Tour Highlights

✓Stone Forest & Spring City

✓Erhai Lake & Old Town

✓UNESCO Old Town

✓Tiger Leaping Gorge Trek

✓Lost Horizon

✓Songzanlin Monastery & Return

Detailed Itinerary

D1Stone Forest & Spring City▾

Morning: Stone Forest — a UNESCO geopark of surreal limestone pinnacles formed 270 million years ago. Walk through 'Ashima' rock and 'Sword Peak Pond'. Afternoon: Green Lake Park — Kunming's living room with locals singing, dancing, and feeding black-headed gulls (winter). Flower and Bird Market. Evening: Crossing-the-Bridge Noodles, Yunnan's most famous dish.

D2Erhai Lake & Old Town▾

Morning bullet train to Dali (2 hours). Explore Dali Ancient Town — cobblestone streets between the dramatic Cangshan Mountain (4,122m) and Erhai Lake. Visit the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple, 1,200 years old. Afternoon: cycling along Erhai Lake's western shore through Bai minority fishing villages. Xizhou town for traditional Bai architecture and tie-dye workshops.

D3UNESCO Old Town▾

Drive to Lijiang (2 hours). Afternoon: Lijiang Old Town — UNESCO World Heritage, a 800-year-old maze of cobbled lanes, stone bridges, and willow-lined canals. Visit Mu Palace, the 'Forbidden City of the South'. Climb Lion Hill for panoramic views of the old town with Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (5,596m) as backdrop. Evening: Naxi ancient music performance.

D4Tiger Leaping Gorge Trek▾

Full day trekking Tiger Leaping Gorge — one of the world's deepest canyons. The 15km high trail offers jaw-dropping views of the Jinsha River crashing 3,900m below between Jade Dragon and Haba Snow Mountains. Lunch at a cliff-side guesthouse. Visit the Tiger Leaping Rock where legend says a tiger once jumped across the gorge. Return to Lijiang.

D5Lost Horizon▾

Drive 4 hours to Shangri-La (Zhongdian). Visit the First Bend of the Yangtze River. Photo stop at the dramatic upper gorge. Arrive in Shangri-La (3,200m). Visit Dukezong Ancient Town and climb to the world's largest prayer wheel (21m, 60 tons). Evening: Tibetan hot pot dinner with yak meat and highland barley wine.

D6Songzanlin Monastery & Return▾

Morning: Songzanlin Monastery — the 'Little Potala Palace', the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan, home to 700 monks. Incredible thangka paintings and butter sculptures. Afternoon: Pudacuo National Park — China's first national park with emerald lakes, alpine meadows, and virgin forests. Evening flight from Shangri-La.

D7Continued Exploration▾