This video was recommended to me by YT and I was pleasantly surprised by its quality. It was fun to watch it, your ups and downs, your sincere comments... Keep up with great work, you deserve more followers.
What a cool recommendation this video was! Been to Baotou a few times (was married at the Shangri-La hotel there) & travelled around Inner Mongolia quite a bit, so very cool to see it from a biking perspective. I had been considering taking my gravel bike next time I’m visiting family.
That is so awesome to hear! Thanks for telling me. I wish i could have painted it in a better light for you. The back roads were good to ride on and I'm sure the views from the mountains would be awesome. If you do it and can speak a bit of Chinese then I'd double check all appointments at booked hotels (a few canceled on me despite accepting reservations), and if you're on main roads be careful of trucks, some will give you a friendly beep - but others will race past you within a couple of foot. I'm sure you could have an awesome time out there on a bike, I just didn't have the best of luck with things this trip - it happens.
I'm glad RU-vid recommended this channel! I watched the "Bikepacking East of Beijing" series and just got done watching this. Good stuff! It's always very interesting to see these rural areas of China and the good (and bad) they got to offer. Keep up the good work, I hope your next trip goes a bit smoother!
Not as happy as I am that you enjoyed them! Thank you so much for saying! Videos will be few and far between though, it's just a hobby, a way of keeping a record of places I go. Back to work soon : )
Thanks for the video. Bikepacking with full gear, with the option to stealth camp is worth that extra weight and slower progress, IMO. Then you always know, no matter the myriad issues with the hotels, that you can find a place to sleep.
I love camping, I love cycling - putting them together is a nightmare, especially in 35 - 40 degree heat. Sounds fun, but here it's not. Setting up ready for a night of sweating my nuts off only to wake up the next morning and putting back on my cycling shorts which have been riding up my ass crack all the previous day, and my stinking cycling top would piss me off so much. Running water, shower, air-con, a restaurant for dinner, and electricity to charge my stuff back up please! Especially on multi-day trips.
My favorite cycle touring videos are either newbies doing it for the first time or experienced people having a bad time. 😂 Adversity is more entertaining I guess.
Because in the past, only hotels above four stars could accommodate foreigners. However, due to the implementation of the 144-hour multinational visa-free policy this year, the state has ordered that no hotel should refuse foreigners to stay since May. They refused to accommodate you because the city you went to is a third-tier small city and there is a lag in policy communication. At this time, you can also call the 12345 government service hotline to complain to them.
Thanks a lot for giving me a bit of context on this. It's frustrating when I order using an app and a hotel doesn't take foreigners - but I tut and move on, no big deal. However, it gets genuinely dangerous when it gets dark and you get turned away despite making a reservation well in advance (blatantly letting them know you're not a native when booking). I've been told before that there has been a push to get all hotels to accept foreigners, I hope more start doing so because I want to be recommending these places to anyone who watches these videos, never mind enjoying my trips myself! I won't be complaining (too British, and I did enough of that off camera. . .) but sincere thanks for that phone number.
your first sentence is wrong. the rule/law about a special license for hotels to accept foreigners ended in 2003. Since than there no such thing. Key here is that the hotel needs to register you as every guest with the local police. Lack of training and not being familiar with passports are the biggest problems in the past and now. a call to 12345, your booking platform or simply the police is solving this issue. have stayed in hundrets of cheap hotels everywhere, staying persistent is crucial.
Awesome tune, right? Thanks for the comment, I look back on the trip with fond memories but wish I could have followed my original plans (and not have to worry about whether hotels would take me in).
Thanks! I really appreciate that! When you messaged me earlier I was sat outside that shop on day 5 after I'd punctured and was trying to find new accommodation and plot a new route : D
Yeah the hotel thing can be quite annoying! I carry my camping gear partly for fun, and partly because of this unfortunate situation. You mentioned booking via WeChat, you don't like Trip? I find their hotel are better curated, and when you are being refused they usually give you an upgrade for free no question asked! Also, have you considered tubeless tires? I am careless and just like to go wherever and I end up with some scrap in my tire but no punctures, or at worst I just plug it and ready to go!
Can you use Trip with rmb? I used to turn up randomly and rarely had issues, but this trip was a huge exception. Tubeless? Can't be dealing with that right now, but since this trip I've switched to tpu tubes and have had a bit more practice getting the tyres on / off. Hopefully if I have a trip along similar roads it won't be such a ball-ache. I love the idea of camping, but in practice it would be terrible over here. All the extra weight and supplies aside, setting down by the side of the road in 40 degree heat and humidity to pitch a tent would be a nightmare. Hotels are thirty dollars a night, after riding all day in the heat I'd be willing to pay far more than that for air conditioning and a shower to wash myself and the clothes in. I'd love to do it, but not here. Europe or America would be a good destination for that - one day I'll end up taking a trip like that with (most probably) a light-weight hammock.
@@nomadbitmad Yes, Trip is the international version of Ctrip but you can pay with Weixin Pay or Alipay. They take a cut but also provide supports which can be quite handy at times. I saw you are carrying much lighter than me, you probably go much faster too! This summer is definitely too hot for camping, we tried and couldn't sleep at all! But when I did during Golden Week last year it was pretty good, a bit hot but doable. Using hotels every other day allowed me to go to more remote/random areas!
Bryton 750 bike computer. I wouldn't really recommend it, I bought it cheap and now can't justify buying a better unit as this one works fine (most times.) For other trips I suppose I ought to find out how to transfer my route data as the Bryton maps I'm screen grabbing really aren't too good.
I think it's gaining popularity in recent years - though maybe only up in the mountains given the heat in Summer. I have a few Chinese friends who sometimes go, and there's some good camping shops in Beijing.
I've been planning for my trip to Hohhot next year...but I'm bringing my brompton. Hope they allows foldies into the rooms. Looks like you're kinda unprepared for this trip and the bike you're using ain't suitable, ever consider usin a touring bike instead of a road bike with proper rack, panniers and Tyres for all terrain?
Please don’t take this as reactionary or confrontational - but you think my bike isn’t suitable. . . And you say you’re going to do the same thing on a brompton? That’s nuts mate - these cities are spaced out, long distances. Just cycling around Hohhot, or are you going further afield? If you have any questions I’d love to help out. I use my Emonda as a do-it-all bike, and generally stick to roads. By just taking one spare t-shirt and pair of shorts the saddle bag has ample space without the need for racks and mounts. Treaded gravel tyres might have provided a bit more protection on the roads, and it’s something I’ve been considering changing. With you planning so far in advance (it was a spare of the moment thing for me), I’m guessing you live outside of China? If you need any help get in touch. Most hotels (that will accept you) should be fine with you taking it in the room, but storage will also be a safe option. The hotel which told me to leave it outside is the only one I’ve ever encountered which has asked me to do so.
If hotel dont let me keep bike in room i dont stay even 5 star hotel will let me keep it in a room .. i ask for manger then I ask him to give me in writing that if bike stolen then must pay .. they always say just take to the room lol
Learn to say all of that in Chinese and then I would happily love you to join me on a trip! But to be honest, I don't mind leaving it in a storeroom, it's very safe here. . . Absolute insanity to leave it outside overnight though.
You have no idea how much I cut out - It must have been a strange sight for all the Chinese watching a strange angry foreigner on a bike shouting to himself for about five minutes after leaving that hotel which sent me away.
The equipment didn't help, but I'm not sure how much I can blame the bike for the punctures - last time I had to fix a flat was a year ago. At least it give me a bit of practice taking off and putting those tyres back on.
@@nomadbitmad but he is in China though. If he was in Mongolia any hotel would fight over him to keep him in as he is a white westerner. No offense but im surprised you didnt get stopped by police every 5 min with that camera in china, as for why hotels not accepting you considering all anti western propaganda going on there it is obvious why thats happening. Anyways great video.
Inner Mongolia wouldn't be the top of my list of places to visit but, hey, I guess it was a challenge, right. Didn't strike me as a very friendly place although maybe its charms are not immediately visible.
Because of the length of the video and my aversion to shoving my camera into everyone's face I might have given it a more negative representation than it deserves. People generally are disinterested to nice. Some are very happy to talk a little bit with a foreigner. The owner of the hotel who helped me on day two was awesome, and even offered to let me get a shower there for free. I had a bit of a scare on day three when I walked past a group of teenagers on motorbikes and mopeds, they all quickly rode after me, stopped and then excitedly tried to speak English asking for photographs with me. Generally in China you might get people staring or giving what might look like dirty looks, but more often than not if you smile and say hi (nihao) they'll genuinely reciprocate. It is friendly and safe here and people will often be pleasant and warm if you can speak a bit of the language.
@@nomadbitmad thank you for your thoughtful reply, one of the incidents that compelled me to comment was the hotel that refused to accommodate you, that's extraordinarily unhelpful, perhaps I misunderstood the transaction
@@rabbitss11 Oh no, that’s something else. On a whole people are nice, but that hotel massively pissed me off. I’d made the reservation at 8:30 in the morning stipulating I was foreign and it wasn’t until I got there twelve hours later they said no. If I couldn’t find another place that would have been very dangerous (riding at night, fatigued, possibly out of the city along roads with lots of trucks and no streetlights). Unacceptable behavior from a hotel. But in general . . . Most people are great.
Woah, no I hope I didn't give a negative impression of the people! I had some issues with some hotel staff but overall people are nice there - it was other issues which made this trip a chore. At one point here I was walking down the road exploring and stayed clear of a gang of kids on motorbikes, but they saw me and came chasing after me - they meant no harm and were just excited to see a foreigner in such a remote place and wanted to speak English and take some photos. Generally people are ambivalent, or friendly. But, I still can't recommend it as a place to travel in because of the hotel situation, specifically cancelling reservations on arrival.
The video title is saying I'm in Mongolia, the first line I speak is that I'm in Hohhot, if you want to see where I go then look at the map I upload at the end of every day. Or maybe go watch another video, about atlases.
My family have also told me that they wish I'd give more information about where I am, it wasn't something I'd given much thought to so I'll take that as creative criticism and see what I can do going forwards, but bloody hell - don't say you can't stand it, that's a bit harsh, I'm trying my best here ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@@nomadbitmad No you're not, you're in China. Most random people on the internet dont know the difference between "inner Mongolia" and Mongolia. One is an independant country and other is autonomous region in China that's under heavy government control and scrutiny. Stop telling people wrong info.
