Happy year of the Rabbit all!

Thanks so much for such detailed responses.....I read most but still going through them all (as I'm going through each carefully and googling more on what I'm unfamiliar with (photos, bike models that you mention, etc). Thank you, thank you.

The JH600 looks awesome! It was never a thought to ship or ride a sportbike for this trip. Dual sport, upright and rugged is what we seek.

The route Szu-Ting's amazing mind came up and suggested a few weeks ago was to start south in Yunnan; linking two trade routes (link at the end of my message of the google map) I think it's going to be amazing.....I've traveled a lot in the east and southeast (not by bike) but my greatest desire was to see more of China's west - as does Szu-Ting. We are both outdoors people and shy away from the big cities if we can. Also, we'll be able to visit and experience some of the ethnic minorities' lifestyles out this way. Can't quite contain my excitement as my colleague brought my gear to me the other day here in Singapore, although we don't plan on riding until May.

I was told I could pick up China road maps in Hong Kong when I'm there in a few days? Does anyone else have experience with picking up a good map before actually setting foot in the country? Do they have suggestions on what was the best map? Or do some use GPS? Interested in hearing the experiences. But can also do a search on the forum. *sorry*

Reading each and every posting (chuckling here and there... :) ...it's a lot...but a lot of good stuff! Hope to meet some of you along our way!

Cheers!

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...06&ie=UTF8&z=4