Chiang Rai to Hainan China

prince666

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2013
Location
Shandong (China)
Bikes
CF 250 Jetlux. CFmoto 650 MT Honda CRF 1000 DCT Yamaha 125 YBR KG
Hi All


I need to start this RR which is a ride from Chiang Rai to Hainan , I have done this trip now 4 times and have tried different routes, the one I am going to post here is the best way IMO to get to Hainan from Thailand .
I hope to give people full details of roads number, towns and pictures were I can, also some advice on how to find the best Hotels and general advise about riding in China .


I am not into GPS way points so sorry .


The bike used is my trusted Yamaha YBR 125CC KG which has been modified with a 250cc Lifan 6 speed box

hainan&thailand& china 2014 2015 061.jpg


Engine specification
Model: 173FMM
Type: Single-cylinder, four-stroke, (air+oil)-cooled hand-clutched
inerter-balance shaft 250cc
Displacement: 249 ml
Compression ratio: 9.6:1
Primary reduction: 3.1
Bore*Stroke: 73mm*59.5mm
Max.Power & Rotating Speed: 15kw/7500r/min
Max.Net Power & Rotating Speed: 14.5kw/7500r/min
Rated Power & Rotating Speed: 14kw/7500r/min
Max.Torpue & Rotating Speed: 19.0N.m/6500r/min
Min.Fuel Consumption: ≤354g/kw.h
Idling Speed:1500r/min
Ignition:CDI
Starter: electric starter
Lubrication: Pressure/splash
Transmission: 6 speed
Net KG 135Kg
Load on back about 80kg
Total Kg for ride 215Kg


I have a Honda CRF 250L in Thailand and be the best bike IMO for this trip, this route you will encounter some of the best riding roads about and some of the worst ? so again the CRF would be the best .
Most ADV bike ( Honda CB500X, Kawasaki versys, BMW F800GS ) would also be a good choice but because of the KG full loaded at times you could find the going a bit hard?

Day 1

Bike all loaded up ready to go, just a bit too much stuff on the back as I found out later bike was a bit to top heavy.


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My target today was to get over to China and to stop around Mengla , (about 400KM) but will all depends on how quick I can get through all the custom and immigration check points, luckily being on a Chinese plated bike will make things a bit quicker for me , bad new you lose 1 Hour when you hit China .

hainan&thailand& china 2014 2015 159.jpg


No need to report on how to get to Chiang khong from CR ,
But would like to say a few point about the AH3 , 2 years ago when I first rode this road it was a great road , but due to the overloaded Chinese trucks and badly constructed road IMO it's no joy to ride no more ,Deep ruts oil/ diesel spillage contributes to IMO a caution road to ride on

hainan&thailand& china 2014 2015 172.jpg


All the border crossing went very quick and I was in China by 3 pm Chinese time, I was a bit apprehension about riding back in China after having 5 months of pure joy riding in Thailand ,
one can never underestimate what you will encounter on the roads here in China always expect the unexpected and China is a "logic free zone " logic don't apply in China"


The plan is to try and hug the border road between China and Laos , the border town on the Chinese side is called Mohan and there is only 1 main road heading north which is the G213

Heading North along the G213 you will start to enjoy the scenic view of Yunnan and the nice G213 road . Mengla is about 45km north of the border town and is a nice town to stop to have your first night stop in China.
Hotels ...


Hotels in China you will find of low standard a 4 star in China is a 2 star in Thailand ? and very few people speak English so finding and booking a Hotel will be problematic to say the lest .


First advise never pay the advertised price?? if the price on the board is 250 RMB expect to see a discount to 125 RMB .
The Hotels is China ask for "key" money this should be no more than about 100 RMB , make sure you keep the receipt the front desk give you because you will need this in the morning to get your Key money back.

hainan&thailand& china 2014 2015 580.jpg

This Hotel i got a room for 80 RMB a friend of a freind help?


Now the most important think you need to know about China, Bikes go missing ??? and your nice BMW WILL get nicked , so make sure what hotel you stay in, insure their have 24 hours car park security personal, and make the Hotel aware of your Bike , park your bike next to security man hut ?? smile at him give him a pack of smokes ??? . He will look after you bike very well.


If the hotel don't have 24 hour security personal then ask to park the bike in the Hotel reception ??

a lot of hotel are happy with this, but show a bit of respect and ask for a mat or some cupboard to put under your side stand of centre stand .

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If you are not happy with the arrangement with your bike security then move on to the next Hotel?
better to have a bike in the morning .
 
Day 2



Target km today is 400 Km heading to a town called Lvchun

After a good night's sleep some food was up at 7am , I don't fully unpack my bike every night when I stay in a Hotel I tend to keep some wash stuff and a change of clothiers in my back pack or in a bag tied up on top off all my other stuff , makes it easy to get packed up and ready to roll.

Headed out of town onto the G213 heading north, just a few miles down the G213 you need to get off the G213 and get on the old G213 National road ??? you can see it to your right .

You can carry on the new G213 if you like and cut onto the old 213 further up if you want to ,but the National 213 is a nice mountain road with loads of bend​
when you are sure you are on the correct 213 just keep heading north to a town called Mengxing which is about 70 Km up the 213 National road

Pictures below are from the 213 National road


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you can see in the above picture the G213 beolw the 213 National road


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all nice low traffic road

When you reach Mengxing you need to turn right onto the S218 provincial road , you can't miss it .

Mengxing is a very small town with a few shops and on some days a busy market nice to stop and have a drink​
You should be heading for Zhengdongzhen on the S218 which is 100km up the 218.

The S218 is again a very nice mountain road running up the side of the Laos border , along here you should hit your first Army/Police check point .

If you are asked to stop which is most case you are , just pull up and hand them your Passport no more no bike documents just smile and wait , no one can speak English so there are fucked​
just smile and there soon realize there are fucked and just let you go .

DONT TAKE PICTURES it's not like in Thailand, be careful
This first check point is very close to the Laos border and I think it's more of a border check point for the local to cross over.​
The roads here are great loads of small village you pass bye

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The above pictures are more from along the S218

The road will come to a junction you need to turn right keeping on the S218

Here is a pictures looking back at this junction

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To Lvchun you target for the day is still over 200 km to go from this junction



some town names to look at for along the S218 in order you get to them


Jiangcheng

Guoqingxiang
Daheishanxiang

Dashuigouxiang
Niulongxiang

Now at some point the S218 becomes the S214 ??? as I said logic free zone ?
Hopefully all goes ok and you get to Lychun

some more pictures from along this road

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Around now you should be near 2000 Meters and at one point you hit 2300 meters so bike which are not fuel injected will be a bit sick ....

hopefully you are on track and have arrived at Lvchun , nice town a few hotel not top class but hay you are bike riders
Have a look around the town at the north end going out of town below the town for the past 2 years I have passed you will see some major land clearness going on ?? I mean a big area what it is I don't know


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The long road home, thank you for taking us with you!
Great report and pics! :ltop Look forward to the rest.
 
Thank you ..... just about to post Day 3 shit its hard work doing these RR
 
It all part of the process Steve :dirtbike:
 
Day 3


Target km 300 km or 450 km to Hekou ?
I left Lvchun nice and early again I am not much of a drinker and when you ride alone who am I going to go out drinking with ? the locals ?? like fuck

Now as you leave on the S214 you will go through a tunnel just after the tunnel is a major Police/army check point YOU will get stop here for sure and your passport will be check and detail logged, again just smile guys are ok but a bit shy , here some of the guys can speak a little bit of English but not much again NO PICTURES.

You are trying to get to Yuanyang but you maps will tell you to turn off here to get to Yuanyang on the S214 ? IMO the best fun road is just straight at this point it's a new road which is not show on most maps .

For me it was the highlight of the day very nice road fast ,wide long sweeping bends great scenic views rising up and down by 1500 meters ,this is the road to have fun on if you like to push your bike. up until now as I said in my first post my Yamaha was a bit top heavy so with the last 2 days with the mountains road with tight bends , it was time I could try the new engine out . 75km of just bliss riding


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Opps was i going to fast ..... police stop at my bike

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NOOOOOOOOO just stop to take a picture of a car that had gone over the cliff said this road was fast hehheh:scooter:
asked if the driver was ok , the police said we not out here to take picture of a car when the guys ok ???
Brown bread .


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Yuanyang in the back ground


Yuanyang will be your first main town that you will pass through the last 2 days take time to have a look round nice place

Yuanyang County, Yunnan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Now it get a little bit tricky see Google map ...

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You need to head out of town over the last bridge , petrol station just before the bridge ,
as you cross the bridge turn right and follow the river which is called The Red River ??? which will be on your right , be careful this is a bad road, loads of truck (overloaded) which has made the road tricky to ride on combined with the water from the lorry's water cooling system makes this road a bit hazard's

Good new it only for about 10 km , the road should be the X102 country road

After about 15 km down this road you will come to a intersection load of small road side food stalls with people selling loads of fruit. Stop and have a look because you need to make a discussion now

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Gejiu.jpg

Google snap shot of the intersection.

If you have time I recommend you take the road sigh to Gejiu , because this road once again is a bliss to road . It run up to Gejiu through a deep valley from 500 meter to 2000 meters great road about 40 km long .
But you still need to be on the road that's goes right at the last junction which is the 102 Country Road running a long by the river.

Gejiu is got a interesting history was a old Russian Tin mining town,

Gejiu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

when to Tin mining stop the town came to a halt no Tin no money people was in shit up to their heads , so the lady's in the town went out to work, it now turn out that Gejiu has got the highness number of HIV cases per head in the world, not a palace to go out drinking in , but I do here it only cost 10 B a go heheh

http://www.plri.org/sites/plri.org/files/HIV_and_STIs_in_Clients_and_Female_Sex_Workers_in.7.pf

Back to the route ok if you decide to go to Gejiu i have 2 option

1. what goes up must come down

2. when you get to Gejiu just as you come out of the tunnel you need to take a right onto the S212, not done this road but it looks interesting, and it will bring you back onto the 102 about 30 km down from the junction.

The 102 is a new road again very nice with great views over the Red river

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Now you understand why its called the Red River


On my ride back this year on the 102 about 35km down the road I hit a dead end, landslide I mean a whole side of a mountain came down blocking the road , could see some route over it by tracks made by the machine clearing the landslide ? but the bike was over loaded, if I had the CRF with me with no load on the back I would of gave it a shot , would of been funny to see the faces of the workmen .


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You can see the big landslide blocking the road


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treasury map above

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The bridge across to the correct side of the Red River

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Not so red now ??


Turn round headed back about 1 km and ask what is the best way to get passed the landslide ?
as luck would have it all I needed to do was cross over the river at that point get onto the other side and go about 10km to the next bridge and cross back over to the correct side .
Trying to find this out with my Chinese as good as my Thail was not easy

I don't normal ask Chinese for direction , because

1. There don't know
2. There do know but want to send you the wrong way
3. There don't know but tell you there do know because there don't want to lose face


In this case there did know but about 20 Chinese was arguing amongst their self what is best to tell me .
I just sat down and had a Red Bull ? then along come a nice guy with a very nice map he had done that was so clear to me I just left the 20 dicks heads arguing , I am sure if I went back now the people would still be there? .

After the little detour I am back on the right side of the river, the main reason I was getting worried
because I could see that the Vietnam border was getting close and I was on the wrong side of the river, not far down from this point the Red River become the border line between China and Vietnam .

Further along the 102 the G8011 runs above the 102 and you ride under the Expressway and alongside it , if at this point you are behind time or you are just feed up with the 102 then just jump on the expressway it take you into the heart of Hekou .

I will talk about Expressways later on in this RR
Hopefully you arrive at Hekou ok

Hekou Yao Autonomous County - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 

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Thanks Colin ..... working on Day 4 should have it by tonight ..
 
Nice report Steve good to see stuff from this area, pity crossing for Thai bikes and riders is so expensive.
 
Nice report Steve good to see stuff from this area, pity crossing for Thai bikes and riders is so expensive.

Thanks Bob, still got 4 more days to go eye pop

Yes it is a pity about the cost and with all the bullshit paperwork you have to do to get your Thail bike into China, but have a word with the Essex Boy? found and done a way to make things very easy ??? :umm:

I just leave you with 1 picture you should be abel to work out the rest :umm:



crf.jpg
 
Thanks Bob, still got 4 more days to go eye pop

Yes it is a pity about the cost and with all the bullshit paperwork you have to do to get your Thail bike into China, but have a word with the Essex Boy? found and done a way to make things very easy ??? :umm:

I just leave you with 1 picture you should be abel to work out the rest :umm:


View attachment 38085

Hairdressers shop maybe ???
 
The bike used is my trusted Yamaha YBR 125CC KG which has been modified with a 250cc Lifan 6 speed box
Did you change the 6 speed gearbox only? Or did you get the complete Lifan engine in the Yamaha frame?

Was thinking about this because in the great traditions of Triton, Tribsa and Norbsa's in that case you now own a Yamafan, there won't be a lot of them in this world! :DD
 
Did you change the 6 speed gearbox only? Or did you get the complete Lifan engine in the Yamaha frame?

Was thinking about this because in the great traditions of Triton, Tribsa and Norbsa's in that case you now own a Yamafan, there won't be a lot of them in this world! :DD

Hi Marcel
Purchased a complete new engine from China cost 15.000 B , because the YBR was a diamond frame we needed to fabricate a new frame to sit the Lifan in , all work was done by Sun modified in Chiang Rai

Yes its a 1 off bike i like to think the hart of the bike is the engine so lets call it a LifYam:giving:




hainan&thailand& china 2014 2015 1162.JPG


New Lifan engine above

hainan&thailand& china 2014 2015 1164.jpg

hainan&thailand& china 2014 2015 1163.jpg

Old engine out

frame.jpeg

new engine frame
 
Amazing, no issues with the registration of the bike in China with a modified engine?
So we will call her LifYam :your welcome:
 
Amazing, no issues with the registration of the bike in China with a modified engine?
So we will call her LifYam :your welcome:

I had a amazing bit of luck the lifan engine came with the same engine number as the YBR ????
That why there call me LUCKY STEVE
:giving:


NEED to start DAY 4
 
Day 4

Target Km 400 to a town called Fuming

Fuming will be the last town you will visit in Yunnan, for nearly 1000 km I have been riding in Yunnan , very nice mountain road like what you find over North Thailand but for me I find the mountain to be more inviting, green not like some places in Thailand were all the tree have been cut down that's just IMO.

Up nice and early don't eat Chinese breakfast , you will find out why if you come to China lol
For a person who lives here I hate the Chinese food , that what I miss about Thailand good food, cold beers , nice coffee shops just to name a few.

I needed to head out of Hekou on the S209 Provincial Road next big town is called Maguan
the S209 is a great road again nice mountain road and about 10km out of town the road run alongside a river which is a tributaries to the Red River which will be the last time you see this river which is heading towards Hanoi.

Red River (Asia) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



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is that a twister


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Long walk up lads

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Nice mountains river views


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At Maguan the road heading to Fuming is the S206 , a few names of town you should pass to get to Fuming in the order you hit them are :
Manguan
Wenshan
Yanshan
Ganhexiang
Amengzhen
Zhujiezhen
shuguangxiang
Babaozhen

Most of these town are not big by Chinese standards but I try to not entry them unless I need food or fuel , some of these town can be very busy with cars, trucks and Ebikes and you are more likely to have some form of accident in towns like these.



At Wenshan there are 2. S206 roads heading north (TIC) you need to get on the S210 at the Xinping motorway interchange which leads back onto the S206 , at Jiangnazhen turn right onto the G323 that will take you all the way to Fuming




Now this bring me onto a nice story that happen around this area ........



After riding a few days back in China it come as a shock how bad people drive/ride here and things was getting to me a bit with the consent bad behaviour and consistence dangers you face when you ride on the roads here in China, I think it was about the 5th time I nearly had a head on and nearly had to leave the road to miss a oncoming car on the my side of the road.

But this time I just loosed it and through a bottle of water I had in one of those bottle holders you clamp to your handle bars, unaware it had cracked his windscreen heheh.

I rode for about 20 km to stop for a new bottle of water and unaware the other car was chasing after me ? .

The other person pull up behind my bike, and 3 guys got out the car, my bike was blocked in so I had no were to go, so shit I just act dumb and see where this goes, The 3 guys was ok not aggressive and was saying that I broke their windscreen, did I and why would I do that I asked? "I call the police the man said " ok I said call them, this will be interesting to see how this pans out I am thinking to myself .

Now you will soon find out most Chinese people are nosey parkers and when there is a accident on the road especially when a "laowai" ( Farlang ) is involved a big crowd of people gather, in this case maybe about 50 people was looking on to see what happens when the police arrive.

Police in China don't rush so it took about 1 hours before the police arrived, 3 police got out the car and started to look about, on seeing there was a laowai involved made things harder to sort out.

Now from what I could pick up from what the other guy was saying happen, he just said I through a bottle at his car for no reason ??? The police asked me did I do that??? I was carful in not saying "NO" but asked "why" would I do that? and why would I through it left into cars when it's on my right and would be more easy to lop it right into the dirt ?? . yes we can't work it out either said the police man , maybe he is not telling you the truth I said, ask him again what happen ? the police asked at this point for me to pay money so we can all go on our way ?? I just looked and smiled and said NO.

He smiled back and said ok , the police went and questioned him again on what happen and why would this person do this for no reason.

The truth came out now and he told them how he was on the wrong side of the road trying to pass some other cars and maybe it cause me to take action to stop a head on ??, all the time the 50 or so people was hearing all what was said, his comments cause a uproar amongst the people around who then started to accused him of a mad man who should not be allowed to drive on the road, I was just standing smiling at all what was going on around me, the police had heard all their needed to hear and came over to me with a big smile and said you no pay you go and be careful .

After I left heading back on track I made sure no one was following me I don't suppose the guy was happy about the outcome, then again nor would I have been happy with a head on,
well shit happens, would he think about doing the same insane overtaking action ???
TIC (This is China) would not think twice



hainan&thailand& china 2014 2015 1378.jpg



Happy days


All ended well made it to Fuming in one piece hehheeh
What will happen on Day 5 keep looking more to come
 


Unusual question ? but here goes.
ok left CR about April 14th as you know the smog was getting pretty bad over the whole of North Thailand we did has a few days when it cleared a bit but only untill the farmer could start burning again .
Laos was not to bad but it got a lot better when I hit China blue sky's no smog , the Chinese government is very strict on stuff like this and most of the air pollution come from heavy industrial works , which around the area I travelled there was none .
Xishuangbanna and Jinghong are the same town just split by a river
I did not go to Jinghong on this ride but have on other riders, can say I dint find the air to be heavily polluted . so that's the best i can say Mercel


How was Day 4 ok
 
Hi Mercal

Just had a quick look at the 2 links you posted

The Chiang Rai one shows the air direction as being North
and the Jinghong air coming from the south
so as Jinghong is directly North of CR. So all the shit over Jinghong now is coming from your area mate

Thanks i keep this between you and me is best :drib

smoke.jpg
 
Day 4? Mwaaaa......uneventful ride :ride: Looking forward to day 5!

I wasn't trying to say anything bad about the pollution in China but I am interested in the topic and you know why.
Seeing the difference in PM10 levels between CR province and Kunming province I was a bit surprised.
There is a very good Chinese documentary film on Youtube about the topic, it is called Under the Dome. If you are interested I can post the link.
 
Spreading the South China Gizi map on the floor to follow the route, old fashion way. Some towns have different spelling like Lychun (or Lvchun) on my map is called Lüchun?!
DSC00227.jpg
 
Seen the Dome very good and it's now band in China I wonder why !
glad you are following on you map sorry about the spelling you have on your map compared to what I am posting, needless
to say I am sure you follow the route ok
 
I think that journalist is one brave lady!
No worries about the map, Fuming is Funing (Xinhua) on my map, but it is on the G323.
Looking forward to pt. 5.
 
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