Riding 2Up

 (Previously) The risks we're taking as fugitives by riding Francois illegally in China are:
 
• Chinese may imprison Pascal for up to 14 days for driving without a Chinese licence and possibly more for riding an unregistered motorcycle.
• Chinese may confiscate our motorcycle.
• The Chinese may forcefully eject us from their country and ban us for 1 year or more from re-entry.
• Chinese may shot us on the spot (probably not but it feels like they would according to their attitudes)
• Embassies won't want anything to do with us if we have broken the law.

The risks we're taking as fugitives by riding Francois illegally in China are:
 
Chinese may imprison Pascal for up to 14 days for driving without a Chinese licence and possibly more for riding an unregistered motorcycle.
Chinese may confiscate our motorcycle.
The Chinese may forcefully eject us from their country and ban us for 1 year or more from re-entry.
Chinese may shot us on the spot (probably not but it feels like they would according to their attitudes)
Embassies won't want anything to do with us if we have broken the law.
 
Q Given the risks and knowledge that Chinese communist government is inflexible at best, why would we attempt such a ludicrous task as smuggling a motorcycle into China?
There is no short answer, we want to see China as we've always had it in our sights since before planning this motorcycle trip, the alternatives are long and complex and very costly. The risks we run could also prove costly but it's a hedged bet based on the experience of others that have tried and succeed or been caught and ejected.
 
Q. The freedom of motorcycling can be achieved with less risk by hiring, why not do that?
We would need to store Francois somewhere to then go into China and travel. This is logistically complicated and involves several flights which are not in our budget. We have this as an alternative to entry with Francois.
 
As it stands we have the following alternatives planned to a lesser degree:
 
Plan A: Cross/Transit China (legally or illegally if we can get in!)
Plan B: Wait up to 2 months and join/create a group to cross China legally - No longer an option as not enough interest from other motorcyclists.
Plan C: Ride to Bangkok and ship the bike to Kathmandu or Almaty (Kazakstan)
Plan D: Put our bike into storage ready to ship to Almaty and go to China backpacking and buy/hire a motorbike there.

All this business about China is overshadowing our time in SE Asia. SE Asia is a breeze to travel in and is lots of fun, sure there are plenty of dangerous drivers and hazards but all in all it has been a pleasure. There is something to be said for the expense however, it is not a cheap as one is led to believe and this has had an impact on our budget which also impacts our decisions about travel in future countries.

23 February 2009, Huai Xai, Laos

Dear Everyone,
 
Yes, it has been decided for us that air freight out of Thailand is the only option for us. We were in Mohan China having passed immigration whilst waiting for 'paperwork' to be completed by Chinese customs. We've since moved south back to Laos and are preparing the next leg from Bangkok to Kathmandu. But we were basically told that it is impossible to import Francois for transit across China. It is also very "troublesome" for us to arrange the "four necessary documents" for us to drive across China as tourists accompanied at all times by a tour guide. The customs official could only inform us that we required the "four documents" but could not tell us by what means we were to obtain them or provide us with a travel agent that is capable of obtaining them either. So after sleeping in our tent in front of immigration whilst Francois is chained up in no mans land behind the immigration building we went through all possible scenarios and had not progress with the Chinese bureaucracy. As we can afford neither the time nor the expense, we have had to reserve travelling through China until we are old and decrepit with artheritic joints, when we will need a tour guide to assist us with everything we do.
 
Until then, we are young and independent spirited souls that will laugh at the Chinese officials, wave them goodbye and head on our adventure out in the big wide world WITH Francois. We should be in Bangkok by the end of the month. In more detail long story is that we wanted to see if we could find an alternative method of entry, ie transit China with our motorcycle on the back of a truck and not riding. We spoke to travel agents before and over the past few days and they confirmed the cost and expense and yes there are only a few that know anything about motorcycle self guided tours. We consulted the 2009 importation legal bible used by customs and import/export companies to determine status of goods and what categories they are under. We were told that we could not enter china with our motorcycle on a truck as it was classified as "used machinery or electrical equipment" and this is categorised as strictly prohibited. There is no such thing as temporary importation for transit purposes according to Chinese law. This makes strictly no sense at all but because the customs officials get to decide which law applies to which goods they can slap any anomaly they wish and then your stuffed either way. The stupid thing is that my mobile phone is used electrical equipment but they don't care about that!

We felt the full force of the Chinese Bureaucratic machine and the complete incompetence of Chinese customs to tell us exactly what is required. We spent 3 whole days discussing this with the customs officers and never lost our cool, that's something!! In the end we were faced with an ultimatum, enter china without the bike - and hence have it 'looked after' by immigration or have our Visas cancelled on the spot and kicked out. We are now back in Laos and have resolved never to travel in China on a foreign vehicle given the prohibitive expense, bureaucracy and mountains of red tape. Until the next installment hope you're all well and thank you to everyone who replied with ideas and suggestions regarding China, it was much appreciated!

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