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DAY 1: ARRIVAL IN KUNMING (D)
Arrive in Kunming airport or jetty, meet and transfer to hotel.
Kunming has a freshness of air to delight anyone, and wherever the eye roves there is something natural and wondrous to see. The old buildings with character are largely gone to be replaced by ugly concrete blocks; but small enclaves of old Kunming still exist in the interesting alleyways. On the way to our hotel for check in you will see sights of the modernizing city of 3.5 million Yunnanese including Yunnanese Muslims and Buddhists, and ethnic groups found nowhere else in the world. Free to amuse yourself until 6.30pm when we gather for dinner at the New Canton restaurant for your introduction to Yunnanese cuisine.
Overnight in hotel, Kunming.
DAY 2: KUNMING - STONE FOREST (B,L,D)
Breakfast at the hotel. A full-day excursion to the Stone Forest, one of China's most remarkable natural phenomena, located 98km southeast of Kunming, a short scenic drive of one-and-a-half hours. It consists of 80 hectares of innumerable fanciful-formed limestone cliffs and peaks created by wind and water erosion some 270 million years ago. Marine fossils found here indicate that it was once under the sea. The Stone Forest area (Shilin) is home to the Sani minority group, a branch of the Yi tribe reputed for their diligence, valour, wisdom, exquisite embroidery, melodious songs and graceful dances. They put on nightly performance showing their cultural activities. A stop is made at Bao Shu Tang where you can buy China Famous Herbal Medical products.
Lunch at Ashima Great Hotel. After lunch we enter the Stone Forest National Park for a group photo (if you are in a group) followed by sightseeing. At about 4pm we drive one-and-a-half hours back to Kunming to the Colorful Yunnan restaurant for the Yunnan Cultural show with dinner of Yunnan rice noodle and pot-steamed chicken. The evening ends only after the Luyu Tea performance .
Overnight in hotel, Kunming.
DAY 3: KUNMING - SHANGRILA (B,L,D)
Morning call is at 5am followed by Box breakfast. At 6am transfer to the airport for the flight to Shangrila, departing at 7.15am arriving one hour later. At Shangrila airport meet and transfer to sightseeing of the Ganden Songzanlin Monastery where the frescoes completed in the 15th century depicting Taoist, Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist themes are reputedly of the highest order. Lunch in a local restaurant and then check into the hotel. In the afternoon visit Napahai Lake reserve for the afternoon's sightseeing of this beautiful place. We will visit a local market and a Tibetan Buddhism Book pavilion. Tonight's dinner will be at our hotel. Be entertained tonight by participating in a visit to a Tibetan family and enjoy its cultural activities. Return to hotel filled with wonderment by this Tibetan "hada".
Overnight at Shangrila Tianjieshenchuan Hotel, Shangrila.
DAY 4: SHANGRILA - LIJIANG (B,L,D)
Morning call at 7am and followed by breakfast at the hotel.
A 2.5-hour drive takes us to a small town with a dramatic name of Tiger-Leaping Gorge where we will have a nice lunch. Sightseeing of the gorge after lunch. When we reached the small town of Shigu at the first bend of the Yangtze River we will stop here for half-an-hour to catch our breath and admire the beauty of the river-and-rapids. If not for a hill of rocks (Cloud Hill) blocking the southward flowing Yangtze thereby diverting it north and eastwards, the Yangtze would not be flowing through the heartland of China - with disastrous consequences to Chinese civilization. Proceed to another peculiar sounding place called Stone-Drum Village to see how the rural Yunnanese live. From here it is only one hour to Lijiang which we will reach at about 7pm. Check into hotel. In 30 minutes we meet again to go to dinner.
This lovely old town is a gem of northwest Yunnan and ride side by side with another lovely old town, Dali, in high popularity. It is a world heritage site crisscrossed by canals of rushing waters, quaint bridges and a labyrinth of narrow granite streets. The focal point of interest is the Market Square full of Naxi women in their traditional dress around mid-morning. Old Lijiang town has picturesque Naxi (descendants of the Tibetan Qiang tribe), traditional houses of wood, cobbled streets and gushing canals combined with a gracious people and wonderful scenery to make it a tourist destination not to be missed.
Overnight at Lijiang Guanfang Resort & Hotel, Lijiang.
DAY 5: LIJIANG (B,L,D)
Breakfast at the hotel. At 8.30am we depart from our hotel to drive one-hour to Yulong Snow Mountain National Park. A two-way cable car goes to Love-Suicide Hill (where horses can be hired to ride up to Dragon spruce meadow, but we won't go there). We change cable car at Glacier Park to go farther up the mountain range - the highest chair lift in Asia. The views of glaciers are mesmerizing. Snowy peaks glitter in the sun before our eyes. A ski-resort is in the making here. At White-water River we will stop for 30 minutes to take in the scene before going to lunch at the Snow Mountain Villa.
At 1.30pm we proceed to Jade-Peak Lhama Monastery for an encounter with Tibetan monks and talk to them through your guide or if you speak Tibetan or Chinese then directly. At Baisha village we make a photo-stop. Naxi dinner with Chinese classical music show will keep us entertained at Huangshan village. For those people who have not have enough of music and shows they can pay USD15 to see the Splendid Lijiang Show at Li-shui-jin-sha. The others are free to walk in the UNESCO-adopted "Ancient City" - a better proposition. At 10pm we all return to our hotel.
Overnight at Lijiang Guanfang Resort & Hotel, Lijiang.
DAY 6: LIJIANG - DALI (B,L,D)
Morning call is at 7am and breakfast follows. We depart from our hotel at 8.30am to tour the Black Dragon Pool Park and visit the famous Dongba Research Institute. At 10am we take a guided tour of UNESCO's "Ancient City" for about 2 hours. Then lunch at Lijiang before going to Dali. Along the way we visit a silver workshop at Heqing Xinhua village. Upon reaching Dali we go on a tour of Dali old city and have dinner there. It would be after dinner before we check into our hotel.
Overnight at Phoenix Hot-spring Resort & Hotel, Dali.
DAY 7: DALI (B,L,D)
Morning call at 7am and breakfast before leaving the hotel at 8.30am to go to Cangshan mountain for sightseeing. We will use the two-way cable car to go up the mountain. Today we have the chance to be really in contact with one of Yunnan's minority peoples at the Zhoucheng Bai nationality village and see how they tie-dye their cloths in their village workshops. To top it up we will have an authentic lunch of the Bai nationality favourite food - fish from the Erhai Lake and beancurd done in one of several ways. For more cultural education of the Bai people we will catch a tea-show in Xizhou, another Bai nationality village. Here there is a popular Three Pagoda Temple (actually a cluster of temples, shrine-halls and pavilions) that locals worship at. We spend our time to walk around this ancient town until dinner time at 7pm. Then we return to our hotel.
Overnight at Phoenix Hot-spring Resort & Hotel, Dali.
DAY 8: DALI - KUNMING AIRPORT (B,L)
A very early morning call at 5am, then breakfast at the hotel before proceeding to the airport for the flight to Kunming, departing at 7.25am. In 50 minutes we arrive at Kunming airport and be taken to the Western Hills on the western side of Lake Dian for sightseeing. We go up to the mountain top by cable car and see the Dragon Gate grottoes, sculptures and pavilions gouged into the cliff-face by a Taoist monk in the late eighteenth century and have a bird's eye view of Lake Dian. Visit the Taoist Sanqing Temple (actually a group of temples, shrines and pavilions which was a country villa of a Yuan prince) before taking the mini-train back to our waiting coach. On the way to the airport, we stop at Huating Temple for a 30-minute visit. It was the most important temple of the ancient Nanzhou kingdom displaying fine statues, stupas and superbly designed gardens. Then have a leisurely lunch of pot-steamed chicken and Yunnan wild mushroom while your pre-check in is arranged for you. Proceed to Kunming airport to board your departure flight.
End of Programme.
Price Per Person in Twin Room in JPY
| HOTEL | 2 Pax | 3-5 Pax | 6-9 Pax | 10-15 Pax | 16-20 Pax | 21-30 Pax | Sgl. Suppl. |
| Sakura/Green LakeView (4-star) | 81000 | 80000 | 79000 | 77000 | 76000 | 75000 | 23000 |
| Bank/Kai Wah Plaza (5-star) | 97000 | 96000 | 95000 | 93000 | 92000 | 91000 | 34000 |
Above costing includes:
1) 7 nights in a 4-star or a 5-star hotel in Kuning, Shangrila, Lijiang and Dali, and 3-star hotel in the Stone Forest.
2) Air-conditioned coach all the way
3) Meals as stated in the itinerary
4) English speaking guide
5) Entrance fees and cable car and train fares
6) Two-way airfare Kunming-Shangrila & Dali-Kunming and airport
taxes of Shangrila & Dali
7) Government taxes in Yunnan
NOT include:
1) Tips to guide, driver and bus-boy
2) Drinks at meals other than what is served at table.
3) Use of mini bar, laundry, phone calls in hotels and expenses of a personal nature
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