Unlike all my previous posting on how to go about crossing small land borders which are usually an insight of the things I need to research and stumble along the way to actually successfully or sometimes being rejected from crossing the border, this border crossing has almost non of that.
Main reason was due to having Guides ... the guide did all the work, prepared all the nescessary paperwork and ushered us safely through all the nitty gritty. With that, I have almost no knowledge of how to cross the Laos - China Border independently with a motorcycle. Still base on my research, there is no other way into China with a foreign vehicle unless you engage a guide, so not much is lost.
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| Mohan Border Crossing into China |
Strolling up to the Immigration counter laughing and joking around with some of us shouting for the last man behind to hurry up was met with hostility at the China side, we Malaysian were too loud and loitering around everywhere like scattered sheep. The officers were not pleased and immediately send us back to the gate forcing our poor China Guide Bing to succumb to apologies and with some polite talking to calm down the officers. Line up orderly, follow procedure and keep quiet before they even decide to process the first person.
Some were not pleased with the highhanded treatment we were dealt with but I guess this is actually a norm for crossing borders. We Malaysian just had two very friendly borders that skewed our perception a bit from my point of view. Either way lucky thing was all our conversation and displesure was done in the secret languege of Malaysian !! handy to have when travelling abroad. I tried my best to calm our group down as well, explaining that small border crossing is like this unlike airport.
Follow instruction or risk the wrath and games of the immigration officers. Talking in languege that the officer do not understand does not mean he do not understand, body languege tells a thousand times more than words and they are train to read body languege more and beyond words. Sometimes even talking in languge they do not understand will irked them to assume the worst and hence make life dificult.
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| Going Through Customs Weigh-In - Mohan Port China |
With everything explained from China Immigration officer to Bing and Bing to the group we were back in queue and processed into China slowly one by one. Next was customs and we riders went back to the bikes to ride through. Customs was easy enaugh supprisingly with orderly queue up the weighing machine and scanners and before we knew it we were in China.
Then we were hanging around the border .... lunch .... finding the only halal restaurant in the border town and all was good. Thats when Bing told us we had not cleared customs yet. We had only cleared the first part of customs weight in but not the inspection and not the documentation that he needed to get.
After lunch Bing said we were good to go. No need to go back to customs and the documentation is ok with his partner which will be send to him once the customs process it. It sounded like even strict China had ways like Malaysia, many lobang if you know the ways of ways.
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| First Taste of Riding the Highway in China |
We rode next to the traffic police station near Mengla town. Here the bikes were inspected for serial number and engin number matching to puspakom documenation and each of us was processed and entered into the China drivers registeration system. With that, each of us obtained a temporary China driving licence and also a temporary China motorbike licence plate
I as usual arrive at the back of the group, however immediatly became the main transelator of the group. As Bing was busy with the formalities, and I am the only one with a slight capability to converse in Mandarin, very quickly the police dragged me everywhere they need to go, inspecting all the bikes while asking me to translate to the rest of the owners what they were looking for.
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| Temporary China Motorbike Plate Number for Bragge |
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| Police Station Stop near Mengla for Driving Licence & Motorbike Registration |
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| Our First Group Photo of Ride China 2023 |
The bikers also very naturally drifted to me for everything in china ,,.... Edwin can you ask this ... Edwin, where are we going next .... Edwin ... why is this like this .... Edwin ... where are we now ... Edwin .... whats famous in this place ... Edwin .. what does this sign says .... Edwin ... how to read if this is halal ....
I could not read and it was also my first time in China, but it was not my first time travelling hence very quickly with my limited Mandarin, I became a secondary helper to Bing and words I could not speak, I mimed and spin until the locals teach me the correct word and meaning.I could say my Mandarin improved exponentially within the first two days in China.
From the first day, the traffic police talked to me asking a few question and finally knowing that I am a chinese malaysian of 4th decendent told me that my chinese is very good, regardless that my vocabulary is limited and that I could not read nor write. You will improve along the way he (police) said and words that I struggle to understand was immediately helped by many people around him to explain to me in different words what that particular words mean.
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| Friendly China Police welcoming us for our riding adventure |
We left the police station and really started our journey in China late afternoon. It was only like a 150km ride to our destination Jinghong but that first ride in China is memorable. Pristine roads and highways that are so high up in the air the view is breathtaking, to Bing and Faz that has been to China before ... this is nothing they said ... but we could not help slowing down and absorbing the scenery.
Frist night in Jinghong and I could not resist the temptation to explore even thou we reach so late at night. Took a walk looking for dinner with Lachu and Bing, only three of us was free of the restriction of halal food.
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| First Pit Stop Petrol Station in China |
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| Riding in Jinghong Town |
Back to the hotel and Faz, Hamzah, Jazz, Bullet, Azu all wanted to go for a massage and after dabate of how to get it done with translation challange, they all looked at me ... sure, I can join I told them and help translation. We ended up taking a taxi that Bing booked to the massage place but it was supprisingly expensive. Nearly RM 300 for a 90 minute massage and with my limited vocabulary I could not clearly undestand what kind of massage it was too.
We decided to skip it and went walking around to look for ourself another place. The massage place called Bing since he made the reservation and we ditch it, so he found another place and send us the location pin for us to find our self. This time round it was cheaper and everyone went for it.
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| Our Hotel for the night in Jinghong China |
There was not enaugh masseur so the four of them went in first while I and Jazz sit outside waiting.
Coincidently we sat at the tea table and the shopkeeping poured us tea. With little conversation, slowly the translation begin to flow as the shopkeeper explain the type of tea and Jazz asking a few question where is translate and told them of our plan and adventure to explore china by motorbike. A local experience and soon things that I could not translate was boil down to the shopkeeper demonstration how the tea was made and prepared in sequence with Jazz and me just watching with awe....
This was all free of course ... and I was thinking .... the local experience like this that is just hapstances is really priceless ...
Just Day 1 in China, and I’m in the part of China where few oversea tourist ever venture.
Traveled on: Jun 2023
