Yunnan Province Attractions
Yunnan Province Articles
Pu'er folk residence
Pu'er is a Dai ethnic village in Mengla Township of Jinping County in the south of Yunnan Province; it is composed of three small villages, namely Shangzhai (upper village), Zhongzhai (middle village) and Xiazhai (lower village).
...Pu'er is a Dai ethnic village in Mengla Township of Jinping County in the south of Yunnan Province; it is composed of three small villages, namely Shangzhai (upper village), Zhongzhai (middle village) and Xiazhai (lower village).
Most of the thatched residences in the village are built in a typical "Ganlan style" (houses built on stilts); and in the villages of Zhongzhai and Xiazhai, there is a bamboo-structured Buddhist temple respectively.
At present, the village has 200 families, and the architecture complex is well-preserved.
The bathing festival of the Lisus
It's a gathering of the Lisu ethnic people by bathing in natural hotsprings to welcome in the new year....
It's a gathering of the Lisu ethnic people by bathing in natural hotsprings to welcome in the new year. With a history of over 200 years, the tradition has been annually carried out during lunar 2-6 January since 1980 when the local government of Lushui County sponsored to clean the origins of natural hotsprings to cater to locals' demand.
When the day comes, all the families get packed, prepare foods, and travel to the vicinity of the natural hotsprings for camping. During the festival, it is a bustling scene near these hotsprings, where dressed-up Lisu ethnic members (especially youths), vendors, makeshift stalls, and eateries make up a small trade fair.
All the bathers at the festival behave courteous to each other, especially between the genders. Usually, the elder generation enjoy the bath first, and then the younger. In addition to the three or five times of bathing one day during the festival, the relatives and friends from different villages will get together, exchanging what happened to them or they have experienced in the past year.
Singing dialogue
The festival also creates good opportunities for those Lisu ethnic members who have nice throats and those who are smartly capable of composing extemporaneous songs.
For Lisu youths, singing is a way to seek love. Through singing dialogues, they can know each other, understand each other, and express love to each other.
Tuguo Village earthenware craft
The original earthenware process methods are passed down from generation to generation. In the Tuguo Village, located in Gasa County, there presents the most original earthenware processing....
The original earthenware process methods are passed down from generation to generation. In the Tuguo Village, located in Gasa County, there presents the most original earthenware processing. On the balcony or the roof of each house of local family, there hang the various pieces of earthenwares.
There are dozen kinds of the earthenware including earthen pot, kettles, bowls, bottles and containers for rice. Among them, the most prestigious one must be the earthen pot. Thus the village is named Tuguo (means earthen pot) after the craft.
Top Yunnan Province Tours
$35 Per Day
Jade Water Village - half day
Naxi is the major minority in Lijiang. During the Naxi New Year, there is big celebration. The old DongBa carry out traditional celebration and the place is open to public free of charge. Half day visit to Jade Water Village. The village is 20KM from Lijiang city. There is a underground water pouring out from the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Water fall flows through the village. That is where the village was build. You can see the Naxi living in demonstration. Price includes pick up from hotel and transfer back. Minimum 2 person.
$300 Per Day
Super China Buddhist Tour
D1 Arrive in Shanghai
Arrive in Shanghai and transfer to the hotel.
D2 Shanghai
This morning visit the Jade Buddha Temple where we can look with reverence for two jade Buddha which came from Myanmar in the year of 1882. Then we will sightsee the Bund in modern Shanghai and highest tower in Asia - the Oriental Pearl TV Tower.
Temple in Mount Putuo
D3 Shanghai - Putuo
D1 Arrive in Shanghai
Arrive in Shanghai and transfer to the hotel.
D2 Shanghai
This morning visit the Jade Buddha Temple where we can look with reverence for two jade Buddha which came from Myanmar in the year of 1882. Then we will sightsee the Bund in modern Shanghai and highest tower in Asia - the Oriental Pearl TV Tower.
Temple in Mount Putuo
D3 Shanghai - Putuo
In the morning take the speed boat to Putuo Mountain. Located on one of the Zhoushan Islands about 100 sea miles off the eastern coast of Hangzhou Bay in Zhejiang Province, it is one of the four famous Buddhist shrines in China, covering an area of 12.5 square kilometers. Built in the Song Dynasty, Puji Temple is regarded as the Bodhimandala of Bodhisattva Guanyin. Also included for today are the Fayu Temple and Thousand-step Beach. Stay at the hotel in Putuo Mountain.
D4 Putuo - Hangzhou
Purple Bamboo Temple was built on the original site of Refuse-To-Leave Temple, the oldest temple in Putuoshan. A visit to it and Kwanyin Statue inside is our schedule for the morning. After lunch, a bus ride to Hangzhou, a city widely reputed as "the Paradise on Earth". According to Marco Polo, Hangzhou was "without doubt the finest and most splendid city the world... there are said to be 13,000 bridges, mostly of stone... vast are the numbers of those accustomed to dainty living, to the point of eating fish and meat at one meal." Stay in the hotel in Hangzhou.
D5 Hangzhou - Tunxi
After an excursion on the pictureque West Lake, symbol of Hnagzhou City, we will be inside the Lingyin Temple (Soul's Retreat Temple) which was built in 326 by the Indian monk Hui Li; and Jingci Temple, another famous temple with a history of more than 1,000 years. Lingyin temple attracts numerous pilgrims each year, both at home and abroad. Later we will drive for about 3 hours to reach Huangshan City. Stay in a downtown hotel. Since you'll have to carry everything yourself up Huangshan unless you hire a porter, it is advisable that you leave your big luggage in the hotel in downtown and bring only a small handbage or knapsack with you up mountain.
Clouds Sea in Mount Huang
D6 Mount Huang
A bus ride to Mt. Huangshan Scenic Area before taking the Yuping Cable-car up mountain from the western step. A three-and-half-hour hike will take you to sightsee the fantastic and unforgettable views, including the Jade Screen Peak, Welcoming-guest Pine Tree, Lotus Peak, Turtle Peak, Heavenly Sea Pavilion, Bright Top Peak, the Flying-over Rock, the Cloud-dispelling Pavilion and Grand Canyon of the West Sea. Stay at the hotel on Huangshan Mountain.
D7 Huangshan - Mount Jiuhua
Descend the Mountain by Taiping Cable Car and drive for two hours to get to Jiuhua Mountain - one of the four most sacred Buddhist mountains in China. The mountain attracts a large number of pilgrims throughout China and overseas daily, a sign that China is more open and tolerant towards religious belief. We'll be visiting Huacheng Temple, the oldest and the leading monastery of Jiuhua Mountain which was built in the Tang Dynasty (756-758). In the hall are preserved horizontal boards inscribed by emperors of the Qing Dynasty. Stay overnight up Jiuhua Mountain.
Mount Jiuhua
D8 Mount Jiuhua
A full day visiting and sightseeing up Jiuhua Mountain today. We'll take cable car to visit the Longevity Palace, which preserves a saint Buddhist Mummy, monk Wu Xia of the Ming Dynasty. The temple, built in the Ming Dynasty, is 871 meters above sea level. Besides, we'll also be visiting the Hall of Sacred Remains, Qiyuan Temple, one of the four biggest temples in the mountain and the Temple of the Heavenly Terrace which towers on a precipitous cliff of the Tiantai Peak and resembles a magnificent castle from a distance. After dinner, we'll go t o Qiyuan Temple to attend a Buddhist ceremony. Stay in the same hotel.
D9 Jiuhua
Drive for two and half hours to visit Hongcun Village-the main village in Yi County which was listed into the world cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2001. The Oscar-awarded movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was filmed there. Then we'll drive to visit Nanping Village (the place where the movie "Judou" was filmed). Drive back to visit the fantastic Old Street, center of the old town section. Leave Huangshan City by evening flight after dinner.
$300 Per Day
13 Days, Yunnan: Trekking around Mt. Kawagebo
Daocheng is located in southwest corner of Sichuan province, it is well-known for the 3 holy peaks named by the 5th Dalai Lama, Shiannairi Peak(6032 m high), Xianuoduoji Peak(5898 m high), Yangmaiyong Peak(5898 m high). Every year, there are many people trek around the 3 holy peaks for increasing their merits and virtues. Lugu Lake is located in northwest part of Yunnan province, it covers 58 square kms, the water is very clear. The unique matriarchal Mosuo people live by the lake, which earned this area another name: the Mysterious Queendom....Read more
Daocheng is located in southwest corner of Sichuan province, it is well-known for the 3 holy peaks named by the 5th Dalai Lama, Shiannairi Peak(6032 m high), Xianuoduoji Peak(5898 m high), Yangmaiyong Peak(5898 m high). Every year, there are many people trek around the 3 holy peaks for increasing their merits and virtues. Lugu Lake is located in northwest part of Yunnan province, it covers 58 square kms, the water is very clear. The unique matriarchal Mosuo people live by the lake, which earned this area another name: the Mysterious Queendom. Trekking from Daocheng to Lugu Lake is surely one of the best trekking route in China.
ITINERARY
D1
Chengdu/Kangding
We will meet you at the airport and begin our journey to Kangding directly. Kangding, a former outpost on the trade route to Tibet, is a fairly large city tucked within a river valley. The sidewalks of Kangding are crowded with Hui, Chinese Muslims, and Tibetans who have come down from the highlands to sell wild mushrooms, vegetables, yak skins and various paraphernalia. Today's drive will take approximately 6 hours (360km).
D2
Kangding/ Litang
We'll have an early start today so we can have more time to explore this picturesque remote Tibetan town. At an altitude of just over 4000m, this is one of the highest towns in the world (Lhasa is 3700m). Situated high on a grassy plateau, Litang has the feel of a rough and tumble 'Wild West' town. Khampas - dressed in yak skin coats, bedecked in colorful necklaces and hair ornaments, long daggers hanging from their belts - from the surrounding areas amble into town to stock up on food and supplies, play pool on the streets and hang out in the local teahouses. This small town is great for people watching and just strolling around. We will also visit the famous Chang-Qing-Chun-Ke'er-Si monastery and pay homage to the living Buddha with a personal interview. The monastery here is now home to 1400 Yellow Hat sect monks. Once a hotbed of Tibetan dissent, this monastery was destroyed in the 1950s but has since been completely rebuilt. Today's journey from Kangding to Litang will take us approximately 5 hours (306km).
D3
Litang/Daocheng/Yading
Today we will reach the highlight of this journey - Yading nature reserve, home of three sacred Tibetan mountains - Chenresig (Avalokitesvara, 6032m), Jambeyang (Manjusri, 5958m), and Chanadorje (Vajrapani, 5958m). Tibetan Buddhists believe that making a kora (pilgrimage) around these mountains brings great merit, and that the three mountains represent compassion, wisdom and energy - attributes one must cultivate on the path to enlightenment. The scenery here easily rivals that of national parks of the west such as Yellowstone and Yosemite in terms of spectacular, pristine mountain scenery. The drive from Litang to Daocheng will take approximately 4 hours (180km), and the trip from Daocheng to Yading (60km) will take approximately 3 hours as much of the road to the park is dirt track. We will spend the night in tent hotel.
D4
Yading/Kars Yak Ranch
Start your trekking tour with horses, first, trek 1 hour to Chongguo Monastery(3800m) which is in fact a ruin, then trek up to visit the Pearl Lake, then continue trek to the Luorong Yak Ranch(4200m), then trek along the Milk Lake shore up to a mountain pass(4681m), then trek down to the Kars Yak Ranch. Camping.
D5
Kars village
Trek from Kars Yak Ranch down to the Kars Hell Valley, then trek through the valley, on the way, you will see several waterfalls, (the valley is named Hell, but in fact it is as beautiful as Paradise), at the end of the valley, you will cross a narrow wood bridge, walk in the Kars Village. Stay in a local villager house or camping.
D6
Kars Village to Seku Village
Take a tractor for 39 km from Kars Village to Dongyi Village via Geka Village, then change to a minibus, drive another 18 km from Dongyi Village to Eryatong Village via Wangzi Village. Here is the end of the dust road, you have to start your trekking tour again. You will trek 6 km from Eryatong Village to Emei Village, on the way, you will see the U-shape Bend of the Dongyi River, you will also see some ruined castles on the way. (these castles are related with the war between the Naxi people in Lijiang and the Tibetan people living in this area in Ming Dynasty). Then continue trek from Emei Village to Seku Village(3500m, most villagers are Mongolian people). Stay in a local villager house or camping.
D7
Seku Village/Kawa Village
Trek from Seku Village to Eryada Village, then continue trek to Keku Village (most villagers are Pumi people), then continue trek to Kawa Village(3500m, most villagers are Naxi people and Mongolian people), on the way, you will see many cactus as big as trees, you will also see a 100m-high waterfall. Stay in a local villager house or camping.
D8 Kawa Village/Hadi Village
Trek along the Dongyi River and the Tongtian River from Kawa Village to Yiji Village, on the way, you will pass the Hadi Village (most villagers are Naxi people). Stay in a local villager house or camping.
D9 Yongning Hot Spring Village
Trek up a mountain pass (the Yiejiliangzi, about 4000m), then trek down to Yongning Hot Spring Village. Enjoy a hot spring bath. Stay in a local guesthouse.
D10 Yongning Town/Lugu Lake
Trek to Yongning town, here is the end of your trekking tour. Then drive 1 hour to Lugu Lake, take a small wood boat cruise on the lake, visit the Mosuo villages. Stay in the 2 star Daba Hotel by the lake.
D11 Lugu/Lijiang
Drive 6 hours from Lugu Lake to Lijiang, check in a 4 star hotel and rest.
D12 Lijiang
Visit Lijiang Old Town which is a World Cultural Heritage site, including the Square Market, the Mu Family Palace which is like a little Forbidden City, and the Black Dragon Pond where is the ideal place to view the snow mountain. Stay in the 4 star hotel.
D13 Lijiang/Kunming
Take a morning flight from Lijiang back to Kunming, then connect your departure flight back home.