Start in: Guilin
End in: Kunming
Tour Map
China Southwest Sightseeing and Ethnic Culture Tour
Day-by-Day Itinerary
Day 1 Arrival/Guilin
Accommodations: Sheraton Hotel Guilin 
Transfer via: International flight on your own arrangement
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.
Accommodations: Sheraton Hotel Guilin
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: Li River Cruise
After breakfast, drive to Zhujiang Pier (about 40-minute drive) to start the boat cruise along the tranquil Li River which is the highlight in Guilin until you get to Yangshuo County. Along the river, you will be inspired by 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, you are certainly walking into a traditional Chinese painting by cruising on it. drive back to Guilin(1.5 hours in total).
- 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.You will certainly feel like you are walking into a traditional Chinese painting by cruising on this wonderful river.
Accommodations: Sheraton Hotel Guilin
Meals: B
Sightseeing: Reed Flute Cave,Elephant Trunk Hill ,Fubo Hill
Today, you will visit Elephant Trunk Hill, the Fubo Hill and the Reed Flute Cave.
- 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. You will also learn how they were formed.
- 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 a birds' eye view of the whole city after climbing up to the very top.
Accommodations: Harbour Plaza Hotel
Meals: B
Transfer via: The flight on our arrangment
our local guide will transfer you to the airport for your flight to Kunming. 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.
Accommodations: Harbour Plaza Hotel
Meals: B
Sightseeing: Stone Forest
Today, you will have a trip 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 nature can present to human beings.
Accommodations: Harbour Plaza Hotel
Meals: B
Sightseeing: The bird and flower market,West Hill and Dragon Gate
After breakfast, you will have a city tour including the West Hill and Dragon Gate, and the bird and flower market. Enjoy a free afternoon to explore this city by yourself.
- 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.
- 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 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.
Accommodations: Asia Star hotel Dali
Meals: B
Sightseeing: Dali Ancient Town,Xizhou Bai Minority Village,Erhai Lake
Transfer via: The flight on our arrangment
After breakfast, be transferred to the airport and 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 Ancient Town: first established in 1382 AD, with a moat surrounding it. 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.
- 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.
- Erhai Lake: shaped like a human ear this lake covers over 250 square kilometers. 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".
Accommodations: Asia Star hotel Dali
Meals: B
go to Xiaguan with our guide and car on your arrangement
Accommodations: Lijiang Guanfang Hotel
Meals: B
Sightseeing: Lion Hill,Heqing Village & Xinhua Village,Lijiang Ancient Town
In the morning, drive to Lijiang (3-hour drive), along the way, you will stop by the Heqing County, pay a visit to Heqing Villages
- 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: long history of handicraft craftsmanship, you will be visiting gold-making, silver-making, etc., workshops and you will have time to do some shopping if you wish.
- 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."
Accommodations: Lijiang Guanfang Hotel
Meals: B
Sightseeing: Black Dragon Pool Park,Baisha Mural Paintings,Jade Dragon Snow Mountain
Today, you will have city tour 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.
- 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.
- 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 patterns 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.
- 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 closest to the equator in the Northern Hemisphere. By taking the cable car up to a certain height, you can enjoy the expansive mountains views and snowy scenery.
Accommodations: Lijiang Guanfang Hotel
Meals: B
Sightseeing: Tiger Leaping Gorge,First Bend of the Yangtze River
After breakfast, you will first visit the First Bend of the Yangtze River and Iron Chain Bridge in the Shigu (Stone Drum) Town, and then Tiger Leaping Gorge. Get back to Lijiang County afterwards.
- Tiger Leaping Gorge: This gorge is located 92 km north of Lijiang County, between peaks of over 3,000 meters above the Jinsha River (upper course of Yangtze River). The legend goes that tigers often leap to the other side of the river by a huge rock lying in the middle of the river at the entrance of the Gorge, hence the name. This 17-kilometer-long Gorge is honored as the deepest and one of the most marvelous gorges on the earth.
- First Bend of the Yangtze River: formed by the Yangtze River rushing down from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with a sharp turn of 45 degrees at Shigu (Stone Drum) Town before the river continues running on to northeast.
Accommodations: Harbour Plaza Hotel
Meals: B
Transfer via: The flight on our arrangment
Free in the day until our local guide escorts you to the airport for your flight to Kunming. And our guide will meet you at Kunming airport and escort you to your hotel!
Meals: B
Transfer via: International flight on your own arrangement
our guide will escort you to the airport this day!
China domestic flights as specified in the itinerary 
Accommodations for 13 nights, including
13 nights at four star or higher hotels
13 meals, including 12 full breakfasts, 1 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
A local English-speaking guide in each city
Entrance fees to scenic spots listed in the itinerary
Luggage transfers between airports and hotels
China Life Tourist Accident/Casualty insurance
Government taxes and service charges except tips for tour guides and drivers
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