Day 1 Arrive in Kunming

Sightseeing and Activities: Kunming arrival
Accommodation: Kunming
Meals: Lunch

Our private English-speaking guide and driver will pick you up in time at Kunming airport and transfer to the hotel safely. 

Day 2 Kunming

Sightseeing and Activities: Stone Forest, Qiongzhu Temple
Accommodation: Kunming
Meals: Breakfast and lunch

This morning, drive to visit the Stone Forest, which was a typical example of karst topography formed 200-300 million years ago. The fantastic stone pinnacles rising abruptly from ground resemble a huge, dense forest, hence the name of Stone Forest. Lots of legends are with the Stone Forest, for example, the famous Ashma peak. It is like a slim and beautiful girl carrying a basket on the back. Come to the Stone Forest and discover the legends by yourself!

After lunch, drive back to Kunming, then visit Qiongzhu Temple, a Tang dynasty temple, which is famous for the colorful clay figurines of the 500 Buddhist arhats. Being so realistic, lifelike, though a little surreal, the 500 arhats of the Qiongzhu Temple are reputed as the ‘sculptured pearls in the oriental treasure house’.

Day 3 Kunming-Dali By Airplane

Sightseeing and Activities: Three Pagoda Temple, Erhai Lake, Xizhou, Zhoucheng, Dali Old Town
Accommodation: Dali
Meals: Breakfast and lunch

Leave for Dali by flight. You will be picked up by our guide and driver at Dali airport. Here in Dali, 25 ethnic minorities have created an unique cultural heritage amidst the area’s picturesque natural scenery. 

After landing, you 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 take 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. After climbing up to the City Wall of Dali, you will have panoramic view of the Erhai Lake. 

Day 4 Dali-Shaxi

Sightseeing and Activities:Shibaoshan mountain, Stone Bell Temple, Baoxiang temple, Shaxi old town
Accommodation: Shaxi
Meals: Breakfast and lunch

In the morning, drive from Dali to Shibaoshan mountain. The most prominent sight at ShibaoShan is the Stone Bell Temple with its 139 well preserved stone carvings. These magnificent stone carvings back dated as far as 1300 years to the once powerful Nanzhao Kingdom during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Explore the ancient temple complex including Baoxiang Temple, Haiyun Temple, Shizhong Temple and the Ancient Grottoes. If you are lucky enough, you also can see a lot of wild monkey group around Baoxiang Temple.

After lunch, walk around Shaxi Old Town. Shaxi is the last remaining ancient market town of its kind on the Tea & Horse Caravan Trail. This trail is a trading route that connected Tibet, Sichuan, and Yunnan to countries in southeast Asia, also called the Southern Silk Road. The World Monuments Fund (WMF) has listed Shaxi as one of the 100 most endangered sites in the world in 2001.

You will have overnight at Shaxi Old Town. 

Day 5 Shaxi-Tiger Leaping Gorge-Shangri-la

Sightseeing and Activities: the First Bend of the Yangtze River, Stone Drum Town, Tiger Leaping Gorge, Dukezong Ancient Town, Guishan Hill, Giant Prayer Wheel
Accommodation: Shagri-la
Meals: Breakfast and lunch

Today, we will go 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 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. 

In the afternoon, you’ll head for Shangri-La, the former Zhongdian which is well known as the paradise destination for every 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. 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 Shangri-la and Dukezong Ancient Town. 

Day 6 Shangri-la-Lijiang

Sightseeing and Activities: Songzanlin Temple, Shudu Lake, visit a Tibetan family
Accommodation: Lijiang
Meals: Breakfast and lunch

Today, we are going to travel to the Songzanlin Temple, Shudu Lake and pay a visit to a Tibetan family. Songzanlin Temple is the biggest Tibetan Buddhist temple in Yunnan province and famed as the Museum of Tibetan Arts for its exquisite architecture style. Shudu Lake is 3705 meters above sea level and has been turned into a highland pasture resort. Appreciate the mirror like surface and enjoy a number of outdoor activities, such as horseback riding, exploring in the wild fauna and flora of the primitive forest or fishing in the lake, etc. Visit a local Tibetan family, take yak butter tea and participate in their Tibetan dances.

In the late afternoon, you will transfer to Lijiang. You can stroll in Lijiang Old Town by yourself at night. 

Day 7 Lijiang-Jade Dragon Snow Mountain-Lijiang

Sightseeing and Activities: Yulong Snow Mountain, Spruce Meadow, Baisha Village and Murals, Baishui River and Terraces
Accommodation: Lijiang
Meals: Breakfast and lunch