Jonkers, great timing will probably work out. Quick question- can you ride around China freely as your bike is registered there and could you legally act as a guide for others. I'm aware that you can't just ride normally thru China. Also which border crossing would you use???

Yes, I can ride around freely in China, as I have a Chinese bike licence. This is hard to come by, unless you are a resident, but my local bike shop in Suzhou city seems to be able to organise this for foreigners joining their tours.

The western part of China is pretty much off limits for foreigners on their own, as you are not allowed to purchase fuel and have to stay in exorbitantly priced hotels, but this can be sidestepped if you are accompanied by a local. My initial plan was to join a tour group organised by the bike shop from Suzhou to the Kazakh border and carry on alone from there, but due to the virus the tour was cancelled. At the moment the area is in lockdown again because of a recent outbreak. The bottom line is everything is possible in China and I have good connections in the biker community, or at least connections who have connections.

As for crossing the Chinese/Kazakh border one of the biggest challenges seem to be to take my bike out, as you need to put down quite a large deposit called an ATA, which is (maybe) returned when you re-enter. When I leave, I leave, so this is not an option, but I have heard it is possible to exit China at Alashankou, which is where the transcontinental freight trains cross, without an ATA. The most popular border crossing is at Khorgos, but I believe they are a bit anal with paperwork. However, I have been told that if you say you are returning to China, you don't need an ATA, but if you say you leave, you do need one. Chinese logic is sometimes a bit confusing.

Another option is to go south to Kashgar and cross from there into Kyrgyzstan, but it opens more challenges with visas. As a South African I need a visa for Kazakhstan, which I can get in Shanghai, so going straight into KZ is in my opinion the easiest way. I don't need a visa for Russia, so once I get out of China, it should be relatively easy visa wise untill I hit the EU.

There is also an option of heading north and crossing straight into Russia at Manzhouli, east of Mongolia, but that means an extra 3,000km and having to cross the entire breadth of Russia, which I am not keen to do on my own. Apart from obvious road challenges, my knowledge of Russian is limited to da and nyet. Staying as long as possible in China is by far the best option for me, as I can help myself reasonably well with the language and have a support system of sorts in case of breakdowns.

I would like to go back to South Africa as soon as it opens, hopefully around January 2021, to sort out a few personal things and escape the Chinese winter, but will then be able to come back on my current visa, which expires in the middle of May, meaning I will have to set out early April. This not cast in stone though, I can get a visitor's visa for a bit later, alternatively renew my current visa, but that means work permit and contract too, which is unlikely. I would actually prefer a bit later, as it is still bloody cold in the interior around April/May.