Day 01. Beijing

On arrival in Beijing you will be met by our specialist guide and transferred to your centrally located hotel. Rest of the day is at leisure. 

Day 02. Beijing

Full day excursion to Great Wall Jinshanling Section. Your guided excursion will including a picnic lunch with one bottle of champagne. On return back to the city, visit Donghuamen Food Market.

The Great Wall: A great fortification in ancient China. The sections at Badaling & Mutianyu are the most famous of all, due to their proximity to Beijing City and condition of restoration; while the sections at Jinshanling & Simatai, on the way between Beijing and Chengde, are less crowded and with primitive taste of the project.

Day 03. Beijing-Kunming

Transfer to airport for flight to Kunming. On arrival you will be met by your local guide and transferred to your chosen hotel. Your guide will then take you to visit Bird & Flower Market, Green Lake Park.

Three Pagodas: Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple, commonly known as Dali Three Pagodas, and located in the Chongsheng Temple, northwest of Dali City in Yunnan Province, it is a major national treasure under preservation.

China Bird & Flower Market: Famous for its year-round mild climate, Kunming is often called Spring City. The famous Flowers and Birds Market in Jingxing Street is the city's biggest, most attractive shopping market where spring reigns all year.

Green-Lake Park: Located in the centre of Kunming city, and is composed of the Harbour Pavilion, Moon Water House, Fish Building and the lakes, full of vegetated flowers and trees. From the October to February, tens of thousands of black-headed gulls come into the park, playing with visitors. Thousands of black-headed gulls flying around the lake with calling, makes people and nature perfect united.

Day 04. Kunming-Dali

Take short morning flight to Dali. Upon arrival, have a day tour to Three Pagodas, Cruise on Erhai Lake and Old Town of Dali. Standing like three legs of a tripod, the Chongsheng Three Pagodas made of bricks were built a thousand years ago.

Erhai Lake known as Yeyuze or Kunming Lake in ancient times, is named after its ear-like shape. It is a fresh water lake in the Yunnan Plateau at an elevation of 1972 metres. The Erhai Lake is a fault lake formed after a foundering of the earth's crust. The water of the Erhai Lake is limpid. On the lake, there are three islets, four sand banks and eight famous sights. "Erhai Moon" is one of the best sights where one can enjoy the moon mirrored on the lake on a clear night. The Erhai Lake is also rich in aquatic animals.

Old Town of Dali is located in Yunnan Province and is one of the 'Three Ancients' (Ancient Cities, Ancient Pagodas and Ancient Steles) of the Dali Scenic Spot. With Erhai Lake to the east, and Cangshan Mountain to the west, its grand city wall, traditional Bai ethnic minority folk houses and marvelous scenery have been attracting many visitors.

Day 05. Dali-Shaxi

Drive from Dali to Shaxi en route visit some local villages.

Despite its proximity to the two of the busiest tourist locations in the country, Shaxi remains a quiet, sleepy region that attracts environmentally aware visitors, rather than coach loads of hungry souvenir shoppers. Here the attractions are the unspoiled countryside, millennia of history and the rich, local culture. Shaxi retains the vestiges of a matriarchal society, but in the twenty first century, this now extends only as far as children taking the family name of their mother. The Bai-the "white"-revere the color, which they regard as noble and is the main color of their traditional dress. An unmarried girl always combs her hair into one pigtail, tied with a red string at its end, and then coils it over her head. In general, girls enjoy dressing up like beautiful camellia flowers on special occasions, and so it is hardly surprising that they are referred to not as 'miss' or 'young lady' but as 'jin hua' or 'golden flower'.

Day 06. Shaxi-Lijiang

Drive from Shaxi to Lijiang en route visit Shibaoshan. On arrival, transfer to hotel. The rest of the day is at leisure.

Shibaoshan: Also known as Shanbao Mountain (lit. Stone Treasure Mountain), is the southern branch of the Laojun Mountain ranges. It is the center part of the 'Three Paralled Rivers", a UNESCO World Nature Heritage Site. Its total area is about 25 square km. the landscape here is fascinating and beautiful. You may find different seasons in the mountain,  and experience different weather within the distance fo a few kilometers, as the elevation changes (from 2140 m to 3038 m). Shibao Mountain is well known not only for its breathtaking landscape, but also for its marvelous grottoes. The Shizhongshan Grottoes, known as 'the gem of the south in Yunnan', were created by the ancient Bai People in the historical period of the Tang and Song dynasties ( 850 A.D - 1179A.D.). The figures carved in the grottoes, are the kings of the historical Nanzhao period of Yunnan. Buddhas, Boddhisattras, Guardian Kings, and even statues of foreign monks can be found here.

Day 07. Lijiang

Full day tour to Yuhu Village - the former residence of doctor Joseph Rock, Shuhe Ancient Town & visit Lashihai Lake. Yuhu Village: Yuhu Village is the last village in the Lijiang Basin at the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. There is a Yuhe Lake beside the village. Water in this lake comes from he melted snow in the mountains. The holy water from this holy mountain of the Naxi makes this small village very mysterious. That is why Joseph Rock chose this place to live in when he came in 1922. He lived in Lijiang for 27 years. We can still find houses and things that he used when he lived in Yuhe Village. Rock loved Lijiang very much. He wrote to his friends before his dying 1962 that he'd rather die in the flowers of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in Lijiang than lie alive on the sickbed in Hawaii.

Shuhe Ancient Town is located northwest of the Old Town of Lijiang, at the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, lies a compact village hidden in the forest, the Old Town of Shuhe. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has listed it as an important component of Lijiang as it is a well-preserved example of a town along the ancient tea route and one of the earliest settlements of the ancestors of Naxi people. It is called 'the hometown of springs'. Lashihai Lake: Located in the basin in Hengduan Mountain Range, 10 kilometers away from the Old Town of Lijiang. The grassy marshland on the bank often gathers lots of water. It is the best place for plants, fishes, shellfish and river snails. The grassy marshland and swamp provide a nice home for wetland animals and plants. In early winter, lots of wild birds will come here from cold northern places. They rest in the grass and look for food in streams.

Day 08. Lijiang

Visit the scenic area of Yunshan meadow at the jade Dragon Mountain visiting the Baisha Frescoes on your way back to Lijiang.

The Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, a treasure of wild plants and rare animals, are like a silver dragon lying in the clouds. Awesome and unconquered, they dominate the Lijiang Plain. Some have described Jade Dragon Snow Mountain as a radiant cornet crowning Lijiang's head. It is a botanist's paradise, a " kingdom of medicinal materials." Of the 1 3,000 kinds of plants in Yunnan, more than half of them can be found on Jade Dragon Snow Mountain as well as 400 types of trees in 20 primeval forest communities.

Baisha Frescoes: Mostly from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Among the 55 existing murals, the largest one is at the Dabaoji Hall of Baisha. Most Baisha murals depict religious stories, and one characteristic is to combine several legends into one picture. They are an artistic Crystallization combining the Naxi, Tibetan, Bai and Han styles.

Day 09. Lijiang-Zhongdian

Transfer to Zhongdian (approx. 4 hours) by a private car, en route visit Tiger Leaping Gorge and First Bend of Yantze River.

Tiger Leaping Gorge: About 100 kilometers (62 miles) northwest of Lijiang Old Town lying between Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (Yulong Xueshan) and Haba Snow Mountain (Haba Xueshan) is Tiger Leaping Gorge (Hutiao Gorge), which is believed to be the deepest gorge in the world. From the top of the gorge you look down the steeply angled (70-90 degrees) mountain sides to the rushing Golden Sands (Jingsha) River with its 18 frothing rapids more than 200 meters (about 700 feet) below. Naturally divided into three sections, the first section, which is the narrowest and uppermost section, is the mouth of the fast flowing Jingsha River. In the midst of the river's mouth is a large rock that is positioned at the gorge's narrowest section-only 30 meters (33 yards) wide. An ancient legend says that a tiger used this rock as its stepping stone so it could leap across from one side of the gorge to the other, which is how the gorge got its name.

Day 10. Zhongdian

Full day tour to visit Songzanlin Monastery, Napahai Lake, the Pottery at Nixi Village and Tibetan Family visiting.

Being the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan, Songzanlin Monastery, also known as Guihua Monastery, is one of the famous monasteries in the Kang region. The monastery is located near Shangri -La County, at the foot of Foping Mountain. Songzanlin Monastery has another alias - 'the little Potala Palace ', so named because the whole monastery is in the traditional style with mysterious atmosphere. In 1679, Dalailama chose this place by divination, and it went on to become the uppermost public place in Yunan which features the particular local characteristics. Annually, the Gedong Festival is celebrated here by the Tibetans. Pious believers, with their knees and foreheads knocking the ground at every step, come here to pray. The monastery is situated in the high altitude region over 3,300 meters (about 10,827 feet) high. It snows even in August, and has a rainy season that runs from June through September. Therefore, spring and summer are the best seasons for people to visit it.

Napahai Lake: The Napahai Nature Reserve, at an altitude of 3,266 meters above sea level, is located 8 kilometers northwest of the county seat of Zhongdian. It has the largest grassland in Zhongdian, surrounded by mountains on three sides. The nature reserve has a humid climate, flourishing grass, and beautiful scenery. Each year from September to March black-necked cranes, a top-grade protected bird species, winter here. This period is the best season for tourists to view black necked cranes.

Nixi Village: A small Tibetan village nestling along the popular adventure route from Deqin to Zhongdian of the famed Shangri-La in Yunnan Province. Nixi Village is the most "Shangri-la" part of Shangri-la. A tiny village standing by green grassland on which flocks of yaks, sheep and horses graze gives a sense of timeless tranquility. That's the amazing natural beauty of the village. However, the Nixi Pottery Village is by no means a one-hit-wonder. It is well known for the century-old art, making pottery. Around 70 out of the 100 families in the village are engaged in this traditional art. Many of them have built pottery workshops. It's amazing to watch the locals processing the item. The item is purely hand-made which makes it unique and precious. The raw material clay, is taken from a mountain three kilometers away.

Day 11. Zhongdian-Kunming Departure

Transfer to the airport for a morning flight to Kunming and connect your onward flight.