Yunnan: Kunming, Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La

Arrive in Kunming, the Spring City

Kunming Changshui International Airport to your hotel, then Green Lake Park

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Kunming
• Environ 45 min de route

Après-midi

Late in the afternoon your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the days ahead, then walks you to Green Lake Park, beside Yunnan University, where locals dance, sing, play cards and practise tai chi along the causeways and under the willows. From November to March, black-headed gulls that winter in Kunming crowd the railings.

Soir

Dinner tonight is a welcome meal of crossing-the-bridge rice noodles, Yunnan's best-known dish, at a local restaurant, where you add the raw ingredients to a bowl of hot broth at the table.

Compris

• Pick-up at Kunming Changshui International Airport (KMG)
• Welcome briefing with your guide
• Evening walk in Green Lake Park
• Welcome dinner of crossing-the-bridge rice noodles

The Stone Forest at opening, then the train to Dali

Kunming to the Stone Forest and back, then by high-speed train to Dali

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Dali
• Environ 3 h de route

Après-midi

Back in Kunming by about 12:30, we sit down to a Yunnan lunch. If we are on time, we add a 45-minute stop at the Kunming City Museum for the Dizang Temple sutra pillar, a carved Buddhist column from the Dali Kingdom; if the morning runs late, we skip it and go straight to the station. We aim for a high-speed train west to Dali at about 3:30 pm, about two hours, and name the station and departure when we confirm your dates.

Soir

Our vehicle meets us in Dali for the short drive to a hotel by the old town, and the evening is free.

Compris

• The Stone Forest (Shilin) near opening, with a local Sani guide and the park shuttle
• Lunch in Kunming
• The Kunming City Museum and the Dizang Temple sutra pillar, when we are back from the Stone Forest by about 12:30
• Reserved seats on the high-speed train from Kunming to Dali
• Station transfers in Kunming and Dali

The Three Pagodas, Xizhou and Erhai Lake

Dali to the Three Pagodas, north to Xizhou and Zhoucheng, then back along Erhai Lake

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Dali
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Matin

The Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple stand just north of the old town, and we are there near opening, when the morning light falls on the Cang Mountains behind them. The tallest, Qianxun Pagoda, is about 69 m high and dates from the 9th century, when this valley was the seat of the Nanzhao kingdom. From there we drive about 20 km north along the lake to Xizhou, a Bai village of whitewashed courtyard houses built by merchant families.

Après-midi

Your guide walks you through the morning market and the Yan family compound, then we sit down to a Bai lunch, starting with Xizhou baba, the village's flaky flatbread. In the early afternoon we stop in Zhoucheng, where a family still binds and dyes cloth in indigo by hand, to try it yourself; nothing is sold to the group. Then we walk down through the fields to the shore of Erhai Lake, about 40 km long, and are back in Dali by mid-afternoon with the rest of the day free.

Compris

• The Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple near opening
• Xizhou with your guide: the morning market and the Yan family compound
• Bai lunch in Xizhou
• A hands-on indigo tie-dye session with a family in Zhoucheng
• A walk through the fields to the shore of Erhai Lake

Activités en option

• E-bike hire along the Erhai lakeshore path, arranged by your guide and paid locally

Shaxi on the Tea Horse Road, on to Lijiang

Dali to Shaxi, then on to Lijiang

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Lijiang
• Environ 4 h de route

Matin

We leave Dali after breakfast and drive about two hours north towards Jianchuan, then west over a low pass into the Shaxi valley. Shaxi was a market stop on the Tea Horse Road, the network of caravan trails that carried tea from Yunnan to Tibet, and its Sideng Square still keeps the old theatre stage, the gate towers and the Xingjiao Temple, a Buddhist temple from the early Ming dynasty, around a cobbled market place.

Après-midi

We walk the square and the lanes with a local guide, cross the Yujin Bridge over the Heihui River to the rice fields, and stop for lunch in a courtyard restaurant. If your day 4 falls on a Friday, the weekly market fills the lanes with traders from the hill villages.

Soir

In mid-afternoon we drive on about two hours to Lijiang, at about 2,400 m, in time to settle in and wander out for dinner. This is the longest road day of the trip, about 4 hours in two halves, broken by the walk and lunch in Shaxi.

Compris

• Shaxi with a local guide: Sideng Square, the theatre stage and the Xingjiao Temple
• Walk to the Yujin Bridge and the fields
• Lunch in a Shaxi courtyard restaurant

Lijiang old town early, then Baisha

Lijiang old town on foot, then Baisha and back

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Lijiang
• Environ 45 min de route

Matin

Lijiang's old town is busy from mid-morning, so we walk it first, from about 7:30, while shopkeepers are still taking down their shutters and the water channels that run beside the lanes are quiet. The old town is part of the Old Town of Lijiang, listed by UNESCO in 1997: Naxi wooden houses, stone bridges and canals fed from Black Dragon Pool. We climb to the Wangu Tower on Lion Hill for the view over the grey tiled roofs to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain on a clear morning. Then we drive about 10 km north to Baisha, an older Naxi village at the foot of the mountain. In the Dabaoji Palace are the Baisha murals, Ming dynasty frescoes that mix Tibetan Buddhist, Chinese Buddhist and Taoist painting.

Après-midi

A Naxi family then hosts us for a session on Dongba script, a pictographic writing still used by Dongba priests, followed by lunch in their home. The afternoon is free: stay in Baisha to wander, or ride back to Lijiang to rest.

Compris

• Lijiang old town from about 7:30 with your guide
• The Wangu Tower on Lion Hill
• The Baisha murals in the Dabaoji Palace
• Dongba script session and lunch with a Naxi family in Baisha
• Lijiang old town maintenance fee, where it is charged on your dates

Black Dragon Pool and a free day in Lijiang

Lijiang old town to Black Dragon Pool and back on foot

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
• Nuit : Lijiang

Matin

Morning is the clearest time to see Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, 5,596 m high and filling the skyline north of town, so at about 8 am we walk around 20 minutes from the old town to Black Dragon Pool Park, for the view of the mountain behind the Moon-Embracing Pavilion and its white stone bridge, reflected in the water on a still day. At the north end of the park, the Lijiang Museum, often still called the Dongba Culture Museum, explains the script you tried yesterday and Naxi life beyond the tourist lanes. From late morning the day is yours: rest before the climb to Shangri-La, wander the smaller Shuhe old town, cycle around Lashi Lake, or take the optional cable car up Jade Dragon Snow Mountain to about 4,500 m.

Soir

A short visit up high with a night back at 2,400 m suits some people, but it is not for anyone with heart or breathing problems. In the evening we meet again for a Naxi dinner.

Compris

• Black Dragon Pool Park in the morning with your guide
• The Dongba exhibits at the Lijiang Museum (Dongba Culture Museum)
• Naxi dinner

Activités en option

• Jade Dragon Snow Mountain by cable car (tickets are limited and named; price confirmed at booking)
• Bike hire around Lashi Lake
• Shuhe old town

Tiger Leaping Gorge, then up to Shangri-La

Lijiang to Tiger Leaping Gorge, then north to Shangri-La

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Shangri-La
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is at a family-run guesthouse on the trail, on a terrace above the gorge. In the early afternoon we drive about two hours north, climbing onto the Tibetan plateau to Shangri-La, at about 3,300 m.

Soir

Take the evening slowly: a light dinner, plenty of water and no alcohol tonight help with the altitude.

Compris

• Tiger Leaping Gorge entry
• A guided walk on a section of the high trail with a local trail guide
• Lunch at a guesthouse in the gorge
• Drive up to Shangri-La

Songzanlin Monastery and Dukezong

Shangri-La to Songzanlin Monastery and back, then Dukezong old town

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Shangri-La
• Environ 30 min de route

Matin

In the morning the monks are about and the light is on the golden roofs. A local guide takes us through the main assembly halls, then we walk part of the path around the lake at an easy pace.

Après-midi

Lunch is in the home of a Tibetan family, who show how yak-butter tea is churned and serve a home-cooked meal. After a rest at the hotel, we walk into Dukezong, the old Tibetan quarter, rebuilt after a fire in 2014, and climb to Guishan Park for the giant prayer wheel, which takes several people to turn, and the view over the town in the late light.

Soir

The farewell dinner is at a local restaurant.

Compris

• Songzanlin Monastery in the morning with a local guide
• Walk around Lamuyangcuo Lake
• Lunch with a Tibetan family, with yak-butter tea
• Dukezong old town and the prayer wheel at Guishan Park
• Farewell dinner

Leave from Shangri-La

Shangri-La to Diqing Shangri-La Airport

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 15 min de route

Matin

The morning is free. Walk back to Dukezong while the lanes are empty and the smoke of juniper rises from the temple burners, sit over a last cup of butter tea, or rest before the journey home. Your guide stays with the group until the last transfer, and our vehicle takes you to Diqing Shangri-La Airport (DIG), about 15 minutes from town. Most flights from Shangri-La connect through Kunming, about an hour away, where international flights leave; some routes go via Chengdu. If you would rather not fly, the train runs from Shangri-La to Lijiang and on to Kunming, and we can book it with your trip. With a later flight, ask your guide about a stop at Napa Lake on the way, a seasonal lake and grassland where black-necked cranes winter from about November to March.

Soir

We are happy to help you plan an extra night in Kunming or an onward trip, and we will check your flight times when you book so the last transfer fits.

Compris

• Drop-off at Diqing Shangri-La Airport (DIG)

Activités en option

• A stop at Napa Lake on the way to the airport, for later flights