You're confusing a couple things... It's not about what
is, it's about what can you afford, and what can you legally register. I currently have a WR450 for trail riding and a KTM1190 for Adventure riding. If I were living in China again, I would buy both of those and be happy, because they're both available in China if you have the economic resources.
Nobody ever
wanted to buy a JH600. It's a completely underpowered, heavy piece of shit. But they're 100% legal, and get the job done, so it's a great option for some people. Everything is a compromise in ADV. You either get heavy, lose power, or spend a ton of money modifying to create a great adventure bike. But you're missing the point. It's not the bike, it's the adventure. I owned about 20 bikes when I lived in China. 4 were imports, the rest were Chinese. I had a ton of fun with all of them.
Your question should be, what is the best ADV bike for ¥¥¥¥ price range.
In 2007, my V-Strom was the best ADV I could buy. ¥60,000 Purchase Price + ¥28,000 Import Fee + ¥11,000 registration = Total ¥99,000 . Then I spent another USD$1500.00 doing all the things you need to do to a V-Strom to make it a proper ADV machine. (Current owner is
selling it here on MCM)
In 2010
I built a nice ADV bike out of Galaxy XTR250. I think I spent around ¥16,000 on that project. The most expensive thing was the imported D.I.D. chain I bought in HK, which was probably ¥800. That bike was super light (125KG), 15 liter fuel tank, totally legal etc.
Let's say you find a good deal on a DRZ400. Can you afford an imported bike? Everything you buy for it is going to be expensive. Even tires can easily set you back ¥1,500. If you have a problem during a trip, good luck finding parts in the middle of China for a DRZ400.
Everything in China is a compromise, focus on the adventure, not the vehicle.