Day 25: Jiayuguan (Qiyi Glacier), Gansu

Distance: 260 km
Expenses: gas 0 rmb, hotel 27 rmb, taxi to glacier 350 rmb, qiyi glacier 52.2rmb
Events:

• We took a 2.5 hour ride to Qiyi Glacier. P and T slept most of the way.
• Paid 50.2 rmb for entrance to the Glacier, we all thought the .2 was strange.
  
• Cool 2 hour hike to the Glacier. On the way down, P and D decided to get closer to the Glacier and T spent some time writing.
• On the trail there was a man wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and rubber sandals. It was 40 degree and drizzling, but he didn't seem to mind.

Day 24: Jiayuguan, Gansu

Distance: 0 km
Expenses: gas 0 rmb, hotel 27 rmb
Events:

• We spent the day in the city and visited the much anticipated Jiayugaun Fort, where T and D rented tandem bicycles, but P couldn't because they did not fit him. He sat on the back of D's bike.
• D, P and T went out with FuJie and his friend for a night on the town, starting with a visit to a public opera performance, proceeding to the "German White Pride" bar, and finishing the night at a local Chinese bar. Our joyful night was not hampered by our inability to speak Chinese or theirs to speak English.

Day 23: Zhangye to Jiayuguan, Gansu

Distance: 290 km

Expenses: gas 20rmb, hotel 27rmb
Events:

• We said goodbye to Evan as we headed onto Jiayuguan.
• The Feiying mechanics in Zhongye were very helpful and did what they could for our bikes before sending us on.
• Arriving in Jiayuguan, we couldn’t find the Feiying dealership. A guy named FuJie came up to us, and mistaking him for Feiying, we followed him to his shop. While he wasn’t Feiying, he turned out to be a good mechanic and friend.
• D got new shocks installed by the inept Jiayuguan Feiying dealer, paid for by the Feiying dealership in Lanzhou.
• D found a German expat owned bar. He later discovered their interest in country music and in their belief that the South will rise again. They even had a Leonard Skynard CD, among others. D later returned a bit jaded after being told to leave the local chuarbar for no apparent reason.
  
• FuJie showed up at our hotel with beers in hand at 11pm, late by Chinese standards. FuJie and P had a few beers and simple conversation (very simple) in the lobby before getting the personal night tour of Jiayuguan via his motorcycle. The best part was riding around in Jiayuguan's Triathlon Park.

Day 22: Mingle to Zhongye, Gansu

Distance: 190 km
Expenses: gas 30rmb, hotel 25rmb
Events:

• P, T and Evan visited a Buddhist temple with Tibetan style stupa. They were treated to a breakfast of fruit and tea by the local caregivers. After driving around all day looking for Mati Si, they found it in the late afternoon
  
• Mati Si is a Buddhist temple built into a mountain's rock face. China has rebuilt part of it, but it is obvious, only for the purposes of tourism. The Cultural Revolution was mostly responsible, as it was for many Buddhist places, for its destruction earlier this century.
  
• D paid a shepherd 10 rmb to watch his bike while he went for a great two hour hike. On this hike he was also chased by a yak.
• D opted out of the scenic route and went directly to Zhongye to have his moto fixed. While in Zhongye, he was also able to explore the city, including its unique outdoor garden area.

Day 21: Xining, Qinghai to Mingle, Gansu

Distance: 285 km
Expenses: hotel 15rmb
Events:

• Ascended again on an amazing ride over a mountain range, topping over 12,000 feet (3700 meters)
  
• D's bike was having a little trouble on the climbs, reasonable considering his welded engine case.
• Ate lunch at a local place in the valley run by perhaps the happiest man in China. The noodle dishes he served us were great.
• Met Evan as we continued along the valley and again over some peaks. Evan is a French expat and full-time student in Kunming. He had ridden from Yunnan province and was going as high as Dunhaung, in the Northwest of Gansu province, before turning back. He filled us with wondrous stories of the cold Tibetan Plateau and its people.
  
• We stopped together for a break, only to have P's and T's bikes both fall over and break thier clutch handles. The probablility of this happening boggles the mind. We rode without clutch levers to the next small city, Mingle.

Day 20: Qinghai Lake to Xining, Qinghai

Distance: 100 km
Expenses: gas 23rmb, hotel 25rmb
Events:

• Woke the next morning to light rain which dissipated as we packed up.
  
• We rode to checkout the lake. The water was cold and the weather overcast, nobody attempted to swim.
  
• It began to rain again as we left the lake and headed down in elevation. We rode furiously back to Xining to outrun the threatening rain.

Day 19: Xining to Qinghai Lake, Qinghai

Distance: 100 km
Expenses: gas 15rmb, hotel 0rmb
Events:

• P and T went to the Shuijing Xiang Market in the morning. P bought a British looking Chinese hat.
• D tried to find a place to install a new crash bar on his bike.
  
• Missed the motorcycle rally at Qinghai Lake by one day and cycling's Tour of Qinghai Lake by one week.
  
• Setup camp at Qinghai Lake, an elevation over 10,000 feet. We collected everything burnable we could find for our campfire.
• At night we ascended the tallest dune in sight, our path lit by the moon. This is perhaps the most remote place any of us have been in China.
• A strong wind came at night, forcing us to reset our tarps to a more secure position.
• Decided to go north from Xining instead of from Qinghai Lake.

Day 18: Dongxiang to Xining, Qinghai

Distance: 320 km
Expenses: gas 35rmb, hotel 40rmb
Events:

• Spectacular views on an unbelievable ride, winding along, around, and through the mountain ridges.
  
• We came upon a lake we did not expect, and took the ferry across.
  
• In Xining, T and P could not find a place that served dumplings. Muslim areas serve noodles, more noodles, and only noodles. Instead they found a 'western restaurant' whose sandwiches left much to be desired.