Wonders of Yunnan: Dali, Shangri-la and Lijiang! October 1-7

Pickup and transfer to hotel in Dali ancient town. Free time to walk around and explore the town.

Visit Dali AncientTown which is 13 kilometers away from Xiaguan in Dali City. It can be dated back to the year 1382 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and has been amongthe top listed historical cities of China since 1982. With Erhai Lake to theeast, and Cangshan Mountain to the west, its grand city wall, traditional Baiethnic minority folk houses and marvelous scenery have been attracting manyvisitors. The tour in Dali Ancient Town will include the Forigners Street,theGate Towers and the Ancient City Wall.Walk along the ancient street and arrivethe south entrance to Dali Ancient Town,pay a visi to the Ancient City Wall ofDali which was built in the 15th year of Hongwu in the Ming dynasty (AD1382)after the Ming army occupied Dali. Backing on the Mt. Cangshan and facing theErhai, it is 7.5 meters high and 6 meters deep rounding an area of 36 squarekilometers. Nowadays, only some parts of the north and south ancient wall werestill standing.

Cycle from Dali old town to Erhailake.

In the afternoon head for Xizhou Town to fully appreciate Bai-style traditional architectural courtyards, taste their fragrant Three-Course Tea and explore their distinctiveculture. Xizhou is our home. This little village has been called ‘a living artmuseum’ due to its unusual concentration of nationally protected heritagesites, mostly including architecture that spans the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644)until the creation of New China in 1949, but also includes centuries old trees,parks, and wildlife preserves.

Strolling through the morning marketand main walking street will reveal a vibrant town with a healthy mix oftraditional Bai culture and modern influence from Eastern China and abroad. Itis the balance of development and forward thinking that exists in Xizhou thatmakes it special.

After Xizhou,visit ZhouchengVillage which is the largest Bai ethnic village in China and the Bai EthnicTie-dying Cloth Workshop where you can take some special souvenir with the Baiethnic style. The tie-dyeing products in Zhoucheng Village are well soughtafter, both at home and abroad. Do drop by and witness for yourself the processof this historical craftsmanship. Who knows, you will return home with somecheap and beautiful crafted cloths.

In the morning drive to Shangrila (195 KM, 5 hours)

Visit the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery, the largest Tibetan monastery in Yunnan. Songzanlin Monastery has another alias – ‘thelittle Potala Palace ‘, so named because the whole monastery is in thetraditional style with mysterious atmosphere.

Later, drive to the Napa lake – “the lake besides the forest”, beautiful nature reserve.

Later explore Dukezong Old Town by climbing up to the top of Guishan Hill (or Tortoise Hill) tohave a panoramic view of the old town and Shangri-La County and join in thetourists to turn the largest Prayer Wheel in the world. (Please note: InJan.2014, a huge fire broke out destroying most of the town. Now you couldvisit the area around Guishan Hill.)

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In the morning, drive about 100 KM toQiaotou Town (Tiger Leaping gorge Town). You will start the trekking of TigerLeaping Gorge, as one of the world’s four great gorges, is honored as one ofthe deepest and most marvelous gorges with 3900 meters in depth.

Start the trekking form the QiaotouPrimary School, after half an hour, arrive in Changsheng Village, pay a visitto Changsheng Hope Primary School. Arrive in Zhong Nuoyu village at noon andhave lunch at Naxi Family Guesthouse. After lunch, you will start the mostdifficult part trekking to the 28 Zigzag Bends trail and reach the top peak atthe elevation of 2670m.

You will arrive at Tea&HorseGuesthouse to finish today’s trekking. This is basically the halfway point of thejourney.

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Get up in the early morning, you willtrek to Tina’ Guesthouse. Then drive back to Lijiang.

(Another option: if you are in goodphysical condition, you can trek further. You will firstly trek from Tina’sGuesthouse down to Teacher Zhang’s Guesthouse, where you can have a nice viewof the middle gorge looks like a big gate.It is quite steep trail from TeacherZhang’s Guesthouse down to the Middle Rapids. Then you will trek from ThinStrip of Sky (Or:Ray of Sunshine, 一线天）to Walnut Grove Garden. Then drive back to Lijiang,service ends.

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In this morning, head to Baisha Village andappreciate the ancient Baisha Mural Paintings. Visit Dabaoji Palace andLiuli Temple to view murals painted over 1000 years ago which is a combinationof Tibetan Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism.

Drive to Wenhai lake to start our trekking tour. It is a relatively easy hike along the slopes of Jade Dragon mountain. Pass alpine forests, a reservoir, wild flowers, trees and arrive to Yuhu village, the last village at the foot of Jade Dragon mountain. Here you have an option to do horse riding (180 rmb) or just walk around this remote stone village.

Flight Lijiang – Shanghai 12:10-15:45 GJ6016