Shilin (Stone Forest)

Day trip from Kunming to Shilin and Jiuxiang after back to Kunming
Start early of the morning from Kunming then visit shilin around two hours,after back to Kunming on the way visit Jiuxiang then continue back to Kunming,Jiuxiang is known as the "Natural Museum of Karst Caves" claiming to have the largest, most wonderful and most number of Karst Caves in China. There are about a hundred caves naturally clustered into 4 groups: the Sanjiao Cave, the Dashang Cave, the Diehong Cave and the Dasha Dam Cave. Among them sixty-six caves have great commercial value and are suitable for exploitation. The caves in the area are extremely well-known for grotesquerie in shape and magnificence in its natural wonder.

  Day 1 Arrive in Kunming, can visit Green Lake and Bird and Flower Market if time allows. O/N Kunming

  Day 2 Drive 1.5-2 hrs to visit Stone Forest, about 1-2 hrs there, then lunch in a local tasty restaurant, then drive 1.5 hrs further to visit Jiuxiang Caves. Then drive 2.5 hrs back to Kunming. O/N Kunming

  Day 3 Drive 5 hrs or take day train (12:10-17:16) from Kunming to Dali. Visit the Erhai Park for very nice lake view, Dali Museam to get an idea about this antient cultural land, then Dali Old Town in the evening. O/N Dali

  Day 4 Drive 20 minutes to the tea plantation on the Cangshan Mt., where has got beautiful view of Dali area, and nice to walk around. Then we drive 10 minutes further to Xizhou, visit the daily morning market there, then walk around the local Bai People's residence, and take a horse carriage through the fileds to the lake area and some local hidden temple, for Bai people are very religious people and their worshipping to female gods are quite unique. Take a fishing boat to the lake to enjoy birds fishing show on the lake, then visit some local bamboo weaving family. Then drive 2 hrs to Shaxi. Visit Shibaoshan with  the Baoxiangsi Temple built up on a big roack, with wild monkeys as residence, and very beautiful stone carvings from antient times.  O/N in Shaxi.

  Day 5 From Shaxi drive 2.5 hrs to the premitive Laojunshan Mountain Jianchuan, where is very little developed and very few people would make it there. But it has got such beautfil nature, from premitive forest, mountain streams and lakes, azealea bushes, wild birds and flowers, as well as grssland for animals. The altitude varies from 2200  meters up to 4000 meters high. We can take walks on the wooden paved path into deep forest, along with the sound of streams and lots of wild berries and mushrooms. About 3-4 hrs up there, tHen we drive2.5-3 hrs to Lijiang. O/N Lijiang

  Day 6 Exlpore the Lijiang Old Town, Local Vege Market, Black Dragon Pool, Sanduoge Village for nice walk, Baisha, Shuhe, and Lashi Lake for horse riding and boating. O/N Lijiang

  Day 7 Visit Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, enjoy the amazing Impression show, Blue Moon Valley where the glacier water is naturally blue and green, and then cable car up to Spruece Meadow, or Yak Meadow or Glacier Park. O/N Lijiang

  Day 8 Drive 1.5 hrs to Tiger Leaping Gorge, visit the tourist site of the gorge, then hire a local minivan up to the Halfway Guesthouse along the hiking trail, where has breathtaking view of the gorge. We can do one hour walk futher to Fairy Waterfall on the flat path, and walk back another one hour. This is often the highlight for many people, but can be done only if people don't have hight sickness. Then drive down to meet our driver again, and drive another 2.5 hrs up to Shangrila, along with stops for amazing mountain views.

  Day 9 Visit Songzanlinsi Lama Temple, and Napa Lake for a walk through Tibetan villages. One choice for today is the Putacuo National Park, the first national park in China, where has got beautiful lakes, vast grassland with yaks and horses around, and primitive forest. Another choice is to visit the Dabaoji Temple area for beautiful country walks for 1-2 hrs, and enjoy swimming and sauna from the natural Tianshengqiao Hotspring. Night in Shangrila.

  Day 10  Fly from Qiqing Airport to your next destination.

  For price details, please contact me directly, as the tour price depends on the number of people together. Thanks a lot.

Tour Code: H-1
Destinations: Kunming—Dali—Shaxi—Lijiang—Shangri-la
Tour Type: Sighteeing / Culture / Nature Landscape
Note: [h] = hour; (m) = meter; B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner;

D1  ARRIVAL IN KUNMING

Kunming (1900m): the capital and largest city of Yunnan Province, known as the Spring City.    Click the photos to enlarge.

Airport pick up. Hotel drop off. [1.5h ride]

Visit Jinbi Square, where you can see the Golden Horse & Jade Rooster Memorial Archways.
It was built in Ming Dynasty, has history of more than 400 years, and has been regarded as a symbol of Kunming city. [2h]

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September is a nice season to visit  Kunming-Dali-Lijiang-Shangrila in the northwest of Yunnan province.

Here is our schedule:

Sep 28.  Arrive Kunming and pick up from Kunming airport and send to Kunming hotel.
 

Sept 29.  Day tour Visit Stone forest , Flower, bird market , over night at Kunming.
Take night train from Kunming to Dali.  K9636 leave Kunming at 2339pm  and arrive Dali at 7:25am  in the morning Of sept 30 

Sep 30. Dali tour
Pick up from Dali Train station and,Drive to Xizhou Visit bai family’s courtyard and enjoy cormorant fishing show on Erhai lake.  Visit Dali old town, climb to the top of the city wall to enjoy the birdview of the old town. Walk around old town and the foreigner’s street in Dali old town.   over night at Dali old town.

Oct 1. Dali to Tiger leaping gorge.
Check out from Dali hotel, enjoy view of 3 Pagoda from outside of the park  and go to Qiaotou, then start hiking through leaping gorge, Hiking  trip will be 5 hours , Pass by Naxi village and Beautiful view of the gorge. Over night at the village.

Oct 2.  Continue Hiking about 2 hour to meet the driver, Drive to Shibaoshan mountain where you can see wild monkey forest and 1000 years old Budhism temple, then go to Shaxi old town and enjoy the relaxing time there.   over night at Shaxi old town.

Oct. 3.  Drive to Lijiang and visit Shu old town and Baisha village.  Then explore Lijiang old town and  square market. Over night at Lijiang old town.

Oct. 4.  Lijiang to the next Destionation
Fly From lijiang to hongkong by Mu733 leave at 11:10 and arrive at 16:05

I saw my first crossbow on the shoulder of a middle-aged Akha man in Saen Charoen Mai, northern Thailand, way back in 1988, as he sauntered down a trail into the thick jungle above the village. I didn't pay him much mind. Everybody I knew there then used traps and long-barreled rifles to hunt, which was anyway already much less often than when they were all boys. Many men still had crossbows, but mounted them on interior walls of houses and didn't use them anymore. And as I never again witnessed somebody carrying a crossbow into the forest, I lost interest.

After a few years even the traps disappeared from the jungle, at least the ones for medium-sized mammals, which were also former crossbow targets. Rare was the Akha hunter successful enough to bring home a wildcat, bamboo gopher, civet, pangolin or even squirrel, much less a boar or a barking deer. The animals are now so rare that Akha men don't even go looking for them anymore. In fact, the hunting tradition everywhere has been largely reduced to trapping or shooting small birds and an occasional squirrel.