General

The best destinations of Yunnan: Kungming-Dali -Lijiang-Shangri-La;

Discover the natural beauty of Yunnan: Stone Forest, Erhai Lake, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Tiger Leaping Gorge, Napahai Lake;

Explore the ethnic groups in Yunnan: Yi, Bai, Naxi, Tibetan, etc;

Enjoy the real life of local people in the ancient towns and villages: Dali Old Town, Zhoucheng Village, Xizhou Old Town, Lijiang Old Town, Baisha Old Town, Dukezong Old Town, Tibetan villages.

Day 1 Arrive in Kunming

Sightseeing and Activities:Arrive in Kunming

You'll begin your journey to the diverse and captivating province of Yunnan from the capital city, Kunming. Upon arrival at the Kunming International Airport, meet your local guide and transfer to the hotel.

Day 2 Kunming( B , L )

Sightseeing and Activities:Stone Forest, Flowers and Birds Market

You will drive 86 km to the Stone Forest. An old local saying says that 'If you have visited Kunming without seeing the Stone Forest, you have wasted your time.' Truly, the Stone Forest is one of the most important attractions of Yunnan.

After lunch, drive back Kunming to visit the Flowers and Birds Market.

Day 3 Kunming-Dali by Bullet Train( B , L )

Sightseeing and Activities:Three Pagodas, Erhai Lake by the small boat,Dali Old Town,Foreigner's Street, ancient city wall

Get up in the early morning. Transfer to train station. Take a bullet train from Kunming to Dali.

Arrive at Dali train station. Meet your local guide in Dali. Then visit Three Pagodas in Chongshen Monastery which has a history of over 1,800 years located at the foot of Cangshan Mountain facing to the Erhai Lake. Three Pagodas are made of three ancient independent pagodas forming a symmetrical triangle.

Then you’ll cruise in Erhai Lake by the small boat to the Jinsuo Islet in the east Erhai Lake. There are 200 Bai ethnic families around 1000 people in Jinsuo Island.In Erhai Lake cruise, you will enjoy the green Cangshan Mountain and the Three Pagodas from a far as well as lots of birds and seagulls flying over the lake.

In the late afternoon, take a walk in Dali Old Town. Visit Foreigner's Street, ancient city wall.

Day 4 Dali-Lijiang( B , L )

Sightseeing and Activities:Xizhou Town, Zhoucheng Village, Lijiang Old Town

In the morning, head for Xizhou Town to fully appreciate Bai-style traditional architectural courtyards, taste their fragrant Three-Course Tea and explore their distinctive culture.

Transfer to visit Zhoucheng Village and the Bai people's Tie-dying cloth workshop where you can take some special souvenir with the Bai ethnic style.

After lunch, drive to Lijiang. You will be relaxed around Lijiang Old Town, a well-preserved old city of ethnic minorities with brilliant culture, is a central town of the Lijiang Autonomous County of the Naxi Ethnic Minority in Yunnan Province. Located on the plateau which is 2,400 meters above the sea level and embraced by the tree-covered Lion Mountain in the west, Elephant and Golden Row Mountains in the north, vast fertile fields in the southeast and crystal clear water running through, the old town looks like a big jade ink slab, therefore got the alias the Town of Big Ink Slab (Dayanzhen).

Day 5 Lijiang( B , L )

Sightseeing and Activities:Ganhaizi Meadow, Baishuihe River,Jade Dragon Snow Mountain,Spruce meadow, Blue Moon Valley, Impression Lijiang Ethnic Show, Baisha Old Town, Baisha Murals

Drive about 30KM to Ganhaizi Meadow(3100M), you will take the sightseeig bus for a short visiting through the Baishuihe River, take the chairlift up to visit the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Take cable car to visit Spruce meadow. Then take a battery cart to Blue Moon Valley.

After lunch, you will enjoy the Impression Lijiang Ethnic Show directed by Zhang Yimou. It is held in Ganhazi Meadow about 3100M above the sea level.

And then, you can stroll through Baisha Old Town, which is an enchanting traditional Naxi style old town. Visit the Baisha Murals about 600 years old, which is one part of the World Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO 1997.

Day 6 Lijiang-100KM-Tiger Leaping Gorge-100KM-Shangri-la ( B , L )

Sightseeing and Activities:First Bend on the Yangtze River , Iron Chain Bridge , Red Army's Long March Memorial Monument , Tiger Leaping Gorge, Dukezong Ancient Town, Guishan Hill

From Lijiang, you'll drive about 60KM to the First Bend on the Yangtze River with imposing gorge scenery, visit the Iron Chain Bridge ,the Red Army's Long March Memorial Monument in the Shigu Old Town. The town of Stone Drum got its name from a large, cylindrical, marble tablet shaped like a drum. The scenery is magnificent as the road running through the Lijiang valley which is filled with wheat fields and drying haystacks.

Visit the Tiger Leaping Gorge, the deepest gorge in the world. With 34 rapids of the Yangtze River, it is called the Jinsha in this area because you can find gold in the river.

Then you will have entered the Tibetan cultural area and a landscape of barley fields and yaks scattered in the valleys. Walk around Dukezong Ancient Town, an important town of the Ancient Tea-horse Trade Caravan from Yunnan to Tibet and India. Walk up to the top of Guishan Hill or tortoise Hill, you will see the largest Prayer Wheel of the world and have a panoramic view of shangrila county and Dukezong Ancient Town.

Day 7 Shangri-la( B , L )

Sightseeing and Activities:Songzanlin Monastery,Tibetan Family, Shudu Lake in Pudacuo National Park

Today, visit the Songzanlin Monastery, the largest Tibetan monastery in Yunnan. Songzanlin Monastery has another alias - 'the little Potala Palace ', so named because the whole monastery is in the traditional style with mysterious atmosphere.

After that, pay a visit to a Tibetan Family and have Yak Butter lunch in the family.

And afterwards you'll visit the tranquil Shudu Lake in Pudacuo National Park. Pudacuo National Park is located in one of the most biologically-diverse regions of the world. While the region comprises only 0.7 percent of China's land area, it contains more than 20 percent of the country's plant species, about one-third of its mammal and bird species and almost 100 endangered species.

Day 8 Departure from Shangri-La( B )

Sightseeing and Activities:Departure from Shangri-La

Today the tour guide and driver will take you to Shangri-La airport and then depature.

What's Include

All land transfer and transportation;

Accommodation with breakfast.

Entrance fees as listed in the program.

Skilled driver & Experienced English-speaking guide;

Two bottles of water each day each person;

Meals as mentioned;

Bullet Train Tickets from Kunming to Dali (second-class seats).

What's Exclude

International Train Tickets/Flight Tickets;

Meals not mentioned;

Excess baggage charged by Airlines;

Personal Travel Accident Insurance;

Any optional programs/activities;

Chinese visa fees;

Personal Consumption;

Tips (150CNY/day to Guide; 100CNY/day to Driver);

Bank Charge of Remittance;

Dali

Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture is located in the central western part of Yunnan Province. Enjoying long history, Dali is one of the earliest cradle of Yunnan culture and created glorious Dali Kingdom. In this land, Cangshan Mountain, Erhai Lake, Dali Old Town and Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple are the representative scenic spots. As the Read more

Kunming

Kunming is the capital and largest city in Yunnan Province, Southwest China. Today it is a prefecture-level city and the political, economic, communications and cultural center of the province as well as the seat of the provincial government. Kunming is the forefront and the portal that China facing Southeast Asia, South Asia and even the Read more

Lijiang

Lijiang is located in the northwestern portion of Yunnan and borders Sichuan. As a popular destination in Yunnan, Lijiang is considered as a fairyland blessed with fresh air, clear streams, breathtaking snow mountains and an undisturbed landscape inhabited by Naxi ethnic minority. What’s more, Lijiang is the transfer station of Ancient Tea Horse Caravan Route and Silk Read more

Shangri-La

Located at point where Tibet, Sichuan and Yunnan all meet, Shangri-La is the “Eden in dream”. Since it first appeared in British novelist James Hilton’s Lost Horizon in the 1939, it has been associated with the mystique of a place which could not possibly exist here on Earth. There the lofty and continuous snowy mountains, endless grasslands, steep Read more