11 Days Yunnan High Speed Train Tour from Shanghai
Tour Overview
For this 11 days Yunnan classic tour, you will visit not only the highlights of Kunming, Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La, but also the highlights of Shanghai city. This is...
Code of Tour: YET0000005615
Length of Travel: 11 Day
Destinations of Tour: Shanghai-Kunming-Dali-Shaxi-Shangri-la-Lijiang-Kunming
Departure City: Shanghai
Price of Tour: Request
Type of Tour:
Features of Tour: Minorities Landscape Mountains Ancient towns Speed train
For this 11 days Yunnan classic tour, you will visit not only the highlights of Kunming, Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La, but also the highlights of Shanghai city. This is also a minority discovery tour, because you will find minority diversity during your trip, the minorities such as Yis, Bais, Naxis and Tibetan. Moreover, the Tiger Leaping Gorge will be the most impressive part of your trip, you could be shocked by the ruggedness and magnificence of Tiger Leaping Gorge and the mountains around when you are there. This part can not be missed.
Highlights:
- Begin your 11 days Yunnan classic tour from Shanghai by high speed train.
- Visit and explore famous ancient towns in Yunnan, including Dali Old Town and Lijiang Old Town.
- Be amazed at the stone wonderland, Stone Forest.
- Experience the ethnic culture of Yi, Bai, Naxi and Tibetan minorities.
Brief Itinerary
- Day 1: Shanghai Arrival
- Day 2: Shanghai
- Day 3: Shanghai-Kunming
- Day 4: Kunming-Dali
- Day 5: Dali
- Day 6: Dali-Shaxi
- Day 7: Shaxi-Shangri-La
- Day 8: Shangri-La-Lijiang
- Day 9: Lijiang-Kunming
- Day 10: Kunming
- Day 11: Kunming Departure
Google Map
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1 Arrive in Shanghai
Sightseeing and Activities: Arrive in Shanghai
Accommodation: Shanghai
Meals: Lunch
Arrive in Shanghai. Meet your guide at airport, then drive to hotel for check-in.
Day 2 Shanghai
Sightseeing and Activities: the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, Yuyuan Garden, Nanjing Road, the Bund
Accommodation: Shanghai
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
Visit the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, which is located in Pudong Park in Lujiazui, Shanghai. Surrounded by the Yangpu Bridge in the northeast and the Nanpu Bridge in the southwest, it creates a picture of ‘twin dragons playing with pearls’. The entire scene is a photographic jewel that excites the imagination and attracts thousands of visitors year-round.
Then move to visit Yuyuan Garden. The elaborately crafted halls and pavilions are with great wisdom arranged to join the lotus lake, greenery to make various pretty images before your eyes. Walk around Yuyuan Market nearby where you can feast your eyes with numerous Chinese arts and crafts in a lively atmosphere.
Next stop is the famous Nanjing Road and The Bund. Take Metro Line 2 to the People’s Square Station and the 1,599-meter-long Nanjing Rd. (East) is right there, You may get dazzled by the world of Garment, shoes, jewelry, accessory, snack and souvenirs. Walk about 15 minutes from Nanjing Rd. (East) and you have the amazing view of the Bund, the beautiful silhouette of Baroque buildings and the landmark Oriental Pearl Tower.
Day 3 Shanghai-Kunming
Sightseeing and Activities: Kunming
Accommodation: Kunming
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
In the morning, you will transfer to railway station for the high speed train to Kunming. Upon arrival, the guide in Kunming will pick you up and transfer to the downtown to check in your hotel.
Day 4 Kunming
Sightseeing and Activities: Stone Forest, Guandu Old Town, Nanping Road
Accommodation: Kunming
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
In the morning, make the tour of 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.
Then transfer back to Kunming city, pay a visit to Guandu Old Town, one of the cradles of the ancient Dian civilization and culture in Yunnan, which is located in the southeast suburb of Kunming, about 10 km from downtown. Being a famous historic and cultural town, dated back to the Nanzhao Kingdom (738-937), as early as the Tang Dynasty, Guandu Old Town had been a big market town and communication center.
Finally, drop off at shopping area – Nanping Street nearby, you will stroll in this area and then transfer to the hotel for rest.
Day 5 Kunming-Dali
Sightseeing and Activities: Erhai Lake, Three Pagodas, Zhoucheng, Dali Old Town
Accommodation: Dali
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
Get up in the early morning. Transfer to train station. Take a high speed train from Kunming to Dali. After meeting your guide, you will head to take cruise in Erhai Lake by the small boat 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. Then go to visit 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.
Later Visit Zhoucheng Village and the Bai people’s Tie-dying cloth workshop where you can take some special souvenirs with the Bai ethnic style. At last, you will visit the Dali Old Town.
Day 6 Dali-Shaxi
Sightseeing and Activities: Shibaoshan Mountain, Shaxi Old Town
Accommodation: Shaxi
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
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.
Then 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 dated back as far as 1300 years to the once powerful Nanzhao Kingdom during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The carvings are testimony for a time when Mahayana Buddhism from Tibet started to spread in the Yunnan area. Another interesting sight is the ‘Suspending Temple’, also called the Baoxiang Temple. The Baoxiang temple was built on a ledge of a nearly vertical cliff and can only be reached by a long flight of stairs. On a clear day, the views from the Baoxiang Temple over the Shaxi valley are simply magnificent.
After lunch, drive to Shaxi , have a tour of Shaxi Old Town.
Day 7 Shaxi-Shangri-La
Sightseeing and Activities: Tiger Leaping Gorger, Dukezong Old Town
Accommodation: Shangri-La
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
This morning, drive about 2 hours to Qiaotou Town. Take the tour of 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.
After the tour, continue driving to Zhongdian which is well known as the paradise destination for every tourist. Check in your hotel after arrival.
Then stroll 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 8 Shangri-La-Lijiang
Sightseeing and Activities: Pudacuo National Park, Ganden Sumtseling Monastery
Accommodation: Lijiang
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
In the morning, you’ll visit the tranquil Bita Lake & Shudu Lake in Pudacuo National Park. It is located in one of the most biologically-diverse regions of the world. Even though 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 mammal and bird species and almost 100 endangered species.
Continue to visit the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery, the largest Tibetan monastery in Yunnan. Songzanlin Monastery has another alias – ‘the little Potala Palace’, because the whole monastery is in the traditional style with mysterious atmosphere.
Around 15:00, you will transfer to Lijiang. Check in your hotel in Lijiang.
Day 9 Lijiang
Sightseeing and Activities: Ganhaizi Meadow, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Baishuihe River, Yak Meadow, Black Dragon Pond, Lijiang Old Town
Accommodation: None
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
In the morning, drive about 30 km to Ganhaizi Meadow(3100 meters), you will take the bus for a short visit through the Baishuihe River, then take the chairlift up to visit Yak Meadow(3700 meters) of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.The cable-way will be arranged according to the condition of the mountain. You will hike around 1 hours in the original forest in Yak Meadow.
Then have stroll in Black Dragon Pool, which is located at the foot of the Xiangshan Mountain (Elephant Hill) north of Lijiang City. As the water here is a lucid green color, it gained another name Jade Spring Park (Yuquan Park). There are many distinctive and ravishing sites in the park. Hiding in the lush trees or standing along the liquid pool is the antique and exquisite architectural pieces, which are in the style of Naxi. Then explore Lijiang Old Town. Lijiang 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 people.
In the evening, take the overnight train to Kunming.
Day 10 Kunming
Sightseeing and Activities: Western Hills and Dragon Gate, Yuantong Temple, Green Lake Park
Accommodation: Kunming
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
Arrive in Kunming in the morning, meet your local guide, then drive to West Hills. You will take the chairlift to visit Dragon Gate. It is a group of grottoes, sculptures, corridors and pavilions that were hacked from the cliff between 1781 and 1835 by a poor Taoist monk Wu Laiqing and his friends with simple tools. It consists of three stone chambers chiseled out of the cliffs and connected by a spiraling passageway that allows only one person to pass at a time. The passage ends at the Pavilion Leading to Heaven (Datiange). A stone archway was built at the entrance with the inscription Long Men (Dragon Gate) at the top. Standing here you will have a chance to view the thrilling sight of the Dianchi Lake below.
Afterward, head to Yuantong Temple. Located in the north of Kunming, close to Green Lake Park, this large Buddhist temple was built over 1,000 years ago when Yunnan was a part of the Nanzhao kingdom and independent from next door Tang dynasty China.
Later have a nice walk in Green Lake (Cuihu Gongyuan), one of the most picturesque parks in downtown Kunming. In November and December every winter, huge flocks of red-beaked gulls migrate here from Siberia.
Day 11 Kunming Departure
Sightseeing and Activities: Kunming Departure
Accommodation:None
Meals: Breakfast
Enjoy your leisure time before going to airport for your departure flight. Service ends.
Recommended Hotels
| Destination | 5 Star | 4 Star | 3 Star | Hostels |
| Kunming | Sofitel Hotel | Jinjiang Hotel | Longteng Hotel | Tu Tu Inn |
| Lijiang | InterContinental Hotel | E-outfitting Hotel | Liwang Hotel | Flowers Hall Inn |
| Shangri-La | Shangri-La Resort | E-outfitting Hotel | Bodhi Boutique Inn | Guzang Xiangbala Wu Fu Diannan Boutique Inn |
| Dali | Hilton Hotel | E-outfitting Hotel | Taiheju hotel | Fengxuegucheng |
| Shaxi | Landscape Hotel | Shaxi Aoding Courtyard | Xiaolazhe Yododo Inn | Another Encounter |
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;
- High speed train tickets(2nd class seat).
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.
