11 Days Yunnan Wildlife Tour with Snub-nosed Monkey and Three Parallel Rivers (Kunming-Dali-Tacheng-Feilaisi-Shangri La-Lijiang)

Day 1 Arrive in Kunming

Sightseeing and Activities:Arrive in Kunming
Accommodation:Kunming
Meals:None

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-Shilin-Dali High Speed Train

Sightseeing and Activities:the Stone Forest, the Green Lake, Flowers and Birds Market
Accommodation:Kunming
Meals:Breakfast and Lunch

In the morning, you will visit the Green Lake and then enjoy a 20-minute walk to visit the Flowers and Birds Market in downtown area.

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.

In the late afternoon, take the speed train from Shilin Railway Station to Dali.
Meet your local tour guide and driver, transfer to the hotel in Dali Old Town. You will be free to explore Dali Old Town at night.

Day 3 Dali

Sightseeing and Activities:Three Pagodas, Erhai Lake, Erhai Lake Ecological Corridor, Xizhou Old Town, Zhouchneg Village, Dali Old Town, Foreigner’s Street, Ancient City Wall
Accommodation:Dali
Meals:Breakfast and Lunch

In the morning, 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.

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.

Head for Xizhou Town to fully appreciate Bai-style traditional architectural courtyards, taste their fragrant Three-Course Tea and explore their distinctive culture.
Walk along the Erhai Lake Ecological Corridor to enjoy the nice view of Erhai Lake.

At night, take a walk in Dali Old Town including The Ancient City Wall, Foreigner Street and Gate Towers.

Day 4 Dali-Shaxi-Tacheng

Sightseeing and Activities:Shaxi Old Town, The First Bend of Yangtze River, Shigu Town, Iron Bridge
Accommodation:Tacheng
Meals:Breakfast and Lunch

After lunch, drive to Shaxi, Start your day with a scenic drive to Shaxi Old Town, the last remaining ancient market town on the historic Tea & Horse Caravan Trail. This ancient route connected Tibet, Sichuan, and Yunnan to countries in southeast Asia, also known as the Southern Silk Road.
Transfer to Shigu Old Town for lunch, and then visit the First Bend of the Yangtze River with imposing gorge scenery, Stone Drum , The Red Army’s Long March Memorial Monumentand the Iron Chain Bridge inShigu 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.

Transfer along the Jinsha River, we arrive at Tacheng Nub-nosed Monkey Park in the late afternoon.
Stay at Tacheng Nub-nosed Monkey Park

Day 5 Tacheng-Weixi-Cizhong

Sightseeing and Activities:Tacheng Black Snub-Nosed Monkey National Park, Cizhong Church
Accommodation: Cizhong
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

In the morning, pay a visit to Tacheng Black Snub-Nosed Monkey National Parkof Weixi County. Watch the feeding of the snub-nosed monkey in the park.

In the afternoon, drive to Cizhong. Visit the Tibetan Catholic Church built by French missionaries in 1867, the church is used by Tibetan, Naxi and Lisu people. They still have the grapes planted by missionaries and old the traditional way of making wine.

Day 6 Cizhong-Mingyong Village-Feilaisi

Sightseeing and Activities:Mingyong Glacier in Meili Snow Moutain, Feilaisi Temple
Accommodation: Feilaisi
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Drive along the Mekong River to Mekong Grand Canyon, arrive at Mingyong Village located at the foot of Meili Snow Mountain. Visit Mingyong Glacier (2600m) which is the low altitude glacier of the lowest latitude in the world. Then you will trek down directly to the edge of Meikong River(2,050m/6,724ft) . Walk along the Mekong Grand Canyon and arrive in Xidang Village(2,200m/7,216ft) where you can visit some scattered Tibetan houses in the village.

Arrive in Feilaisi in the late afternoon, you will have a nice sunset view of Meili Snow Mountain from the Sightseeing Platform, where you can see the 13 white pagodas meaning of the 13 peaks of Meili Snow Mountain over 6,000 meters (19,685 feet) above sea level, known as the “Prince’s 13 peaks”.

Day 7 Feilaisi-Benzilan-Shangri-la

Sightseeing and Activities:sunrise view at Feilaisi Temple, Benzilan Town, Baimai Snow Mountain, First Bend of Jinsha River, Dukezong Old Town, Guishan Hill,  largest Prayer Wheel
Accommodation: Shangri-la
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

In the morning, enjoy the sunrise view at Feilaisi Temple. Then drive to Shangri-la. You will stop at Benzilan for lunch. Visit Baimang Snow Mountain Nature Reserve, you will be able to view Baimang Snow Mountain if the weather is clear, pass the top part of today at 4292m altitude at 156km.

After that, visit the First Bend of Jinsha River or Moon Bend, which is the boundary between Sichuan and Yunnan. This is different from the First Bend of Yangtze River in Lijiang City. The bend in Shigu Town changes the flow direction of the Yangtze River but in Benzilan, the Moon Bend is just a grand bend between the mountains with an impressive scenery.

Upon arrival in Shangri-La, you will have entered the Tibetan cultural area and a landscape of barley fields and yaks scattered in the valleys.  Stroll aroundDukezong 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 shangri-La county and Dukezong Ancient Town.

In the morning, you’ll visit the tranquil Shudu Lake in Pudacuo National Park. It 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.

Continue to visit theGanden 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 Yila Grassland in the late afternoon.

Day 9 Shangri-La – Lijiang

Sightseeing and Activities: Tiger Leaping Gorge, Lijiang Old Town, Black Dragon Pool, Dongba Culture Museum
Accommodation: Lijiang
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Drive about 30KM to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Scenic Area. You will firstly reach Ganhaizi Meadow(3100M). Then you will take the sightseeig bus for a short visiting through the Baishuihe River. Take cable car to Spruce Meadow and hike around 30 minutes in the forest. 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 Ganhaizi 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.