6-Day Yunnan Tour: Enjoy Beautiful Landscapes, Experience Ethnic Customs, and Shop for Jade and Silverware
When planning your first trip to Yunnan, you might wonder: should I join a group tour or go independent? For first-timers, a group tour is definitely easier. No matter how you get to Yunnan, once you find a tour group, you can relax—everything is arranged for you, from the moment you arrive until you're dropped off at the airport or train station at the end of your trip. It's hassle-free. But after my first visit, I'm convinced that next time I'll travel independently. Group tours have a tight schedule and too much time set aside for shopping. Although forced shopping isn't officially a thing anymore, every guide will try every trick to get you to open your wallet. And you might not have the same guide throughout the trip; they won't tell you in advance that they'll switch guides. You might finish shopping with the first guide, and then suddenly a new one takes over, then another—and each expects you to keep buying. On my 6-day trip, I had three different guides: the first from Kunming to Lijiang, the second for Lijiang, and the third for the return journey. So, next time, independent travel is the way to go. Plan ahead, book flights, train tickets, hotels, guesthouses, and attraction tickets in advance. If you're heading to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, pay close attention to the weather forecast to avoid the cable car being shut down due to high winds.
Day 1: I set off on March 1, 2021, just as COVID restrictions were easing. Flight prices were rising day by day, a sign that many people were heading to Yunnan. The plane wasn't too crowded since the pandemic had just eased, but for some reason the flight was delayed. I arrived in Kunming at 2 a.m. on March 2, checked into the hotel, and got some quick rest.
Day 2: Kunming is in the southwest. At 7 a.m., I met the guide and got on the bus before it was fully light. We hit the highway heading east to the Stone Forest scenic area. (I only remember a doggerel poem by Guo Moruo about the Stone Forest: 'From afar, big rocks; up close, big rocks; indeed the rocks are big, and big are the rocks indeed.') The entire afternoon was spent traveling to Chuxiong. On the way, we stopped for two hours at the Dinosaur Valley Tea House to sample tea, drink tea, and buy tea. In the evening, we enjoyed a wild mushroom hotpot in Chuxiong.
Day 3: Across from Dali Ancient Town, we toured Erhai Lake by a special boat circling the islands, enjoying the breeze under a blue sky with white clouds. We stopped at the Instagram-worthy Jinsuo Island for photos and watched a performance by local fishermen. In the afternoon, we strolled through vast flower fields, took a jeep to the popular photo spots with a glass ball, white tables and chairs, and the 'Mirror of the Sky,' then explored Dali Ancient Town by electric cart.
Day 4: The whole morning, the guide took us to Shuhe Ancient Town to shop for jade. With one-on-one sales assistance, you feel embarrassed not to buy something. But be prepared: prices range from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of yuan, so your wallet could be emptied. We came out close to noon, and the guide handed out little snacks—partly to give us energy for the next stop, buying silverware at Baisuifang, and partly as a farewell gesture, promoting local snacks to us customers. In the afternoon, a new guide from the Mosuo ethnic group led us to Lashihai Wetland Park to ride horses along the ancient Tea Horse Road (220 yuan per person). In the evening, we wandered through Lijiang Ancient Town and watched the 'Lishui Jinsha' performance.
Day 5: In the morning, we shopped for yellow dragon jade in Shahe Ancient Town. At noon, armed with bread and mineral water, we headed to the Glacier Park cable car at Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. At 1 p.m., we took the cable car up to the summit. As we neared the top, strong winds struck and the cable car rocked—it was genuinely frightening. On the mountain, the wind howled, pelting our faces with snow grains so hard we couldn't open our eyes. After queuing for two hours to take the cable car back down, we heard that the cable car had been suspended for a while due to the wind, and our later summit itinerary was canceled. So when it comes to the snow mountain, it all depends on the weather; if you're unlucky, you could be stuck waiting for days. (It's best to buy oxygen in advance—a 15-yuan bottle can sell for 60 yuan on the tour bus. Generally, one bottle per person is enough, but for longer stays, bring two.) Because of time constraints, we hurried through Blue Moon Valley and then started the journey back to Kunming. The drive from Lijiang to Kunming takes about 8 hours. After descending the mountain, we switched back to the Kunming guide.
Day 6: Originally planned was the Flower City in downtown Kunming, but we went directly to the Kunming International Convention and Exhibition Center, a tourist shopping hub. Here, it's quite free and easy: after a briefing, you can explore on your own. Seeing there was still plenty of time, I hailed a Didi (ride-hailing) to Dianchi Lake's Haigeng Park (about 30 yuan). I strolled along the east shore promenade, bought some bread to feed the red-billed seagulls, snapped a few seagull photos, then headed to the area near Yunnan University to try a wild mushroom hotpot—the mushrooms were wonderfully fragrant. I wandered through Kunming's old streets, then when it was about time, rushed back to the convention center to catch the airport transfer!
