Great Day of Motorcycle Exploring

Today's weather: High = 23 Low = 13
Sunny

With yet another day of such great weather on the weekend, time for an extended motorcycle run. First off, the bad news, even the suburbs are now refusing fuel to unregistered motorcycles. The fake plate have now become a necessity for getting fuel, until those eventually get replaced with legit plates by the end of the year.

The exploring was all done in the 'golden triangle' area betweeen the borders of 3 provinces: Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. This was actually the area where I used to live and work at a school which, I must admit, was the most unique year I've had in China. There is something intrepid about crossing provincial borders and to see the substantial differences that each province has to offer (and the other two do not offer)

As it turns out, mainly due to the EXPO, several modernized border checkpoints were added in the last two years along remote backgrounds. Two years ago, the checkpoints still existed, but they were ramshackle little boxes with 'zhi an' security guards that just sat there and didn't really venture out of the box.

Nowadays, those checkpoints along the backroads have all been replaced and built up with modern versions, security cameras, and run by the PSB (public security bureau). This basically matches the same kind of setup on the regular highways and expressways. Learning from mistakes the other week, I stopped well in advance of the actual checkpoint and observed what was going before ploughing ahead. Or actually turning around. Things didn't look good, in that cars and bikes alike were all being stopped, including thorough searches in the trunk, etc.

So it turns out the exploring mission was to find alternative routes to the alternative routes that would not have these kind of checks, and still allow two-way access between any two of Shanghai, Jiangsu, or Zhejiang provinces on a motorcycle.

Amazingly enough, the mission was a success! I'll have to map this out in detail using Google Earth or satellite maps and post it some day, but let's just say it's very complicated and involves detours of detours. Nonetheless, it is indeed possible. The chances of additional future police checkpoints on these newly discovered roads are very slim. The main reason is that the roads are already for bikes only (too small for cars), and they primarily function for peasants in the countryside to use on bicycles for their farming and housing. If the PSB set up blockades on those roads, it would create friction between them and the farmers, and the police would prefer to keep a calm atmosphere. Interestingly enough, that exact scenario happened two years ago. After an initial confrontation, the farmers ended up getting their road back.

There are several major advantages of having this kind of unfettered access between the three provinces. One is that the smaller cities in Zhejiang province are the best places to get brand spanking new motorcycles for cheap prices. The province itself is rather wealthy, and it has the least restrictions on bikes (relative to the other two provinces). Because of that, dealers are abundant, prices are cheap, and sales are brisk. One motorcycle shop in particular has upgrades that I'm eyeing for next year, with the ultimate challenging of trying to be squeaky clean legal. While chatting with the salesman, he's like, oh yeah, for sure, we can get a plate on the bike for you. How many times have I heard that line before. Nonetheless I'm researching options into what cross-provincial motorcycle registration is like. It's difficult of course, but not impossible.

All of this post and other like it, however, hinges on the logic of the Chinese 'hukou system'. This is a system of household registration that has been in place for decades and which many Chinese economists are calling outdated and in need of reform. A hukou is basically a registration of your residence, and the associated LIMITS and RESTRICTIONS that come with the particular area or district of where the residence is. It may seem like I'm harping a lot on the boundaries between cities and provinces in these posts, but this is the reality of the hukou system where you must be registered with the police in a particular jurisdiction in order to get anything substantial done in that jurisdiction.

Obviously, going between jurisdictions is a big deal and no easy feat, despite the outwards appearances of bullet trains that can whisk back and forth. As I'm learning, you need to get a temporary registration form of residence in another area before you can do anything substantial like register a bike.

On a more serious note, the realities of the hukou system were a matter of life and death during the cultural revolution when an urban vs a rural hukou meant getting enough food to eat or else starve. In those days, checkpoints were set up at city entrances (must like I've described here with provincial borders) and people with rural hukous were not allowed into the city. Also, city police would periodically round up people with a rural hukou and expel them out of the city, where they would then starve to death in the countryside.

There have been significant reforms this then, obviously, but there is a long way to go in terms of changes to the hukou system. Actually there is sharp debate among Chinese economists and politicians on this very issue. Those in favor of reform say it's good for the economy. Those opposed say that reforming the hukou system would mean even more migration to the cities and strains on resources, etc. Actually, Shanghai already has 25 million people and they say it can't any more

Reality tells us that the opponents are winning this debate, and the hukou system will be entrenched for years to come. Why else would be there be increased security and beefed up provincial border checkpoints constructed in the last 2-3 years all over the country?