Ever wondered what it's like to ride a motorcycle in China? Susan Carpenter, the motorcycling columnist for the Los Angeles Times, just got back from 8-days of riding along China's famed Silk Road, and tells us all about it...

In Xinjiang's cities, traffic moves slowly -- about 30 mph max -- which is good because it's utter pandemonium, some of it motorized.

...In Xinjiang's cities, traffic moves slowly -- about 30 mph max -- which is good because it's utter pandemonium, some of it motorized.

...They don't use orange traffic cones in this part of the world. When a vehicle breaks down, the driver alerts oncoming traffic with a pile of rocks stacked in the middle of the road.

...The gas stations were mostly plentiful, enormous, empty and overstaffed with attendants in matching McDonald's-like outfits.

...Most riders don't wear protective gear. On the rare occasion a rider is wearing a helmet, it doesn't have a strap, and it isn't made for motorcycling. It's more like a construction worker's hard hat.

Labels: China