Bon Voyage Bike 3rd July

Time for the bike and myself to part company as it has to be loaded into a container and spend four weeks getting back to the UK.
Everything rearranged in bags and panniers so cold gear and camping gear is on the bike therefore minimising the weight of the two bags to fly home with. Well that is the plan so we will find out
Back to BMW Beijing to collect our bikes which they have stored overnight for us and we then head off to Tianjin Port.
Expressway all the way and we do not care if we have had permission or not and there is a confrontation at the last toll gate as they question how we got on and that motorcycles are not allowed. Our guide explains that trucks at 10 mph are more of a problem than us travelling at 70 mph. Ok we pay 50 Yuan each. Sorted
It is chaos entering the docks and lorries are backed for a long way and we decide to go up the pavement and along and wait for our escort into the container yard, who is in a car.

Then finally to the yard where the panniers must be left unlocked and all numbers of the bikes recorded.
This seems really strange to be parting company after so much time of riding and maintaining her. This was on a daily basis and now to leave it to our Chinese agency to ensure she leaves China is a bit unsettling, but it must be done.



We will see if the Chinese Bike group flag is still in place when i collect her from London in a few weeks but she has been brilliant in transporting me over 12000 miles through the most extreme weather and terrain you could possibly imagine.
PLEASE TAKE CARE OF HER!!!
So we have a coach to take us to Tianjin railway station were we will catch a high speed train (CRH3 EMU) back to Beijing.
They leave every 20 minutes and will only take 30 minutes to cover the distance that had took us 2 hours to do that morning as it i will do 200 mph (320 kph). Very smooth, very comfy and very quick



Back at the hotel we have a group meeting to be given “The T-Shirt” which has to be earnt by completing the trip along with some stickers for the bikes. The Chinese characters’ say Silk Road, London - Beijing


Then off for our final group meal at very celebrated restaurant called the DaDong Peking Duck restaurant. No guesses for what they cook there but it is done differently to normal restaurants. The duck is baked in a wood burning oven for 45 minutes while being hung vertically.
There are no pictures here as i did not want to have a camera on me that could be lost when i will have had a few drinks
All i can say is the duck is the best i have ever had and Kim Lee from The BMW Beijing, demonstrated the correct way to wrap duck with chop sticks. The key is not to over fill.
It was then on to another area around a lake with bars to really celebrate our achievements.
Finally Kevin could let his hair down with the relief of getting us all here in one piece and the burden of responsibility had been lifted. So at 3:30 in the morning we “Quietly” returned to the hotel to sleep.

12060 miles – Tianjin, China