10 Days Yunnan Classic Speed Train Tour with Xishuangbanna Tropical Forest

For this 10 days Yunnan classic tour, you will visit the highlights of Kunming, Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La and Xishuangbanna. This is also a minority discovery tour, because you will find minority diversity during your trip, the minorities such as Yis, Bais, Naxis, Tibetan and Dais. You will have both winter experience at Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and summer experience in Xishuangbanna.

Highlights:

  • Visit the highlights of Kunming, Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La.
  • Discover the ethnic culture of Yis, Bais, Naxis and Tibetan.
  • Have the summer experience in Xishuangbanna.

Brief Itinerary

  • Day 1: Kunming Arrival
  • Day 2: Kunming – Jinghong by speed train
  • Day 3: Jinghong -Menglun
  • Day 4: Menglun-Jinghong
  • Day 5: Jinghong – Dali by flight
  • Day 6: Dali – Lijiang
  • Day 7: Lijiang
  • Day 8: Lijiang – Shangrila
  • Day 9: Shangrila
  • Day 10: Shangrila Departure

Google Map

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 Kunming Arrival

Sightseeing and Activities:Kunming Arrival
Accommodation: Kunming
Meals:

You’ll begin your journey to the diverse and captivating province of Yunnan from the capital city, Kunming. Upon arrival at the Kunming International Airport, meet your local guide and transfer to the hotel.

Day 2 Kunming – Jinghong

Sightseeing and Activities: Stone Forest
Accommodation: Jinghong
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

You will drive 86 km to the Stone Forest. An old local saying says that ‘If you have visited Kunming without seeing the Stone Forest, you have wasted your time.’ Truly, the Stone Forest is one of the most important attractions of Yunnan.

After lunch drive back Kunming, transfer to Kunming Railway Station to take the speed train to Jinghong City in XishuangBanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture located in south Yunnan Province. Be picked up from airport to hotel and check in.

Day 3 Jinghong – Menglun

Sightseeing and Activities: Galanba, Galanba Morning Bazaar, Menglun Tropical Botanical Garden
Accommodation: Menglun
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

After breakfast, transfer to visit Galanba(Olive Dam) with an elevation of 530 meters above the sea level, a small town where you will see typical Dai bamboo cabins, Dai ethnic villages, Mangting Park, tropical plants and colorful fruits. Visit the Ganlanba Morning Bazaar, here you will see some ethnic people decorated colorful costume in the market.

After lunch, step cross a suspension bridge to visit Menglun Tropical Botanical Garden, which has the riches plant diversity in China.

Day 4 Menglun – Jinghong

Sightseeing and Activities: Ethnic Villages, Wild Elephant Valley
Accommodation: Jinghong
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

After breakfast, transfer back to Jinghong to visit Dry Dai people Village on the way back as well as the Jinuo Ethnic village.

In the afternoon, visit the Wild Elephants Valley which covers an area of 369 hectares by the Sancha River in Mengyang Town, and is situated 47 kilometers north of the city of Jinghong. With hills rolling gently at an altitude ranging between 747 and 1055 metres, the valley is covered by tropical rain forests, crisscrossed by rivers and streams, and teeming with such endangered species as Asian wild elephants, wild oxen, green peacocks and monkeys. In the Wild Elephants Valley, the first passenger cableway with 2,063 meters of length in the equatorial forest sends the tourists to the main scenic spot in which the wild elephants live.

Day 5 Jinghong – Dali

Sightseeing and Activities: Erhai Lake Cruise, Dali Ancient Town
Accommodation: Dali
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Take the morning flight to Dali, a historically and culturally famous city of China, which is renowned for her historical interest and Bai ethnic culture. After landing, you will 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. At last, you will visit the Ancient Dali Town, walk around the Foreigner Street and enjoy the relax time with local people. After climbing up to the City Wall of Dali, you will have a panoramic view of the Erhai Lake.

Day 6 Dali – Lijiang

Sightseeing and Activities: Three Pagodas, Xizhou Town, Zhoucheng Village, Lijiang Ancient Town
Accommodation: Lijiang
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Ottelia acuminata in Lugu Lake of Lijiang, Yunnan

In the morning,  visit the Three Pagodas in Chongshen Monastery which has a history of over 1,800 years 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. Before leaving for Lijiang, 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 souvenir with the Bai ethnic style

Drive about 180KM to Lijiang with the beautiful farmlands and ethnic villages on the way. In the late afternoon, explore Lijiang Old TownLijiang Ancient Town has a history more than 800 years; it was listed as the World Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO 1997. Here you will see the wonderful wooden architecture of Naxi ethnic people.

Day 7 Lijiang

Sightseeing and Activities: Yulong Snow Mountain, the Impression Lijang Ethnic Show, Baisha Old Town and Murals
Accommodation: Lijiang
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Lijiang Ancient Town

Lijiang Ancient Town

In the morning, drive about 30KM to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Scenic Area. You will reach Ganhaizi Meadow(3100M) first. Then you will take the sightseeing bus for a short visiting through the Baishuihe River.Take cable way up to Spruce Meadow. After lunch, you will enjoy the Impression Lijang Ethnic Show directed in Ganhaizi Meadow(3100M). A cultural show demonstrating the traditions and lifestyles of the Naxi, Yi and Bai peoples of the area. The show takes place inside Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Park at 3500m in an outdoor theater specifically designed to showcase the mountain which is used as a backdrop. The production itself was designed by Zhang Yimou, Fan Yue and Wang Chaoge, a cast of over 500 people, and a number of horses.

In the afternoon, you’ll stroll through Baisha Old Town, which is an enchanting traditional Yunnan town.  Visit the Baisha Mural about 600 years old, which is one part of the World Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO 1997.

Day 8 Lijiang- Shangri-La

Sightseeing and Activities: The First Bend of Yangze River, Shigu Old Town, The Stone Drum, Tiger Leaping Gorge
Accommodation: Shangrila
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Abuji scenic area in Shangri-La, Diqing, Yunnan

From Lijiang, you’ll drive about 60KM to the First Bend on the Yangtze River with imposing gorge scenery, visit the Iron Chain Bridgethe 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(Shangri-La section), 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 every tourist.  Check in your hotel after arrival.

Day 9 Shangri-La

Sightseeing and Activities: Sogzanlin Monastery, Pudacuo National Park , Dukezong Ancient Town, Grand Prayer Wheel
Accommodation: Shangri-La
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

azaleas at the Balagezong scenic area in Shangri-La

In the morning, visit the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery, the largest Tibetan monastery in Yunnan. Songzanlin Monastery has another alias – ‘the little Potala Palace ‘, so named because the whole monastery is in the traditional style with mysterious atmosphere. And afterwards 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. While 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.

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 shangrila county and Dukezong Ancient Town.

Day 10 Shangri-La Departure

Sightseeing and Activities:Shangri-La Departure

Accommodation:
Meals:

Free at leisure before be transferred to airport for the departure flight. Service ends.

Recommended Hotels

City 5 Star 4 Star 3 Star Hostel
Kunming Crown Plaza Kunming City Centre Wenhui Hotel Baiyun Hotel T&T Story Hotel
Jinghong InterContinental Hotel Jinghong Dai Garden Hotel Jinglan Business Hotel Rainforest Paradise Xishuangbanna
Dali Hilton Dali Resort And Spa Landscape Hotel Taiheju Hotel Dali Fengxue Gucheng
Lijiang InterContinental Lijiang Ancient Town Resort Wangfu Hotel Louwailou Hotel Baisha Holiday Resort
Shangri-la Shangri-la Hotel Zhaxidele Hotel Shenqu Hotel Wu Fu South Yunnan Boutique Inn

Service Included:

1.Admission fees for all of the sightseeing spots listed in the itinerary;
2.Meals as listed in the itinerary;
3.Hotels as listed in the itinerary;
4.Private English-speaking tour guide and vehicle for transfers & sightseeing;
5.Service charge & government taxes;
6. Luggage transfers between airports and hotels;
7. Two bottles of mineral water each day;

Service Excluded:

1.Any arrival and departure international airfares or train tickets;
2.Chinese visa fees;
3.Excess baggage charged by Airlines;
4.Single room supplement;
5.Tips to guides and drivers;
6.Personal expenses and gratuities to service staff.
7.Personal travel accident insurance;
8.All optional programs;
9.Domestic air tickets fares with airport tax and fuel extra fee based on economy class mentioned in the program.