Barking to Beijing

[Mojo]

I wonder if they will take overland vehicles in the future. Would make exploring Mongolia and SE Asia more open, saving the long drive from Europe.

 

[GeekOKent]

I am sure if you can container it, they can take it - from what I can tell, its just containers on flat rolling stock. And they swap rolling stock based on rail guage, and in some places, for fuel availability ( apparently its not all electric ). So maybe cage it, ship it.

having said this - isnt China quite a hard place to work through on the legal side ? in that you need to pay for an 'escort' person / vehicle to come along everywhere you go ? and there are restrictions on travel away from cities and major highways ?

 

[Mojo]

[QUOTE="having said this - isnt China quite a hard place to work through on the legal side ? in that you need to pay for an 'escort' person / vehicle to come along everywhere you go ? and there are restrictions on travel away from cities and major highways ?[/QUOTE]

Yes China isn't the cheapest, easiest or most relaxed country to overland in. However with the right paperwork and guide, it's a fascinating country to drive through. I took 3 weeks from Shenzhen to Erenhot on the Mongolian border, with very few motorway miles. I also met up with a friend in Mongolia who said it was an 11 day hard drive in his LR110 from St. Petersburg.

 

[garygiles1963]

[QUOTE="having said this - isnt China quite a hard place to work through on the legal side ? in that you need to pay for an 'escort' person / vehicle to come along everywhere you go ? and there are restrictions on travel away from cities and major highways ?

Yes China isn't the cheapest, easiest or most relaxed country to overland in. However with the right paperwork and guide, it's a fascinating country to drive through. I took 3 weeks from Shenzhen to Erenhot on the Mongolian border, with very few motorway miles. I also met up with a friend in Mongolia who said it was an 11 day hard drive in his LR110 from St. Petersburg.[/QUOTE]


Hi

That's odd, I just put a YouTube link, of an English guy doing the same trip, which I found by accident.

Worth a watch, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOEpkuORpi63SMMzCLfGrkA/videos

I get the impression that he hired the LC in Beijing.

G.

 

[chapel gate]

Interesting.. reloading due to different gauge track sounds a ball ache. Doesnt the siberian express change the bogies when entering china?

 

[Julian T]

Interesting.. reloading due to different gauge track sounds a ball ache. Doesnt the siberian express change the bogies when entering china?

They also change bogies between Hungary, Ukraine and Slovakia.

 

[Mojo]

I get the impression that he hired the LC in Beijing.

G.[/QUOTE]

There is quite a big difference between hiring a car in China and driving your own on foreign plates. So long as you have a Chinese driving license (which doesn't actually involve any physical act of driving), then you can be let loose on the roads. I had to sit and face a mirror and shout out which side the instructor raised his hand when he sat behind me...I passed.