Day 1 Kunming - Capital City of Yunnan

Arrive in Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan Province. The city of eternal spring. Met by Ride China staff and taken to your centrally located hotel. Welcome dinner. 

Day 2 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 Jjianshui 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 3 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 4 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 5 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 6 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 7 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 8 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 9 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 10 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 11 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 12 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, we then have a farewell dinner to celebrate our adventure. (Ride 460KM) 

Day 13 Kunming onward 

Trip ends after breakfast.

Nov. 11 (Monday) - Nov. 21 (Thursday) 2024

Mar. 17 (Monday) - Mar. 29 (Thursday) 2025

Nov. 10 (Monday) - Nov. 21 (Thursday) 2025

BMW 1200GS: add $1200/bike

Pillion Rider: $1500/person

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INCLUDED IN THE TOUR PRICE:

--All breakfasts and dinners

--Motorcycle (Tail box and pannier boxes)

--Fuel for motorcycles

--All overnights in hotels twin sharing 

--Third party liability insurance

--Entry fee to parks, historical sites

--Tour guide on motorcycle

--Support Vehicle ( +6 participants)

SERVICES NOT INCLUDED:

--Lunches and bottled drinks

--All services not mentioned

--Tipping or gratuities to guides

--Mandatory Intl. travel insurance

--Excursions other than those specified

--Extra cost if  tour is delayed or changed

"Thanks for a fantastic motorcycle adventure, Elliot and I enjoyed it very much, looking forward to coming back again" 

Scott Wood-Australia

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"It was great to see the most beautiful parts of China by motorbikes, we totally enjoyed it" 

Fredrick-Sweden

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"Un beau voyage pour une dcouverte de la Chine moderne. Entre Yunnan et contreforts du Tibet."

Christopher - France

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"Stunning scenery, friendly people, great guide --Yunnan is fantastic but even better when enjoyed by motorcycle. I've ridden motorcycles through dozens of countries on five continents and southwestern China ranks as one of the best trips I've done. A riding buddy and I worked with Jah to develop a custom 10-day tour that mixed twisty roads, intriguing towns and villages, cultural sites and…"

Ron - Canada

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Mark - UK

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""WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND JAH AND RIDECHINA AND LOOK FORWARD TO RIDING WITH THEM AGAIN. We rode BMW 650s through the picturesque countryside of Yunnan through the cultural towns of Dali, Lijiang, and Shaxi to Tiger Leaping Gorge in the Himalayan foothills."

Peg & Chad - USA