12 Days Southwest China Tour from Hong Kong
Tour Overview
In this tour, you will visit the main import cities in Southwest China. You can experience difference culture and history of ethnic groups in Yunnan, explore the panda base...
Code of Tour: YET0000005083
Length of Travel: 12 Day
Destinations of Tour: Hong Kong-Kunming-Dali-Lijiang-Shagri-la-Chengdu-Guilin-Yangdhuo-Guilin-Hong kong
Departure City: Hong Kong
Price of Tour: Request
Type of Tour:
Features of Tour: Panda History Landscape Photograph Ancient towns
In this tour, you will visit the main import cities in Southwest China. You can experience difference culture and history of ethnic groups in Yunnan, explore the panda base in Chengdu and enjoy the beautiful landscape of Guilin and Yangshuo.
Highlights:
- Have a wonderful stay in Kunming and lose yourself in the stone wonderland.
- Explore old town of Dali sandwiched between Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake.
- Step into the fantastic Lijiang Ancient Town and feel the mysterious Dongba culture;
- Immerse yourselves in Shangri-La, an earthly paradise with Snow Mountain, Buddhist monastery, forest park, and hospitable Tibetan people.
- Enjoy the beautiful scenery in Chengdu, Guilin and Yangshuo, visit the panda, national treasure as well.
Brief Itinerary
- Day 1: Hong Kong – Kunming
- Day 2: Kunming-Dali
- Day 3: Dali
- Day 4: Dali-Lijiang
- Day 5: Lijiang
- Day 6: Lijiang-Shangri-la
- Day 7: Shangri-la
- Day 8: Shangri-la-Chengdu
- Day 9: Chengdu-Guilin
- Day 10: Guilin-Yangshuo
- Day 11: Yangshuo
- Day 12: Yangshuo-Guilin Departure
Google Map
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1 Arrive in Kunming
Sightseeing and Activities: Arrive in Kunming
Accommodation: Kunming
Meals: Lunch
Arrive in Kunming airport from Hong Kong. Meet your local guide and then drive to Kunming downtown to check in your hotel.
Day 2 Kunming-Dali
Sightseeing and Activities: Stone Forest, Green Lake Park, Flower and Birds Market, Nanping street
Accommodation: Dali
Meals: Breakfast and lunch
In the morning, our tour guide pick you up from your hotel lobby, then drive 86 km to the renowned Stone Forest, the ‘First Wonder of the World’. You’ll marvel at its natural stone masterpieces and be bewitched by the intricate formations.
Afterwards, drive back to Kunming downtown and stroll in the most picturesque park in Kunming urban area – the Green Lake Park, a charming area of tea houses and small boutiques selling handicrafts and beautiful local paintings. Here you can share the happiness of local people’s doing tai chi, performing local opera, and other vibrant activities. If you visit the park in November or December, you will see a huge flock of red-beaked seagulls that migrate there from Siberia.
Then stroll in the Flowers and Birds Market in the downtown and shopping area – Nanping Street nearby before the evening transfer to Kunming railway station for your overnight train to Dali.
Day 3 Dali
Sightseeing and Activities: Three Pagodas, Cruise in Erhai Lake, Dali Old Town
Accommodation: Dali
Meals: Breakfast and lunch
Early in the morning, you will meet your guide at Dali railway station. Then drive to hotel to drop off your luggage and have breakfast.
Afterward, you will visit the Three Pagodas in Chongshen Monastery which has a history of over 1,800 years. It is 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.
After lunch, 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.
After landing, you will head for Xizhou Town to fully appreciate Bai-style traditional architectural courtyards, taste their fragrant Three-Course Tea and explore their distinctive culture. Visit Zhoucheng Village and the Bai people’s Tie-dying cloth workshop where you can get some special souvenirs with the Bai ethnic style.
In the late afternoon, you will visit the Dali old Town, walk around the Foreigner Street and enjoy the time with local people.
Day 4 Dali-Lijiang
Sightseeing and Activities: Black Dragon Pool, Dongba Museum, Lijiang Old Town
Accommodation: Lijiang
Meals: Breakfast and lunch
In the morning, transfer to Lijiang. Upon arrival, have the tour of Black Dragon Pool Park, a famous pond in the scenic Jade Spring Park located at the foot of Elephant Hill. It was built in 1737 during the Qing Dynasty and offers a spectacular view on the region’s tallest mountain, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Visit Dongba Museum nearby.
You will stroll around Lijiang Old Town, a well-preserved old town of ethnic minorities with brilliant culture, which is a central town of 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
Sightseeing and Activities:Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Yuhu Village, Former Residence of Joseph Rock, Baisha Old Town, Baisha Mural
Accommodation: Lijiang
Meals: Breakfast and lunch
Enjoy the sunrise of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Lijiang Ancient Town in the morning, drive about 30 km to Ganhaizi Meadow(3100 meters), you will take the sightseeing bus for a short visit through the Baishuihe River in Blue Moon Valley, then take the chairlift up to visit Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. The cable-way will be arranged according to the condition of the mountain. You will hike around 1 hour in the original forest in Spruce Meadow(3200 meters).
After lunch, you’ll visit Yuhu Village and the Former Residence of Joseph Rock who was an Austria-American botanist and explorer, lived in Yuhu village and other places in that region from 1922 to 1949. He was also a naturalist and Photographer, and the first foreign scholar to introduce Lijiang ethnic culture to the western world.
Later stroll through Baisha Old Town, which is an enchanting traditional Naxi style old town. Visit the Baisha Mural about 600 years old, which is a part of the World Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO 1997.
Day 6 Lijiang-Tiger Leaping Gorge-Shangri-la
Sightseeing and Activities:First Bend on the Yangtze River, the Iron Chain Bridge, the Red Army’s Long March Memorial Monument, Tiger Leaping Gorge
Accommodation: Shangri-la
Meals: Breakfast and lunch
From Lijiang, you’ll drive about 60 km to the First Bend of the Yangtze River with imposing gorge scenery, visit the Iron Chain Bridge, the Red Army’s Long March Memorial Monument in the Shigu 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. Afternoon, you’ll head for Shangri-La, the former Zhongdian which is well-known as the paradise destination for each tourist.
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.
Day 7 Shangri-La
Sightseeing and Activities: Pudacuo National Park, Ganden Sumtseling Monastery, Dukezong Tibetan Ancient Town
Accommodation: Shangri-la
Meals: Breakfast and lunch
Early morning, you’ll visit the tranquil Bita Lake & Shudu Lake in Pudacuo National Park which is located in one of the most biologically-diverse regions of the world. Although 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.
Make the tour of the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery, the largest Tibetan monastery in Yunnan. Songzanlin Monastery has another alias – ‘the little Potala Palace ‘, because the whole monastery is in the traditional style with mysterious atmosphere.
Afterward, 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 shangri-la and Dukezong Ancient Town.
Day 8 Shangri-La-Chengdu
Sightseeing and Activities: Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Wuhou Temple, Jinli Old Street
Accommodation: Chengdu
Meals: Breakfast and lunch
This morning you will take the flight to Chengdu. Upon arrival, have a stirring visit to Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, which is not only the most important panda scientific research center, but also dwelling home for more than 100 Giant Pandas. Walk at leisure through the bamboo framed paths, and closely observe giant pandas of different ages eating bamboos, playing with each other, tumbling, climbing trees, etc. Don’t miss the chance to watch female pandas nursing their cubs in the nursery rooms. There is also a very informative Panda Museum for you to learn more scientific facts about Giant Pandas.
Then you will move on to Wuhou Temple, a shrine integrated with tombs of Liubei and Zhuge Liang. Surrounded by old cypresses and classical red walls, the temple creates an atmosphere of nostalgia. When stepping into the temple, you get the chance to immerse yourself into a sea of ancient profound culture and history.
In the late afternoon, you will move on to Jinli Old Street with Three Kingdom culture. Time steals away from you quietly while walking on the lively streets which are full of delicious local snacks, delicate artifacts, interesting folk shows, etc. For photographers, visit here in the evening will be the best time to get better photos with all the red lanterns lit up in the dusk.
Day 9 Chengdu-Guilin
Sightseeing and Activities: Reed Flute Cave, Elephant Trunk Hill
Accommodation: Guilin
Meals: Breakfast and lunch
Transfer to airport for your morning flight to Guilin. your guide eill pick you up there at the Guilin airport, then transfer to visit the gorgeous Reed Flute Cave (1 hour) – offering a magic fairyland of stalactites, stalagmites, stone columns scenery. And then, the next stop will be the Elephant Trunk Hill– the landmark of Guilin.
After that, transfer to the hotel and have a rest of this day.
Day 10 Guilin-Yangshuo
Sightseeing and Activities: Li River Cruise, West Street
Accommodation: Yangshuo
Meals: Breakfast and lunch
In the morning, drive to the Zhujiang Pier for the Li River Cruise (about 4 hours, simple set menu lunch is including in the boat ticket). Enjoy the fairy-tale scenery while cruising down the meandering river to Yangshuo.
After disembarkation and check-in hotel with the help of your tour guide, you can have a walk along the famous West Street and enjoy the leisure time there.
Day 11 Yangshuo
Sightseeing and Activities: Biking tour of 4 hours, Fuli Old Town
Accommodation: Yangshuo
Meals: Breakfast and lunch
In the morning, after breakfast, you will have a 4-hour biking tour to Moon Hill through the countryside road, on the way we can enjoy the scenery of dragon river and old villages. when we arrive at Moon Hill, walk up to the top of Moon Hill, which takes about 1 hour to go up and down.
In the afternoon, transfer to have a tour of Fuli Old Town. Fuli is famous for making the traditional paper fan in China. It is also a riverside town with paperfan-making workshops, ancient dock , towers, temple. Old houses are well preserved there.
Day 12 Yangshuo-Guilin Departure
Sightseeing and Activities: Yangshuo-Guilin Departure
Accommodation: None
Meals: Breakfast
Enjoy the leisure time before our guide pick you up from hotel. Then drive to Guilin airport for your flight back to Hong Kong. Service ends.
Recommended Hotels
| Destination | 5 Star | 4 Star | 3 Star | Hostels |
| Kunming | Sofitel Hotel | Jinjiang Hotel | Longteng Hotel | / |
| Lijiang | InterContinental Hotel | E-outfitting Hotel | Liwang Hotel | / |
| Shangri-la | Shangri-La Resort | E-outfitting Hotel | Bodhi Boutique Inn | / |
| Dali | Hilton Hotel | E-outfitting Hotel | Taiheju hotel | / |
Service Included:
- Admission fees for all of the sightseeing spots listed in the itinerary;
- Meals as listed in the itinerary;
- Hotels as listed in the itinerary;
- Private English-speaking tour guide;
- Private vehicle for transfers & sightseeing with skilled driver;
- Service charge & government taxes;
- Luggage transfers between airports and hotels;
- Domestic train tickets of soft sleeper.
Service Excluded:
- Any arrival and departure international airfares or train tickets;
- Chinese visa fees;
- Excess baggage charged by Airlines;
- Single room supplement;
- Tips to guides and drivers;
- Personal expenses and gratuities to service staff;
- Personal travel accident insurance;
- All optional programs.
