5 Days Kunming City Tour and Shilin Torch Festival Celebration

Deemed to be “the oriental carnival”, the Torch Festival is celebrated by several ethnic minorities including the Yi, Bai, Naxi, Jinuo and Lahu etc. Enjoying a long history as an important festival of these minorities, the festival exhibits quite profound cultural connotations. Although the origin of the festival is slightly different among these minorities, it takes place on lunar 24/25 June. In this tour, you will fully experience this traditional festival in Shilin County.

Brief Itinerary

• Day 1: Kunming Arrival
• Day 2: Kunming-Shilin
• Day 3: Shilin
• Day 4: Shilin-Kunming
• Day 5: Departure from Kunming

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 Arrive in Kunming(July 25th)

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

Our tour guide and driver will pick you up from Kunming Changshui International Airport. Then transfer to your hotel. This day, you can hang out by your own. Stay overnight in Kunming downtown.

Day 2 Kunming-Shilin(July 26th)

Sightseeing and Activities: kinds of activities held in Shilin County
Accommodation: Shilin
Meals: Breakfast, lunch

After breakfast, we will drive 1.5 hours to Shilin County to join different kinds of activities held there.

The Torch Festival or Fire Festival (火把节) is one of the main holidays of the Yi people in southwest China. It is celebrated on the 24th or 25th day of the 6th lunar month, corresponding to August in the Gregorian calendar. It commemorates the legendary wrestler Atilaba, who drove away a plague of locusts using torches made from pine trees.

You could choose the preferable activity and time to enjoy the day.

Activities as follow:
9:00-10:00 Torch-light Ceremony by Bimo at Gui Mountain National Park
13:00-22:18:30 Bull Fighting Match at the bull-flighting village of Yi people.
13:00-18:30  Asia Traditional Bull Fighting at Gui Mounrain Hai Yi Asia bullring
14:00-18:30 Carnival Activity of Chang Hu A Shi Ma’s Culture at Changhu Scenic Spot
14:00-17:00 Folk Customs Show at Danuohei Viilage of Gui Mountain Town.
14:00-17:00 Miao’s Flower Festival at Dake Town.

Stay overnight in Shilin downtown.

Day 4 Shilin-Kunming(July 28th)

Sightseeing and Activities: Yunnan Ethnic Villages, Yunnan Nationalities Museum, The Golden Temple
Accommodation: Kunming
Meals: Breakfast, lunch

After 2 days torch festival tour, we will drive back to Kunming to explore the classic sightseeing in Kunming downtown, including Yunnan Ethnic Villages, Yunnan Nationalities Museum and The Golden Temple.

The Yunnan Ethnic Villages is located at a narrow peninsula at the north shore of Dian Lake. 25 minorities, including Yi, Dai, Miao, Jingpo, Wa, Hani, Naxi, Dulong, etc, have been built here. Through various displays and re-creations of the original villages, the Yunnan Ethnic Villages display the diverse local ethnic culture. Villages of different styles are well arranged and show visitors their unique charm.

Yunnan Nationalities Museum is located on the east bank of Dianchi Lake next to Yunnan Ethnic Villages in Kunming City, China. Completed in 1995, it is a comprehensive ethnology museum. Covering an area of over 200 mu, the museum has a building area of 130,000 square meters. It consists of various exhibition halls, office building, report hall, storage and workshops. The ecological environment, religious customs, culture and arts and ethnic relics of the ethnic groups of Yunnan are collected in it. The 120,000 items of objects fall into the 16 categories such as ethnic groups, dresses and personal adornment, technique, arts, ecology, ancient books, and strange stones etc. The Museum and Yunnan Ethnic Villages facilitate the understanding of the history, culture and customs of the 25 ethnic minorities in static and dynamic ways, in microscopic and macroscopic perspectives, in different angles and at various levels.

The Golden Temple is located on top of Mingfeng (Singing Phoenix) Hill, the home of the Taoist Taihe Palace (Hall of Supreme Harmony), which is the largest copper temple in China. It is also known as the Tongwa Temple (Bronze Tile Temple) and by its popular name, the Golden Temple. The history of the Golden Temple starts during the Ming Dynasty and the reign of the Emperor Wanli in 1602. Except for the staircases and balustrades, which are made of marble, the walls, columns, rafters, roof tiles, altars, Buddha statues, wall decorations and the banner near the gate tower are all made of copper. The burnished copper gleamed like gold and that is why people named it the Golden Temple. Since its last renovation, this beloved copper temple on the top of Mingfeng Hill has been well cared and has become the most famous Taoist shrine in Yunnan Province.

Recommended Hotels

ShilinDays Hotel & Suites Tongce ShilinSelect Hotel & Resorts//

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.