Day 1 Beijing
Upon arrival at Beijing airport, meet your tour guide and transfer to
the hotel in downtown. Join your tour manager and fellow travelers at an Evening
Reception.
Grand Hotel Beijing
Day 2 Beijing
Begin your sightseeing with a walk on Tiananmen Square,
the world's largest. Then move on to visit the Forbidden City, magnificent
imperial palaces of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Embark on an excursion to the Great Wall, which runs
across northern China for thousands of miles.
Return to Beijing and enjoy a Peking Duck Dinner tonight.
Grand Hotel Beijing <B-L-D>
Day 3 Beijing g Kunming
Travel to Kunming by air. As the capital of Yunnan, Kunming enjoys
spring-like weather all year round and has a distinctive character of its own due to the
many ethnic groups living in the province.
Visit Yuantong Temple, northern Yunnan's major Buddhist
site and an active place of pilgrimage.
Then take a walk along the shoreline park of the charming Green
Lake.
Enjoy a marvelous Yunnan Cuisine Dinner featuring local
delicacies.
Green Lake
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Day 4 Kunming n Stone
Forest
Today's excursion takes you to the Stone Forest, about 100
kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Kunming.
This area offers visitors a unique landscape of stark limestone pillars
twisted and sculpted by the elements. From a distance, these stone pillars look indeed
like a dense forest. Paths and stairs wind along the corridors, past rock pools to cliff
balconies, for intriguing vistas. Also explore the local markets and villages
of the ethnic Sani people.
Return to Kunming by the evening.
Green Lake
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Day 5 Kunming
Go to the suburban hills of Kunming and check out the intriguing
Buddhist art at Qiongzhu Temple. Stop by the Ethnic Village
where colorful cultures of Yunnan's different ethnic groups are represented.
Later, go to the Western Hills to get a bird's-eye view of
the Dianchi Lake and the city.
Enjoy some free time this afternoon.
Green Lake
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Day 6
Kunming g Xishuangbanna
Fly south to Jinghong, the major city in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous
State. The Dais, northern cousins to the Thais, are the largest ethnic group in
Xishuangbanna and live particularly around Jinghong.
First, visit the Tropical Crops Research Institute,
several acres of economically useful palms, fruit trees, and brightly flowering shrubs and
vines, all nicely arranged around a thin lake.
A short drive from the city center takes you to Wat Manting,
Jinghong's main Buddhist monastery and the largest in all Xishuangbanna. |
Tour Chunhuan Park, where one
hundred or so peacocks greet visitors in a large pen.
Continuing past the park, the road ends at Manloh Hon Village,
which gets its water through the work of a large bamboo waterwheel.
Dai Garden Hotel <B-L-D>
Day 7 Xishuangbanna
Today you travel to Menglun for an exciting excursion.
Menglun is a small country town with a couple of streets overlooking the Luosuo River.
Walk across a large suspension bridge and you will enter Menglun's superb Tropical
Botanic Gardens, founded in 1959 by the botanist Cai Xi Tao. He and a team of
assistants basically carved the gardens out of the jungle and started investigating the
lives and medicinal qualities of Xishuangbanna's many little-known plant species.
Return to Jinghong from Menglun along the northern route, passing
through a town called Jinuo Luoke, home to the enigmatic Jinuo people.
Dai Garden Hotel <B-L-D>
Day 8 Xishuangbanna g Dali
Take an excursion to Damenglong today. It is one of the
Xishuangbanna towns worth visiting for its markets.
Every village along the way has its own temple and pagoda. The most
impressive and famous structures in the region are the Manguanglong and Manfeilong
Temples. The latter was first built in the thirteenth century and now brightly
adorned with fragments of evil-repelling mirrors and silver paint. This is a regular place
of pilgrimage for Myanmar monks, who come to meditate and to worship two footprints left
by Sakyamuni.
Return to Jinghong later and fly to Dali on an evening flight.
Regent Hotel Dali <B-L-D>
Day 9 Dali
This morning, enjoy a boat ride on the beautiful Erhai Lake,
and see the famous Three Pagodas of Dali.
Then explore the Dali Old Town full of narrow streets and
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buildings with distinctive
characters of the ethnic Bai people. Check out the many small shops and restaurants along
these streets.
Regent Hotel Dali <B-L>
Day 10 Dali g Lijiang
This morning, you explore Dali's surrounding Bai villages.
Most of the houses in the villages are of gray bricks covered with tiled roofs and
punctuated with upturned eaves. The beams are decorated with paintings of birds, flowers,
mountains and waters.
Travel to Lijiang by vehicle in the afternoon, and arrive Lijiang by
sunset.
Banyan Tree Lijiang <B-L-D>
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Day 11 Lijiang
Lijiang has been the center of Naxi people's homeland. The town today
still maintains a traditional atmosphere with hundreds of old houses and bridges.
You will first visit the Baisha Village on the outskirt of
the city to see the ancient murals and frescos. Do a little hiking on the green meadows of
the Yulong Snow Mountain.
Back to town and explore the Black Dragon Pool Park,
wander in the Old Town maze, and attend a Naxi Music
demonstration.
Banyan Tree Lijiang <B-L-D>
Day 12 Lijiang
Spend the day exploring Lijiang on your own. Numerous character
bookstores, shops, teahouses, cafes, and restaurants can easily hold up your steps.
Lijiang is a great place to get lost among the century-old houses, narrow lanes, and
running creeks.
Banyan Tree Lijiang <B> |
Day 13 Lijiang g Shanghai
Fly to Shanghai via Kunming and arrive in the afternoon.
Visit the Bund, the splendid row of early 20th century
European buildings, which still remains the quintessential Shanghai sight.
Enjoy a fabulous Acrobatic Show this evening after dinner.
Portman
Ritz-Carlton Shanghai <B-D>
Day 14 Shanghai
Tour the tranquil Yuyuan Garden, a well-restored Suzhou
style garden that was created by a Ming Dynasty official in 1559.
Then move on to visit the marvelous Shanghai Museum, a
leading attraction of the city since it opened in 1994. Its galleries contain world-class
collections of ancient arts and artifacts.
Afternoon is free for leisure.
Enjoy a farewell Shanghai Cuisine Dinner this evening.
Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai <B-L-D>
Day 15 Return Home
Transfer to the airport and board your homebound flight.
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