That's about all I can say. We'll get there. The most important person when you're riding two-up is the passenger. One false move by Benziger, and he could put the bike down. However, he has to absorb all my mistakes. Takes courage. You can't see what the driver's doing. About the Great Wall, it first was constructed in the 2nd century BC. And after that, each dynasty rebuilt the Great Wall. So the first dynasty, I mean, the feudal dynasty is the Qin dynasty. They constructed the first Great Wall. The total distance is 5,000 kilometers. And then the Han dynasty rebuilt the Great Wall further north, even longer. For the first Great Wall, the total distance is 5,000 kilometers. And the Han Great Wall might be double this length and further north. After that, each dynasty rebuilt the Great Wall. There are some other nomadic tribes keep invading from the northern part into the central area from time to time. So the wall effectively stopped these nomadic people entering to the central of China. Zheyuan is a recently developed industrial city of iron and steel production, located in the middle of the Hexi Corridor. When we arrived, we were greeted by a local Chinese motorcyclist. I've been driving this bike for five years. One hundred times falling down by this bike because I always go to no road. So is China changing for the better? Do you think it's going to be good? You see, my friends, we're getting roughly 20% increase the salary of the economy. The average is 10% per year. So people are going to have money so they can travel now? Even we have enough money, but we don't have the vacation. On the other side of the parking lot, John is using all of his communication skills to convince this young student to go for a ride. Yeah? This is a Globe Riders cultural exchange. Don't try this at home, however. Say hello to your mom and dad. So this morning we got off and we're going to have a nice easy day just rolling along the highway. So it started out fine. We left town, nice roads and stuff. And then about, oh, probably about 50 miles outside of town, we ran into this construction and we probably passed about five kilometers of trucks just stopped. So we just passed and passed and passed and we got off and there's a huge highway construction zone there and it's just utter chaos. It's just, oh, it's like ants around an anthill. It's just amazing. People driving in the desert, off the road, blocking traffic. It's so bad that you just look at it from afar and you say, forget it. Is there another way? But there is no other way. There's only one way to go and you have to go through it. So we kind of threaded our way through and poked and probed a couple places and we found a way to get around a lot to stop traffic and in between trucks and buses and tractors. After that, it wasn't too bad. A little bit of construction and probably went another 50 miles or so and came up to this one town and we got kind of a police escort. We came up to the brand new expressway and this is like the most modern, best highway I've ever been on. It's just, the contrast is just unbelievable. But, oh, you should see some of the signs on the expressway are just hilarious. It's been relatively trouble-free until we got to the wall here and everybody goes, oh, we got to do that. Hey, that's the great wall, but that's the great hole. So we stopped here for some photos and some people are having lunch and everything, but gosh, motorbiking in China is a real adventure. I used to have two taillights. Now I have one and a half. However, I think there's still a good connection here and there's still a good connection here, so we'll try it. You know, Roger, yeah, I think if you put a new bulb in there, you'll be good to go. This bike may be made by Honda by the time I get home. We're doing a lot of substituting. You ride all day and you're really tired and what we're doing and in the places we're doing them at is incredibly unique. So the moment you stop riding, there's a crowd of people around you and in the morning when you do it, it's great and you talk to everybody who's around you. In the afternoon, everybody who comes around you when you're getting gas, you talk to them, you smile, you take their pictures with them. But at the end of the day, if it's been a really hard day riding and you park your bike at the hotel and all you want to do is get your bag out of your pannier, get your bike covered up, turn it off, get in that hotel room, get your shit off and like just take a shower and here these people are. They didn't realize. They have no idea how difficult of a day it was and what you've endured that day. You're just to them like this amazing incredible thing that they've never seen. That's one of the more difficult things for me because I find myself on certain days just, you know, I can't explain what the GPS unit is today. I just want to shower. Life does not suck. Got a motorcycle, got some alright people to ride with. Life is good. And now we ride. It's a beautiful day here in China. 9,000 feet. About time we elevate this show. I'm gonna give it a shot. Can I just go stop right there? But I need to look at my bike. I just go right there and wait. I can see it now on the group. This is the third, last day of the riding towards Xi'an and people are getting a little touch here. A little irritated I can see it. Look at my bike. I just go right there and wait. It's a lot of energy going in the group. We got off the highway. I think that was good for everybody because you got to work. You got to fight the dust and get the attention on the road and just getting forward. It's like it's not over yet but some people have cabin fever. For the last hour or so I've been riding with Genghis Khan. He's doing a fantastic job as a pilot here on the 650. As you can see we're heading down a pretty lumpy bumpy road. We're on our way to Lanzhou and I'd say this has been one of the more exciting back roads of China here that I've seen yet on this tour. We're basically trying to steer our way past little construction zones and trucks. There's a lot of dust going on. A lot of fumes. We saw some pigs a little while ago in the back of a truck. It's pretty much having the adventure of a lifetime. Every day is better than the last and we're going to see what's up around the corner because if it's any better than this I don't know what the heck it could be. They have construction all over this place. I can't believe every time we go up the freeway we're going through rocks and construction like what's coming up ahead. This is physically tough hanging on. Looks like bees is taking things about as hard as we are over here. This is definitely not easy riding today and we've been doing this for about 90 minutes now but this is kind of one of those ying yang experiences here. You know it's hard and it's at some levels kind of dangerous. At any given moment there's a potential for mishap. It could just be a minor mishap or it could be something serious but at the same time it's really fun. It's really enjoyable. We're having an absolute blast. So we're here in China the land that invented the ying yang and we're living proof of that concept right here on the road. Okay well we made it through this last round so let's go find the freeway. Yeah where is that freeway? Come on baby! You know there's at times where you're just like you can find yourself saying out loud in your helmet holy shit you know and then there's the times you feel the grin on your face and your cheek muscles push up against your helmet and all of a sudden you realize you're just smiling by yourself inside your helmet. I don't think it would be as good as it is without that potential. That every second potential. I don't think any of us would do it if we knew that it was going to be absolutely safe constantly. If there was a cushion of padding around us to protect us the entire way. We'd sit on our couches and watch television if that's the kind of people. So you know easily put it's you know we like to push things a little bit push that on. Clean yourself up a little bit this is a respectable town. Longzhou is a hazy sprawling metropolis and the major industrial center along the Hexi Corridor. The city was an important caravan stop along the Silk Road and the center of defense and communications in this part of China. Longzhou is situated along the banks of a yellow river in a narrow valley which makes it an ideal trap for pollution and exhaust fumes. I'm scared, awed, impressed with China. 1.4 billion people with the size of this with the natural resources that they have with the work ethic that they have with the burgeoning growth that they're experiencing they are going to be a force to deal with. So economically China is is the moving power. The yellow river has always shaped the commerce and culture of Gansu's provincial capital. The sheepskin raft has been a new since ancient times as a way of ferrying goods and people across the mighty river. Today it's mostly visitors who use the service of the ferryman. The rafts are made out of wood and treated sheepskins. The skins are tied into bags with openings in the legs through which air is blown to inflate them. The rafts are light and can easily be carried up river on foot. Today motor-driven boats bring the returning ferryman back upstream. The river is fast and powerful with strong waves and currents and a journey on the ancient sheepskin raft is unlikely to be soon forgotten. Another important use of water from the Yellow River. Peasants up and down the river imitated the ingenious construction of Longzhu's water wheels that were used as a natural energy source to irrigate the farmlands. These water wheels were built in 1993 but the design goes back almost 500 years. So he would say for a good time please call to room 2214 Rick. The famous paper airplane toss that was awesome. A huggie took about 10 minutes and folded up a paper airplane in just the right way. We sat there and watched him toss it out the window and it did about 10 revolutions in front of us then dropped down a story and did another 10 and then we lost sight At night in China it doesn't matter what town it is every city the sun goes down in the city center everybody comes out everybody walks the street there's food being cooked there's stuff being sold there's people hanging out eating noodles people drinking it's it's a street night culture it's just unbelievable. When you're young you make friends there's this loyalty the intensity to how you make friends as your kid and like in university days it doesn't happen that often as adults in a situation like this where we're thrown together for it's the official count 53 days in places that are pretty far from home you know there's that intensity to friendships that develop that you don't get most of the time. There was a small crowd and Roger went up and got his key and then has been giving rides to the young and the old we started out with there's probably been a five-year-old on the back of that up to about a 50 year old lady and the crowd has continued to grow we're going to top the evening off with some big time fireworks so we're all looking forward to that. A great trip on the Xi'an may be hot 104 yesterday there bring it on we're ready to go I'm ready Bart let's get started. We made it and I'm so happy I almost want to just jump into here and celebrate it's been a great ride a wonderful ride we're gonna go have a cold beer and celebrate. Winding down here it's like the end of the road so kind of sad in that way but feeling good that we made it and everybody's here safe and sound. Absolutely amazing I don't know how those people did it 2,000 years ago and traveled across the desert and up the mountain passes it's hard enough on a motorcycle let alone camel and horses. Now the day sucks. This is Xi'an, a city of six million people and one of the most important cities in Chinese history. In ages past it was the imperial capital and the largest city in the world. Today Xi'an is the capital of Shaanxi province and the largest and most developed city in this part of China. One of the great attractions here is the 2,000 year old army of terracotta warriors. They were discovered in 1974 when local farmers in search of water drilled a well and uncovered pottery fragments. Arranged in battle formation over 6,000 individually carved soldiers equipped with horses and weapons have been unearthed from this site making it one of the greatest archaeological finds of all times. During the western Han dynasty Xi'an was the starting point for the Silk Road. Today it's the end of our adventure a journey that began 53 days ago in Istanbul. With home on the horizon and 8,000 miles behind us each one of us is free to remember and relive the incredible story of the ancient and modern Silk Road. I think if one takes a journey on Silk Road one in a real sense gets an education. Every day has been an adventure something different the people have just been absolutely wonderful it's made me more aware that we are one world. For more information on the Silk Road adventure with Helge Peterson including the live journal for this and other Globe Writers adventures please visit our website.