8 Days Yunnan High Speed Train from Vientiane (Laos) to Kunming (Yunnan)
Tour Overview
China – Laos Railway commenced construction on December 2nd, 2015 and is scheduled for completion by 2020. It will connect Kunming, the capital city of southwestern China’s Yunan Province,...
Code of Tour: YET0000060265
Length of Travel: 8 Day
Destinations of Tour:
Departure City: Kunming
Price of Tour: Request
Type of Tour:
Features of Tour: Train tours
China – Laos Railway commenced construction on December 2nd, 2015 and is scheduled for completion by 2020. It will connect Kunming, the capital city of southwestern China’s Yunan Province, with Laos’ capital city, Vientiane. The China – Laos railway project is actually a section of the Kunming-Singapore Railway Project, which connects Kunming with Singapore, passing through Laos, Thailand, and Malaysia.
Highlights
- Visit the famous attractions of Yunnan: Stone Forest, Dali Old Town, Lijiang Old Town, Lijiang Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Tiger Leaping Gorge, and Shangri-La Songzanlin Monastery.
- Discover the ethnic culture of Yis, Bais, Naxis and Tibetan.
- Be shocked by the ruggedness and magnificence view of Yunnan
Brief Itinerary
- Day 1: Vientiane-Mohan-Kunming
- Day 2: Kunming-Dali
- Day 3: Dali
- Day 4: Dali-Lijiang
- Day 5: Lijiang
- Day 6: Lijiang-Tiger Leaping Gorge-Shangri La
- Day 7: Shangri-La
- Day 8: Shangri La Departure
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1 Arrive in Vientiane
Sightseeing and Activities:Vientiane City Tour
Accommodation:Vientiane
Meals:None
On arrival at the Vientiane Capital, you will be met and transferred to your centrally located hotel. Vientiane is a charming and fascinating capital, with an interesting mix of Lao, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, French, and American influences.
Greet at the airport by our local driver and transfer to check in at your hotel.
Overnight in Vientiane
Day 2 Vientiane-Mohan border-Kunming
Sightseeing and Activities:the oldest
Accommodation:Vientiane
Meals:B,L
Train Schedule:D888 9:00AM-19:38PM
After breakfast, we will take the direct speed train from Vientiane to Kunming ( Yunnan Province, China) via Mohan border.
Linking Yuxi in southwest China and the Lao capital Vientiane, The China-Laos Railway connects Kunming in southwest China’s Yunnan Province with the Laotian capital Vientiane. The 1,035-km railway, a landmark project of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, started operation on Dec. 3, 2021.
Currently, there is one pair of trains, D887/888 running between Kunming, the capital city of southwestern China’s Yunnan Province and Laos’ capital city, Vientiane on a daily basis. The duration is 10.5 hours for both, counting in the time used for custom procedures at the border. Ticket price is around CNY864 for a first class seat and CNY542 for a second class seat.
Arrive in Kunming in the late afternoon, meet your local guide and transfer to the hotel.
You will be free to explore kunming City at night.
Overnight in Kunming
Day 3 Kunming – Dali by speed train
Sightseeing and Activities:the Stone Forest, the Green Lake, Flowers and Birds Market
Accommodation:Kunming
Meals:Breakfast and Lunch
In the morning, visit visit the Green Lake and then enjoy a 20-minute walk to visit the Flowers and Birds Market in downtown area.
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.
In the afternoon, take the speed train from Shilin County to Dali. Walk around Dali Old Town at night.
Day 4 Dali
Sightseeing and Activities:Three Pagodas, cruise in Erhai Lake, Dali Old Town, Foreigner’s Street, Ancient City Wall
Accommodation:Dali
Meals:Breakfast and Lunch
In the morning, visit 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.
Then 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.
In the late afternoon, take a walk in Dali Old Town. Visit Foreigner’s Street and ancient city wall.
Day 5 Dali-Lijiang
Sightseeing and Activities:Xizhou Town, Zhoucheng Village, Lijiang Old Town
Accommodation:Lijiang
Meals:Breakfast and Lunch
In the morning, head for Xizhou Town to fully appreciate Bai-style traditional architectural courtyards, taste their fragrant Three-Course Tea and explore their distinctive culture.
Transfer to visit Zhoucheng Village and the Bai people’s Tie-dying cloth workshop where you can take some special souvenir with the Bai ethnic style.
After lunch, drive to Lijiang. You will be relaxed around Lijiang Old Town, a well-preserved old city of ethnic minorities with brilliant culture, is a central town of the Lijiang Autonomous County of the Naxi Ethnic Minority in Yunnan Province. Located on the plateau which is 2,400 meters above the sea level and embraced by the tree-covered Lion Mountain in the west, Elephant and Golden Row Mountains in the north, vast fertile fields in the southeast and crystal clear water running through, the old town looks like a big jade ink slab, therefore got the alias the Town of Big Ink Slab (Dayanzhen).
Day 6 Lijiang
Sightseeing and Activities:Ganhaizi Meadow, Baishuihe River,Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Spruce Meadow, Blue Moon Valley, Impression Lijiang Ethnic Show, Baisha Old Town, Baisha Murals
Accommodation:Lijiang
Meals:Breakfast and Lunch
Drive about 30KM to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Scenic Area. You will firstly reach Ganhaizi Meadow(3100M). Then you will take the sightseeig bus for a short visiting through the Baishuihe River. Take cable car to Spruce Meadow and hike around 30 minutes in the forest. Then take a battery cart to Blue Moon Valley.
After lunch, you will enjoy the Impression Lijiang Ethnic Show directed by Zhang Yimou. It is held in Ganhaizi Meadow about 3100M above the sea level.
And then, you can stroll through Baisha Old Town, which is an enchanting traditional Naxi style old town. Visit the Baisha Murals about 600 years old, which is one part of the World Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO 1997.
Day 7 Lijiang-100KM-Tiger Leaping Gorge-100KM-Shangri-La
Sightseeing and Activities:the First Bend of Yangtze River, Iron Chain Bridge, Red Army’s Long March Memorial Monument, Tiger Leaping Gorge, Dukezong Ancient Town, Guishan Hill
Accommodation:Shangri-La
Meals:Breakfast and Lunch
From Lijiang, you’ll drive about 60KM 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.
Then you will enter 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 shangrila county and Dukezong Ancient Town.
Day 8 Shangri-La
Sightseeing and Activities:Songzanlin Monastery,Tibetan Family, Shudu Lake in Pudacuo National Park
Accommodation:Shangri-La
Meals:Breakfast and Lunch
Today, visit the Songzanlin 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.
After that, pay a visit to a Tibetan Family and have Yak Butter lunch in the family.
And afterwards you’ll visit the tranquil Shudu Lake in Pudacuo National Park. Pudacuo National Park 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.
Day 9 Departure from Shangri-La
Sightseeing and Activities:Departure from Shangri-La
Accommodation:None
Meals:Breakfast
Today the tour guide and driver will take you to Shangri-La airport and then depature.
Recommended Hotels
| Destination | 5 Star | 4 Star | 3 Star | Hostel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kunming | Softel Hotel | Wenhui Hotel | Jinhua Hotel | T&T Story Hotel |
| Dali | Hilton Dali Resort & Spa | Shouyi Boutique Hotel | Dali Taihe Boutique Inn | Dali Fengxue Gucheng |
| Lijiang | Pullman Hotel | Wangfu Hotel | Liwang Hotel | Baisha Holiday Resort |
| Shangri-La | Shangri-La Hotel | Shangri-La Old Town Hotel | Moon City Hotel | Guzang Xiangbala Wu Fu Diannan Boutique Inn |
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 from Kunming to Dali (2nd class seats).
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.
Recommended Hotels
| Destination | 5 Star | 4 Star | 3 Star | Hostels |
| Kunming | Sofitel Hotel | Jingjiang Hotel | Long Teng Hotel | / |
| Yuanjiang | Yuanjiang Hotel | Red Valley Rehai Hot Spring Hotel | / | / |
| Jinghong | Kingland Hotel | Ana Tailai Hotel | / | / |
| Luang Namtha | / | |||
| Pakbeng | / | |||
| Luang Prabang | / |
| Viengtiane | Hotel | Hotel | Hotel | / |
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;
- Service charge and all government taxes;
- Travel Agency’s Responsibility Insurance coverage.
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.
