9 Days China Yunnan Minority Tour

Upon your arrival at Kunming International Airport. Our guide will hold a sign with your name waiting for you at Exit. Transfer to your hotel. The rest day is free on your own.

After breakfast at the hotel. Drive 2 hours to the Stone Forest. There is a local saying: "It is a waste of time not to visit the Stone Forest while visiting Kunming", which vividly expresses the deep love of the local people toward this world wonder. The quintessential karst landscape makes every tourist lost in wonder.

After lunch drive back Kunming to visit the landmark of Kunming - the Golden Horse and Phoenix Archway, which is located at the corner of Sanshi Road and Jinbi Road. And then, you will take a leisurely stroll along the Green Lake, a charming area of teahouses and small boutiques selling handicrafts and beautiful local paintings.

Last, transfer you back to the hotel.

Pick you up from the hotel in the morning. Take flight to Dali. On your arrival at the airport, your local guide will meet you up.

Visit Erhai Lake, which ranked the second in Yunnan Province and the seventh freshwater lake in China by area and water storage. Continue to visit Three Pagoda, the symbol of the history of Dali. Last, you will visit the Dali Ancient Town, which is featured by the unique traditional Bai ethnic folk houses.

Transfer back to the hotel.

Today will be a little tired because we need to spend about 3.5 - 4 hours driving from Dali to Lijiang, an exceptional ancient town set in a dramatic landscape which represents the harmonious fusion of different cultural traditions to produce an urban landscape of outstanding quality. On the way, you will visit Xizhou Town to fully appreciate Bai-style architecture, taste their fragrant three-course tea, Bai people's Died Cloth Work Shop and explore their distinctive culture.

Upon arrival in Lijiang, you will visit the Square Street lined with numerous stores in the old Lijiang town. Four main streets radiates from Square Street and extending to the four different directions.

Pick up from the hotel. Today you will visit the Baisha Murals, the cradle of the Naxi culture and ancient capital of the Naxi Kingdom. The Baisha Murals flourished in the early Ming Dynasty, with a history of more than 500 years up to the present.

Then visit the Yuhu Village with the traces of Former Residence of Joseph Rock, the Austro-American botanist and explorer who lived here from 1922 to 1949, introducing innumerable plant species to the West and completing rigorous works on Naxi ethnology.

In the morning, you will firstly take 1.5 hours driving from Lijiang to the Tiger Leaping Gorge. On the way, you will have a short stop of the First Bend of the Yangtze River for taking some photos.

Continue the driving 40KM to 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.

After this trip, continue another 1.5 hours driving to Shangri-La, a place with stunning scenery, the azure sky and the hospitality of unsophisticated people. When arrival, have a rest of this day.

After breakfast at the hotel, begin your exciting tour with a visit to Songzanlin Lamasery, the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan, which was founded in the 17th century during the reign of the Fifth Dalai Lama and is nicknamed by local the Lesser Potala Palace.

After that, visit Potatso National Park, the first national park in mainland China offers a closer distance for travelers to experience the natural environment. After this trip, drive back to your hotel and have rest of this day.

In the morning after breakfast, take an hour flight from Shangri-La back to Kunming.
On arrival, you tour guide will wait for you at the airport and help you to check in the hotel.

After lunch, take a visit to Golden Temple, also know as Jindian Park is famous for the representative Taihe Temple which is a Taoist temple. Continue to have a visit to Grand View Tower, also called Daguan Park which sits on the shore of Dianchi Lake. And then, you can have a leisure walking in the Flower and Bird Market, the local market in Kunming fo you to see more about the daily life scenes of this city.

Free at leisure until be transferred to the airport to see you off.