Yunnan Highlight

breakfast and lunch

Today is a full day tour in Yuanyang for its paddy fields, local market and Hani Minority’s Village.

Populated 1.3 million in Yunnan, Hani minority single out themselves in their traditional costumes with silver accessories and mud brick house roofed with pine leaves that look like mushrooms from a distance. Set near China - Vietnam border and with Yuanjiang River flowing through, Yuanyang is now attracting more and more attention of overseas tourists for itsunparalleled terraced paddies and diversified ethnic cultures of the Hani, Yi, Dai and Yao. In Yuanyang, paddy fields are terraced from the foot of the mountains onto the very top, a natural grandeur is formed when the sun is low near the horizon. Afterwards, we will transfer to hotel anf have a good rest.

Paddy Fields

breakfast and lunch

Today we will drive for about 3 hours to Jianshui. More or less a living museum of old buildings or residences, Jianshui boasts more than 100 architectures built in Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Visit the Family Zhu’s Garden, a complex of nearly 100-year-old buildings of 42 courtyards, covering a total area of over 20,000 square meters. It’s a typical private garden with local touch. Then we will explore the old town of Jianshui with visits to the Chaoyang Tower, the one nicknamed as Lesser Tian’an Men and was built in the Ming Dynasty towering southern Yunnan for centuries, and the Confucius Temple, China’s second largest Confucius temple built in 1285 and with a 625-meter-long axis connecting six courtyards and 31 buildings.

Family Zhu’s Garden

breakfast and lunch

In the morning, we will visit the Family Zhang’s Garden, currently with 237 households and over 90 percent still bear a common family name of Zhang. En route, visit the Double Dragon Bridge. With 17 arches, the pavilion-style Double Dragon Bridge is a Qing Dynasty masterpiece built of stone and one of the best examples of its type all over China. Then we will drive 3.5 hours back to Kunming and take 2-hr high-speed train to Dali.

Double Dragon Bridge

breakfast and lunch

Proceed to visit Xizhou Bai minority’s morning market and taste the Bai’s Three-Course Tea, followed by taking a horse-drawn cart to enjoy the countryside sceneries. Then we will visit Three Pagodas and explore in the Dali Ancient Town with a history of 1,300 years, which is the home to Bai minority. The town, whose format is like a chess board with four gates guarding in the directions of east, south, west and north stands between Cangshan Mountains and Erhai Lake, a natural configuration that seems specially designed for a good bountiful life.

Three Pagodas

breakfast and lunch

Today we will overland drive 2.5 hours to Lijiang. En route, we will stop and visit the Zhoucheng Bai minority’s tie-dyed cloth workshop. When arrive in Lijiang, we will first visit the Lijiang Ancient Town. Take a saunter through the Old Town. It enjoys a long history of over 1300 years and unlike most of the old towns in China, there is no city wall due to a superstitious belief of the local ruler whose family name is Mu (tree), when encircled by walls, would be Kun (besieged). Wooden structures, mountains, small rivers and lanes integrate harmoniously in this mountain town.

Next, take a visit to the Black Dragon Pond with the Dongba Culture Museum. The Black Dragon Pond Park is also known as Yuquan park. It is located at the foot of Xiangshan mountain in the north of Lijiang ancient city. Due to its spring water gushing from the rocks at the foot of the mountain, it gathers into a deep pool of 40,000 square meters. The Black dragon pool is a perfect combination of beautiful natural scenery and unique human landscape.

Lijiang

breakfast and lunch

Today you will take a full day tour in Lijiang. In the morning, you will set off to Jade Dragon Snow Mountains. It leans close to the Haba Snow Mountains, so you can feel a large volume of torrent moving between them cutting deeper and deeper into the bottom of the gorge.

In the afternoon, continue to visit the Baisha Frescos and Shuhe Ancient Town. The famous Baisha Frescos depicts the religious life of Lijiang from the early Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, which is the crystallization of the convergence of multiple religious cultures. It covers a history of 500 years. After transfering to hotel, you can have a relaxing time.

Jade Dragon Snowmountain

breakfast and lunch

Today you will drive to Lijiang. En route, we will stop and visit Tiger Leaping Gorge, which is not only one of the longest gorge with a depth of around 3900m, but also the deepest one in the world. The Tiger Leaping Gorge is the Yangtze’s best-known gorge after the Three Gorges in Sichuan and Hubei Provinces. It is 95 kilometers to the west of Lijiang. Wedged tightly between titanic cliffs, the river is so narrow here, as legend tells us, that a hunted tiger could make his escape to the other side is a single bound. When arrive in Lijiang, have a good rest.

Tiger Leaping Gorge

breakfast and lunch

First visit Geden Songzanglin Monastery, the one founded in the 17th century during the reign of the Great Fifth Dalai Lama. It is located only 2 kilometers to the north of the county proper, being one of the thirteen Tibetan monasteries in the Kangba Region, where Tibet, Yunnan and Sichuan join. Ganden Songzanglin Monastery is nicknamed by local the Lesser Potala Palace. Holding about 700 monks and one living Buddha, the monastery is a must-go in the region. Let yourself be immersed in the first experience of Tibetan Buddhism. Then we will move to Napa Lake, located in the northwest of Shangri-la County. Afterwards, continue to visit a local market and Shangrila Old Town.

Napahai Natural Reserve

breakfast and lunch

In the morning we will take a flight to Kunming. Then we will take a half day Kunming city tour of Yuantong Temple, Flowers & Birds Market and Green Lake Park. Yuantong Temple is the largest and most active temple in Kunming with a history of more than 1,200 years. Located on the south side of Yuantong Hill, it is a destination of pilgrimage for pilgrims worldwide. The Flower and Bird Market was built in 1980 and originally the site selling flowers, birds, pets, insects and goldfish to the locals. As business prospered, it has begun to attract more and more visitors, and has gradually developed into an enchanting shopping and sightseeing center with a true local flavor. Green Lake Park is one of the most beautiful parks in Kunming. The water is green, the bamboos around the lake are green, and willows in summer and spring are green, hence the name. It is reputed as the emerald of Kunming City.

Yuantong Temple

breakfast

Transfer to Kunming airport for departure flight.