DAILY ITINERARY
Day 1, Sun. Guilin Arrive Guilin. Transfer to hotel. D Holiday Inn or Royal Garden Hotel
Day 2, Mon. Guilin/Yangshuo
Cruise the beautiful Li River from Guilin to Yangshuo. This route is
celebrated for the extraordinary shapes of the limestone peaks (karst
formations) that line the river. B/L/D Paradise Resort
Day 3, Tue. Yangshuo/Guilin Morning at leisure in Yangshuo, where the local people still fish with cormorants (trained diving birds). Return to Guilin. B/L/D Holiday Inn or Royal Garden Hotel
Day 4, Wed. Guilin/Guiyang
Morning tour of Guilin, an attractive city in an unforgettable setting
of high limestone peaks. Afternoon flight to Guiyang, the capital of
Guizhou Province. Visit the local fish and bird market, then go on to
the Hongfu Buddhist Temple. Enjoy a Buddhist vegetarian dinner at the
temple's hill-top monastery. B/L/D Holiday Inn Shenqi Hotel
Day 5, Thu. Guiyang/Kaili Visit Jiaxiu Pavilion and Qianlin Park. Drive to Kaili, a Miao community 200 km east of Guiyang. Sightseeing en route.
The 7.4 million members of the Miao minority are distributed throughout
Southwest China. They are closely related to some of the hill peoples
of Laos and northern Thailand. B/L/D Kaili Hotel
Day 6, Fri. Kaili/Local Villages/Kaili Visit the Kaili Folklore Museum and explore the local villages on foot. B/L/D Kaili Hotel
Day 7, Sat. Kaili/Local Villages/Kaili Participate in select village activities and visit Miao master weavers and embroiderers. B/L/D Kaili Hotel
Day 8, Sun. Kaili/Guiyang Return to Guiyang. At leisure. B/L/D Holiday Inn Shenqi Hotel
Day 9, Mon. Guiyang/Kunming Fly to Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province. City sightseeing includes the Western Hills and the magnificent Dragon Gate. B/L/D Green Lake Hotel
Day 10, Tue. Kunming
Morning visit to the splendid International Horticultural exposition.
Afternoon attend a lecture on China's ethnic cultures at Yunnan
University. B/L/D Green Lake Hotel
Day 11, Wed. Kunming/Stone Forest/Kunming
Full day tour of the amazing Stone Forest to view the karst rock
formations, known as the Number One Grand Spectacle On Earth. Visit a Yi
village nearby. B/L/D Green Lake Hotel
Day 12, Thu. Kunming/Dali
Morning flight to the ancient town of Dali, home of the Bai minority.
Visit Bai villages and shop in Bai markets featuring the famous Dali
marble. Cruise on Erhai Lake. B/L/D Asia Star Hotel
Day 13, Mon. Dali/Lijiang
Visit the Butterfly Spring and a local market for the uniquely
patterned tie-dyed cloth handicrafts of the area. Afternoon take
spectacular mountain road trip to Lijiang. Set in a valley surrounded by
snow-capped mountains, Lijiang is the home of the Naxi minority, whose
culture still remains unaffected by the outside world. B/L/D Grand Hotel
Day 14, Sat. Lijiang Visit Black Dragon Pool and local villages. Evening enjoy a music performance. B/L/D Grand Hotel
Day 15, Sun. Lijiang/Zhongdian
Drive to Zhongdian, a Tibetan minority area in Yunnan. Visit to a
Tibetan lamasery of the Red Hat sect. En route stop at the Hutiao
(Leaping Tiger) Gorge. B/L/D Holy Palace Hotel
Day 16, Mon. Zhongdian/Shangri-La/Zhongdian
Drive to Shangri-La for full-day sightseeing. In the Tibetan language
Shangri-La means "The Sun and Moon in People's Hearts." In the valley of
the Golden Sands River, close to the border between Yunnan and Tibet,
we have found Shangri-La! B/L/D Holy Palace Hotel
Day 17, Tue. Zhongdian Excursion to Napa Lake and the Songzan Forest Tibetan Monastery, and visits to Tibetan homes. B/L/D Holy Palace Hotel
Day 18, Wed. Zhongdian/Kunming Short return flight to Kunming. Remainder of day at leisure. B/L/D Green Lake Hotel
Day 19, Thu. Depart Kunming Depart Kunming for return flight home. B
|