THE IDEA
The original idea was to travel by land on a motorcycle from Lisbon,
Portugal to Hong Kong. I had no other reason for choosing these two
places other than on the map it looked like the longest distance one
could travel across the huge Eurasian landmass and at the same time
manage to pass through a great variety of different cultures. I later
on changed my mind and decided to reverse the direction and try to go
from Hong Kong to Lisbon for two reasons: first, I was told by my
cousin who has lived in Hong Kong for over 20 years that it wouldn't be
difficult to cross from HK into China, and second, I thought that I
would attempt to put what I thought would be the difficult part of the
trip behind me at the beginning while both myself and the bike were in
top shape. I would later on come to regret this decision and now I
know I will continue to regret it for a long time to come.
HONG KONG
I arrived in Hong Kong on March 16, 1998 having shipped my bike by sea
four weeks previously. I did not know what to expect from Hong Kong
and upon arrival found it very much New-York-city like with the
exception that most neon signs were in Chinese and laundry was hanging
from washing lines at just about every window of all the tall apartment
complexes. It was crowded and driving is on the wrong side of the
road.
Next morning I went to pick up my bike. Here is how it works:
1. You go to the office of the agency that is responsible for handling
your cargo: storage, customs, etc. Your shipping company at home will
have given you their name, address and telephone number. There you give
them your paperwork and they charge you all the fees for cargo handling,
paperwork, customs clearance, late storage fees, etc. In my case the
fees amounted to about $150. Now, welcome to Hong Kong. If you thought
that in the US money is God, Hong Kong will change your mind. In HK
money is God, the ONLY God and you will pay through the nose while
relearning this lesson. HK is extraordinarily expensive and if you have
no friends or relatives to provide you with accommodations and guidance,
prepare to be spending a minimum of $150 per day. Also, you will need a
24-hour access to a telephone, so bring your cellular phone with you -
in HK everybody has at least one!
2 Next, you go to the warehouse where your crate is. It will be
somewhere around the harbor where you, no doubt, will get completely
lost. I had my cousin's driver with me who had been born and raised in
HK and it took HIM an hour to find the place after we had already
arrived at the harbor! Be sure to tell the clearing agency that you
want to uncrate your bike at the warehouse and ride it off or else they
will expect you to pick up the crate in a truck and you definitely do
not want to do that. Of course, the agency will very politely tell you
that this will cost an additional $50 for clearing the debris from your
crate. I had made my crate myself with the thought in mind that I will
have to uncrate it using only a screwdriver. As I was doing the work,
dozens of Chinese gathered around me smoking and watching me in total
disbelief and later exploded in loud exclamations as they saw the bike
come out of the crate. Three police cars came over and one of the
officers politely asked me what I intended to do with this motorcycle
and I politely told them that I intended to ride it all the way to
Lisbon, Portugal. They just stepped aside and joined the crowd of
onlookers. As I got on the bike and started it, they told me to follow
them which I did and they escorted me all the way to the main road
where they left me - I could see from the expressions on their faces
that they thought I wouldn't last a minute on the busy roads of HK.
3. As soon as you pick up your bike, you should go to an office of
the Hong Kong Transportation Dept. (The Hong Kong DMV) to get what they
call "an international circulation permit" which is a small piece of
paper allowing you to drive your personal vehicle in Hong Kong for up
to one month. I got mine at
Hong Kong Transportation Dept.
United Center
95 Queensway
3rd Floor, counter #6
tel: 2804-2633
There was no charge for the permit and that was the one and only time I
did not have to pay for something I needed. You basically fill out an
application and ten minutes later they give you the permit. Documents
they wanted to see were: passport, title of ownership, registration
papers and the bill of lading which is a piece of paper your shipper
will have given you. You could probably be OK riding in HK without one
but you will, for sure, need it at the border where it is the first
thing HK immigration is going to ask you for. More on that later.
4. At this point you can pretty much just enjoy HK for a day or two or
head straight for the border. There are three land crossings into
China and a good map of HK will show all three. The most popular and
seemingly busiest is the Lok Ma Chau which is the one I tried first.
Now, the China - Hong Kong border situation seem to be quite
complicated. It appears that that part of the world is separated into
three zones : the special administrative zone of Hong Kong, a
restricted zone (a heavily guarded no-man's land between HK and China
mainland) and a special economic zone on the mainland. All have
borders (barriers and armed guards) and all have to be crossed before
you find yourself in China proper. I arrived at the first crossing
(Hong Kong immigration) and was asked for my papers. I produced my
passport, valid Chinese visa, International Driver's License and my HK
circulation permit. I was then told in a rather strict tone of voice
that this was a closed area and was asked if I had a "closed road
permit". I did not have one and as a result was detained. When about
an hour later the senior officer came to see me I was ordered to turn
around and go back to HK which I, of course, refused to do and insisted
that I had a valid Chinese visa and could I please continue on my way.
I was then told that I was in violation of HK law and was given the
choice of leaving immediately or be arrested. After another five
minutes of questions and answers I was given the information on who can
issue a "closed road permit" in HK and was promptly escorted by armed
guards out of the restricted zone.
Note that you could cross from there by foot or by bus into China but
not on your "fancy foreign machine". When I asked if I could cross on
foot and have my bike transported across the restricted zone by truck
they said that was OK with them. However, they would not allow you to
ride in the truck since the truck drivers are not allowed to carry
foreigners. I was not very happy with the idea of loading my bike into
a Chinese truck and seeing it disappear into China while I was arguing
with Chinese officials.
Note also that all vehicles crossing into China had dual license
plates: one for HK and another one for China. Some are red (they are
good only in the special economic zone) and some are black (they are
good, supposedly, anywhere in China).
So, back I went to HK and spent the next two days trying to find the
office which had the authority to issue a "closed road permit" (CRP).
Of course, the idiots at the border had given me the wrong address. I
eventually found it. It was at the same place where I had got my
circulation permit. The person in charge is a young and attractive
Chinese lady by the name of Flora Lee (everyone in HK has two names,
one is their "English" name, the other is the Chinese.)
She very politely told me that she would inquire on my behalf and would
let me know as soon as possible. Three days later, I received a fax
telling me ever so politely that the HK Transportation Department would
be happy to issue a CRP provided that assurance could be obtained that
Chinese Customs on the other end of the "closed area" would allow the
bike through. I was told it was up to me to deal with Chinese Customs
and was sent to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs which told me
to go to the Huanggang check point on the Chinese side of the Lok Ma
Chau border crossing. Well, that required going into China so I
thought I would put myself and the bike on the train and try to cross
that way. At the train station I was told it would be no problem, was
quoted a price of about $50 for the bike and was told to come the next
morning at 7 a.m. I did and at first everything looked good but as I
proceeded to put the bike on the train a customs officer showed up and
told me that I needed a permit from Chinese Customs to import the bike
into China. I told him the other guy told me I didn't need anything
but by that time the other guy had quietly disappeared.
Going into China to try to get licenses and other permits had begun to
look unavoidable so with the bike safely parked in my cousin's garage in
HK I boarded the train and went to the mainland. After three days and
having visited at least ten offices where all I heard is "We have no
power, you must go somewhere else" I finally found myself in Guangzhou,
the capital of the Guangdong Province, in front of the chief of the
Public Security Bureau. I had lost patience at this point and after
about two hours of asking who could issue the permits I needed, I was
told to go back to the Vehicle Section of the Huanggang check point
where I could get what I needed. He even wrote the address on a piece
of paper for me. For all I was concerned that piece of paper could have
read "Go jump in a lake". Of course all this meant going back to the
border which now was some 200 miles southeast. I had a few beers and
promised myself this would be the last time I would follow the advice of
a Chinese official. A new day and a new hope, the next morning I took
the train to the border and spent hours looking for the place to which I
was finally taken by a Chinese guy on his 100cc 10-year old Honda which
he rode against the incoming traffic. I remember thinking to myself
"This is it. All this preparation, all this effort, and now I am going
to end up under the wheels of a f------ Chinese truck."
I walked into the Vehicle Section at the check point and there right in
front of me were 12 windows. #4 read "Driver Licenses" and #5 read
"License Plates" in perfect English. At least twenty Chinese officials
in white uniforms gathered when I approached window #4. The guy who was
in charge finally understood what I wanted. He ordered another guy to
give me tea and got on the phone. An hour later he brings the phone to
me. I pick up - it's the chief of the Public Security Bureau in
Guangzhou. "They have no authority to issue you a driver's license" he
says. Now I lose it completely. I call this guy every name in the book
in a tirade that must have lasted a couple of minutes, finally screaming
at the top of my lungs "Why the f---, did you send me here then when you
knew perfectly well that they were going to call YOU to ask YOU what to
do with me?!" Western logic has no effect on the Chinese. The guy
tells me he has good news for me. I must go to Beijing, he says, there
I could get what I need. Oh, sure, I said and gave the phone back to
the officer. All twenty or so of them were completely silent, staring
at me, grinning. I was going to let them have it, but then remembered
that the Chinese actually smile when they are deeply embarrassed. I
left.
The guy with the 100cc Honda was waiting for me outside - he must have
known I was eventually going to need a ride. I rode on the back of his
bike the 5 or 6 miles to the train station. I was furious at first,
then began to feel sorry for myself - I had been stonewalled by the
Chinese and had lost all hope for riding from Hong Kong to Lisbon. The
wind was blowing in my face and a few minutes later I relaxed and
looked at the whole thing at a different angle - I was riding on a
motorcycle in China. Not my bike, and not the 4,000 miles I was hoping
to cover, but still I was in China on a motorbike. There was not
enough beer in Hong Kong that night to drawn my sorrow.
I tried the other two border crossings from HK to China with no luck.
Another possibility was going through Macao. It turned out the ferries
are only for passengers, so I had to charter a boat. Guess what? They
did not allow the importation of used motorcycles in Macao!
Yet another approach: Businesses who are headqurtered in HK are
allowed dual license plates if they do some of their business in China.
Since my cousin runs such a business, I had the bright idea of
registering my bike as a company vehicle, declaring myself a company
employee and securing my licenses that way. It turns out that a
provision in the law specifically excludes "vehicles on two wheels".
When I heard that I thought I was going to go completely crazy. I
started laughing in total awe and admiration for the power of the
Chinese bureaucratic machine.
Another possibility was to take the ferry to Shanhai and to try to
enter from there. Unfortunately, the Hong Kong - Shanhai ferry no
longer sails.
Eventually, a fax came from the American consulate in Guangzhou telling
me that there was a company in Hong Kong which was authorized by the
Vehicle Management Station of the Guangdong Public Security Bureau to
issue Chinese driver's licenses. Here is the info:
Luen Tung Co.
The Star House
10th floor
Tsimshatsui
Hong Kong
Tel:2735-5397, 2735-5412, 2735-5413
Well, if that information had been given to me by the Chinese, I would
not have bothered to check it out but since it came from the American
Consulate in Guangzhou (and I had called them at least a dozen times
asking for help) I decided I would check it out. It turned out it's
true, they could issue driver's licenses. The procedure normally takes
2-4 weeks (I am not kidding!) and here is what they require:
1. Chinese resident permit (something like a Chinese green card) or at
least a 6-month multiple entry visa which you could get in HK for the
small price of $100, $300 for express handling, and you must have been
to China at least once before.
2. Copy of your passport
3. Copy of your driver's license
4. A one time payment of $HK 1,250 which is about $200.
I did not explore this venue because I had already spent three weeks in
HK getting nowhere, had no time to wait another 2-4 weeks, and had no
idea if getting the driver's license would make it easier to get
license plates or any of the other permits.
So, determined to make the best out of a bad situation, I decided to
get out of Hong Kong and to try going in the direction I had originally
chosen: Lisbon to Hong Kong. This, of course, required airlifting the
bike and myself all the way to the Atlantic Coast. It was already a
week into April, my three-month window of opportunity was closing on me
and I could not afford the four weeks it was going to take to get the
bike to Lisbon by sea. After several days on the phone to all shipping
agents in HK, I learned that no airline other than Lufthansa would
agree to take the bike. So, Frankfurt it was. You can imagine how I
felt when I was given the price for this privilege - $3,500 for the
bike alone! Yes, I paid dearly for the mistake of going to Hong Kong.
Other than that, Hong Kong is great. Best dim-sum I have ever had. My
cousin took me to all the exclusive clubs and restaurants and if I had
not been kicking myself in the foot every five minutes for being the
idiot that I was, I would have enjoyed it twice as much. The clock was
running against me, I had ridden about 250 miles in three weeks instead
of the planned 2,500, I was still in Hong Kong having not advanced even
one degree westward, I had blown already more than half my budget, I had
a pregnant wife waiting for me in California and had to be back before
her due date of June 5th.
If you have money to burn and do not mind having a guide, an
interpreter, and having to breath the dust from the vehicle you will
have to follow on your trip across China then you can have everything
organized for you by:
Guahgdong International Sports Tours
Dong Jiao Chang
Guangzhou 510056
Tel: 8755-0670
Fax: 8755-4052
Ask for Jessica Chan.
The price they quoted me was about $900 per day.
Here are some other telephone numbers you might find helpful if you get
stuck in Hong Kong:
1. BMW Motorcycles in Hong Kong - tel: 2713-5164, Richard at the
Service Department is very helpful, tel: 2760-0658, 2760-0388
2. For help with crating your bike, in case you have to get it out of
HK as fast as possible, call Frankey Yang tel: 2338-6337, fax:
2336-7640
3. If you need to ship your bike out of HK, try Ben Leefe at Schenker
International, tel: 2585-9634, 2585-9633, fax: 2824-0328.
4. Lufthansa Cargo, tel: 2846-6388, 2868-2313. They charge about
$HK55 per kilogram but you have to have a licensed shipping agent act
on your behalf and therefore the price goes up. I paid Schenker $HK64
per kilogram.
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