6 Days Yunnan Cycling Tour from Kunming to Yuxi, Puer and XishuangBanna
Brief Program:
Day 1: Huandian Road Arrival (Cycling around Dianchi Lake and arrive in Ershan County via Yuxi City)
Day 2：Yuanjiang—The City of the Sun
Day 3：Mojiang—The City of the Tropic
Day 4：Mohei—The Salt Capital of Southern Yunnan
Day 5：Nakeli—Tea-Horse Ancient station
Day 6: Jinghong—The City of dawn
Details of the Cycling Itinerary
Day 1：Kunming – Eshan
Route 1：Kunming（89km to Yuxi）（westward）→Xishan District （Majie Town）（west by South）→Majie（southward along the lake）9km→Biji Town（southward along the lake）15km→ Guanyin Mountain（southward）7km→Jinning District（Kunyang Town）（southward）30km→Beicheng Town（southward）9km→Yuxi（30km to Eshan）（South by west）5km→Gaocang 10km→Yanhe Town 5km→Nanchang 6km→Jinping 4km→Eshan
Route 2：Yuxi（west by South）17km→Luohe（southward）17km→Eshan
Total distance: 140KM
Road conditions: The part of Huanhu Road before Kunyang is good while the part near Citongguan is the poorest.
Day 2: Eshan – Yuanjiang
Eshan（South by west）35km→Huanian Town 25km→Yangwu Town 35km→Qinglongchang Town 34km→Yuanjiang
Road Conditions: Both good and bad. Many upslopes. The worst: the vicinity of the steel and iron Works in Yangwu Town.
The destination of cycling on the 2nd Day—Yuanjiang Hani, Yi and Dai Autonomous County
Yuanjiang(元江) Hani, Yi and Dai Autonomous County, a marvelous and beautiful place, is at the foot of the mysterious Ailao Mountain in Yunnan Province which had been reputed as “the south of colorful clouds, the headstream of thousands green “. It gets its name because it is located in the upper and middle Yuanjiang River of Hong River basin of the south central Yunnan Province. The county—Yuanjiang，is seated in the both sides of Yuanjiang River and the junction of No.213 National Highway, No.323 National Highway and Honghe economic trunk line, so it is the only land way to South Asia and Southeast Asia. 210km far away from Kunming, the county is the nearest hotspot to the provincial capital. Covering 6 villages, 4 towns and 3 farms (exclusive of provincial Yuanjiang Farm), this multi-national harmonious autonomous county mainly consists of the Hani, the Yi and the Dai, with a total area of 2858 sq.km.
Yuanjiang, which was known as “The Great Town of Southern Yunnan” in the past and is renowned as “Natural Greenhouse” and “The Pearl of Ailao” now , and it is rich in natural resources and graceful scenes. In ancient, it belongs to the Southwestern land. It was called Huilongdian（惠笼甸）in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, Luopandian（罗盘甸）in the period of Kingdom Shu of Han, Butou（步头） in Sui and Tang Dynasties, Yinyuanbu（因远部） in the period of Song Dali（宋大理）, Luopanbu（罗盘部） from Ming to Yuan Dynasty and Yuanjiangfu（元江府） in 1625. In 1932, the Republic of China changed its name into Yuanjiang County. In 1979, the State Council approved the establishment of Autonomous County. On November 22, 1980, Yuanjiang Hani, Yi and Dai Autonomous County was finally founded.
Day 3 Yuanjing – Mojiang
Yuanjing（southward）45km→Yinyuan Town（westward）30km→Mojiang（west by south）40km→Tongguan Town
Total distance: 80KM
Road conditions: The roads are good to ride but most of them are upslopes. The altitude rises o lot. The scenery is beautiful but there is little place to supply drinking water. It is most tiring today although the cycling distance is shortest.
The destination of cycling on the 3rd Day—Mojiang
Mojiang（墨江）, a mysterious and beautiful place, is the only Hani Autonomous County throughout the country. It was known as “The City of the Sun”（太阳之城） and “The City of the Tropic”（回归之城）. Besides, Twins Festival, the wonder that there is no shadow when setting up a pole（立竿不见影）and purple rice are its symbols.
Mojiang is situated in the south of Yunnan and to the east of Simao（思茅市）. Its east is connected to Yuanjiang（元江）, Honghe（红河）, Lvchun（绿春）, its south is connected to Jiangcheng（江城）and its west is adjacent to Pu’er（普洱）. The sun directly glares on the Tropic of Cancer at every year’s summer solstice, June 21 to 23, which produces several unique landscapes, one of which is that there is no shadow when setting up a pole（立竿不见影）. Therefore, Mojiang is called as“The place where the sun turns round” and the county is praised as “The City of the Tropic”.
Day 4: Mojiang – Mohei
Tongguan（west by south）23km →Babian（westward and then south by east）58km →Mohei （southwestward）40km →Pu’er
Toatal distance:125KM
Road conditions: After 10km out of the county, the road conditions become good and the weather gets better. Upslopes and downhills appear.
The destination of cycling on the 4th Day—Mohei
Mohei（磨黑镇）in Yunnan has long been honored as “The Salt Capital of Southern Yunnan”, “The Hometown of beauty”, “the Tea-Horse Ancient Town” and “the Old Revolutionary Base Areas”. Mohei is a fertile land with elegant landscapes and propitious for giving birth to numerous great men, such as famous film artist Yang Likun（杨丽坤） and national model hero Zhang Peiying（张培英）.
Day 5: Mohei – Puwen
Pu’er 58km（southward）→Simao（southward）7km→Nanping（southward）8km→Manxieba（south by east）10km→Nandaohe（south by east）20km→Puwen
Total distance:120KM
Road conditions: Good in total. Especially the Tea-Horse Ancient Station is well worth visiting.
The destination of cycling on the 5th Day Mohei—Puwen（普文）
Two important places will be passed through—Nakeli （那柯里）and Pu’er.（普洱）
Nakeli（那柯里）is not only a important courier station on the Tea-Horse Ancient Road in ancient Pu’erfu, but also the birthplace of Caravan Love Song （马帮情歌） which is very famous in CCTV（China Central Television）. It is located in the south of Ning’er （宁洱县）, 25km far away from downtown, which is very convenient. With 66 peasant families, Nakeli lies by hills and waters, and two rivers circle around it. What a fairly good ecological environment! Its long history, profound tea culture and ancient road culture can be seen from some historical relics such as the relics of Tea-Horse Ancient Road, a county level culture relics protection place, century-old Rongfa Inn, used barn lantern and water-drinking stone cistern, so that many explorers from different countries have paid a visit here such as America, Japan, HongKong etc.
Nakeli（那柯里）, formerly called Makuli （马哭里）. It is said that the caravans should lodge overnight at Rongfa Inn there such as those who are going to do business from Kongqueping（孔雀坪） or go from Simao（思茅） to Beijing through the government-financed road. The caravans in or out should wade across the river in front of the Inn. The tired or sleepy horses all weep sadly when they touch the cool water, so it was called “Makuli” (it means that the place where horses weep in Chinese)（马哭里）. Ma Guotou（the leader of the caravan）（马锅头） valued horses as his life and he petitioned for a 20-meter-long wind-rain bridge with 5 arches. The officials authorized it and from then on, the name Makuli（马哭里）changed into Nakeli（那柯里）.
Nakeli is the origin and distribution center of Pu’er tea. The ancestors creatively made a bond to communicate with the outside world trade—Tea-Horse Ancient Road. Horses were the main means of transportation and private commercial activities were developed on the rugged road. From Tang Dynasty on, ancient Pu’erfu that is Ning’er, became an important town with numerous merchants and caravans because of the hot sell of Pu’er tea and Mohei salt. The development of Tea-Horse Ancient Road brought the prosperity of tea industry and the caravan became a passer to promote the fame of Pu’er tea. The natural scenery, local customs and cultural differences along the road all formed a unique China tourist golden route. Nakeli, is just a pearl in this golden route.
Day 6: Puwen – Jinghong
Puwen（southward）31km→Dadugang（southward）24km→:Guanping（southward）28km→Mengyang Town（southward and then west by south）37km→Jinghong.
Total distance:118km
Road conditions: The weather is cool in the morning while hot in the afternoon without rain. The vegetation is well-protected. The scenery is very beautiful in this season.
The destination of cycling on the 6th Day—Jinghong
Jinghong（景洪）, the resident of the government of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, in Dai language means “The city of dawn”（黎明之城）. In ancient, it was called “Mengle”（勐泐） and “Jinglong” （景陇）and its former names were “Cheli”（彻里）and “Cheli”（车里）. In all ages, it has long been the political, cultural and education center of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and nowadays it is where the government of Autonomous Prefecture is located.
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