Yunnanuni – Unicycling Yunnan, China
Post Tour Links
After such a unique journey there are of course plenty of websites with articles, interviews and videos about the trip. Here’s what we have so far:
An interview of Tony Melton live from China while on the tour.
Day 10 – Shaxi to Er Yuan – 46.5km
The final day of riding was the easiest of the trip – no climbs to do and only 46km of riding. After 15km we passed through the town of Shaping and found ourselves on a still incomplete 4 lane road that led all the way to Dali. On the sections still not open to traffic the unicyclists took over and enjoyed being the masters of the road. We arrived into Dali just after lunch. Spirits were high after 474km of a very unique 2 weeks of unicycling through China’s Yunnan Province. A trip that is, no doubt, ever going to be repeated.
Day 9 – Shigu to Shaxi – 105.5km
The longest day of riding of the tour presented a challenge to many riders who had never before ridden over 100km on a unicycle in one day. And to make things extra hard they also had to complete a 30km climb up to 3100m above sea level. After a full day of rain on the rest day in Shaxi we were all pleased to see that the rain had stopped and we had cool weather to start the day. But another barrier was potentially going to stop us. Apparently there had been landslides on the road ahead and we were not sure when we set out if it would be clear. So off we went to see what the day would present.
Day 8 – Rest Day in Shaxi
Day 7 – Shigu to Shaxi – 86.4km
For this the second longest day of the tour, the riders had to contend with a long section on the highway, some steep hill climbs, and rain in the second half of the day. It was something of a battle but most managed to complete the day under their own steam. The reward was a rest day in Shaxi, a beautiful little town once on the tea trading route that has been forgotten in time and thankfully fairly untouched my modern day Chinese tourism.
Day 6 – Tiger Leaping Gorge to Shigu – 68.5km
An incredibly spectacular morning of riding was provided to us today. The 21km ride to Qiaotou passing through the Gorge took us 2.5 hours because of the regular stops to capture the majesty of this place. While it is hard to capture the scale of the Gorge in photos hopefully I can give some idea of what it is like.
Day 5 – Rest Day in Tiger Leaping Gorge
Day 4 – Bai Shui Tai to Tiger Leaping Gorge – 68.9km
Describing this ride as spectacular does not do justice to how beautiful this day is. While riding into Tiger Leaping Gorge is without doubt a highlight just the ride to get there on any other day would make this a great day in the saddle. The road cut into steep sided mountains and the valleys far below are full of villages and patchwork farming. We found ourselves stopping regularly to peer over the edge to look down onto another world.
Day 3 – Jiu Long to Bai Shui Tai – 50.9km
After a mixed night of sleep and no wake up shower (our hosts do not have a shower) we devoured another delicious meal cooked by our hosts before setting off on a sunburn sunny day. It was another day of mountain climbing and descending with the biggest climb of 7.8km being ridden first thing in the morning. But to make up for this we had two descents of just over 14km each to take us back down the mountains. While this is great for those on a bicycle, unicyclists cannot coast and must pedal the whole way down while maintaining control. It is hard work.
Day 2 – Shangri La to Jiu Long – 47.3km
After a great breakfast at Olive Cafe in the old town the unicyclists finally set off on their adventure. The first day was short but challenging for the altitude – starting at 3300m, rising up to 3700m and then descending to 3300m for the overnight stay in Jiu Long.
Day 1 – Shangri La
After missed flights from head injuries and cancelled flights from Typhoon Muifa somehow everyone managed to make it to the hotel in Shangri La for the 6pm meeting. The tour was discussed, Adventure Unicyclist jerseys handed out and then a great meal with a range of yak dishes was enjoyed (we’ll be seeing a whole lot of yaks on tomorrows ride). It was early to bed in preparation for the long anticipated first ride in China.
Prelude
Every year I have the privilege of taking a group of adventurous souls on an utterly unique undertaking that is rare in this world of everyone doing the same thing. A unicycling tour is not what you expect. They don’t dress up as clowns, juggle or perform in a circus. The people who take part in these trips ride up to 100 kilometres a day over all manner of terrain, the more remote and unusual the better. They are intrepid adventures in a new world of travel.
Over the last few years through my company Grasshopper Adventures, we have run unicycling trips to Laos, Vietnam, India and Mongolia. Starting on 8 August we will be riding through the mountains of northern Yunnan Province in China. When internet access allows it I will provide updates on this page and share with you some of the moments of a long distance unicycling tour. You won’t believe what you see…
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