Our Jialing JH600B sidecars were the ticket to an epic journey through the Chinese highlands.
An opportunity arose when the Chinese bike manufacturer, Jialing, organized a ride for the new owners of the JH600 & JH600B (sidecar) taking deliveries at the end of April. I was invited to ride with them, and I never refuse an offer like that!
The five-day tour started from the Jialing factory in Chongqing, passing through Mianyang and heading for the famous attraction of Jiuzhai and Huang Long. Afterward, the tour returned through Mianyang and ended back at the Jialing factory. New owners had the choice of riding their new bikes home or having the factory crate them and ship them home.
Day 1
Due to a work commitment I arrived in Chongqing late in the afternoon. The new owners had went on a familiarization ride with their new steed, so I settled down in Jialing's own hotel and waited for the dinner bell. It was nice to meet old friends and be introduced to new ones at the dinner party.
The Deputy General Manager, Mr. Wu, gave a welcome speech to the bikers and hosted the dinner. Note: there was no alcohol on the table as we planned to leave early the next morning. A briefing session was given right after dinner about the route of the tour and general maintenance of the JH600. Road captain, Wang Hao, gave tips on riding techniques, as most Chinese bikers have little experience in riding anything bigger than 250cc. The JH600 mechanic, Mr. Zhou, also gave maintenance tips to new owners.
A briefing session was given right after the dinner about the route of the tour and general maintainance of the JH600.
Morning call was arranged at 6 a.m. and breakfast at 6:30 a.m. By 7 a.m. all riders and support vehicles were gathered at the parking lot of Jialing Hotel. We arrived in Mianyang late in the afternoon with only 330km being covered due to new owners getting adjusted to their bikes and traffic conditions in Sichuan. We took an early rest again as we needed to depart for Huang Long at five in the morning.
After parking our bikes at Huang Long, we took a cable car up to the top of the mountain (+4000m). We ascended from 345m to 4000m in one day. Some of the team members showed signs of high altitude sickness. The youngest lad in our group (a GP125 racer) couldn't handle the rapid change in altitude and as a result had a bloody nose. We all agreed it must have been the beautiful Tibetian girls at the cable car station.
As we departed Huang Long late afternoon the sky darkened and it started to rain. We carried on over the mountain pass heading towards Jiuzhai, but the rain then turned into snow/rain at 4016m. With bad road conditions and steep curvy roads,
After we parked our bikes at Huang Long, we took a cable car to the top of the mountain (+4000m).
we had to ride at 40-50km speed. Our ETA was around midnight, and since a few members were already developing high altitude sickness, we decided to cut the journey short and stay in a hotel 80km down the road.
Day 3
The next morning the rain was less and it was safer to ride in daylight, so we carried on to Jiuzhai. Jiuzhai National Park is off limits to all vehicles. We could only take their bus inside the park or walk, and once inside there were two tour routes serviced by park buses. I took one bus to the very end and started to backtrack, some on foot and some by bus. The entrance ticket covered the bus fare so you could take your choice.
The park reminded me of Yellow Stone Park in Montana, only a bit more closely packed. There were no buffalos, instead there were Tibetan Yaks. The Tibetan tribal people were given the opportunity to be tour guides, shopkeepers, etc. when the government made it a national park. Their villages are still inside the park, and some still choose to be farmers.
Day 4
Jiuzhai National Park is off limits to all vehicles. We had the choice of taking their official bus tour inside or walking in.
We returned back to Mianyang to celebrate the ending of the factory-organized tour, and a dinner party was held by the riverside restaurant.
Day 5
I said goodbye to new and old friends then headed south towards Zigong where it’s famous for ancient salt mining, a technology mastered by the Chinese more than 300 years ago. The well I visited was amazingly still in production.
There were a lot of temples in Zigong city, with many being places for social gatherings. Sichuan people love to drink tea and play Mahjong or Poker, and as a result these temples turned into a tea garden.
Day 6
My local biker-friend arranged a media interview for me to speak about bike touring. I agreed because it allowed the public to get a glimpse of this activity. After the media interview I rode to an ancient village about 10km outside of Zigong city called Xianshi.
A terrific group shot near the end of our jouney.
I left Zigong the next day and headed for Yibin with my riding buddy on a blue JH600. It was important to get help from local bikers for information, so we stopped by the club house of a local bike club for a bit of chit-chat. The club house was right by the Jinsha River.
Sea of Bamboo didn't get its name for nothing. 10km before we got there we were already in the ocean. We found a hotel to stay in and after bargaining for a few minutes, we got a nice room for $10 US dollars. There were lots of hotels inside the park, and prices varied depending on the season.
Day 8
The next morning we got up at 5:30 a.m. to watch the sunrise over the Sea of Bamboo. The weather made it difficult and we returned back to Yibin in the afternoon, as I was invited to give a video presentation to Yibin's bikers about touring outside China. We had a great time exchanging stories on our tours.
