China has been a first for me in so many ways, and as crazy as it sounds, I had never been on a motorcycle ride until this year. I blame this entirely on my father who instilled fear and an immediate shudder every time I heard the “dreaded words.” The words were “donor cycle,” something he coined himself after working around emergency rooms for many years. The very idea of every being on the back of one myself was enough to warrant a stern glance and a threat of disownment from the family. Until one day, maybe ensuing a mid life crisis coupled with surging gas prices, my father decided to buy a scooter. Not some piddly scooter-he needed something “sturdy.” Now, 5 years later, he has a full-blown motorcycle. It’s funny how things turn out in the end; little did he know that I would have my first motorcycle ride in China. (As a side note, I am still part of the family).

Photo: Andrea Hunt

No, I don't know what motorcycle he bought when he finally purchased one because I know nothing about motorcycles. He beamed when he told me his new bike was blah-blah CC’s, which means absolutely nothing to me. He could have been speaking Swahili and my understanding would have been better. So aside from a little motorbike ride in Vietnam where I paid a travel agency 4 USD to get me a motor dude to take me to the sand dunes, that was all of my experience.

Now the first time I was on a bike in the city, I was in Rome and my roommate was seriously determined to kill me on a crotch rocket while swerving around angry nuns and cobblestones on the Roman streets. Roman traffic is no better than Chinese traffic regardless of what the Italians tell you. In China, it was only a few weeks ago that we headed out into the rural China countryside.

The cool thing about motorcycle rides in China is the rural Chinese countryside that you can’t reach without a car or bike. I had only been to the smaller cities in China but only via bus or train. There really are some amazing remote places and the rural Chinese people are of a curious and inquisitive nature. The area outside Beijing is bright with tree-lined streets and fruit vendors selling radiantly colored fruits and vegetables; it’s such a contrast to dodging cars and people in the city. People gather tree branches and sticks on the side of the road and pick vegetables in the fields. The air is crisp and intertwined with mountains, which you can see because they aren't surrounded by the Beijing smog, which is refreshing. As you would expect, there aren’t many foreigners who end up in these areas so when you stop on the side of the road to buy waters or snacks, the people in the village come out and stop whatever they are doing to see what you are up to. They are bemused if you buy the crunchy fried snack beans and chuckle at your pronunciation. If you are standing around by the motorcycles, people literally stop and stare at you for about 5 minutes with a smile and perplexed look on their faces.

Photo: Andrea Hunt

Ride One:
Unfortunately for me, my first motorcycle ride in China out in the country started with the best of intentions and ended up very differently than previously imagined. We were using a friend’s older bike that had been a loyal and trusty steed for the duration of the two previous years of ownership. It took forever just to get out of Beijing and I started to fully understand why people wear the facemasks. I felt like I was stuck inside a tailpipe.

Outside of Beijing the traffic parted finally and the air was clean and fresh. We headed down the highway to the sinuous smaller roads that led up into the mountains. The mountains were spectacular and beautifully greened and punctuated with blossoms. The views from above were refreshing and reminded me of other places in China I had visited and I remembered why I love traveling in China.

Unfortunately, in the mountains and the first two hours of our motorcycle ride, the motorcycle started to lag. For some reason, no matter how much gas we gave it, it didn’t have enough power to get out of first gear. This provides obvious issues because we could barely get up and around the curves and weren’t able to get the bike going past about 30 miles per hour; this was a problem. We rode to the side of the road to check it out. The bike stalled. And wouldn't start. “Don’t panic,” we thought, “we are in middle-of-nowhere-China, not a big deal right?” After a while of sweet-talking the bike and a little pleading it started but we knew it wasn’t going to make it back to Beijing. So we decided to find a place to stay for the night and at least in the morning we could get a mechanic to look at it since it was already about 7pm and nighttime was quickly approaching.

Somewhere along a rocky and dusty little road off the main highway was a small hutong guesthouse. There was an ample courtyard fully equipped with a cage full of little birds and a tank full of fish ready to be cooked up fresh at any moment. There was a cheerful little couple who ran the place and gave us cold beers and cooked us a delicious and hearty meal that included chuanr and ye cai. There were no other people staying in the guesthouse so they were thoroughly interested in what we were doing out there in the middle of nowhere and fascinated watching my friends take apart the bike and try to figure out the problem. In the morning, once we realized that the bike was bafflingly broken, there arose the dilemma of how to get it back to Beijing. The helpful owner assured us that there was a man in the village with something with which to transport the bike.

We waited and waited for him, wondering if he would show up with some sort of hitch trailer, etc. And the guy arrived, with a van, something like a Chevy Astro. It was clear from the look on the guy’s face that he clearly expected to find a small electric bike or something he could quickly throw over the back seat. Unfortunately, this was a huge and very heavy very non-compact Honda Shadow motorcycle that took 3 grown men to barely lift into the back. Eventually after realizing several tries later that it wasn’t as easy as merely stuffing it into the back seat, it was inside. In the end, it required someone to sit in the back with the motorcycle at a diagonal angle next to the fold up seat to make sure it didn’t end up toppling out the back of the van since the rear door couldn't actually close. The guy attempted to fasten the door by weaving twine through the door loop and the back tire. Two hours later, we finally arrived in Beijing and took the bike to the mechanic, expecting some drastically expensive and horrific problem. The Chinese mechanic completely took the bike apart in a way that you would debone a chicken carcass, he cleaned some things, changed the sparkplugs, and masterfully put it back together as we stood there watching and deeply impressed. In the end, a simple change of the sparkplugs was ail it needed. Unfortunately for me, my first ride in the mountains on a motorcycle was awesome but short lived.

Ride Two:
For my second motorcycle ride in China, we went on was extremely successful and sans mechanical difficulties or problems. The air was thicker and not as clear as the previous time and we stayed in relatively flat areas, driving through one particularly antique looking village where our presence also aroused the interest of passerbys who would simply stop in their tracks to stare or come out from their shops to come check us out. It seems men everywhere like to look at motorcycles but these Chinese men came over to investigate and had a discussion for what seemed like hours over the bikes as we tried to discern if there was a hotel in the area. No one knew anything and every person kept pointing us elsewhere. Finally, we got directions to a place to stay for the night. Despite being a huge establishment that could easily fit a hundred people, there was no one there and the second we walked in 10 girls ran out yelling, ”huan ying!” The food was amazing, and because everyone was waiting on us, the service was outstanding. The room was really nice and clean except that the door wouldn't stay shut but there was no one there anyway, so we didn't care that much. In addition, there was no bathroom door handle and the sink was strategically and impossibly placed facing out towards the toilet and squeezing into the tiny space to use it proved challenging. Curiously enough, the electricity went out at 10pm. The next morning there was no water, but oh well. Small price to pay for amazing scenery all of which was stunning except for the gigantically oversized stuffed animal-like duck in the flowerbed out front. The hotel was out in the middle of nowhere, out in a field with beautiful red lanterns and flowers everywhere. I probably couldn’t find it again if I had a map.

Photo: Andrea Hunt

The mountains in this area of China are really spectacular and if you have a way to get to them I highly recommend getting out to see them and remembering what else is outside the big city and its busy life. While I adore Beijing and all its crazy bustle, getting out into the country into the mountain fresh air makes you feel alive when the wind is blowing past you and the helmet makes a little cocoon of your own thoughts. Motorcycle rides in China can take you to a part of China less explored, because rural China is truly a wonder and distinct from anything you get used to while living here or traveling around. The only problem is getting there!

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