Just saw this thread; I crossed at Manzhouli in 2008 (US citizen). The Russian border guards at Zabaikalsk were a friendly bunch; we encountered them later at dinner and they gave us a huge bottle of Jack Daniels and one of them offered me his border guard hat (I declined, no where to put on the moto).

While China is generally a beautiful/fascinating country, I did not enjoy riding there, mainly because of the requirement to have a guide. We were on the guides' artificial schedule, weren't even supposed to stop for pictures, etc. It really sucks ALL the fun out of riding.

So, finally I got an answer from my friend. He said, all three border crossings are multilateral according to this list. So, I have a plan now, lets see what happens when I get there.

@motoreiter. Thank you for your reply. Wau, not even allowed to stop for pictures ... wtf. There is no way, that I will travel with a guide in China, even if this means buying/renting a bike or using public transport.

mika

There are a couple of awesome ride reports on ADV and I think here about people that just said "what the hell" and bought bikes in China and rode around. I don't recall that any of them had any problem, but generally too risky for my taste.

Mate, not really a good situation as Mainland China does not recognise overseas driving license and international driving permits. Would not recommend driving / riding without a Chinese license as it's a well know fact that quite a few foreigners ended up in detention for up to 15 days on the spot without any court hearings and booted out of the country afterwards (not able to return to Mainland China on any type of visa for 5-10 years). This happened to short term visitors and resident "expats" holding work permits and Z visas alike.

Legal motorcycle rental not available, the well known tour company Edelweiss pulled out of China as well a few years ago and not offering tours in China anymore. Only the Moscow to Bangkok ride by Edelweiss goes still through parts of China.

Some time ago rental car companies like Hertz / Avis in China were able to obtain temporary driving license for foreigners (short term visitors) renting a car through them and the temporary driving license was interlinked with the rental car and actual rental period. They only issued temporary China driving license for cars - not for motorcycles!!!

Do not listen to any so called "visa / driving license agents" in China offering to assist or help out, they provide you with fake documentation for thousands of RMB (Chinese Yuan) and some of them driving licenses look like drawn with a black crayon by a five year old.....

Own motorbike, only legal way as of today is either going solo (very expensive) with a government appointed guide through a licensed tour operator for China travel and / or find a group of foreign China travellers that did all the ground work already and join them to lower the costs involved.

Be warned, TIC = This Is China and everyone is after your $$$$'s....

Side-note, have a read and a few laughs, China National Driving Exam Questions = http://www.chinese-driving-test.com

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Somewhere down the road in China since '89 ~ along the route I've learned the hard way that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake....TBR

Just got the information, that there is no train from Vladivostok to China, only buses.


@TBR-China: Thank you very much for your information, I have come across this a couple of times. I will see what happens, but as I said, there is no way for me to hire a guide ... and following your China rules ... I go for rule no. 1 ;-)

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...-guide-78872-2

TIC = This is China!
1. Everything is possible in China.
2. Nothing is easy.
3. Patience is the essence of success.
4. The answer "yes" is not necessarily an indication of agreement or confirmation.
5. "You don't understand our country" means they disagree.
6. "Provisional regulations" mean they can change the rules any time they want, even retroactively.
7. "Basically, no problem" means a BIG problem.
8. "Signing a contract" means the beginning of the real negotiation.
9. When you are feeling optimistic, think about rule number two.
10. When you are feeling discouraged, think about rule number one.
11. If they tell you, that you know China very well, say NO - otherwise they'll show you, that you don't!

Mika, best of luck with your travels and the China entry & exit as the motherland has and will always work in mysterious ways.
Myself, living and riding for quite some years (25) in Mainland China and learn strange and new things every other week and thought I have seen it all by now but.... nuff said'...

China is a fascinating country, been all over for business, pleasure and biking, do keep us updated and we might meet up in person somewhere ~ sometime in the Middle Kingdom, it's a small world after all.

Side-note: thinking of the whole China scenario, actually quite funny as we have challenges to get out of China with motorbikes registered to non Chinese owners with non Chinese passports. Motorbikes registered to Chinese nationals have it way easier to get out to countries like Laos and onwards to Thailand, either with the bike owner riding or the bike owner providing the rider with an official statement allowing motor vehicle usage and international border crossings....

__________________
Somewhere down the road in China since '89 ~ along the route I've learned the hard way that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake....TBR