10 Days China Hiking Tour with Upper Yangtze River and Ethnic Minorities Discovery
Destination:Diqing(Shangri-La), Kunming, Lijiang
Tour Code: CHTT11
Tour Duration: 10 Days
- Tour overview:
- This is a China hiking tour containing many best natural and ethnic highlights in Yunnan. By taking this tour, you can not only explore the natural wonders such as the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and the First Bend of the Yangtze River, but also experience the Tiger Leaping Gorge hiking as well as discovering the pristine Naxi minority and local cusine.
Tour Summary
Day by Day Itinerary
Reviews
B=Breakfast,L=Lunch,D=Dinner
| Tour Dates | Destinations | Services Provided | Meals Included | ||||||||||||||
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| Day 1 |
Kunming
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Arrive in Kunming, be met and transferred to hotel. |
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| Day 2 |
Kunming/Lijiang
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Visit Stone Forest . After lunch, drive back to Kunming to visit the Golden Horse and Phoenix Archway, then have a leisurely stroll along the Green Lake, visit Kunming Flowers and Birds Market . Take the night flight to Lijiang and enjoy the night view of the ancient town. |
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| Day 3 |
Lijiang
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Have a full day tour in Lijiang. Visit the Lijiang Ancient Town , a well-preserved old town of ethnic minorities, which was listed as the World Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO. As the highlights of Lijiang Ancient Town, the Mu's Residence and Wangu Pavilion will be included. Then visit the Black Dragon Lake , a famous one for its picturesque landscape. Continue to visit the Dongba Culture Museum , a museum about Dongba Culture of the Naxi people in Lijiang. |
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| Day 4 |
Lijiang
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Visit the Baisha Old Town , the most original one among the three ancient towns in Lijiang, the highlight there is Baisha Frescos. Formed by the thawing water of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Baishui River will be included today. Continue to visit the Jade Peak Temple , one of the five famous lamaseries in suburb of Lijiang. Will also visit the well-known Yulong Snow Mountain and take the chairlift to the Yak Plateau (3700M) on the Mountain. |
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| Day 5 |
Lijiang / Shigu Town
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Drive to Shigu Town of Lijiang, to visit the town and the First Bend of the Yangtze River there. The great Yangtze flows down from the world's roof –Tibet Plateau and enter into the Yunnan province, blocked by Hailou Mountain Cliff, the river takes a sudden turn to the northeast in the Shangri-la County to form a peculiar 'V' shape valley, and people call this wondrous spectacle the “First Bend of the Yangtze River”. Then continue to drive to Tiger Leaping Gorge . After lunch, start to hike (passing 28 zigzagging turns, etc), after about 5 hours, will arrive at Tea Horse Guesthouse, stay overnight there.
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| Day 6 |
Tea Horse Guesthouse / Ha Ba village
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Continue to hike the Tiger Leaping Gorge after breakfast, after about 4 hours’ hiking, arrive in Tina’s Guesthouse and have lunch there. Then hike again along the highway and then take local minivan to Ha Ba village. Known as the 'First Gorge of the Yangtze River', Tiger Leaping Gorge is the holy land for outdoor adventure fans and it is regarded as one of the top 10 classic hiking routes in the world.
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| Day 7 |
Ha Ba village / Shangri-la
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Drive to visit the beautiful Baishui Terrace , rising 2,380 meters above sea level, Baishui Terrace is a marvelous geological sight because it was formed as calcium carbonate dissolved in the spring. After visiting it then drive to Shangri-la, on the way visit the Pudacuo National Park including Shuoduhai Lake . |
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| Day 8 |
Shangri-la
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In the morning visit Songzanlin Monastery , or Ganden Sumtseling Monastery, the largest Tibetan Buddhism monastery in Yunnan Province, and it wins the name of “little Potala Palace”. Built beside a hill, the monastery is like a castle collecting great achievements of Tibetan plastic arts, thus it also has the name of “Tibetan Art Museum”. In the afternoon go to Ren An Village and start hiking there, after about 4 hours’ hiking, arrive at Rutapo Mountain, then drive back to Shangri-la. |
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| Day 9 |
Shangri-la
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In the morning visit the Zhongdian (Shangri-la) ancient town and Tibet minority village. In the afternoon enjoy free time. |
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| Day 10 |
Shangri-la
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Free at leisure till be transferred to airport for flight departure. |
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-NOTE:
1. Normally hotels allow a maximum of 3 adults per room with an extra bed, at extra charge. Some hotels will allow three adults and a small child.
2. Tour price is indicative only, please enquire for a detailed quotation.
3. More people more discounts. Please enquire for more details.
Price Includes
A. Entrance Fees：To scenic spots as listed above in the itinerary.
B. Meals: All meals as specified in the itinerary.
C. Private Transfers: Among airports, hotels and scenic spots while sightseeing in the above cities by the private air conditioned vehicle.
D. Guide and Driver: As outlined in the itinerary, a well selected English-speaking guide and driver will accompany you throughout the entire tour in that city. They do not fly with you from one city to another.
E. Hotels: Hotel based on two persons sharing one room with twin beds. All hotels as listed in the above itinerary serve daily western or Chinese breakfast. All rooms are air-conditioned with private facilities unless specified.
F. Luggage Transfers: Between airports and hotels.
G. Service Charge & Government Taxes.
H. Travel insurance in mainland China during the above travel period.
I. Arrangements: The tour cost includes planning, handling, operational and communication charges.
B=Breakfast,L=Lunch,D=Dinner
Day 1
Arrive in Kunming
Transfer via: Flight on your own arrangement
Upon your arrival in Kunming, your local guide will welcome you and transfer you to your hotel. For the rest of the day you will enjoy some leisure time.
Day 2
Kunming / Lijiang (B, L)
Transfer via: Flight on our arrangement
Sightseeing: Stone Forest, Golden Horse and Phoenix Archway, Green Lake, Flower and Bird Market
Today we will go to visit the famous Stone Forest. Due to a process of weathering and erosion, nature has created an art gallery of stone sculpture here. This typical karst physiognomy seems like a forest of stone pillars and boulders. You will see fascination natural creations like Lion Arbor, Sword Peak Pond, Lotus Peak, Moon Lake, Jade Lake, and Dadie Waterfall.
After lunch, drive back to Kunming to visit the Golden Horse and Phoenix Archway - the landmark of Kunming located at the corner of Sanshi Road and Jinbi Road. Then, have a leisurely stroll along the Green Lake, which is a charming area of teahouses and small boutiques selling handicrafts and beautiful local paintings. Our last stop today will be the Kunming Flower and Bird Market in the downtown.
Take night flight to Lijiang and enjoy the night view of the ancient town.
Day 3
Lijiang (B, L)
Sightseeing: Lijiang Ancient Town, Mu's Residence, Wangu Pavilion, Black Dragon Lake, Dongba Culture Museum
Have a full day tour in Lijiang. Firstly we will visit the Lijiang Ancient Town (also known as Dayan Town), a well-preserved old town of ethnic minorities, which was listed as the World Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO 1997 because of the exotic Naxi ethnic culture.
As the highlight of Lijiang Ancient Town, the Mu's Residence will be also included today. Located at the southwest part of Lijiang and built symmetrically according to imperial palace of Han nationality, the Mu’s Residence was the mansion of the Mu family, the ruler of Naxi people that ruled Lijiang for about 470 years in ancient China. Go ahead to visit the Wangu Pavilion, a landmark building of Lijiang which close to the Mu’s Residence. With five-story and whole wooden structure, Wangu Pavilion is 33 meters high, symbolizing the original 330,000 people of all nationalities in Naxi Autonomous County of Lijiang. Today we will also visit the Black Dragon Lake. Also known as Jade Spring Park or Temple of Dragon King to local people, Black Dragon Lake is a famous one for its clear water, thousand-year-old trees, and picturesque landscape. Continue to visit the Dongba Culture Museum, a museum about Dongba Culture of the Naxi people in Lijiang. The culture is mainly about the language and sculpture, or architecture. There are over 1,400 picture-like characters and symbols in Dongba literature that are still used by nowadays, which makes great contributions to the culture study of mankind.
Day 4
Lijiang (B, L)
Sightseeing: Yulong Snow Mountain, Baishui River, Yak Meadow, Jade Peak Temple, Baisha Old Town
Today we will visit Baisha Old Town, Baishui(White Water) River, Jade Peak Temple; take the chairlift to visit the Yak Meadow(3700M) on the Yulong Snow Mountain.
Baisha Old Town is the most original one among the three ancient towns in Lijiang. Located at the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Baisha Old Town was the ancient capital of Naxi people, as well as the center of politics, economy, commerce, and culture of Lijiang. The highlight there is Baisha Frescos. Formed by the thawing water of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Baishui (White Water) River will be included today. It runs through a deep valley named Blue Moon Valley, the bed of the River presents a color of grey white as it is composed of sedimentary crushed limestone thus got the name. Continue to visit the Jade Peak Temple. Constructed in 1700 during ancient China’s Qing Dynasty, Jade Peak Temple is one of the five famous lamaseries in suburb of Lijiang, and it is especially famous for camellias. We will visit the well-known Yulong (Jade Dragon) Snow Mountain and take the chairlift to the Yak Meadow (3700M) on the Mountain. Yak Meadow is a good place for shooting the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and the best point to watch its thirteen peaks which are covered with snow all year round.
Day 5
Lijiang / Shigu Town (B, L)
Sightseeing: Shigu Town, First Bend of the Yangtze River, Tiger Leaping Gorge
Drive to Shigu Town of Lijiang, to visit the town and the First Bend of the Yangtze River (in Shigu Town). Shigu Town is a famous one at the upper reach of Yangtze River, it got the name for there is a drum-shaped stone tablet carved with white marble. The great Yangtze flows down from the world's roof –Tibet Plateau and enter into the Yunnan province from Batang (one county in Tibet), the river mixes two other great rivers, Lancang (Lantsang) River and Nu River (the Angry River) here, and then the Three Parallel Rivers landscape is formed. Blocked by Hailou Mountain Cliff, the river takes a sudden turn to the northeast in the Shangri-la County to form a peculiar 'V' shape valley, and people call this wondrous spectacle the “First Bend of the Yangtze River”.
Then continue to drive to Tiger Leaping Gorge. Known as the 'First Gorge of the Yangtze River', Tiger Leaping Gorge became famous after American pilot Rock's three fly experiences here and his photos of the gorge shocked the world. Since then, the gorge has become the holy land for outdoor adventure fans and is regarded as one of the top 10 classic hiking routes in the world. After lunch, start to hike (passing 28 zigzagging turns, etc), after about 5 hours, we will arrive at Tea Horse Guesthouse, then stay overnight there.
Day 6
Tea Horse Guesthouse / Ha Ba village (B, L)
Sightseeing: Tiger Leaping Gorge
After breakfast we start to hike, after about 4 hours’ hiking, we will arrive in Tina’s Guesthouse and have lunch there. Then hike again along the highway and then take local minivan to Ha Ba village.
The whole Tiger Leaping Gorge is about 20 kilometers in length and divided into three sections: the upper gorge, the middle gorge and the lower gorge. Generally travelers hike the upper and middle gorges.
Day 7
Ha Ba village / Shangri-la (B, L)
Sightseeing: Baishui Terrace, Shuoduhai Lake
Drive to visit the beautiful Baishui Terrace, after visiting it then drive to Shangri-la, on the way we will visit the Pudacuo National Park including Bitahai Nature Reserve and Shudu Lake.
Rising 2,380 meters above sea level, Baishui Terrace is a marvelous geological sight because it was formed as calcium carbonate dissolved in the spring. When spring containing calcium bicarbonate flowed down, carbonate gradually precipitated, and over long years, terrace-shaped tableland was formed, known as celestial field. Shudu Lake is 3,705 kilometers above sea level, covering a catchment area of 15 square kilometers, it is surrounded by mountains. The beautiful scenery there is just like a painting.
Day 8
Shangri-la (B, L)
Sightseeing: Songzanlin Monastery, Ren An Village, Rutapo Mountain
In the morning we will visit Songzanlin Monastery, in the afternoon go to Ren An Village and start hiking there, after about 4 hours’ hiking, arrive at Rutapo Mountain, then drive back to Shangri-la.
Songzanlin Monastery, or Ganden Sumtseling Monastery, is the largest Tibetan Buddhism monastery in Yunnan Province, and it wins the name of “little Potala Palace”. Built beside a hill, the monastery is like a castle collecting great achievements of Tibetan plastic arts, thus it also has the name of “Tibetan Art Museum”.
Day 9
Shangri-la (B, L)
Sightseeing: Zhongdian (Shangri-la) ancient town, Tibet minority village
In the morning we will visit the Zhongdian (Shangri-la) ancient town and Tibet minority village. In the afternoon we will enjoy free time.
Day 10
Shangri-la Departure (B)
Transfer via: Flight on your own arrangement
Today will be free for your own purposes, until our guide escort you to the airport for your flight departure.
Dear Nora,Thank you again for such excellent arrangement under the rushed condition. I enjoyed the tour with excellent English guide. Whenever I visit historical cities, I usually join guided tour. In the guided tour especially in European countries, the guider usually prepares a presentation with picture files or using notepad for audience' better understanding. Sometime oral explanation is not sufficient. Anyway i have not seen such presentations from other tour groups around today. Again, my guider today was excellent to give me overall and essential points in the history. Driving was also gentle. All the best for your business. Ki Seob
- Booking Code:VOC-20230717
- Tour Starting Date:Monday, 17 July 2023
- Client's information:Ki Seob Sim, Canadian
Dear Nora Thank you so much for having arranged great tour for us! The visits were well arranged and we wish if we had more time then we can visit more attractions.All guides are super! Knowledgeable and have good commands of English, good sense of humor. We like them all!Transportations were ok but can not give them max points due to their ages! Drivers were all nice. Hotels in Beijing, Xi’an and Nanjing are great! Great location, well equipped, nice room and good breakfast. Hotel in Luoyang is an old style, simple breakfast, but we understand that they are in the same situation as the city. Near the Peony Hotel, I saw a new small hotel near by but I did not come in to check. I am thinking it may be better to use new small hotel than big old ones.In Shanghai, we are very disappointed about hotel. Room small, dirty, poor facilities. Breakfast is poor. Location is so so, not so convenience. I think you should find another option for your future bookings in Shanghai. Meals: the guide helped us to choose dishes and we really enjoyed. Except in Beijing, because of timing inconvenience due to traffic, we ask the guide to arrange the near by restaurants for quick food, all others were great. In General, we are all happy with your services. Hope will have the chance to come back with you for more tours in China and surely, I will recommend you and your company for my tour company friends! Nora, once again, thank you for your great work! My best regards Bich Ha
- Booking Code:VOC-20230702
- Tour Starting Date:Sunday, 2 July 2023
- Client's information:Bich Ha, Vietnam
Dear Nora, My apologies! All went very well today and I’m delighted. Can I please say how very impressed by the service I received from you, the guide, and the driver. It was absolutely superb in every respect. If it would be helpful, I would be very glad to write to your manager to say how I pleased I was, and that I will use and recommend Visit Our China in the future. Best wishes, Cameron
- Booking Code:VOC-20230520
- Tour Starting Date:Saturday, 20 May 2023
- Client's information:Dr Cameron Pyke, UK
I hope this letter finds you well. We finally arrived home from our trip last Thursday the 17th. As promised I am writing to you about our experience in China and we thank you very much for your organizing. On the whole we had a wonderful time and were very well looked after by both guides and drivers we would especially like to thank Linda and Cynthia which we would highly recommend. They both gave really excellent service in every way including punctuality, information and restaurants that were chosen for lunches, the food was delicious. The cruise on the Huangpu River was cancelled because of bad weather which couldn't be helped so the guide offered us an Acrobatic Show which we enjoyed very much. We had a lovely time on day 3 to Tongli water town. Our stay in China was wonderful. Best regards, Kathleen Pam
- Booking Code:VOC-20190905-S
- Tour Starting Date:Thursday, 5 September 2019
- Client's information:Kathleen & Pam, Australia
Dear Molly, Hope you have been well. We will be returning to Singapore in a couple of hours. Would like to commend on the tour guides, drivers and accommodation that VOC has arranged for us. The guides and drivers are very professional,very helpful, thoughtful, caring and experienced. They practised good ethics as well. We definitely have a wonderful touring experience and I will definitely recommend your company to my friends. Regards, Mrs Wee
- Booking Code:VOC-20190605-M
- Tour Starting Date:Wednesday, 5 June 2019
- Client's information:Chew Huay Huay, Singapore
Hi Sandy, Thank you for a great first tour together. I appreciate that it was a big commitment for you to be away from your office family for such a long time. I know you would have missed your young son a lot. I am also very grateful for your huge personal effort that you put into the detailed planning. The local guides were all great - Sally, Amanda Benny. Regarding the itinerary, I think we have an excellent itinerary for the beginning and the end, but the middle of the tour needs to be changed. Thank you again for all your excellent work. I look forward to visiting you in your home town for our first Tibet tour in August 2020. Jo I might travel up one day ahead of the group to meet you and have dinner with you. Best regards, Brod
- Booking Code:VOC-20190528-S
- Tour Starting Date:Tuesday, 28 May 2019
- Client's information:Brod, Australia
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