KTM450EXC 2016 TB-Racing #88 Shanghai (China)























KTM450EXC 2016 DirtNomad #199 Shanghai (China)

__________________
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 TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA TOWN
Welcome to Shanghai ~ few cities in the world evoke so much history, excess, glamour, mystique and exotic promise in one name alone.
2018 Chinese New Year trip back down memory lane with Chang Jiang sidecars doing a Mighty Ride around the back-alleys we call the "Underbelly" of Shanghai....





























































>>>No Chang Jiang sidecars were harmed during the Shanghai "Mighty Ride" 2018 and we engaged the excellent service of Insiders Experience: http://insidersexperience.com <<<

__________________
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 TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA TOWN
Welcome to Shanghai ~ few cities in the world evoke so much history, excess, glamour, mystique and exotic promise in one name alone.
2018 Chinese New Year trip back down memory lane with Chang Jiang sidecars doing a Mighty Ride around the back-alleys we call the "Underbelly" of Shanghai....











































>>>No Chang Jiang sidecars were harmed during the Shanghai "Mighty Ride" 2018 and we engaged the excellent service of Insiders Experience: http://insidersexperience.com <<<

__________________
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

2018 Chinese New Year of the Dog "Mighty Ride", our motor-vehicle of choice are the well known "hate or love 'em..." Chang Jiang 750cc sidecars, as its been 10 years since I gave my last CJ sidecar away to a good mate back in 2008 without the precious Shanghai "A" license plate (registration) of course....Chang Jiang ~ the transcribed brand name of motorcycles that were once manufactured by the China Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Company (China). It takes its name from the Chang Jiang River, also known as the Yangtze or, in English, the Long River. The CJ750 motorcycle is based on the original 1956 Soviet IMZ (Irbitski Mototsikletniy Zavod) M-72 which itself was derived from the earlier German 1938 BMW R71. Nearly all of them have sidecars. They are often erroneously referred to as BMW "replicas" when in fact, they are derivatives of the IMZ M-72.

Production began in the late 1950s or early 1960's (different sources cite different dates). They were originally produced for the Chinese military and are powered by an air-cooled, four-stroke, opposed flat-twin engine displacing 746cc and the rear wheel is shaft-driven. The most common models are:
M1 which has a sidevalve (flathead) engine and a 6V electrical system. This model is a clone of the M72 and closely resembles the 1938 BMW R71.
M1M is also a sidevalve, however it uses a 12V electrical system and is equipped with a reverse gear. It also has an electric starter where the M1 has only a kick-starter. These enhancements were designed with the help of German engineers.
M1S ("Super") uses an overhead-valve engine, 12V electrical system, electric starter and reverse gear. The OHV system is fundamentally of German BMW design.
All three models use the same frame and sheet metal. The M1 and M1M are nearly identical in appearance, but they can be distinguished by observing certain details.

CJ technological history includes racing bikes, experimental engines and futile attempts at modernising the appearance of a long obsolete machine. Beginning in the mid-1980s, over a decade after the normalisation of relations between China and the USA, China opened its markets to foreign motorcycle manufacturers which expedited the end of CJ750 mass production. Today, the marque is kept barely alive by interest from foreign hobbyists. Most of the Chang- Jiang motorbikes being outlawed around Shanghai by 2018 / 2019 as the legal registration and license plates will expire and the traffic management will not renew them in the future...

Quite a few once mighty Chang Jiang sidecars are rotting away in back alleys and vehicle scrapyards nowadays....

__________________
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

Chinese New Year of the Dog (2018), also known as the Spring Festival, or simply the Lunar New Year, in modern China, is an important Chinese festival celebrated at the turn of the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. Celebrations traditionally run from the evening preceding the first day, to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first calendar month.

The Chinese New Year festival is centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and customs. Traditionally, the festival was a time to honor deities as well as ancestors. Lunar New Year is celebrated in numerous Asian countries and territories, including Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Mauritius, Australia, and the Philippines. Lunar New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had strong influence on the lunar new year celebrations of its geographic neighbours. Within China, regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the Lunar New Year vary widely. Often, the evening preceding Lunar New Year's Day is an occasion for Chinese families to gather for the annual reunion dinner. It is also traditional for every family to thoroughly clean the house, in order to sweep away any ill-fortune and to make way for incoming good luck. Windows and doors are decorated with red color paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of "good fortune" or "happiness", "wealth", and "longevity". Other activities include lighting firecrackers and giving money in red paper envelopes.

Chinese love to eat during the annual festivals as everyone is fully aware and we truly enjoy different tastes and flavours all the time as variations are the spice of life but generally food plays a very important roll during the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year).

Here are some top Chinese New Year lucky foods and their symbolism but they are not all pictured in traditional style and presentations below:
Noodles – happiness and longevity.
Dumplings and spring rolls – wealth.
Tangyuan (sweet rice balls) – family togetherness.
Niangao (glutinous rice cake) – higher income or status.
Tangerines and oranges – fullness and wealth.
Fish – an increase in prosperity.

__________________
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

Chinese love to eat during the annual festivals as everyone is fully aware and we truly enjoy different tastes and flavours all the time as variations are the spice of life but generally food plays a very important roll during the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year).

__________________
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

Shanghai ~ few cities in the world evoke so much history, excess, glamour, mystique and exotic promise in one name alone.

Architecture ~ Shanghai is home to the world's second-tallest tower and a host of other neck-craning colossal building. But it's not all sky-scraping razzmatazz. Beyond the crisply cool veneer of the modern city typified by Pudong, you can lift the lid to a treasure chest of architectural styles. The city's period of greatest cosmopolitan excess – the 1920s and 1930s – left the city with pristine examples of art deco buildings, most of which survived the 20th-century vicissitudes assailing Shanghai. And there's more: from Jesuit cathedrals, Jewish synagogues and Buddhist temples to home-grown laneways and stone gate housing, Shanghai architectural heritage is like none other.

Cuisine ~ thirty years ago Shanghai's dour restaurant scene was all tin trays and scowling waiting staff, with international food confined to the dining rooms of 'exclusive' hotels. Today the mouth-watering restaurant scene is varied, exciting and up to the minute – and Shanghai has its own Michelin dining guide kicking off during 2017, proving just how far the city has come. Food is the hub of Chinese social life. It’s over a meal that people catch up with friends, celebrate and clinch business deals, and spend hard-earned cash. Some of your best memories of the city could be culinary, so do as the Shanghainese do and make a meal of it.

Shopping ~ bearing in mind that Chinese shoppers constitute up to 47% of the global luxury-goods market, shopping is rarely done in half-measures in Shanghai. Retail therapy is one way of spending new money and the Shanghainese aren't called ('little capitalists') by the rest of China for nothing, especially at the luxury end of things. But it's not all Prada, Gucci and Burberry. There are pop-up boutiques, bustling markets, cool vintage shops and young designer outlets. Beyond clothing you're also spoiled for choice, whether you're in the market for antiques, ceramics, art, Tibetan jewellery…whatever is on your shopping list.

Entertainment & Arts ~ Capital City China (Beijing) often hogs the limelight as China’s cultural nexus but, for what is essentially a town of wheelers and dealers, Shanghai is surprisingly creative. Many art galleries are exciting, offering a window onto contemporary Chinese concerns, while nightlife options have exploded. Acrobatics shows are always a favourite and you might grab the chance to catch some Chinese opera. Shanghai's music and club scene is vibrant: from unpretentious jazz and indie venues to all-night hip-hop and electro dance parties, the city swings with the best of them.

__________________
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

Once a year, let's go someplace we’ve never been before.... Run over the border as the YAKATTACK team was somehow established on the Tibet "Himalaya" highlands. Let the good times roll and continue the adventures and exploring kicking off with YAKATTACK 2018 (Chinese New Year) as personally stood on the China (Tibet) ~ Nepal border a few times over the last three decades but never was able to cross and this all happen before the complicated Tibet (China) travel restrictions for foreigners. The challenges were never on the Nepal side, always getting exit approval through the Chinese border authorities with a China registered bike was the challenge... For two years we had a running joke “Let’s ride a KTM in KTM” as our favourite bikes are the KTM450EXC and KTM is as well the airport code for Tribhuvan International Airport Kathmandu... The YAKATTACK team tackles Nepal for the first time with a few twist as expected to check out a few exciting options for future YAKATTACK adventures (motorbikes / mountain bikes) around Nepal....

Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia located in the Himalaya. With an estimated population of 26.4 million, it is 48th largest country by population and 93rd largest country by area. It borders China in the north and India in the south, east, and west while Bangladesh is located within only 27 km of its southeastern tip and Bhutan is separated from it by Indian state of Sikkim. A Himalayan state, Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and largest city. Nepal is a multiethnic nation with Nepali as the official language. Kathmandu ~ lots of stimulation and sensory overkill, the street life is very busy but simple, this is an old city were people have been existing for thousands of years, its dusty with disorganised broken roads, its very different from our home city ~ its just very refreshing...



First famous Kathmandu walk, Pashupatinath Temple, a famous, sacred Hindu temple dedicated to Pashupatinath and is located on the banks of the Bagmati River 5 kilometres north-east of Kathmandu Valley in the eastern part of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. This temple is considered one of the sacred temples of Hindu faith. The temple serves as the seat of the national deity, Lord Pashupatinath. This temple complex is on UNESCO World Heritage Sites's list Since 1979. This "extensive Hindu temple precinct" is a "sprawling collection of temples, ashrams, images and inscriptions raised over the centuries along the banks of the sacred Bagmati river" and is included as one of the seven monument groups in UNESCO's designation of Kathmandu Valley as a cultural heritage site. Pashupatinath is one of the most important Hindu temples in Nepal and at the ghats (stairs where you can descend to the river), plateaus are made that are used for the open air cremations that take place on regular daily basis. The Pashupatinath temple is not accessible for non-Hindus but it is the cremations that attract many visitors, both Nepalese and foreign visitors. Cremations are part of daily life and death here in Kathmandu, but it is something that you do not want to be confronted with too many times....

Despite being clogged with garbage and black with pollution, the fetid Bagmati River is actually an extremely sacred river; Pashupatinath is the Nepali equivalent of Varanasi on the sacred River Ganges. The cremation ghats along the Bagmati are the city's most important location for open-air cremations. Fires burned here day and night after the 2015 earthquake as hundreds of families dealt with the human cost of the disaster. Only members of the royal family can be cremated immediately in front of Pashupatinath Temple; the funerals of 10 members of the Nepali royal family took place here after the massacre in 2001. Funerals of ordinary Nepalis take place daily on the ghats to the south of the temple. Bodies are wrapped in shrouds and laid out along the riverbank, then cremated on a wooden pyre in a surprisingly businesslike way. Inevitably this is the most interesting aspect to Pashupatinath and it’s a powerful place to contemplate notions of death and mortality.At the north end of the ghats, visible from across the river, are a series of yogis' caves, used as shelters since medieval times and still occupied by meditators today.If you walk south along the west bank, you will see a 7th-century standing Buddha image, next to the damaged Raj Rajeshwari Temple, with its unusual curved stucco outbuilding....

__________________
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

Pashupatinath Temple, a famous, sacred Hindu temple dedicated to Pashupatinath and is located on the banks of the Bagmati River 5 kilometres north-east of Kathmandu Valley in the eastern part of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.





























***Some might find certain images in the two posts above disturbing but bear in mind please, every continent (country) has a few different religions and we need to respect them all in our opinion. Pashupatinath is the most important temple dedicated to god Shiva. Every year this temple attracts hundreds of elderly followers of Hinduism. They arrive here to find shelter for the last several weeks of their lives, to meet death, be cremated on the banks of the river and travel their last journey with the waters of the sacred river Bagmati, which later meets the holy river Ganges. Hinduists from every corner of Nepal and India are arriving here to die. It is believed that those who die in Pashupatinath Temple are reborn as a human, regardless of any misconduct that could worsen their karma. The exact day of their death is predicted by astrologers of the temple. If you are attracted to the places where the spirit of death can be felt, then consider Pashupatinath as your first destination. It is a temple with special atmosphere of death; death is present in almost every ritual and every corner of it, be well aware before visiting the temple complex***

__________________
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

"Tomorrow never comes in Nepal" became my personal saying whenever I was told when something will get easily done and permits need to be issued crossing the international China / Nepal border in gone by days (1990’s-2000’s), same applies nowadays to purchasing / renting a motor vehicle as as foreigner visiting Nepal in some ways. There's so much smile and charm in Nepal but things definitely move differently in Nepal ~ again, go with the flow rather than against it. Visiting a few Kathmandu bike dealerships checking into availability, purchases, license and registration process of motorbikes for the future as I prefer doing our groundwork's in person as calling or emailing the dealerships and agents gets us either unreliable or confusing feedback most times, better to check during face to face talks with smiles all around and walk away with detailed hard facts.... As always the YAKATTACK team has back up solutions as we are basically on a set schedule... Lets keep them mighty classic Royal Enfield in mind for a later day…

__________________
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

After the Royal Enfield dealership visit and meeting, few phone calls and emails and we are "chauffeured" across fascinating Kathmandu by the experienced guys from the unique company called Vespa Valley.
Thrilling experience as we are not a great pillion riders on the cool vintage Vespa Scooters to get a real "in your face" feel of the traffic rules and regulations ~ scratch that last statement, there are no traffic rules and regulations in Kathmandu....
VESPA VALLEY KATHMANDU: http://vespavalley.com





Kathmandu Valley (South of the actual city centre of Kathmandu). The Kathmandu Valley, located in Nepal, lies at the crossroads of ancient civilizations of Asia, and has at least 130 important monuments, including several pilgrimage sites for Hindus and Buddhists. There are seven World Heritage Sites within the valley. Historically, the valley and adjoining areas made up a confederation known as the Nepal Mandala. Until the 15th century, Bhaktapur was its capital, when two other capitals, Kathmandu and Lalitpur (Patan), were established. After the annexation of the valley by the Gorkha Kingdom, and subsequent conversion of the Valley as the capital of their empire, the designation of "Nepal" was extended to all the lands they had conquered. The Kathmandu Valley is the most developed and populated place in Nepal. The majority of offices and headquarters are located in the valley, making it the economic hub of Nepal. It is popular with tourists for its unique architecture, and rich culture that includes the highest number of jatras (street festivals) in Nepal. The valley itself was referred to as "Nepal Proper" by British historians. 2015, Kathmandu Valley was hit by the April 2015 Nepal earthquake. The earthquake caused thousands of deaths and destruction of many infrastructures.

__________________
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

Kathmandu Valley (South of the actual city centre of Kathmandu). The Kathmandu Valley, located in Nepal, lies at the crossroads of ancient civilizations of Asia, and has at least 130 important monuments, including several pilgrimage sites for Hindus and Buddhists.

__________________
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

Tasty and yummy lunch stop (Kathmandu Valley), Newa cuisine (also referred to as Newar cuisine) is a subset of Nepalese cuisine that has developed over centuries among the Newars of Kathmandu (Kathmandu is called Yen in Nepal bhasa language), Nepal. Newa cuisine is the most celebrated food variety in the country that consists of over 200 dishes. It is more elaborate than most Nepalese cuisines because the Kathmandu Valley has exceptionally fertile alluvial soil and enough wealthy households to make growing produce more profitable than cultivating rice and other staples. Food is the integral part of Newar culture. Different kind of foods are prepared for different occasions, considering the climate and nutritional needs for body. Newars are renowned for their sumptuous feasting. Newars cook, store and serve food and beverages in containers and utensils made of gold, silver, copper, brass, iron, clay pottery, dried rice stalks, corn leaves and leaves of certain trees sewn together with toothpicks to make plates and bowls.

__________________
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

Next stop after lunch and walkabout around Asan (Asan Tol or Asan Twāh) its a ceremonial, market and residential square in central Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. It is one of the most well-known historical locations in the city and is famed for its bazaar, festival calendar and strategic location. Asan has been described as one of the fine Newar examples of a traditional Asian bazaar. The Tuladhar, Maharjan, Shrestha, Bajracharya and Shakya castes make up most of the population. Six streets converge on Asan giving the square a perpetual bustle. The bazaar at Asan attracts shoppers from all over Kathmandu because of the tremendous variety of merchandise sold here, ranging from foodstuffs, spices and textiles to electronics and bullion.

__________________
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

Asan (Asan Tol or Asan Twāh) its a ceremonial, market and residential square in central Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal....

__________________
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