Essential Yunnan,
from Kunming to Shangri-La

Day-by-day itinerary

1. Arrival in Kunming

   1,890 m

   Land in Kunming, the Spring City, at 1,890 metres. Transfer and a free evening: the flower market and a first bowl of crossing-the-bridge noodles.

2. The Stone Forest (Shilin)

   1,750 m

   A day among the limestone pillars of Shilin, a UNESCO site of narrow stone corridors and hidden clearings. Return to Kunming in the late afternoon.

3. Train to Dali

   1,900 m

   High-speed train to Dali. The afternoon is for the old town, with its Bai architecture, city gates and the Cangshan mountains rising behind.

4. Erhai Lake and Xizhou

   1,972 m

   Cycle or drive along the shore of Erhai Lake and visit Xizhou, a working Bai market town of white-walled courtyards with an indigo-dyeing workshop.

5. Lijiang and the Naxi old town

   2,400 m

   Transfer to Lijiang and walk its UNESCO-listed Naxi old town, a maze of canals, stone bridges and wooden houses fed by Jade Dragon snowmelt.

6. Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

   4,506 m

   Cable car up the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and its glacier park, then the Baisha valley, with 15th-century frescoes and views of the massif.

7. Tiger Leaping Gorge

   1,800 m

   The deepest gorge in Asia, where the Yangtze squeezes between two 5,000-metre walls. A walk on the high trail, then on to Shangri-La.

8. Shangri-La and Songzanlin

   3,200 m

   Zhongdian, renamed Shangri-La: the Tibetan monastery of Songzanlin, the old town of Dukezong and its great prayer wheel, at 3,200 metres.

9. Napa Hai meadows

   3,270 m

   A morning in the Napa Hai nature reserve, a high meadow where yaks and horses graze, before returning to Lijiang for the night.

10. Departure

    1,890 m

    Transfer to Lijiang or Shangri-La airport for your flight home, or stay on a few extra days among the tea mountains and villages of southern Yunnan.