South China minorities and nature 15 days

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See the most beautiful parts of South China and maximize your limited time without rushing. This is a colourful trip both culture and naturewise. You’ll see many different people and landscapes ranging from riceterraces to snowy mountains. If you have more time you can extend your trip with a visit to other places like Beijing, Xi’an, Pingyao, Chengdu, Shanghai etc. The trip can be adjusted to your wishes.

Discover green riceterraces and snowy mountains and meet the colourful people of Yunnan and Guanxi. This trip starts in Hong Kong, Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Xiamen or any other Chinese city.

Trip in days

    • Day 1 arrive in Guilin and private car transfer to Yangshuo
    • Day 2 Yangshuo: take a bike trip in karstmountain landscape along the ricepaddies with a guide and enjoy a farmer’s lunch. Stay in a traditional style guesthouse just outside Yangshuo in the middle of the karstmountains. The rooms were originally farmhouses but have been changed into pretty rooms.
    • Day 3 Yangshuo, free day
      Optional tours: boat trip, kayaking, bamboo rafting on the river, Chinese cooking lesson, market trip, tai chi lesson etc.
    • Day 4 with a guide and private car drive to the impressive riceterraces of Longsheng
      Stay in the Zhuang village Pingan on top of the hills in a room with a view on the riceterraces
    • Day 5 Longsheng: hike the riceterraces with guide
    • Day 6 private car to Guilin and take the highspeedtrain to Zhaoxing, a beautiful Dong village with wooden houses and wind- and rainbridges
    • Day 7 Zhaoxing with guide
      Daytrip with a guide: explore some beautiful non-touristy Dong villages on foot along the ricefields
    • Day 8 Take the highspeedtrain back to Guilin and fly to Kunming
      Alternative: take the highspeedtrain from Guilin to Dali
    • Day 9 private car to Dali (5 hour ride through the mountains)
      Alternative: take the highspeedtrain from Kunming to Dali
    • Day 10 Dali daytrip
      Dali: an interesting daytrip to an off-the-beaten track area to villages where you otherwise wouldn’t come. Walk in the mountains, smell the fresh air, meet friendly locals and visit a colourful market and a hidden, tucked-away temple. Or take a wooden rowing boat to a nearby peaceful  lake in Bai area.
    • Day 11 private car to (no guide) to the authentic Bai village Shaxi
      Shaxi is a small Bai village surrounded by ricefields and you can easily walk or bike to the other close by villages. The village has managed to preserve the authentic traditional Bai houses. Before going to Shaxi you can visit Shibaoshan, a temple where ancient. Buddhist statues can be admired. It’s a true miracle that these statues have survived the cultural revolution.
    • Day 12 private car to Zhongdian (Shangrila) with a stop in the Tiger leaping gorge.
      The mountainous ride from Lijiang to Shangrila takes you from the lower Lijiang plain to a high altitude area with grasslands, yaks and the typical white walled Tibetan houses.
    • Day 13 free day in Zhongdian
      Visit the Tibetan Songzanlin monastery and the old town by yourselves
    • Day 14 private car to Lijiang
      Have a free afternoon in Lijiang
    • Day 15 from Lijiang to Kunming
      Enjoy the countryside on a guided bike or car trip to the more quiet Naxi villages and have lunch at local Naxi farm. After lunch back to Lijiang and in the evening transfer to the railwaystation for the sleepertrain to Kunming.

For your information:

You can also fly from Lijiang to Kunming, Chengdu or Shanghai or Guangzhou.
In case you’d like to shorten the driving hours or you don’t want to take a train you can end the trip in Shangrila. In that case you fly out to either Chengdu, Kunming or Chongqing on to other Chinese cities.

Price:

2 people- from 13350 Chinese RMB per person.
Included:
Private car for all transfers
Daytrips with English speaking guide according to program
Accomodation in small scale comfortable boutique hotels and traditional guesthouses incl breakfast

Excluded:
Transport from Guilin to Kunming and from Lijiang to Kunming
Optional tours
Meals & entrance fees
Tips for guides and drivers

Tibetan monastery monks

Other tours

 
China Longsheng riceterraces