I think he means www.chinatierrasdeaventura.com for which there is a link in the "about" part of their Facebook page. Seems that the domain is no longer active.

Hi,

Great news. You write

Would you give us some numbers?

Thanks, Tobi

At long last .....the missing link !! whoop whoop

Hey guys, glad you're all so enthusiastic about this new option for China.
Yes Chris, the link to CTA's website is not operational, but you can just leave them a message there on theie FB page. Page should work and should be open also to non-members, but I do give his email address at the end of my 'Things to know BEFORE' blog.

Toby, in that same blog I also explain why I am reluctant to name our price. Each crossing has different costs, depending on which border one choose, which (and how many) provinces one chooses etc etc and especially if you wish to cross Tibet, for which you still need a guide.

If you've researched overlanding in China then you would know that it is not a cheap country to get into and travel through. The guide cost is 'only' about $100 a day and this is the only cost you'll be avoiding by going independently, which is still a lot mind you!
Ball-park figure, permit costs range between $2,000 and $4,000 per vehicle depending on where/when/how.

Only $100/day,if you look at many reports at all this is manys daily budget.
Sure we have places that are a must see, so have put aside for that but China ,a trip from Thailand is more doable.the Burma Road is still being held captive to high prices also, regardless of the money poured in since 2001 for an open asian road.

Hello Laura,

thank you very much for posting this here, maybe it could also work for me next year. But I will enter from the Far East of Russia.

I have just contacted you over your blog. Pls forward my email address to Ricard, so I can get in contact with and see what which way to get my bike and myself over the border.

Enjoy your journey, hope to meet you on the road on day.

Greetings from Finland
mika

about Temporary Entry Vehicles and Drivers
I am a Chinese live in Canada,
1. to get a temporary driver licence is easy , you don't even to take a paper test you can get it .if you want get a five years driver licence you just need pass a paper test in one week.
2. to get a temporary vehicle plate is not that easy.in that "Registration of Temporary Entry Vehicles", the hard part is d." The entry permit of the vehicle issued by Chinese Customs;"
3.I think there are some bylaw for Xinjiang Province for ESCORT.this is not a big issue

I want drive my KLR from Canada to China in 2016, I think I can figure out how to get in China.

Hey Laura,

Are you still planning to write on your blog the second part that you mentioned in some posts before??

GRTZ,

Jeroen

Not for me.



Hello everybody,


I spend the last three months trying to find an agency in China to help me to cross the borders and travel WITHOUT a guide for two months in June and July 2015.

Most of the agencies that I contacted would not even answer. The ones that would answer told me that I cant travel without a guide. I found only one agency, that said it could be possible without a guide, and this agency is the one that Laura mentioned

www.chinatierradeaventura.com

and after some emails, Ricard gave me a quote for the following journey.

One bike, one rider. Entering Beginning of June 2015 at Suifenhe (Mudanjang) / Pogranicoyj (Ussurijsk) coming from Russia. Travelling for two months (60 days) and than leaving to Kirgistan.


This is the qoute from Ricard:


About the cost in China, be ready for a heart attack,
-ONLY ONE VEHICLE
Enter and exit fee including temporary driving license, temporary license for vehicle, insurance. 50000 RMB (today’s rate is 7,7 RMB one Euro)
Guide service including support vehicle (is mandatory in most of the places you will be) 3000 RMB7PER DAY

The cost if you can joint some other travelers will drop quite a lot cause some of the cost can be share


For my journey this would cost me: 38000 Usd plus fuel and hotels.

As soon as I got the quote, I asked Ricard if he made a mistake with the zeros, but he confirmed that this was the price. So, I have to tell nobody here on the Hubb, that I am not going to look for other travelers to share this amount. There is no way that I will get the costs down to something that I want to afford.


This leaves me with three options. Renting a bike. Buying a bike. Getting my bike over the border without paperwork ;-)

There is still plenty of time, but I wont try the official version over an agency anymore.

Hope this helps somebody to plan his journey to China.

Greetings from Finland
mika

Guide service including support vehicle (is mandatory in most of the places you will be) 3000 RMB7PER DAY

So, what is left of the story that you can travel in China without a mandatory guide?? Defacto nothing!!

I never had a good feeling about this topic, sorry.

GRTZ,

Jeroen

Well ~ the wishful thinking and a lot of talk about motor-vehicle travel in China pops up every year.....

Do get in touch once you get into the greater Shanghai or Beijing regions, might be around, bear in mind all the time please ~ the Middle Kingdom called China always has been and always will work in mysterious ways....

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!

***above are just some of my simple China business rules***

__________________
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

Hi riders, why not try ridechina to find a solution riding cross China? These guys are riders and willing to help younwith any budget.
Other agencies may send a car and a guide, we ourselves will ride with you crossing China. China Motorcycle Tours,Rentals and self drive tours-Ride China

I am glad you liked China, for me it is great to hear people say that. I wish all the people you met were friendly and helpful.

P.S. I really don't think you are legally allowed to ride cross China without a guide. Did you have the Papers with you? Did you see those papers? Did Richard see those papers? Did Richard's China agent know you were alone without a guide? Sorry for thoses straight questions. I wish the riders are led to the right way, a way that is legal and safe.

We really don't like idea of permit, hoping one day everyone can travel freely anywhere in China.

__________________
China Motorcycle Tours, rentals and self-drive, ride-in tours www.ridechina.com

Hi RideChina,

we loved China and rate it as the most fascinating country we've ever travelled throuhg. After more than a decade of continuous travel, this is quite the feat. people were incredibly friendly and hospitable, food was delish and the nature just blew our minds ))

As for our paperwork, of course Ricard and his team knew we were travelling alone, something which has been permitted for quite some time I believe.
We had 32 pages of permits with us at all times and, just for our curiosity, had them all professionally translated. No-where does it state we needed a guide except for Xinjiang province and nowhere did it state that the guide had to be a 'professional', only a 'Chinese citizen with Chinese driver's licence'. This is when Ricard's fiends helped out. the only other restriction was that the 3 of us had to ride together, always. get in together and get out together. Plus, of course, the permits specified our route and stated we were not to ride outside of the provinces for which we had permits.

If you re-read the post before yours you'll get a good idea of where the problem is. There is no such thing as a 'that's the law so that's it' mentality in China. Each province is a law onto itself, so had we been stopped by a policeman who believed we HAD to be guided, it would have been up to us to argue it out. We were ready for that, although were never stopped, in 8 weeks and almost 8000km ride. Actually we were stopped once but that's only because they wanted photos )))

The most important point I wanted to make with all the posts and shares, is that I never meant to say that Ricard is the ONLY agent on the planet who can do this. It took me 18 months of back and forth to convince HIM to let us go it alone (legally) so meant for it to be an incentive for anyone else that it IS possible, if one is willing to put in some hard work. We did it and I believe others can do it too. That's all.

I've been getting various emails these past weeks from travellers complaining that the price is still too high, the time taken to organise is too long, it's all too much hard work blah blah blah It took 18 months of my life, and much, much effort to get the deal we got. It was seriousness and perseverance that paid off but somehow some people think it is now served on a silver platter for all to enjoy. I visited every Chinese embassy we came across for over a year and in 12 different countries. I quizzed ambassadors, buttered them up and asked for info. I got people interested in our cause so they could research the law, get us contacts, collect business cards...anything which could potentially be of help. I got friends of friends in China to call rental car companies and gov't officials. I worked my rear end off and anyone who wants to follow suit will have to do the same for quite some time to come, I believe, until more companies are willing to offer independent trips. We actually have the names of 2 other companies who agreed to let us travel alone, only they still wanted to charge the price of a guide (???) obviously, we refused, but it's proof that they KNOW we are allowed to do this, they just don't want to decrease their profits.

Anyway, very happy travels to all )))

Congratulations, you mostly got to understand the system and inner workings, so true and very well said and written, China has many little kingdoms (provinces, counties, villages, towns, cities, domestic province & international border crossing, offices, departments, representatives, etc... etc...) and they all make up rules and regulations as they dream them up on the day. Certain things might work on specific days but the next day or a week later a different person is in-charge and has his own idea and agenda or has no clue at all what's going on....

One big major China hurdle is dealing with anybody and anything ~ the so called "face-matter" as they will never freely admit they did not know or are not aware of rules and regulations and any updates / changes, they rather say "banned, impossible, new government regulations". Best example, asking anyone for simple directions - they point in all possible directions to not admit they actually don't know in the first place.....

Mainland China is a very fascinating and very diverse country with great riding areas and destinations as long the routes go away from the coastal areas and big overpopulated cities.
Another one of my favourite China sayings = It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to get permission.

Side-note: I know the feeling about emails and enquiries concerning China travels, ain't my business and got no affiliations with any tour company or travel agent, pretty good at getting things done myself over in the Middle Kingdom for some years...

__________________
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