Start in: Kunming
End in: Guilin
Special Experience: Longji Terraced Rice Paddies, Xizhou Bai Minority Village and Lijiang Ancient Town
China Southwest Landscape and Ethnic Culture Tour
Day-by-Day Itinerary
Day 1 Arrive/Kunming
Accommodations: Kunming Hotel 
Transfer via: International Flight on your own arrangement
Upon your arrival at Kunming, "the Spring and Flower City", our local guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel. The rest of the day is free at your own leisure.
The Three Pagodas in Dali old town is surely the landmark of this area.
Accommodations: Kunming Hotel
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: Stone Forest
Today, you will have a city tour to the Stone Forest which is about 90km to the south of Kunming.
- Stone Forest: a 270-million-year-old limestone karst formation of tightly bundled gray rocky outcrops, a natural wonder acknowledged as "World Karst Landscape Museum", the Stone Forest shows a variety of unique shapes, such as sword, mushrooms, tower, pillar and castle, representing the greatest miracle that the nature can present to human beings.
Accommodations: Asia Star hotel Dali
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: Dali,Erhai Lake,Xizhou Bai Minority Village,Three Pagodas,Dali Ancient Town
Transfer via: China domestic flight arranged by us
After breakfast, take the morning flight to Dali. Upon your arrival, be met and transferred to the city by our local guide. The visit today in this lovely city includes cruise on Erhai, Xizhou Bai Minority Village, Three Pagodas and the Dali Ancient Town.
- Dali: located on the side of the Cang Mountain 400 kilometres to the west of Kunming, with 1900-meter altitude, it is a historical and cultural city inhabited by Bai people, most of whom live in the houses consisting of three rooms and a screen wall.
- Erhai Lake: in the shape of an ear, covering 250 square kilometres, with its vast pool of water shining under the sun like a sheet of vivid green and the snow mantles of the Cang Mountain reflecting quiveringly in it, it is known poetically as "Silver Cang Mountain and Jade-like Erhai".
- Xizhou Bai Minority Village: a photogenic village 20km north of Dali, where Bai minority people are living and where you will can get some ideas of the Bais' flair for architecture and elegant living.
- Three Pagodas: at the foot of the Zhonghe Peak of the Cang Mountain, part of Chongshen Monastery, they are an emblem of the city's venerated history. The tallest of the trio, which is 69.13 metres tall, was built in 836 AD, while two smaller ones were built during a later period. No visit to Dali is complete with a call at these three pagodas.
- Dali Ancient Town: first established in 1382 AD, with a moat surrounding, this old town has a typical layout like a chessboard, old-timey roofed buildings with dark blue tiles and the white and gray tall walls.
The restaurants in Lijiang Ancient Town are bulit along canals, decorated with red lanterns.
The most famous thing about Xizhou are well preserved ancient buildings of Bai Minority.
Accommodations: Jiannanchun Hotel
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: Lijiang Ancient Town,Lion Hill,Heqing Village & Xinhua Village
In the morning, drive to Lijiang (3-hour drive). Along the way, you will stop by the Heqing County and pay a visit to Heqing Villages.
- Lijiang Ancient Town: also called Dayan Town, built in the late Song dynasty and the early Yuan dynasty with a history of more than 800 years, this ancient town consists of clean streams flowing freely through the road network, the colorful cobbled streets, age-old swaying willow trees, age-old buildings and stone bridges. There are over 22 different ethnic minorities making Lijiang their home, now and then you may see local folks in their own tradtional dress. Strolling around this charming ancient town, you will be attracted by the unique atmosphere and surprised by its ancient yet simple sense of "Harmony of Heaven and Man."
- Lion Hill: the name is derived from its resemblance of a lion playing a ball. The mountain is best known for its vast and green pines and cypresses planted mostly in Ming Dynasty with over 500 years old. From the Tower of Eternity (Wangoulou) on the top of the mountain, you can enjoy a bird's eye view of the ancient town and the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain far away.
- Heqing Village & Xinhua Village: famous for its handicraft craftsmanship of long history, where you can visit gold-making, silver-making workshops, etc. and do some shopping if you like.
Black Dragon Pool Park got its name from the black dragon that is supposed to live in the pool.
Accommodations: Jiannanchun Hotel
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: Jade Dragon Snow Mountain,Baisha Mural Paintings,Black Dragon Pool Park
Today, you will have a trip to the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and the Baisha Mural Paintings, the Black Dragon Pool Park and Museum of Naxi Dongba Culture inside the park.
- Jade Dragon Snow Mountain: it is so called because it looks like a flying jade dragon from afar. The mountain consists of 13 peaks and sprawls 35 km from north to south. Its glacier is the modern oceanic glacier closest to the equator in the Northern Hemisphere. By taking the cable car up to certain height, you can enjoy the expansive mountains views and snowy scenery.
- Baisha Mural Paintings: located in Baisha Township, 8km north of Lijiang, there are altogether 53 groups of mural paintings in different temples with fine and smooth lines, bright colors,vivid pattern and harmonious composition. Painted from the early days of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911),these mural paintings are an artistic representation of the different religious cultures such as Buddhism, Lamaism, Daoism and the Naxi Dongba religion.
- Black Dragon Pool Park: where you can see the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain from afar and the reflection of the mountain in the pool in a clear day. This park is the source of the water system of the Old Lijiang Town as the clean spring from Jade Dragon Snow Mountain gathers here.
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is a holy mountain for the local Naxi people.
Accommodations: Kunming Hotel
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: West Hill and Dragon Gate,The bird and flower market
Transfer via: China domestic flight arranged by us
After breakfast, be transferred to the airport and take the morning flight back to Kunming. Upon your arrival, our local guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel. The tour in the afternoon will bring you to the West Hill and Dragon Gate, and the bird and flower market.
- West Hill and Dragon Gate: located by the Dian Lake, known as "Sleeping Beauty," it is a natural forest park in Kunming with a series of winding steps, tunnels, and statue-filled grottoes leading to the top. After taking the cable car up to the the Cablecar Station, you can walk along the path in the mountain, and stop now and then to enjoy the beauty of the scenery: blue skies, green water with slow sailing fishing boats and so on.
- The bird and flower market: located in the old section of the city, it is a bustling market not just selling birds, flowers, but also jade, so-called "antiques", handicrafts and so on together with lots of food stands for local specialities.
The West Hill and Dragon Gate is actually a beautiful forest park.
Accommodations: Guilin Park Hotel
Meals: B
Transfer via: China domestic flight arranged by us
Free in the day until our local guide escorts you to the airport for your flight to Guilin. Upon your arrival at Guilin, the most scenic city in China, our local guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel. The rest of the day is free at your own leisure.
Longsheng County in Guilin is famous at home and abroad for its Longji Terraced Rice Fields and hot spring.
Accommodations: Guilin Park Hotel
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: Longji,Zhuang People,Yao People
Today's excursion will bring you to Longsheng Autonomous County,drive back to Guilin after the tour (about 2-hour drive). 90kms northwest to Guilin, the County lives many different ethnic minority groups such as Zhuang, Yao, Miao and Dong etc. In recent years, this county has gradually become a popular destination for photography enthusiasts and people who are interested in minority culture. On this tour you will not only enjoy the wonderful view of terraced rice paddies--the most famous section is called "Longji" lush bamboo groves and small villages on the hillside along the way, but also be amazed by the rich culture of the Zhuang and Yao people. Drive back to Guilin.
- Longji: means "Dragon's Backbone". When climbing to the top of it and looking down on the nearby terraced rice fields, you will have the feeling that you are standing on the dragon's back as the terraced rice paddies look like the shining scales of the dragon.
- Zhuang People: with over 17 million people, Zhuang is the largest ethnic minority group in China.
- Yao People: Yao is another major ethnic group living in Guilin area that has a population over 2 million all over China. Yao women are believed to have the longest hair in the world.
Trek to the mountain area in Guilin and you will find Yao women in their traditional pink clothes and long hair piled on top of their heads.
Accommodations: New Century Hotel
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: Li River Cruise,Yangshuo County
After breakfast, drive to Zhujiang Pier (about 40-minute drive) to start the boat cruise along the tranquil Li River, the highlight of your sightseeing tour in Guilin, until you get to Yangshuo County. Free time in the afternoon after checking in the hotel in Yangshuo.
- Li River Cruise: Along the river, you will be inspired by the breathtaking views of peaks and pinnacles, crystal-clear water and reflections in the water together with the serene pastoral views of rice paddies and water buffaloes, and you are certainly walking into a traditional Chinese painting by cruising on it.
- Yangshuo County: founded in 590 AD, Yangshuo County has been booming because of tourism. With so many grotesque mountains surrounding, it is described as "the world of green lotus and jade bamboo shoots".
Li River cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo is a superb cruise in China.
Meals: B
Sightseeing: Elephant Trunk Hill ,Fubo Hill,Reed Flute Cave
Transfer via: International Flight on your own arrangement
Today, drive back to Guilin (1.5-hour drive) and have a city tour of the Elephant Trunk Hill, the Fubo Hill and the Reed Flute Cave before your transfer to the airport for your flight to your next destination.
- Elephant Trunk Hill : the symbol of Guilin, which resembles a giant elephant drinking water from the Li River.
- Fubo Hill: where you can see lots of Buddha statues left about 1000 years ago in the Returned Pearl Cave and have birds' eye view of the whole city after climbing up to the very top.
- Reed Flute Cave: 5 kilometers away from the city center, famed as "A Natural Palace of Art", in which you can see lots of stalactites & stalagmites illuminated by the lights of different colors and learn how they were formed.
Reed Flute Cave is the most splendid karst caves in Guilin.
China domestic flights as specified in the itinerary . 
Accommodations---for 9 nights at four star, or higher, hotels as well as the cruise in comfortable twin-bedded rooms with private bath, air-conditioning, television, telephone and minibar. 
16 Meals---9 full breakfasts, 7 lunches, and 0 dinners
Round-trip transfers---between airports, hotels and scenic spots in each city by private air-conditioned motor coaches with experienced drivers
Services of local English-speaking guides in each city
China Life Tourist Accident/Casualty insurance
Government taxes and service charge except tips to tour escort and driver
Kunming in southwest China is best known for its Stone Forest.
Pamela and have both said that our tours around China would not have been possible without your help and organizational skills. I must therefore would hearedly thank you personally for all that you did in organizing the tours guides, accommodations and respective tours. It was absolutely fantastic. - Barry Martin,Northern Ireland
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