11 days Yunnan Top Highlights Travel Package-Full Board Meals
Trip Highlights
The tour for Kunming,Dali,Lijiang and Shangri-La is very classical in Yunnan Province.You will visit Kunming Stone Forest, Dali Old Town, Lijiang Old Town, Lijiang Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Tiger Leaping Gorge, and Shangri-La Songzanlin Monastery. That is what people is looking for Shangri-la.This is the typical Yunnan tour. You will explore the Yis,Naxis,Bais,Lisus,Mosuos and Tibetan minorities.The Tiger Leaping Gorge and the First Bend of the Yangtze River will be the most impressive part of your trip in Yunnan Province.
Trip Outline
Day 1 Arrive in Kunming, Arrive in Kunming International Airport; be transferred to the hotel.
Day 2 Kunming Sightseeing: the Stone Forest, the Green Lake, the Flowers and Birds Market
Day 3 Kunming – Dali by private car: Yunnan Nationalities Museum, Yunnan Ethnic Villages;
Day 4 Dali: Dali Old Town, the Ancient City Wall, the Foreigner Street, Three Pagodas Temple
Day 5 Dali-Shaxi: Xizhou Old Town, Cormorant Fishing Show, Shaxi Old Town
Day 6 Shaxi-Tiger Leaping Gorge
Sightseeing: Shibaoshan Mountain, Shizhongsi Ancient Grottoes, Baoxiang Temple, Tiger Leaping Gorge
Day 7 Tiger Leaping Gorge-Baishuitai-Shangrila,Baishuitai Terraces, Haba Village,Dukezong Old Town
Day 8 Shangrila: Sogzanlin Monastery, Napahai Lake, Tibetan Family, Dukezong Ancient Town, Giant Prayer Wheel and the Guishan Park
Day 9 Shangrila - Lijiang: the First Bend of Yangtze River, Shigu Old Town, Lijiang Old Town
Day 10 Lijiang:Black Dragon Pool, Dongba Culture Museum, Baisha Village, Yuhu Village, the Joseph Rock’s Residence and Museum, Enjoy the sunrise view of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain from Lijiang Old Town;
Day 11 Departure from Lijiang
Day to Day arrangements
Day 1 Arrive in Kunming
Arrive in Kunming International Airport; be transferred to the hotel.
You will be free to explore Kunming City in the left time.
Day 2 Kunming guided tour
Sightseeing: the Stone Forest, the Green Lake, the 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.
Visit the Green Lake, the Flowers and Birds Market in the afternoon;
After dinner, you will have an option to enjoy the large-scale dance drama "Dynamic Yunnan" which has been an outstanding innovation on the Chinese stage in recent years directed by Yang Liping. Primitive, unsophisticated folk dances and a fresh artistic concept converge in the programme, giving audiences a unique "Yunnan Impression." Sixty-two drums and 120 masks of strong ethnic characteristics are incorporated in the performance.
Day 3 Kunming – Dali by private car
Sightseeing: Yunnan Nationalities Museum, Yunnan Ethnic Villages;
Visit Yunnan Nationalities Museum; Yunnan is a multi-ethnic province and ranks first in China in this aspect, including 25 nationalities with the population accounting for over a third of its total population. Supported by Yunnan provincial government, Yunnan Nationalities Museum prepared its start in October, 1998 and was opened to the public in November 9th, 1995.
Visit Yunnan Ethnic Villages which is a theme park reproducing the architectures and folklore of 25 minority ethnic groups living in Yunan Province, an epitome of ethnic groups of Yunnan. The 25 minority ethnic groups include Bai, Yi, Dai, Miao, Jingpo, Naxi, Lagu, Zang, Wa, Hani, Lisu, Deang and so on. The most sumptuous and outstanding three are Bai Ethnic Village, Yi Ethnic Village and Dai Ethnic Village.
Drive around 5 hours to Dali in the afternoon.
Enjoy the night view of Dali Old Town.
Day 4 Dali guided tour
Sightseeing: Dali Old Town, the Ancient City Wall, the Foreigner Street, Three Pagodas Temple
In the morning, visit Dali Old Town, the Ancient City Wall and the Foreigner Street. Dali is predominantly inhabited by Bai people, one of the strongest ethnic minorities in Yunnan. The main attraction of Dali is probably the surrounding countryside. To the west lies the Cangshan Mountain Range with peaks well above 4,000 meters and a large number of most picturesque Buddhist temples.
After lunch, visit Three Pagodas Temple. Three pagodas, about 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) northwest of the ancient city of Dali, occupying a scenic location at the foot of Mt. Cangshan facing Erhai Lake, has a history of over 1,800 years. It is a symbol of the history of Dali City, and a record of the development of Buddhism in the area. As its name implies, Three Pagodas are made of three ancient independent pagodas forming a symmetrical triangle. This is unique in China.
Day 5 Dali-Shaxi
Sightseeing: Xizhou Old Town, Cormorant Fishing Show, Shaxi Old Town
After breakfast; transfer to Xizhou Old Town; visit the ancient architecture of Bai ethnic minority including Yan's Compound and Yang's Compound; you will taste the Three Course Tea and enjoy the tea art show of Bai ethnic minority as well in the compound; and then pay a visit to the Happy Embroidery Work Shop in Xizhou.
After Xizhou, enjoy the Cormorant Fishing Show in Erhai Lake; On the surface of Erhai, you can still find a type of fishing that employs the speed and agility of the Great Cormorant to coral and obtain fish, rather than a net. A tradition handed down over the generations, Cormorant fishing in Erhai lake is still a window to the past.
Drive around 3 hours to Shaxi and visit Shaxi Old Town in the late afternoon.
Day 6 Shaxi-Tiger Leaping Gorge
Sightseeing: Shibaoshan Mountain, Shizhongsi Ancient Grottoes, Baoxiang Temple, Tiger Leaping Gorge
Walk around Shaxi Old Town in the early morning; Shaxi once played an important role as a bustling trade station on the Tea and Horse Caravan Road, an important branch of the Silk Road. Just over one thousand years ago, this ancient trade route connected Tibet with Eastern China. In exchange for teas from Yunnan, Tibetans traded their famous breed of horse to Song Dynasty officials in eastern China, who were busy defending their territory from invaders from the north. Thus the Tea and Horse Caravan was born. Shaxi became the main trade station along this route.
Visit the Shizhong temple in the mountain. There are eight grottoes of Shizhong temple for 800 years old. You will trek in the forest from Shizhong Temple to Baoxiang Temple, you hike 3 hours to look around that area, in the mountains there are many small old temples. On the path, you can see very nice views (forests, fields with crops, villages in big valley…). Baoxiang temple is a Chinese Buddhism Temple from Yuan Dynesty.
In this area about 3 hundred wild monkeys live with kulapatis around the Baoxiang temple. You shoud prepare some food for these monkeys f you want to paly with them. If you do not have food, please do not do any guesture to these monkeys, otherwise they will be very angry and bite you because they usually misunderstand guesture lunguage.
Drive 2hours to visit the upper Tiger Leaping Gorge;
Drive 30 munities to the middle Tiger Leaping Gorge and stay in Tina’s Hostel.
Day 7 Tiger Leaping Gorge-Baishuitai-Shangrila
Sightseeing: Middler and Lower Tiger Leaping Gorge,Baishuitai Terraces, Haba Village,Dukezong Old Town
Get up earlier to enjoy the sunrise view of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain; trek around 3 hours up to Halfway Hostel and visit Bamboo Forest, Gunayin Temple, Guanyin Waterfalls and cliffs on the way; after a short break in Halfway Hostel, continue the trekking down to the road, meet the driver and transfer to Baishuitai.
Visit Baishuitai Terrace, which is famous for the ortinal birth place of Dongba culture. Amid the Haba Snow Mountain is a stretch of crystal terrace -- the largest area of sinter terrace in China. Spring water flows down from the mountain, leaving crystallized sodium carbonate along its slopes, giving the impression of a marble sculpture.
Drive to Shangrila and you will be free around Dukezong Old Town.
Day 8 Shangrila
Sightseeing: Sogzanlin Monastery, Napahai Lake, Tibetan Family, Dukezong Ancient Town, Giant Prayer Wheel and the Guishan Park
In the morning, visit the Ganden Sumtseling 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.
Visit Napahai Lake and Tibetan family around the lake;
Visit Dukezong Tibetan Ancient Town in the late afternoon, climb 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.
Finally, you will have an option to visit a Tibetan's family to experience the local life in the bonfire party with Tibetan dance and music and you will try Tibetan home-made yak and cheese.
Day 9 Shangrila - Lijiang
Sightseeing: the First Bend of Yangtze River, Shigu Old Town, Lijiang Old Town
From Shangrila, you'll drive about 130KM to the First Bend on the Yangtze River with imposing gorge scenery, and the Iron Chain Bridge in the Stone Drum 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. You will have an optional experience of the floating from the First Bend of the Yangtze River to Longpan Town.
Continue the driving to Lijiang. Lijiang Ancient Town is a largely Naxi settlement first built 800years agao, located at the foot of the Lion Hill and completely surrounded by the new city of Lijiang.In December 1986, the State Council designated it a famous ancient historical and cultural city of national caliber. In 1997, UNESCO made Lijiang a World Cultural Heritage Site.
Day 10 Lijiang Sightseeing tour
Sightseeing: Black Dragon Pool, Dongba Culture Museum, Baisha Village, Yuhu Village, the Joseph Rock’s Residence and Museum
Enjoy the sunrise view of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain from Lijiang Old Town;
Visit Black Dragon Pool and Dongba Culture Museum;
Black Dragon Pool, located at the foot of the Elephant Mountain, about 2 kilometers away from Lijiang Ancient Town is the main headwater of the Yushui River which goes through the Old Town.
In Dongba Culture Museum, established as the main exhibition place for Dongba Culture, the museum has hosted exhibitions under a whole variety of themes over the years such as Lijiang Ancient Town Exhibition etc. Here the tourists can also enjoy the introductions about Dongba cultural paintings and characters,
In the afternoon, you'll stroll through Baisha Village, which is an enchanting traditional Yunnan village. Visit Yuhu Village and the Joseph Rock’s Residence. Yuhu Village is the last village in the Lijiang Basin at the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.
Joseph Rock chose this place to live in when he came in 1922. He lived in Lijiang for 27 years. We can still find houses and things that he used when he lived in Yuhe Village.
Day 11 Departure from Lijiang
Transfer to Lijiang International Airport for returning;
Service ends.
