Day 1  Kunming

Day 2  Kunming  - Capital City of Yunnan

Day 3  Southern Yunnan sub tropical 

Pick up from your hotel and transfer to our garage, we will do bike fitting and organize your luggage. You may leave the unused to our garage. Ride southward to Jianshui, the ancient Chinese cultural city full of gardens, old houses and water wells. We check in the hotel and We ride out of Jianshui and visit a nice old village at Tuanshan, beautiful gardens and old houses featuring precious wood carvings of doors, window panes. We then follow the rider to an architecture wonder of the Twin Dragon Bridge of 17 arches. visit a private garden belong to the Zhu Family. Tonight you may walk around the town and join the locals at the Chao Yang Men City Gate which was built earlier than Tiananmen in Beijing. (Ride 220KM) 

Day 4  World Heritage Site - Hani Terraces  

Shortly we will be riding to the valley of the Red River - our first big river on this tour, which flows to Vietnam. We climb up again to the mountain town at Yuanyang - a most delightful vicinity populated by the Yi, Tai, Miao, Hani and several other minority groups. It is the right season to watch the terraced fields and people working in the fields with their buffalos. With their resilience and diligence, Hani and Yi ethnic people created wonders both practical and exhilaratingly beautiful to behold. (Ride 175KM) 

Day 5  Hani Fields and the Red River 

Yuanyang terraced fields is the world heritage site where crop is grown on steps carved into slopes and together with the clouds enveloping the mid-mountains, the landscape is transformed into a remarkable work of art. You will ride from villages to villages passing the largest terraced fields and meet Hani and Yi Minorities. (Ride 265KM)  

Day 6  Pu’er Tea Plantation

Ride westwards to Jing Dong, we travel to the tea plantation area of Yunnan. Some of best and most expensive tea is from this region and would be carried all the way to Tibet as far as to Nepal and India, therefore the Tea Horse Caravan Route was created. (Ride 321KM) 

Day 7  Dali Cultural City 

We ride our way northwards over the modern version of the Ancient Tea-Horse Road to Dali, Yunnan Province’s 2nd most important city and also one of China’s most historic city. We shall be riding through tea plantations and make a stop to visit an ancient city gate. We shall arrive in Dali, the Kingdom of Dali in late afternoon (Ride 380KM) 

Day 8  Dali Rest Day 

We shall have a rest day to explore Dali old city and nearby markets, temples…Dali was the cultural and economic crossroad north to Tibet and south to Myanmar. Today it is the most wanted holiday destination of China. Dali was once the capital of Yunnan and this historic walled city is well preserved. We lodge in the Old Quarter tonight. There is ample time to wander around the streets and explore this atmospheric town. The Three Pagodas, the land mark of Dali or the Cangshan Mountain chair lift walk are suggested. There are plenty of things to see and local cuisines to sample. (Ride 0KM) 

Day 9  Dali to Lijiang World Heritage 

Back to the saddles, We ride alone the Erhai lake and climb up to Lijiang. Check in the hotel inside the old town of Lijiang, we then explore this UNESCO world heritage site. It is the top holiday destination of China. Lijiang's charming Old Town is a maze of cobbled streets, canals, and stone bridges that date from the Ming Dynasty. You are free to explore this ancient city at your leisure. Lijiang is a shop till you drop type place and all sorts of interesting items are for sale. Tonight you may join the locals in the lively bars and feel free to get lost in the cobble stone streets of the town. (180km) 

Day 10  Tiger Leaping Gorge 

Ride out of Lijiang, we drop to the Yangtse River, also named " Jin Sha Jiang" in Chinese- the gold sand river. We will ride a fantastic road follows a contour line along the third-deepest gorge in the world. Tiger Leaping Gorge is formed by the fierce and young (at this point) Yangtze River, which slices a path through towering, snow-clad mountains. By now we have met our second big river on this tour. Impossible not to jump off of your bike every few minutes to snap a few pics. This could be the #1 road in Asia for sure. Passing ethnic villages to Shangri_la, the gateway to Tibet. There will be many photo stops during the day as we ride from the gorge to the high plateau. (Ride 275KM) 

Day 11  Scenic Himalaya foothills 

Ride to Deqin county, the border town to Tibet. We travel north to 4290m white horse pass, the highest point of the tour. You will see the White Horse Mountain (5693m), and the Kawa Karpo Mountain(6740m), the foot hills of the Himalayas and the highest unclimbed mountain in the world. We spend time riding towards the Tibet border and turn south to Mekong river gorge. We now meet our third big river on this tour. Night stay in a small village where a lovely church was built in 1900 by the French missionaries. (Ride 230KM) 

Day 12  Mekong Gorge to Shaxi Tea Horse Post

We will start a scenic riding day as we travel south on the east bank of the Mekong river, also named Lan Cang Jiang in Chinese.. Ride to Shaxi actually takes you back to old China's tea horse caravan trading town. It is now listed on UNESCO World Heritage sites. Walk the cobble stone square market and stone bridge of Shaxi. (Ride 300KM) 

Day 13  Shaxi to Kunming 

Ride back to Kunming with some scenic highway stops, drop off the bikes and get your luggage organized...Check in the hotel in Kunming. (Ride 460KM) 

Day 14  Kunming onward 

Trip ends after breakfast.

Best months for this tour

March to April, October to early December

$2580/rider on KOVE 525X

$2780/rider on KOVE 625X

$2880/rider on KOVE 800X/CFmoto 800X

If you have a Pillion Rider with you, you should book the same guided trip.

-------------------------------------

INCLUDED IN THE TOUR PRICE:

--Airport-Hotel-Garage transfers

--China driving license

--Motorcycle (Three boxes, phone holder, USB)

--Pre paid excellent hotels private own room

--Buffet Breakfasts each day

--Third party liability insurance

--Travel insuracnce

--Pre departure fact sheet

--Electronic Road Book (Waypoints and notes)

--RideChina office support

--Rescure if needed at extra cost

--RideChina T-shirt

SERVICES NOT INCLUDED:

--Anything else that is not listed in "Included ..."

--Mandatory Intl. travel insurance

--Bike damage deposit (=2000USD/EURO/AUS/bike)

--Your own riding gears (We don't rent gears)

--New helmet at 50USD (if you don't bring yours)

                                 KOVE525X

                                KOVE625X

Hello, I’m Warren, writer and photographer of Motorcycle Paradise, a totally free and independent website about motorcycle travel. There is no sponsored content here. I’m not selling anything. I finance all my rides and gear myself. 

https://motorcycleparadise.net/2024/11/china-motorcycle-ride.html

Another great trip orgnized by RideChina, bikes were flawless, trip went very well, self - guided with Electronic Road Book provided by Ride China with trip notes of Fuel stops, view points, cafes, restaurants ( off course you can have many choices here in China) and hotels near old towns and activities.  

Definately a great company to recommend !

Bevan and Paul ( Returned Customer )