A Classic Yunnan Tour: Zouzhaoqiao Travel Takes You from Heaven to Earth

Year after year, day after day, walking the same line between work and home... At that moment, I suddenly wanted to embark on a spontaneous trip, leaving behind all anxiety, worries, responsibilities, and the rest. Just then, the Zouzhaoqiao official account recommended a super classic tour—the Yunnan Classic Tour.

I placed an order almost without thinking.

A colleague asked me: ‘So cheap? Are you brave enough to go?’

I smiled: ‘Why not? Could they sell me off or something?’

Well, I admit that China’s tourism industry once had some chaos, like forced shopping, but isn’t it becoming more standardized now?

So, on Teacher’s Day, I set off on my Yunnan journey alone—officially, to let myself fly free.

Around 11 p.m. on September 10th, my flight arrived in Kunming. A dedicated driver greeted me with flowers, helped me check into the hotel, and told me the guide would pick me up at eight the next morning.

In the hotel lobby the next morning, I met the first guide of the trip: Li Yang, a post-80s guy.

When we gathered, the guide handed out a customized Yunnan travel gift pack: two flower pastries, a small bottle of essential oil, a pack of wet wipes, a small bag of fruit cakes, and a U-shaped pillow (I was a little surprised and delighted). He also told us there was bottled water on the bus for us to take as needed.

On the way to the scenic spot, the guide began his speech. First, he revealed the secret of the flower welcome. First, it’s a requirement of the Yunnan tourism industry; second, Yunnan is abundant in flowers.

Next, he emphasized the team’s discipline. First, be punctual. Second, this is a shopping group, not a pure-play group, but there is absolutely no forced consumption, and all products have quality guarantees. If you find any fakes, call and complain directly; if verified, you’ll get double compensation.

After a one-and-a-half-hour bus ride, we arrived at the first stop of the trip: Naigu Stone Forest.

‘Naigu’ means ‘old and black’ in the Yi language. The rocks here are mainly dolomitic limestone from 270 million years ago, appearing gray-black. The stone pillars are tall and dense, mostly castle-shaped, tower-shaped, or mushroom-shaped, with the tallest reaching over 40 meters. They are primitive, rugged, majestic, and spectacular—a vast forest of strange rocks known for its wild style.

Climbing to the top, you can see a sea of black stones, grand and imposing. Wandering through the forest, you feel a primitive, untamed atmosphere. At that moment, you can’t help but marvel at the wonders of nature.

After lunch, another one-and-a-half-hour drive brought us to Dianchi Lake Scenic Area.

Dianchi Lake, a national tourist resort in China, is the largest plateau lake in Yunnan Province. The scenery along its shores is beautiful. Nearby are Yunnan Ethnic Village and Yunnan Ethnic Museum. One activity you can’t miss at Dianchi is feeding seagulls. Every winter, migratory birds from Siberia—black-headed gulls—come to Dianchi to spend the winter. They arrive in November and leave in March to return to Siberia.

Obviously, I came at the wrong time, missing out on much of the fun.

The guide told us that if you come in winter, thousands of seagulls will follow you for a piece of bread, surrounding you. The photos you take will be beautiful, but you pay a small price—after the seagulls fly away, you’re covered in bird droppings (such a lovely scene, I dare not imagine).

After breakfast, we set off at 7:30 a.m. After about three hours, we arrived at Dali Old Town.

First, we visited Dali Old Town and Foreigner Street.

I’ve always had a soft spot for Dali. In my beautiful youth, Jin Yong’s martial arts novels were my favorites, and the martial world was a dream in my heart. Since I was at the site of the Dali Kingdom, how could I not climb the old city gate tower, stroll through the lively streets, touch the gray stone walls, taste the unique local food, and savor the distinctive flavor of Dali Old Town?

The last stop of the day: a Jeep tour of Erhai Lake. Four people per Jeep, immersing you in the beautiful Erhai… While enjoying the scenery of Erhai, a professional photographer takes you to popular Instagram spots and takes photos for you, leaving happy travel memories.

Because we had to go from Dali to Lijiang, we set off relatively early: 7 a.m.

When we left Dali for Lijiang, the guide changed to a local Lijiang guide.

In the afternoon, first, we watched the large-scale live performance ‘Impression Lijiang’ by director Zhang Yimou, set amidst the snow-capped mountains at an altitude of 3,100 meters. The theater is surrounded by alpine meadows and white clouds, bringing the audience into a pure, harmonious landscape of the snowy plateau. Even if you can’t understand anything, you’ll be awed by the grand scale.

After the performance, we were lucky to take the Glacier Cable Car to the top of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain at 4,680 meters. Some say that touring Jade Dragon Snow Mountain tests your luck; some people come three times and still can’t get on the cable car.

Descending from Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, our day basically ended at Blue Moon Valley.

What is Blue Moon Valley? It’s a pool of blue water in a crescent-shaped valley, set against the misty Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Some say the reflection of the moon in the blue water under the blue sky resembles the Blue Moon Valley from James Hilton’s novel Lost Horizon, hence the name Blue Moon Valley.

After dinner, we explored Lijiang Old Town freely.

As a World Cultural Heritage site and a national 5A tourist attraction, if you want to visit all the sights, eat all the local food, and have a romantic encounter, you’d need to stay at least three days and three nights in the old town. But I could only stroll through the streets and enjoy the night views…

After leaving Lijiang Old Town, there were no more scenic spots on the itinerary, and the trip basically ended.

Tourism has six elements: food, accommodation, transportation, sightseeing, shopping, and entertainment. Now, I’ll review this trip from these six aspects—

All group meals were basically ten dishes and one soup, with both meat and vegetables, including chicken, duck, fish, and pork, plus fruit. Only on the second day in Chuxiong did we enjoy the Chuxiong mushroom hotpot, a Yunnan specialty.

As long as you’re not a very picky eater who refuses to eat this or that, you’ll definitely be full. Oh, and because they might worry that some people aren’t used to the food, the guide handed out pickled mustard on the first day (I suddenly felt so thoughtful, didn’t you?). According to the schedule, dinner on the fourth night was not included. But it happened to be the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the guide not only arranged a group meal for us but also gave us mooncakes made by her mother (another small surprise).

Day 1: Kunming, Quanji Hotel (Yunda West Road).

Day 2: Chuxiong, Xiongbao Hotel—the first five-star hotel in Chuxiong.

Day 3: Dali, Yifang Boutique Hotel.

Day 4: Lijiang, Lijiang Huasheng Hotel.

Day 5: Kunming, Plateau Pearl Hotel.

From the pickup car to the tour bus, the concierge arranged everything seamlessly.

The whole trip involved long, boring bus rides, but that couldn’t be helped. During the trip, we had three different guides.

The first, Li Yang, studied finance at Yunnan University but ended up as a guide by chance. He was talkative, expressive, knowledgeable, and good at understanding tourists’ psychology.

I had always looked down on the profession of tour guide: three hundred and sixty-five days a year, day after day, facing the same sights, repeating the same lines, the soul gradually weary, wisdom gone, personality lost—where is the meaning of life? How is the value of life reflected? It’s just selling your youth with a decent appearance.

But his appearance subconsciously refreshed my perception. A successful guide isn’t just about good looks or fluent speech; it’s about his broad-minded attitude, his confidence and charm in every gesture—all of which infect those around him, allowing everyone to enjoy happiness.

The second, Pu Pu, a Naxi girl, full of local and ethnic character, very warm.

The third, Xiao Xiao, a post-90s girl who studied jade in college—responsible for taking us from Lijiang back to Kunming. I wondered if all Yunnan college students, regardless of major, are forced to become guides?

How to pass the time on the long journey? It’s fine when the guide explains local customs, popularizes jade knowledge, or even shares life experiences and insights. But what do you do when the guide tells you to rest and you can’t sleep?

You can keep playing with your phone, but I suggest you look at the scenery outside—away from the city’s noise, forget life’s trivialities, and watch the moving ink-wash landscape paintings. It’s a unique experience. If you love words, inspiration might strike anytime; if you can paint, you might just capture a beautiful landscape; at the very least, take your phone and shoot two perfect desktop backgrounds!

Before the trip, I worried about forced shopping; after the trip, I sighed: impulse is the devil. The little concierge asked me if the guide forced shopping. I replied directly: Shopping was my lack of firmness; I couldn’t resist temptation. Earning more money is the real way.

When it comes to travel, most people talk about shopping with fear. On the trip, I heard that some guides won’t let you leave the shopping spot if you don’t buy. Fortunately, I’ve always been lucky and didn’t run into that kind of guide. Travel is an experience; shopping depends on mood. Of course, if any guide is simple and rough, forcing you to shop, please be happy to buy, buy, buy without fuss, then report them until they regret it. Because we live in a society governed by law.

The first guide we met said that so-called pure-play groups, besides being several times more expensive, play the same sights, stay at the same hotels, and eat the same meals as shopping groups. Since the final consumption is the same, why not choose a budget-friendly shopping group and use the extra money for shopping? If anyone doesn’t believe it and wants to verify, they can try it themselves.

Frankly, in Yunnan tourism, the entertainment aspect is barely satisfactory. But since you chose this itinerary, you must be coming for Stone Forest, Dali Old Town, Lijiang Old Town, Erhai Lake, and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, not for entertainment.

Moreover, riding the cable car toward Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, with blue sky above and misty snow mountains below, the feeling of soaring through clouds is truly a unique experience…

After the trip, back in the concrete jungle, looking at the rows of tall buildings, I suddenly felt like I had returned from the celestial realm to the mortal world…

If you also want to experience this feeling, then go to Yunnan and take a good trip with Zouzhaoqiao Travel. In Yunnan, a place with almost no industry, besides blue skies, white clouds, green mountains, and clear waters, all that remains is wind, flowers, snow, and moonlight…