Lugu Lake Yunnan + Sichuan

Lugu Lake is home to several Tibetan, Yi as well as Mosuo minority villages. The most numerous of these are the Mosuo people (also spelt "Moso"), said to be a sub clan of the Naxi people (as per Chinese records of Minorities in China) with ancient family structure considered as "a live fossil for researching the marital development history of Human beings" and "the last quaint Realm of Matriarchy." It is considered as the home of the Moso Tribe. However, Mosuo have a separate identity from the Naxis, as it is said that the Chinese used the word Mosuo as a generic term for different ethnic groups, including the Naxi.

Lugu Lake is called the "mother lake" by the Mosuo people.The lake is also well known in Chinese travel pamphlets as the region of “Amazons,” “The Kingdom of Women” and “Home of the Matriarchal Tribe”, this last name highlighting the dominant role of the Mosuo women in their society. The marriage rites of the Mosuo people are known as “azhu marriage” ceremony and this unique aspect of their social culture has given the title “exotic land of daughters” to the area. It is also known as "A Quaint Realm of Matriarchy". The matriarchal and matrilineal society of the Mosuos is also termed the “Women’s World". The Mosuo are the last practicing (almost) matriarchal society in the world. Mosuo women never marry and never cohabit, instead they are free to choose as many lovers as they like throughout their lives. Children are brought up by women, and use the surname of their mothers. Families are composed of the members of the matrilineal kind. Women hold the principal positions in the society, forming a modern day ‘woman’s kingdom’, which adds mystique to this magical place.

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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

Lugu Lake Yunnan + Sichuan

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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

Lugu Lake Yunnan + Sichuan

__________________
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

The Yunnan Trail 2016 ride report is almost done and dusted and herewith saying a big thanks for the great tasty food to all the talented chefs along the way...,

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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

Big thanks for the great tasty food to all the talented chefs along the way...,

__________________
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

Every great road ends one way or the other and while getting back to Shanghai, thought about my real last China group ride back in 2004 around Yunnan / Sichuan provinces.
Won't ever happen again, group rides that is ~ anywhere, as really prefer heading out alone, no questions coming from anyone and basically no real commitments ~ thats the full on freedom I am after.
If anyone tells me that it must be great being in the biking brotherhood, I tell them that it's comprises some of the most blinkered and ignorant people it has ever been my misfortune to encounter.... 'nuff said....



Shanghai ~ Shaoshan (Hunan) - Guiyang (Guizhou) ~ Dali (Yunnan) - Shaxi (Yunnan) - Shangrila (Yunnan) ~ Deqin (Yunnan) ~ Lugu Lake (Yunnan / Sichuan) - Chengdu (Sichuan) - Wuhan (Hubei) - Shanghai



Wait ~ hold on, last Yunnan Trail Ride 2016 comments as traveled extensively before in the particular area of China.
The whole region visited during the ride (Yunnan / Sichuan) has developed into several busy touristy commercial hubs. Some call it progress but personally feel historic places are being turned into full blown circus arenas and many historical sites being destroyed due to "rebuilds" and not preserved in traditional ways ~ thats just my personal opinion anyways.

Stay tuned as the TBR team has always something going motorbike related around the world, ride & rock on'....

__________________
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

MOONCAKE DAYS ~ HAPPY MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL 2016
Nothing beats a long relaxed spirited morning ride around Diashan Lake (Shanghai + Jiangsu) with a special modded and well set up DUCATI Multistrada 1200S Pikes Peak in my humble personal option.
You start the engine up and this fantastic roar starting to happen, you have to get the engine temperature up while putting the last pieces of gear on and once rollin' the MTS is just begging to be ridden hard and in anger taken to the red line in every single gear, anything I can ask of the machine, it can deliver in spades ~ absolute brilliant...'nuff said....





Graffitis popping up recently all over and not talking about the chairman, the spray-on artworks covering the otherwise boring and dull concrete walls around construction sides....







































Mid-Autumn Festival and Mooncakes
The festival is intricately linked to legends of Chang E, the mythical Moon Goddess of Immortality. According to "Li-Ji", an ancient Chinese book recording customs and ceremonies, the Chinese Emperor should offer sacrifices to the sun in spring and the moon in autumn. The 15th day of the 8th lunar month is the day called "Mid-Autumn". The night on the 15th of the 8th lunar month is also called "Night of the Moon". Under the Song Dynasty (420), the day was officially declared the Mid-Autumn Festival. Because of its central role in the Mid-Autumn festival, mooncakes remained popular even in recent years. For many, they form a central part of the Mid-Autumn festival experience such that it is now commonly known as 'Mooncake Festival'.

A mooncake is a Chinese bakery product traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhongqiujie). The festival is for lunar worship and moon watching, when mooncakes are regarded as an indispensable delicacy. Mooncakes are offered between friends or on family gatherings while celebrating the festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the four most important Chinese festivals.Typical mooncakes are round pastries, measuring about 10 cm in diameter and 3–4 cm thick. Traditional mooncakes, eaten in China, a rich thick filling usually made from red bean or lotus seed paste is surrounded by a thin (2–3 mm) crust and may contain yolks from salted duck eggs. Mooncakes are usually eaten in small wedges accompanied by Chinese tea. Today, it is customary for businessmen and families to present them to their clients or relatives as presents, helping to fuel a demand for high-end mooncake styles. The energy content of a mooncake is approximately 1,000 calories or 4,200 kilojoules (for a cake measuring 10cm), but energy content varies with filling and size. During recent years non-traditional mooncakes are available in China from Starbucks (Starbucks Espresso Mooncake, Starbucks Green Tea with Red Bean Mooncake, etc...) and Häagen-Dazs (various ice cream fillings)....

__________________
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

DAYS IN THE DIRT (May 2016)

Welcome to Moganshan (Zhejiang / China), our favourite "Hilly Training Grounds" for decades...
Refreshingly cool in summer and sometimes smothered in spectral fog, Moganshan, 60km northeast of Hangzhou, is famed for its scenic vistas, forested views, towering bamboo and stone villa architecture. It was developed as a hilltop resort by 19th-century Europeans living in Shanghai. Largely abandoned during the second half of the last century, it is now seeing a new buzz of activity and lots of construction / developments, reclaiming its reputation as a weekend bolt hole for expat tàitai (wives) and natives fleeing the simmering lowland heat.....

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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

DAYS IN THE DIRT (May 2016) Moganshan























































Above series of pictures actually show the real last F8GS offroad outing (May 2016) around the greater Moganshan Mountain region. The 2015 BMW F8GS "Rally Twin" is gone and sold on as boring & dull stock standard (low seat + suspension height) bike and the special parts went to a China based mate for modifying his 2015 F8GS. Well, people ask why I sold the F8GS. Well ~ think of the F8GS as a sort of swiss army knife or even a triathlete. It may not be the best off roader, interstate tourer ot canyon carver. But you'll have a great time doing all three stock and with a few mods, you can make it even better for the riding type you want to do. Back when I owned a first generation F8GS in Oz, was pure fun but in between the two F8GS got the Ducati MTS and the F8GS seems and felt "outdated" somehow as heavy and not enough power on tap for a large & heavy bike, got somewhat tired of it to be honest and straight forward, was about time to move on to more exciting projects and destinations....

__________________
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

KTM450EXC (2016) as the fun begins where the pavement ends, first street legal & legit special "China Compulsory Certificate" (COC) imported 450EXC registered in Mainland China was told during the complicated Shanghai (August 2016) registration and licensing process....



It's a lean and mean streetable Hard Enduro / X-Country motorcycle, it's not supposed to be comfortable, quiet or safe. The wind noise is supposed to hurt your ears, the seat should be hard and riding it should make you almost crap your pants every now and then. Raw ~ basic without any electronic aids (ABS / TC), totally analog is exactly how I'd describe it. Angry, visceral, and beastly - even the idle sound demands respect... I bought it because it was one of my bucket list bikes before they launched the sophisticated EXC 17's range with traction control, mapping switch, Euro 4 regulations, etc...etc... I rode it a dozen times to get the suspension settings, etc.. etc.. spot on after swapping parts supplied to my specs - it's a "scary & lovely" beast and handles amazingly, exactly what I wanted and instantly connected with the bike, similar as with the Ducati MTS Pikes Peak back during November 2011.

So, in many regards I've eaten crow and I am also rethinking the big bikes again. I even catched myself reading through the Honda Africa Twin online bike forum threads from time to time until the dirt devil on my shoulder slapped me in the ear hole over and over again. With that, I circled back and realise just how good a 450EXC is and how I kind of hate riding on the highways / national roads anyway after all them decades in China. The KTM450EXC, with its full on off-road capabilities and easy maintenance (easiest machine I've ever worked on) is the cornerstone of my perfect garage. Well everyone loves pictures, here we go and some special modification as usual for the TBR team but its a never ending story anyways with improvements, testing and modifications ~ stay tuned...

__________________
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

KTM450EXC, first oil - filter - screen change, valve check after the short break-in period outlined by KTM, all clear and within specs, no dramas ~ no worries.... All factory restrictors removed and ECU mapping loaded to full race mode (unrestricted) ~ ready to Rock n' Roll in the China Outback.

__________________
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

Moganshan (Zhejiang / China) testing the KTM450EXC "Hoonigan" setup during a few late summer / autumn 2016 weekends ~ calming the body and mind in the mountains as my ride plans are on so short notice and private, even I don't know when I'm on one!?!!
Go fast ~ go light ~ go far ~ go mental and its really exhilarating, just before the bike hits the rev limiter ~ you really feel alive. What is not to like, super light, super agile, the 450EXC is a true Hard Enduro bike, perfect to take on the trails with minimal luggage, definetly ain't ending up as a ACB "Adventure Cargo Bike".... I guess in the end it all comes down to budget, service intervals, enjoying tinkering and working on bikes, so what if you have a few enjoyable hours more garage time per year than a boring bike, etc. I guess you cannot have it all ~ stay tuned for more..... 'nuff said....

__________________
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

Moganshan (Zhejiang / China) testing the KTM450EXC during "Tricks in the Sticks"...

__________________
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

Autumn Bamboo harvest all over the Moganshan - Anji (Zhejiang) mountain ranges, gives some scary monuments cruising on the roads with the bamboo hauling trucks and road side bamboo processing....

__________________
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

Moganshan truck roadside repair, lovely road block coming around a bend....

__________________
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