There’s a Place Called Elsewhere, and Another Called Yunnan

For those preparing for a trip to Yunnan for the first time, do you also share my dilemma — not knowing how to plan the itinerary? Torn between joining a group tour and independent travel? Not sure how many days to spend? Or roughly how much it costs? Always wanting to ask friends who have been there for recommendations on money-saving and fun itineraries?

Our family just returned from Yunnan, having visited Kunming, Dali, and Lijiang. We enjoyed the idyllic natural scenery and even climbed Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, the highest peak south of the Yangtze River. I have to say, Yunnan is truly beautiful and we had an amazing time! We had the trip arranged by a local Yunnan guy, Ah Qin, recommended by a friend. He knows the area extremely well. Before we left, he helped plan our itinerary, gave us detailed introductions to Yunnan’s attractions, activities, delicious food and fun things to do. Our hotels, meals, and tickets were all handled by Ah Qin at insider VIP prices – great treatment and low costs. We ate characteristic local cuisine and stayed in star-rated hotels; it was excellent value!

Here is the itinerary we followed for your reference. Yunnan is huge, with too many wonderful places to visit, and distances between attractions are long. After looking at Yunnan’s tourist map, I knew it would be difficult to see everything at once. Since our family only had 10 days, after discussing with Ah Zhen, we finally settled on the route Kunming → Dali → Lijiang → Lugu Lake → Shangri-La, leaving Tengchong and Xishuangbanna for next time. If you have more time, you can choose to add 1 or 2 more destinations.

Day 1: Private car airport pickup + hotel check-in + signing official contract + feeding seagulls at Dianchi Lake → Overnight in Kunming

Day 2: All-day tour of 5A Stone Forest Scenic Area + wild mushroom hotpot experience with ethnic singing and dancing dinner show → Overnight in Chuxiong

Day 3: Private yacht + Dali Ancient Town + open-top Jeep tour around Erhai Lake + Luoquan Peninsula + seaside DIY BBQ → Overnight in Dali

Day 4: Zhoucheng + Tea Horse Trail + Bai tie-dye experience + Glacier Cableway up Jade Dragon Snow Mountain + the grand song-and-dance performance “Lijiang Sunshine” + Lijiang Ancient Town → Overnight in Lijiang

Day 5: Shuhe Ancient Town + Lashihai Lake → Overnight in Lijiang

Day 6: Mountain Road with 18 Bends + panoramic view of Lugu Lake + Lover’s Beach + Walking Marriage Bridge + Marshland + Mosuo Evening Party → Overnight at Lugu Lake

Day 7: Pig-trough boat cruise on the lake + Liwubi Island + Liwubi Temple + Tusi Tomb → Return to Lijiang

Day 8: Pudacuo National Park + Shudu Lake + Tibetan family visit and bonfire party → Overnight in Shangri-La

Day 9: Dukezong Ancient Town + Guishan Park + turning the world’s largest prayer wheel + Tiger Leaping Gorge → Return to Kunming

Day 10: Flight home

Ah Qin recommends: 5-Day Kunming Dali Lijiang Tour: https://vacations.ctrip.com/tour/detail/p24090229.html

The above is the itinerary arranged for us by our senior Yunnan travel advisor. The pace was relaxed and unhurried. Including accommodation, transportation, and admission tickets, the total cost per person was just over 1800 yuan. Compared to travelling on our own, we saved a lot just on accommodation alone.

Throughout the trip we stayed in star-rated plus characteristic hotels. I did a quick calculation—if we had booked ourselves, the room charges alone would have cost almost as much as the total trip. My family all said they never expected that with a budget of just over 1800 yuan we could stay in such good hotels.

DAY 1 KUNMING

Private car airport pickup in Kunming + hotel check-in + signing official contract + feeding seagulls at Dianchi Lake

We flew from home to Kunming. The great thing about having pre-arranged the itinerary was that as soon as we landed, someone was there to pick us up and take us to the hotel—no need to worry about taxis or subways. Since we arrived in the “Spring City” quite early, we decided to head to Haigeng Dam in the afternoon to feed seagulls. Thousands of seagulls soaring over Dianchi Lake was truly spectacular.

DAY 2 CHUXIONG

After a sumptuous breakfast at the hotel, we headed to the “number one wonder under heaven”, the Stone Forest, to look for Ashima. The guide said every stone here tells a story if you listen with your heart. Full of whimsy, we passed by Sword Peak Pond, View Peak Pavilion, Two Birds Feeding, Stone Forest Lake… as if walking through a fortress built of stone. After touring the Stone Forest and enjoying a hearty Yi-style lunch, we returned to Kunming, sipped a cup of Pu’er tea to refresh ourselves, then continued on to Chuxiong for wild mushroom hotpot and an ethnic singing and dancing dinner show.

DAY 3 DALI

Private yacht + Dali Ancient Town + open-top Jeep ride around Erhai Lake + Luoquan Peninsula + seaside DIY BBQ

After a Chuxiong-style breakfast at the hotel, we headed west all the way to Dali. We chose to cruise around Erhai Lake on a VIP private yacht. The boat moved slowly; a gentle breeze brushed our faces as we gazed at the ink-wash Cangshan Mountains in the distance—it was absolutely wonderful. On board we also enjoyed a “Bai Three-Course Tea Ceremony” performance. The tea philosophy—first bitter, then sweet, finally a lingering aftertaste—felt just like life itself.

We disembarked at Luoquan Peninsula, which faces Cangshan directly and juts into the heart of the lake. The guide said it’s the largest and most typical peninsula in Erhai Lake, offering a sweeping view of all 19 peaks of Cangshan and the full expanse of Erhai. Standing on the island, we clicked away, capturing panoramic shots of Dali Ancient Town and the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Monastery. After a lunch of Bai-style specialities, we arrived at Dali Ancient Town, a favourite for arty types like me. The streets are paved with flagstones, lined on both sides by quaint Bai-style houses. With the city gate towers and Wuhua Tower at the centre, the town felt exceptionally peaceful and serene. In the afternoon we became cool kids riding around Erhai Lake in a snazzy Jeep. The open-top car drove along the lakeside road, the majestic seascape framed by the windows. Leaning casually against the Jeep, our photographer—who brought his own DSLR—snapped a set of trendy lakeside road-trip portraits! Along the way we posed with many Instagram-famous backdrops like white tables, glass orbs, and white picture frames. That afternoon our inner girl-hearts nearly burst. As a foodie, I give a double thumbs-up to today’s DIY seaside BBQ at Taoran Tianshe. By Erhai Lake, with idyllic pastoral scenery, eating fragrant grilled skewers felt like soaring in a free sky.

DAY 4 LIJIANG

After breakfast we went to Zhoucheng, the largest Bai village in Dali. The guide told us it is also an important town on the ancient Tea Horse Trail. Nestled below Cangshan’s Canglang Peak, it was once called Longquan Yi and was an imperial garden built by a Dali king. Zhoucheng is also the home of Bai handcrafted tie-dye. With clever hands and guidance from a tie-dye master, each of us made a blue dyed cloth we couldn’t bear to put down. After a delicious lunch in Dali, we travelled by car to the foot of the 5A scenic area Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Riding the Glacier Cableway, we admired the distinct layers of meadow and forest, then summited the snow mountain. Stretching for dozens of miles, the 13 peaks of Jade Dragon, set against a vivid blue sky, looked like a silver dragon in eternal flight. Bidding farewell to the Naxi people’s sacred mountain, our guide took us to meet Blue Moon Valley, known as Lijiang’s “Little Jiuzhaigou”. The water was dazzlingly blue, and the valley resembled a crescent moon. From afar it’s like a blue moon inlaid at the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Standing on the shore and looking around, clouds floated above mountain ridges, reflections shimmered—dreamlike and surreal. In the evening we watched the grand song-and-dance show “Lijiang Sunshine”. In the form of dance and poetic tableaux, it revealed the unique plateau ethnic cultures nurtured by Lijiang’s extraordinary landscapes, presenting the breadth of Lijiang’s history through themes of water, mountain, and love. After the show, we enjoyed a tasty special meal at a Naxi-style farm restaurant. Well-fed, we strolled freely through the World Heritage Site Lijiang Ancient Town, accompanied by the strains of a little ditty. At night, lit up by a myriad of lights, the town shed its daytime bustle and exuded a clean, elegant atmosphere; water flowed beneath our feet with a cheerful rhythm, evoking an ethereal feeling.

DAY 5 LIJIANG

Shuhe Ancient Town + Lashihai Lake

After breakfast we arrived at the beautifully quaint ancient Tea Horse town of Shuhe. Old houses, deep alleyways, honest folk customs, unique ethnic snacks, and bars and inns of varied styles let us be travellers who simply enjoyed the fragrance of flowers. Having wandered through Shuhe, the guide led us to Lashihai Lake, the source of Lijiang culture. We chose to ride horseback, listening to the jingle of wind chimes as we trod the Tea Horse Trail, savouring a long-missed tranquility. Tired from riding, we rested at the Migrant Birds and Woods leisure lounge. Sitting on art-infused sofas, sipping coffee while quietly gazing at the beautiful scenery outside was a rare pleasure. The place had all sorts of ethnic decorations and many intriguing fashion elements—a paradise for anyone who loves taking photos.

DAY 6 LUGU LAKE

Mountain Road with 18 Bends + panoramic view of Lugu Lake + Lover’s Beach + Walking Marriage Bridge + Marshland + Mosuo Evening Party

After breakfast we drove to Lugu Lake. En route, we stopped at the filming location of “Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles”—the mountain road with 18 bends—and captured nature’s spectacle in photos. Then we enjoyed the marvellous, perilous and graceful scenery of the Jinsha River Valley all the way to the “Kingdom of Women”. At the Lugu Lake viewing platform, you can take in the entire lake, its azure waters and deep blue sky, together with the verdant lakeshore and the picturesque Lige Peninsula, forming a beautiful painting. At Lover’s Beach, we couldn’t tell if the blue before us was sky or lake. Waves lapping the shore looked yellow close up, but the distance was a deep, mysterious blue. Beautiful petals drifted in the water, rippling with the breeze, full of an inexplicable sense of wonder and romance. From the Lige Viewing Platform, looking down, the entire peninsula was like a pearl suspended on the water, resembling a girl’s slender arm reaching into the lake. Ah Qin thoughtfully arranged a Mosuo walking-marriage banquet for us, lifting the veil on Mosuo mysteries through ethnic delicacies. After dinner we drove to the marshland, where the guide told us that walking from one end of the Walking Marriage Bridge to the other would bring long-lasting sweet love. Whether or not it’s true, we finished the walk with sincere hearts. In the evening we joined a Mosuo bonfire party. Men and women held hands in a circle around a blazing bonfire, with Mosuo women in ethnic dress and black headwraps singing and dancing gracefully. Amidst the lively dance, they looked poised and radiant.

DAY 7 LIJIANG

Pig-trough boat cruise + Liwubi Island + Liwubi Temple + Tusi Tomb

To catch Lugu Lake’s stunning sunrise, we got up at 6:30 today. As the first rays of morning arrived, a golden veil covered the entire lake surface. The clouds on the horizon took on their own colours, and morning mist hung over the water, transforming the scene into an ethereal fairyland. After sunrise and breakfast, we boarded a pig-trough boat for a lake cruise, visited Liwubi Island, Liwubi Temple and the Tusi Tomb, experiencing the “Mosuo Three Wonders”—a boat on the lake, a person in the boat, and a song on the person’s lips.

Ah Qin recommends: 8-Day Kunming Dali Lijiang Lugu Lake Tour: https://vacations.ctrip.com/tour/detail/p24243650.html

DAY 8 SHANGRI-LA

Pudacuo National Park → Tibetan family visit and bonfire party

After breakfast we drove to Shangri-La, enjoying the highland scenery along the way. Upon arrival, we had a sumptuous lunch. Then we headed to Pudacuo National Park, the first national park in mainland China. Encompassing natural wonders like snow mountains, wetlands, forests and lakes, it’s rated a 5A scenic area. Stepping inside felt like entering a pollution-free fairy-tale world: crystal-clear lakes, a brilliantly blue sky, forest waves carrying the sound of water, birdsong and flowers—exceptionally beautiful. In the evening, thoughtful Ah Zhen arranged for us to join a Tibetan family visit and bonfire party free of charge. This is a traditional Tibetan feast featuring yak-meat hotpot, barley wine, butter tea, tsampa, cheese and other Tibetan delights. As the feast begins, Tibetans perform song and dance—the whole event is lively and festive.

DAY 9 LIJIANG

Dukezong Ancient Town + Guishan Park + turning the world’s largest prayer wheel + Tiger Leaping Gorge

Today we slowed our pace, strolling through Dukezong Ancient Town, admiring exquisite architecture and soaking in ethnic culture. We climbed Guishan Park and, with our companions, turned the world’s largest prayer wheel, making the deepest wishes of our hearts. After lunch we visited Tiger Leaping Gorge, a world-class canyon famed for danger, beauty, ruggedness and grandeur. Deep inside the gorge, looking up you can see only a slit of sky; jagged rocks surround you and the canyon is deep and long. As the river is blocked by rocks, it leaps like a dragon and roars like a tiger—here, truly, sheer cliffs overhead, rushing rapids at your feet, a heart-stopping experience. Viewed from Upper Tiger Leaping Gorge, you feel yourself perched on steep cliffs beneath a waterfall. Every section of the trail offers a different sensation of the gorge; it’s well worth the trip.

Ah Qin recommends: 8-Day Kunming Dali Lijiang Shangri-La Tour: https://vacations.ctrip.com/tour/detail/p24243566.html

DAY 10 KUNMING TRANSFER TO THE AIRPORT AND FLIGHT HOME

That day we flew home, bringing a wonderful journey to a close.

See you again, Yunnan. I believe it won’t be long before I meet you once more. The above is the travel itinerary and tips for my family’s trip to Yunnan. I hope it helps anyone planning to visit Yunnan. Until next time!