Day 1 Kunming - Capital City Yunnan
Arrive in Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan Province. The city of eternal spring. Met byActiveChina staff and taken to your centrally located hotel. Welcome dinner.
Day 2 Baoshan to Salween River
Morning flight to Baoshan (flight is included),meet your E-bikesand support team. We shall do bike fitting and test rides.We ride north to Salween river, the first big river we would meet on this trip, The Salween starts her way high up from the Tibetan Plateau, runs to Myanmar and finally joins the Andaman Sea. We ride along the Salween and see minority villages not seen by foreigners. We reach tonight's town by the Salween.
(Ride 140km)
Day 3 Salween - Eastern Gorge
We ride further north alone the Burmese border to Fugong . We will stop at the Stone Moon view point and possibly try a rope bridge sliding tour. Salween is the longest free flowing river in the world ( Un damed).
(Ride 136km)
Day 4 Grand Eastern Gorge
We continue our ride in the deep gorge.The region is also home of many ethnic groups such as Nu, Lisu, Bai, Pumi, Dulong. This is a rare chance to discover the hidden life of these minority groups. The Salween is tucked between Mt. Biluoxue and Mt. Gaolingong, named as the Grand Eastern Gorge. We reach Gonshan for overnight.
(Ride 112km)
Day 5 Tibet Border
You'll ride through the lush valleys following the river upstream. This route is known as the most scenic in the region. This the ancient tea horse caravan trail that goes to Tibet. We will see the great bend of the Salween River. We will visit a Catholic church was built here 100 years ago.
Ride 80km or 50km or 0km
Day 6 Salween to Mekong
We ride cross the Salween bridge and start our real adventure riding across the Biluoxue Mountain. We climb high up to 3900m peacock pass on a newly blazed road. We rode across the watershed of two big rivers to Mekong River( Ch. Lan Cang Jiang River). A big achievement of the road construction which links the Salween and Mekong for the first time. We meet our second big river on this tour, the Mekong. Also a big achievement for the riders ! We ride north along the Mekong River to Deqin, hard on the Tibetan-Chinese border. Diqen sits at 3400 meters and is surrounded by snow capped, glaciated mountains. The scenery in this town, wherever one looks, is stunning. North we ride up the raw Mekong River gorge through an otherworldly landscape of raging wild rivers, near vertical cliffs, and towering, snow topped peaks that soar to over 5000 meters as we climb onto the Himalayan plateau proper. We ride to the foot of Kawakarpo, the highest unclimbed mountain in the world at 6,740 meters. Buddhists from all over Tibet pay homage to Kawakarpo to begin a 240 km. pilgrimage around its base. For some it takes months to complete, because step by step by step they completely prostrate themselves on the ground. We spend a night in the small town facing this scared mountain. (Yunling 130km, feilaisi 164km)
Day 7 Mt. Kawagebo Rest Day
We will not ride today ! You may choose to chill out in the hotel with a panorama view of Mt. Kawagebo or join a day hike that is arranged today to the magnificent Mingyong Glacier. We take the electric cart to the glacier park. We will hike up to the beautiful Ming Yong Glacier. Return to Feilaisi for the night.
Day 8 Kawagebo to Yangtse River
We will be seeing sun rise above this holy mountain this morning. We turn south to Benzilan. The ride to Benzilan takes us through some of the most stunning scenery on this tour. We hit our highest elevation point on the tour the white horse pass - just shy of 4,300 meters. We stop for visit to a well hidden Tibetan Lamasery and drop down to a valley where we meet our second big river, the Yangtse. We spend a night in this lovely little town by the Yangtse.
(Ride 90km)
Day 9 Shangri_la
We ride to Shangri_la, even the name sounds exotic. Its named after James Hilton’s novel “ Lost Horizon” Shangri_la has both yaks grazing in the high mountain pastures and modern hotels. Houses are built in the traditional Tibetan style, and the cuisine is decidedly different. Yak steak with barley bread and Yak butter tea anyone. A dozen different ethnic minorities wearing their traditional clothing can be seen on the streets of Shangri-La, sprinkled throughout with saffron robed monks of the Mahayana Buddhist sect. Then an afternoon walk through the old quarters will easily fill up the remainder of that day. At night there is always something going on in the Old Quarter’s town square lined with antique stores and shops of all kinds. We found some great restaurants around town that we promise to share with everyone.
(Ride 80km)
Day 10 Tiger Leaping Gorge
We will ride aback road through forest and some nice villages. Thisfantastic 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 third 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.
(Ride 167KM)
Day 11 Lijiang UNESCO World Heritage
We ride over the Jade Dragon Mountain pass to Lijing, our destination tonight, it is the most popular UNESCO World Heritage Site we visit. It is the most popular tourist destination in China, even surpassing Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden Palace. A real party atmosphere permeates Lijiang and it is a great place to meet and mix with the local population. 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.
(Ride103km)
Day 12 Lijiang
Trip ends after breakfast