Regions & Itineraries
China is very diverse in topography, with many mountain ranges, highlands, and deserts in center and the far west, plains, deltas, and hills dominate the east, evokes the sense of adventurous to cross China's width and variations by four-wheel-drive or motor bike expeditions.
Bounding countries on South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia, China has many seaports along its long coastline and border ports in directions of the land, neighboring with Nepal, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Laos, and Vietnam ect. Such geographical advantage makes drivingor shipping own vehicle into and out of China is possible, also unfolds the various landscapes via different routes to travellers entering China through any place.
With long experiences on overland tours, our design for routes of 4×4 driving and motor riding differs from vehicle's type, capacity and road conditions, but the main routes will be more or less similarly. The following will be some of the sample itineraries that we've done in the past, or the popular ones, and the customized tour based on personal interests is our experts and will be always pleasured to tailor-made for you.
Sample Cases that We've Done in the Past
Netherland Caravan Tour group: Organized by Netherland travel agent, drive 22 days with 2 caravans and 25 persons started from Amsterdam to China by crossing Europe-Asian Continent and enter into the Chinese boundary at Hor in Xinjiang Province, pass through Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Shannxi, Henan, Shanxi and Hebei and finally arrive Beijing.
China Self-Driving tour group, organized by ORV Magazine &Landcruiser Adventures Co. Ltd, from Munich, Germany. It is a big tour with 27 landcruisers and 4 Tatras shipped from Germany and 52 persons, landed in Shanghai, passing by Jiangsu, Hubei, Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Shannxi, Henan, Hebei and exit at Tianjin, totally 53 days.
Sample Itineraries for Self-Drive tour with own vehicle
Laos to Tibet
Entering China at Mohan of China-Laos border and exiting at Zhangmu of China-Nepal border, or vice versa. The adventure is overall travelling in a northerly direction, passes through China's southwest of Yunnan, eastern Tibet and Tibet TAR, along ancient Tea-Horse route and the essence of NO. 318 National Highway, the China's longest highway that offer both flat tar road and changelingzigzag off-road to traverse. Scenes change dramatically during the overland tour, you can sweat in the tropics and freeze in the Himalayas as the altitude gradually climbs up from 1500m to over 5,000m above the sea level. Green forests,steamy jungles, fertile plains, deep gorges, verdant grasslands, towering snow peaksperfectly squeeze in the trip. Many minority tribes (Dai, Bai, Naxi and Tibetan) live in the region for centuries, brimming with natural and cultural landscapes.
Kazakshtan to Mongolia
Once you arrived at Kashgar from Kazakshtan, one of major Silk Road hubs, you are leaving Uighur's heartland and entering the majestic Tibetan highlands with the new paved highway. The 'Roof of the World' is a stunningly beautiful high plateau of turquoise lakes, desert valleys and Himalayan peaks, dotted with monasteries, yaks and scared Buddhist sites. The road after Lhasa then leads up to northern Tibet grasslands, paralleling with the Qinghai-Tibet railway, nomads are commonly seen along the drive. Straddling China's two highlands of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Mongolian Plateau, the overland tour heads out north to Inner Mongolia, crosses the vast Gobi and deserts, passes alongside remnants of the ancient Great Wall till the Mongols yurts and epic prairie appearance. The tour immerses you an entrancingly experience with rich cultural and geographic diversity, as well as the myths and legends.
Beijing to Kashgar
Ships your own vehicles to the port near Beijing, and starts the overland tour from the imperial of China to the westernmost frontier of Kashgar along the historical caravans of Silk Road. The tour crosses the epic vastness of China, accesses the mighty northwestern Uighur province of wild Xinjiang, undertakes country's contrasts, the rapidly developing metropolises including Capital of Beijing, whilst the raw landscapes of stark mountains and harsh deserts. The Silk Road, stretches your tour as the vital routes, offers the glance for such two different perspectives, as well as many cultural relics of Buddhist statues, rock carvings, beacon towers, forts, chunks of the Great Wall and ancient trading towns that left by the constant flow of commerce for over millennia, it's worthwhile to evoke how the traders took the adventure thousand years ago.
Sample Itineraries for overland tour with Chinese rented vehicle
Sichuan-Tibet Highways
The overland tour through western Sichuan to eastern Tibet and continue ahead to Tibet TAR, along the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, one of the world's most challenging roads. There are two main routes of Sichuan-Tibet Highway, both set Chengdu as the gateway, the southern route goes from Kangding to Bomda, passes the stunning scenery; the northern route with 2,640m in length, is longer than the southern route, extends from Kangding to Chamdo via Dege and Ganzi. Then the two routes combine the one road heading to Lhasa. On the route, you will drive across Hengduan Mountain range, with climbing totallynineteen snow-capped peaks over 4,200m above the sea level. Many grand canyons set amidst the huge mountains. Roads have been improved recent years, although portions of twisting dirt roads on rugged terrains still leave for adventurous expeditions.
Yunnan-Tibet Highway
Yunnan-Tibet overland tour could be started either at Lijiang or Shangri-La. It goes ahead till Bomda and connects Sichuan-Tibet Highway till Lhasa of Tibet. It passes the fabulous China's 'Three Rivers Parallel' regions, that Jinshajiang River (Upper of Yangtze), Mekong River and Nujiang River flow the region disjoint that the raw landscapes and botanic wonders could be found. The road was part of Tea-Horse trading route in the history, many ancient outpost towns are reserved and people have lived for century-old. The multiple ethnic cultures and languages merge and overlap in the region, blending the exotic taste of the tour.
Yunnan-Sichuan Overland
This is a loop tour within territories in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, covering the colorful minority tribes regions of Khampa Tibetan, Naxi, matriarchal Mosuo and Yi. Start the overland in Chengdu and travel through wild and uncharted Tibetan areas of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. The road becomes rougher after getting into the mountainous regions, while the scenery is breathtaking for snow-capped peaks and verdant grasslands. Moving across lush forests, what James Hilton described the extraordinary land of 'Shangri-la' comes out as the road get flat. Explore the Tea-Horse outpost town of Lijiang, the tough trail heads out to turquoiselake of Lugu where the world's last practising matriarchal cultures of aboriginal Mosuo is found. Take the westward road to Yi dominated region of Xichang and then ends the tour in Chengdu.
