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Here is the story of my trip across China, perhaps foolishly taken alone, illegally, and on a Chinese motorcycle. I was the first free tourist to take a journey such as this, with her own wheels and free to wander at whim -- that is, as long as I was successful at dodging the traffic police.

My route took me from Beijing to Inner Mongolia, along the banks of the Yellow River, through the Gansu corridor, across the silk route and deep into the central mountains. I stayed in trucker hotels, businessman's hotels, and in people's homes. China had just eliminated the two-price policy (regular price/tourist price), the requirement that tourists stay in designated tourist hotels, and the requirement that tourists register with the police every day.

The vehicle was a Chang Jiang sidecar motorcycle, probably the best individual transportation available for traveling these roads. Cutting through the mountainous middle of the country on my way back to Beijing, I found a shakey infrastructure of dirt roads that deteriorated into riverbeds. The bike got a bit cranky at that, and I got really stuck a few times in tiny villages. But as Ted Simon says, "the interruptions ARE the journey," and indeed these moments hold my most cherished memories of the trip.

The journey was an experiment in travel and technology, a spiritual, and a physical adventure amongst the Buddhas and the communists, the Han, the Hui, the Mongolians and the Tibetans... there is much to see, more to learn. I am continuing to learn, through conscious research and from many readers of these pages, who contribute their own experiences in this mysterious country and culture.

A book based on the dispatches from this trip is in progress... good news for those of you who don't fancy curling up by the fireplace with your computer. To be notified about articles, books, and public appearances, subscribe to my mailing list.

Thank you so much for your great e-mails during the journey and now. And thank you for joining me also through my trip through India in January 2000, Italy in 2001, the dual-sport trip in Colorado in 2004, and around the Adriatic Sea in 2005. It's been a great ride since that first American Borders journey in 1995.

Carla

S T O R I E S

October, 1997 (Pre-trip planning visit)
Introduction: Confucius Calls

October, 1997 (Pre-trip planning visit))
Dispatch 1: Asleep on the Wall

April 22, 1998 (San Francisco to Beijing)
Dispatch 2: Packing & Peking

April 23, 1998 (Beijing)
Dispatch 3: On the Way to the Lama Temple

April 24, 1998 (Beijing)
Dispatch 4: Beijing Nightlife

April 28, 1998 (Beijing)
Dispatch 5: Only One Knife

April 30, 1998 (Beijing)
Dispatch 6: The Wild Wild West

May 2, 1998 (Ming Village & Heibi Province)
Dispatch 7: From Beijing to a Brothel

May 4, 1998 (Datong & the Yungang Buddhist Caves)
Dispatch 8: Big 40 Meets Big Buddha

May 6, 1998 (Datong to Hohot)
Dispatch 9: Inner Mongolian Highway