Dirigez-vous à la page VOYAGES SUR MESURE YUNNAN

Home to 26 ethnic minorities, offering a variety of climates and landscapes from tropical rainforest to snow-capped peaks above 5,000 mt, with historical villages to UNESCO protected towns and the presence of mystical retreats and Tibetan lamaseries, Yunnan is probably one of the most interesting, less mass-touristic and varied travel destination in Asia. This tour will present you with a unique opportunity to combine ethnic and contemporary art, mind-blowing landscapes, minority encounters, a glimpse of the Tibetan culture and architectural wonders.

TOTAL PRICE (starting from) *

• 5,050 USD (2 adults in twin/double)

• 9,100 USD (4 adults in twin/double)

* THE PRICE INCLUDES

• Accommodation in twin/double room at selected hotels
• Meals as mentioned (B= Breakfast, L= Lunch, D= Dinner)
• English-speaking guide
• Tours and transfers by private air-conditioned vehicles, train and bus as mentioned
• Entrance fees for mentioned visits
• Domestic flight tickets and airport taxes
• Service charges and government taxes

* THE PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE

• Meals other than mentioned in the itinerary
• Camera/video entrance fees
• Early check in fees
• International flight tickets
• Laundry, telephone calls and expenditure of a personal nature
• Visa stamping fee for China
• Travel and medical insurance
• Anything not mentioned under The Price Includes

Please note that, despite we quote an overall indicative price for the whole holiday, these itineraries are not sold as packages, as they are made up of different standalone services, such as accommodation or transport, which you can purchase individually or as a combination, as you wish, without the need to purchase the others. Indeed, each standalone service will be priced separately when raising a request, so that you can decide by yourself what you need us to organise for you and what you don't. Please note that the prices quoted for each itinerary are only indicative and a direct booking cannot be made based on them. In fact, prices may continuously fluctuate depending on the season, availability, special offers, cost of fuel, currency fluctuations and rights or taxes on services. We will be more than happy to provide to you a live price for each item of the desired personalised travel arrangements once you will contact us. In addition, please note that the price quoted is in USD, however if you contact us we can also quote prices and receive payments in EUR and GBP.

If you wish to find out more about the policies that govern reservations, payments, cancellations and other, please read our General Terms and Conditions.

Accommodation

Sample Itinerary

DAY 1: KUNMING ARRIVAL  

[ D ]

Arrival at Kunming airport. Our guide will meet you in the arrival hall after the immigration formalities. Transfer to your hotel, where you will check-in before enjoying a welcome dinner at a local restaurant. In the evening you will have the opportunity to enjoy the "Dynamic Yunnan" show, which is a song and dance performance of the Yunnan ethnic minorities. Overnight in Kunming.

DAY 2: KUNMING  

[ B ]

You will start the city tour after breakfast. You will visit the Yuantong Temple, the oldest and most visited Buddhist temple in the city. Afterwards you will have the chance to visit a traditional Chinese pharmacy and the Flower & Bird market located in the old quarter. In the afternoon, visit some art galleries and the Yunnan Provincial Museum. Overnight in Kunming.

DAY 3: KUNMING - XIZHOU  

[ B ]

After breakfast you will meet with a local art teacher and have the chance to create your own Chinese painting and practice Chinese calligraphy with brushes and ink. After the class transfer via minivan to the small village of XIzhou near Dali, with lunch en route at a restaurant while enjoying the view. The area around Dali is home to the ethnic Bai people and the tranquil village of Xizhou offers a good opportunity to explore its many old protected houses and courtyards that survived the late Ming and Qing Dynasties. Overnight in Xizhou.

DAY 4: XIZHOU - CANGSHAN MOUNTAINS – DALI – XIZHOU  

[ B , D ]

In the early morning you will have the opportunity to practice Taichi. After breakfast you will take a cable-car up the Cangshan mountains near Dali old town, where you will take a stroll along the Cloud Traveler's path and enjoy an amazing view of the blue mountains and of the countryside and lake around Dali. Back to town you will have free time at leisure to wander around the city. Once the capital of Nanzhao and Dali kingdoms, Dali was an important political, economical and cultural center for about 500 years during the Tang and Song dynasties. Afterwards you will drive through scenic fields and landscapes back to Xizhou. Overnight in Xizhou.

DAY 5: XIZHOU – SHAXI  

[ B , D ]

After breakfast you will start your half-day excursion to neighboring fishing villages. Visit some local families, temples and Xiao Putuo, a little temple built on the small isle of Wase. Drive to Shaxi in Jianchuan county in the afternoon. At dinner you will enjoy a Ba Da Wan (literally "eight big-bowl courses) banquet and a specially arranged local opera show in an ancient village theatre surrounded by paddy fields, where the musicians are local peasants from this or neighbouring villages. Overnight in Shaxi.

DAY 6: SHAXI – SHIBAOSHAN GROTTOES – LIJIANG  

[ B ]

In the morning you will have time to explore Sideng Jie, the only surviving market on the Ancient Tea-Horse Caravan Road. Later on you will visit Shibaoshan Grottoes, a unique cultural treasures of the Bai people that was the epitome of the former prosperity of this region and an important sign of the cultural communication between Han and Tibetan cultures through this ancient trade route. After lunch you will visit Shihe, a Bai village known for its skillful carpenters and their exquisite wood carvings. Afterwards you will drive directly to Lijiang, the home of the Naxi people. Lijiang was an important historical trade post on the Ancient Tea-Horse Caravan Road. Being influenced by the Han, Tibetan and Bai cultures since the Tang Dynasty, the Naxi people developed their distinctive culture, which finds artistic expression in Naxi pictographic script, Dongba scriptures, music and dances. Dated back to 800 years ago, the well preserved old town of Lijiang with its cobble stone streets, alleyways, limpid canals and many wooden houses is a UNESCO listed site. Be ready to get lost in the charms of this old town. Overnight in Lijiang.

DAY 7: AROUND LIJIANG  

[ B ]

After breakfast, short drive to Yuhu village, a small Naxi village nestled on the lower slopes of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, where you can find the home of Joseph Rock from 1922 to 1949. Joseph Rock was a very famous explorer, geographer, botanist and a scholar of the Naxi language. It is said that his pictures and articles appearing in the National Geographic about his expeditions in Tibet, Yunnan and Sichuan inspired James Hilton to write the famous Lost Horizon, a novel about a fictional remote Himalayan community of quasi-immortals known as Shangri-La. After your visit to Yuhu, drive to Yufeng monastery, a small homely lamasery. Then drive to Baisha, the original settlement of the Naxi people, who migrated to Lijiang Valley over a thousand years ago, and the capital of the Naxi Kingdom before moving to the present Lijiang old town. You may like to visit Doctor Ho at his clinic full of chinese herbs. Lunch at Baisha, then on the way back to Lijiang stop at Shuhe ancient town, a smaller and less touristic version of Lijiang. Back in Lijiang, visit the Museum of the Naxi Dongba Culture, stroll around the photogenic Black Dragon Pool and then spend the rest of the day free at leisure. For music lovers, we recommend a performance of traditional Naxi music. Overnight in Lijiang.

DAY 8: LIJIANG – TIGER LEAPING GORGE – ZHONGDIAN  

[ B ]

An early start will allow you to enjoy the charms of the ancient town before tourists swarm in and to enjoy panoramic views of the beautiful architectural heritage of the old town from Wangulou (Aeon Tower) on the Lion hill. We leave Lijiang due north at around 9am for a scenic drive to Tiger Leaping Gorge. It is an impressive canyon on the Yangtze River and a UNESCO world heritage site, tucked between the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain range (5,596m) and the Haba Xueshan Snow Mountain range (5,396m). It provides one of the most naturally spectacular views of China. We will drive though the low road of the gorge until the middle, then have lunch we will backtrack to Qutiao to keep on driving to Zhongdian. Visit a Tibetan family en route. The hospitable host may treat us with bowls of hot yak butter tea, indispensable daily drink for the Tibetans, and tsampa (roasted barley flour), their staple food. Overnight near Zhongdian.

DAY 9: AROUND ZHONGDIAN  

[ B ]

In the morning visit the magnificent Songzanlin monastery. This lamasery, the biggest in Yunnan, belongs to the Yellow Hat sect of Tibetan Buddhism of the Gelukpa order of the Dalai Lama. The Fifth Dalai Lama established the monastery in 1679, its architecture is a fusion of the Tibetan and Han Chinese. It was extensively damaged in the Cultural Revolution and subsequently rebuilt in 1983. It is affectionately called "the little Potala" due to its close resemblance to the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. After the visit, short stop to a local day market and lunch at Zhongdian old town, then visit of Napa lake and drive another 15km to visit Dabao monastery, a small and peaceful lamasery enshrouded in an ancient cypress grove in the idyllic Ringha village. Back to Zhongdian and rest of the day free at leisure. Overnight near Zhongdian.

DAY 10: ZHONGDIAN - KUNMING  

[ B ]

Morning flight to Kunming. After hotel check-in, transfer to Shilin (Stone Forest), a UNESCO listed site of remarkable karst topology, a grand geological sight that formed about 250 million years ago. Return to Kunming in the late afternoon. Overnight in Kunming.

DAY 11: KUNMING DEPARTURE  

[ B ]

After breakfast, time free at leisure until your transfer to the airport for onward flight.

Contact a Travel Advisor if You Are Interested in This Itinerary or if You Wish to Create Your Own Tailor-Made Itinerary