10-day China Tea Horse Road Tour
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Overview: The 10 days China Tea Horse Road Tour for tourist Culture interests to visit Stone Forest, Erhai Lake, Bai ethnic minority village, Dali Ancient Town, Xizhou Town, Shaxi Old Town, Shibaoshan Mountain, Shizhong Temple, Lijiang Ancient Town, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Impressive Lijiang Show, Baisha Village, Shangri-La, Dukezong Ancient Town, Songzanlin Monastery...
Day 1 Arrival in Kunming
Upon arrival in Kunming, your tour guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel. The rest of the day is yours to relax, or step out onto the city for a little adventure of your own.
Day 2 Kunming
Meals: B, L, D
Places to visit: Stone Forest, Guandu Old Town
On this day you will visit famous Kunming Stone Forest, a bizarre rock formation created over millennia of rain and weather. A must-see! In the afternoon you will visit Guandu Old Town featured by the architectural style of Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties.
Day 3 Kunming/Dali
Meals: B, L, D
Places to visit: Dali Bai Prefecture Museum, Chongshengsi Three Pagodas, Erhai Lake, Dali Ancient Town,
Take a morning flight to Dali. Upon arrival in Dali, your tour guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel. You will then take a cruise on the picturesque Erhai Lake, together with a visit to a Bai ethnic minority village on Jinsuo Island. In the late afternoon you will visit Dali Ancient Town, and its ancient Three Pagodas.
Day 4 Dali/Shaxi
Meals: B, L, D
Places to visit: Zhoucheng Village, Xizhou Village,
A morning drive to Xizhou Town to visit Bai traditional courtyards, taste fragrant Three-Course Tea of Bai distinctive culture. Visit Zhoucheng Village and the Bai people's Tie-dying cloth workshop where you can take some special Bai ethnic souvenir.
If your tour date is right, you also visit Shaping Bazaar in the morning of every Monday in Shangguan Town, gathering the Bai people from the villages around Lake Erhai, Dali, who come to buy and sell fruits, vegetables, poultry, animals, hardware, so-called "antiques". Then after 3 hours' drive, you will come to Shaxi Ancient Town at the foot of Fozhong Mountain, west of Yousuo Town in Eryuan County, where you can have a walk to explore the local ethnic life.
Day 5 Shaxi/Lijiang
Meals: B, L, D
Places to visit: Lijiang Old City,
After 10km drive from Shaxi Ancient Town, you are to pay morning hiking around Shibaoshan Mountain for 3 hours. There are Baoxiang Buddhism Temple of Yuan Dynesty, Shizhong Temple and Grottoes of 800-year history on the mountains. In the afternoon you will be driven to Lijiang and explore the wonderful night of Lijiang Ancient Town.
Day 6 Lijiang
Meals: B, L, D
Places to visit: Baisha Old Town, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain,
After a morning sight for the sunrise at Lijiang Ancient Town, You will go ahead to the picturesque snow capped Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. On the way, you will see White Water Terraces and then take the chairlift up to view Ganhaizi Spruce Meadow and hike around on the mountains. After lunch, you will enjoy the Impression Lijang, a an outdoor ethnic culture show of the Naxi, Yi and Bai people's traditions and lifestyles at Ganhaizi Meadow. The show was produced by Zhang Yimou, Fan Yue and Wang Chaoge, with a cast of over 500 people, and a number of horses.
After that you will come next to Baisha Village, an enchanting traditional Yunnan village with ancient murals of 600 years, listed as UNESCO World Cultural Heritage in 1997.
Day 7 Lijiang
Meals: B, L, D
Places to visit: Shuhe Ancient Town, Black Dragon Pool,
Today your tour will start with the visit to Black Dragon Pool is the water source of the Jade River in Lijiang Ancient Town. Then learn local minority culture and legend at Dongba Culture Museum. Then climb up to the top of the Lion Hill, you will get a panoramic view of Lijiang Ancient Town and Lijiang New City from Wangu Tower.
After lunch, you will pay a drive or cycle visit to Shuhe Ancient Town, a key stop on the Ancient Tea-Horse Trade Caravan from Yunnan to Tibet and India. It is an important part of Lijiang Ancient Town listed as UNESCO World Cultural Heritage.
Day 8 Lijiang/Shangri-La
Meals: B, L, D
Places to visit: Tiger Leaping Gorge,
Today you will contiue a 60km drive to the Qiaotou Village to hike around the Tiger Leaping Gorge, the deepest gorge in the world. With 34 rapids of the Yangtze River, it is also locally called "Jinsha" because locals found gold in the river. Afternoon, you'll go ahead for Shangri La, old name as Zhongdian, where is well-known paradise for tourists.
Upon arrival in Shangri La, you will have vision of Tibetan culture with a landscape of barley fields and yaks scattered in the valleys. Walk around Dukezong Ancient Town, an important station on the Ancient Tea-horse Trade Caravan from Yunnan to Tibet and India.
Day 9 Shangri-La
Meals: B, L, D
Places to visit: Songzanlin Monastery,
Pay a morning visit to the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery, the largest Tibetan monastery in Yunnan with a fame as "the little Potala Palace". And go ahead to the tranquil Bita Lake & Shudu Lake in Pudacuo National Park, one of the most biologically-diverse regions with over 20 percent of the country's plant species, about one-third of its mammal and bird species and almost 100 endangered species.
Day 10 Shangri-La/Departure
Meals: B
On this day you will be free until your tour guide escorts you to the airport for your flight to your next destination.
Price Includes:
Transportation & Private Transfers:Transportation cost covers all the domestic airfare of economy class with airport tax, train tickets between the cities as the itinerary specified.
Transfer between airports, railway station, hotels and scenic spots for sightseeing around the cities that are specified by the itinerary with private air conditioned vehicle with driver and English-speaking guide. Separate arrivals and departures will incur extra charges.
Entrance Fees:
All entrance fees to the scenic spots listed in the itinerary. The final arrangement will be determined by private tour guides depends on the real-time local circumstances wheather are beyond the control of Access China Travel. We will adhere to the original itinerary as accurately as possible.
Normal Meals:
All normal meals as the itinerary specified: B = breakfast, L = Lunch, D = dinner in local restaurant. Breakfasts are served in hotel, breakfasts have Chinese or Western style for your option; Lunches are served in carefully selected quality local Chinese restaurants with best service, your lunches will be ordered by your guide catering to your preferences within normal standard. Dinners as the itinerary specified will be also served in local Chinese restaurants. The meal quotation is normalized. If you have any special request about meals, like vegetarian, famous rare dishes, Indian food or more, please inform us in advance. For the unspecified dinners, you will have dinner on your own. Feel free to ask your local guide for suggestions or recommendation.
Private Sightseeing Escort:
Normal sightseeing activities as the itinerary listed will be escorted with English-speaking guide. The English-speaking guide and driver in each city are with you throughout the entire itinerary around that city. They do not fly with you from one city to another.
Hotel Accommodation:
Hotel service criterion: two adults share on one standard twin/double-bed room; solo traveler who want to occupy one twin/double-bed room assigned is required for extra single supplement rate. A single room is available on prior request at an additional cost; if a recommended hotel unavailable, it will be replaced by one of the same class. All hotels as the itinerary listed serve daily western or Chinese breakfast. All rooms are air-conditioned with private facilities unless specified.
Tour Arrangements:
The tour cost includes the planning, handling, booking, operation and communication charges.
Price Excludes:
International airfare or train tickets for entry or exit China, unless that is noted or required otherwise.Visa Fees, passport application or renewal fee.
Excess Baggage Charges.
Personal Expenses:
Expenses of a purely personal nature such as excess luggage fees, laundry, drinks, fax, telephone call, optional activities (shows) and meals, beverages...
Meals:
Any meal are not specified in the itinerary with "B", "L" or "D".
Any extra cost caused by the changes of natural disasters, fires, weather, government and local authority orders, politics, strikes, war, riots, quarantine, custom regulations; as well as tourist law violation, accident damages or injury incurred out of Access China Travel control.
Gratuities:
Tips to guides, escort, drivers bellman, etc.
