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.
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