9-Day Yunnan Ancient Towns & Culture Tour

Kunming, Dali, Nuodeng Ancient Village, Shaxi Ancient Town, Shibao Mountain, Lijiang

Traveler Reviews

9 Days Yunnan Ancient Town Tour tour map

Tour Type: Private Tour

Tour Code: SKY-Yunnan-07

Tour Highlights:

Meet the ethnic communities and living traditions of southwest China.

Experience Yunnan's karst scenery, lakes, villages and mountain landscapes.

Slow down in historic towns away from the pace of larger cities.

Follow a less-traveled route through Nuodeng and Shaxi.

Learn about Taoist traditions in the ancient temples of Nuodeng.

Best Travel Time:
Suitable for the whole year, best from April to November.

From $ 910

Free Inquiry

Tour Itinerary

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Itinerary

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Day 1Arrival Kunming

Transfer service to the hotel

Meals: No Meals
Recommended Hotel: Jinjiang Hotel ★★★★ or similar

Arrive in Kunming, meet your local guide at the airport and transfer to the hotel.

Kunming City View

Day 2Kunming

Stone Forest, Jiuxiang Scenic Area

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch
Recommended Hotel: Jinjiang Hotel ★★★★ or similar

[08:00-08:30] Our guide will meet you up at the hotel lobby.

[08:30-12:00] Drive 1.5 hours to Stone Forest, a karst landscape of stone formations resembling animals, plants and human figures. Walk through the maze-like scenery during the morning visit.

[12:30-13:30] Lunch at a local restaurant for Chinese food.

[13:30-16:30] Continue for 40 minutes to Jiuxiang Scenic Area, an extensive karst area with hundreds of caves. Explore the cave landscape before returning to Kunming.

[16:30-18:00] Drive back to Kunming city. For evening activity, we highly recommend the Yunnan Impression Show – Dynamic Yunnan as an option.

Stone Forest

Day 3Kunming – Dali

Take a bullet train to Dali, Three Pagodas, Dali Ancient Town

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch
Recommended Hotel: Gurong Hotel ★★★★ or similar

After breakfast, transfer to the railway station for the 2.5-hour bullet train to Dali . Meet your local guide at the station exit on arrival and continue to the hotel for check-in.

[12:00-13:00] Lunch at a local restaurant for Chinese food.

[13:00-17:00] Visit the Three Pagodas, a landmark of historic Buddhist architecture with a reflection park and broad views toward Dali Old Town and Erhai Lake. Continue to Dali Ancient Town, where traditional Bai homes give the old streets a distinctive local character.

After the tour, enjoy your free leisure night.

Three Pagodas

Day 4Dali

Xizhou Bai's Houses, Erhai Lake (light cycling), Zhoucheng Village with tie-dyeing experience, Dali Ancient Town

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch
Recommended Hotel: Gurong Hotel ★★★★ or similar

[09:00-09:30] Our guide will meet you up at the hotel lobby and get ready for today's exploration of Dali city.

[09:30-12:30] Visit Xizhou Bai's Houses to see preserved Bai houses and streets, then take a relaxed bicycle ride beside Erhai Lake for views across the lake.

[12:30-14:00] Lunch at a local restaurant to savour the dilicious local food.

[14:30-16:30] Spend the afternoon in Zhou Cheng learning traditional Tie-dyeing from a local craftsperson. Keep the piece you make as a personal souvenir.

After that, drive back to Dali and enjoy your free leisure time.

Dali Ancient City

Day 5Dali – Yunlong

Drive to Yunlong, Nuodeng Ancient Village, Wen Temple, Wu Temple, Yu Huang Ge Temple, Big Banyan Tree

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch
Recommended Hotel: Huang Ye Ji Guesthouse or similar

[08:30-09:00] Our guide will meet you up at the hotel lobby

[09:00-12:30] Drive 3 hours to Yunlong County and Nuodeng Ancient Village, one of Yunnan's longstanding Bai villages and a former stop on the Ancient Tea Horse Road. Walk among Ming- and Qing-era buildings and flagstone lanes.

[12:30-14:00] Lunch time at a local restaurant to enjoy the authentic Yunnan dishes.

[14:30-17:30] Explore the village and visit Wen Temple, Wu Temple, Yu Huang Ge Temple, Big Banyan Tree for an introduction to Taoist traditions in the local temples.

Stay overnight at the guesthouse in the village.

Nuodeng Ancient Village

Day 6Yunlong – Jianchuan

Drive to Shaxi Jianchuan, Wind-rain Bridge, Shaxi Ancient Town, Dengsi Street, Yulu Bridge,

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch
Recommended Hotel: Old Theater Inn or similar

[08:30-09:00] Our guide will meet you up at the hotel lobby

[09:00-12:30] Drive 3.5 hours to Shaxi in Jianchuan County. Stop along the way at the Wind-rain Bridge and a Wooden-caving Workshop.

[12:30-13:30] Lunch time at a local restaurant.

[14:00-17:30] Explore Shaxi Ancient Town on foot. Walk along Dengsi Street to the Ancient Theater Stage, a community gathering place for festival music and dance, then continue to Yulu Bridge for sunset views.

Stay overnight at the guesthouse in the village.

Shaxi Ancient Town

Day 7Jianchuan – Lijiang

White Dragon Pool, Shibao Mountain, Drive to Lijiang

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch
Recommended Hotel: Golden Hotel ★★★★

[08:30-09:00] Our guide will meet you up at the hotel lobby

[09:00-12:00] Visit White Dragon Pool , the source of Shaxi's water, for a quiet morning away from the crowds and time to explore independently.

[12:00-13:00] Lunch time at a local restaurant.

[13:00-16:00] After lunch, leave Shaxi and drive toward Lijiang. Stop en route at Shibao Mountain, where weathered granite forms distinctive peaks and rocks. Sites across the mountain include Shizhongshan Grotto, Baoxiang Temple, Jinding Temple, Haiyunju Temple, Shizhong Reservoir and the Haiyunju, Baoxiang Temple and Shizhongshan Grottoes scenic areas.

Drive for 1.5 hours to Lijiang and check in your hotel. Enjoy your free night in the ancient town.

Shibao Mountain

Day 8Lijiang

Lijiang Ancient Town, Lion Hill, Sifang Street, Mufu Mansion, Black Dragon Pond Park

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch
Recommended Hotel: Golden Hotel ★★★★

[08:30-09:00] Our guide will meet you up at the hotel lobby

[09:00-12:00] Explore Lijiang Ancient Town, then climb Lion Hill for a broad view from Wangu Pavilion and visit Mufu Mansion, an important symbol of Lijiang's history.

[12:00-13:30] Lunch at a local restaurant.

[13:30-17:30] Continue to Black Dragon Pond Park for views toward Jade Dragon Snow Mountain reflected in the water. Afterwards, walk along Sifang Street, the central and busiest part of the old town.

At night, enjoy your free leisure night.

Lijiang Ancient Town

Day 9Departure Lijiang

Transfer to airport

Meals: Breakfast

Enjoy free time before the direct airport transfer for your onward journey.

Service ends

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Tour Price (US$ per person)

Hotel Class	Group Size	Dec. ~ Feb.	Mar. ~ Nov.
Economy Hotel ★★★	2 ~ 5 pax	From on request	From on request
Economy Hotel ★★★	6 ~ 9 pax	From on request	From on request
Comfortable Hotel ★★★★	2 ~ 5 pax	From on request	From on request
Comfortable Hotel ★★★★	6 ~ 9 pax	From on request	From on request
Deluxe Hotel ★★★★★	2 ~ 5 pax	From on request	From on request
Deluxe Hotel ★★★★★	6 ~ 9 pax	From on request	From on request

Notice:

Due to the uncertainties of this tour, such as special local conditions , the changes of accommodation rate, etc, the tour has to be tailor-made and its price is on request. Please tell us in advance your group information inclusive of departure date, number of pax, and other individual needs, which will be helpful to work out a fit program and the right price.

Useful Information

Why Choose Us

Traveler Reviews Feedbacks & Photos
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5.0

PunkNelson

5.0

Great Hotel stay Very Nice Tour guides Convenient planned daily trips Average selection of restaurant for food though

Kiwimac53

5.0

We were looking for a tour in SW China while in the area for work and found this one. While we wouldn't normally get a private tour but surprisingly it was actually cheaper than most of the group tours in the area and was great value. While I would usually rather keep one guide for the whole tour, as you get to know each other and they get to know what you are interested in, we changed guides 5 times during this trip (fortunately we had the same guide in Kunming at the start and end of the tour which was a real bonus as Murphy, our Kunming based guide, was excellent.) In this case changing guides had the advantage of local knowledge at each site so compensated for the change. Of the 4 guides we had 3 excellent and 1 very good with each of them working hard to look after us and make sure we enjoyed our trip. Vicky, our Dali based guide was also extremely good making our time there a highlight. The tour gives you 2 days at each base ie travel in the morning, have the afternoon and the next day touring the area then drive to the next base. We chose the driving tour as we feel it gives you a better experience of the area and you get to see the locals in action. All the drivers we had were great – they went out of their way to look after us and were very safe, which is saying something for driving in China. While all of the guides were very fluent in English none of the drivers could speak English which was a slight disadvantage as you didn't have the guides with you when traveling between bases but the friendliness and helpfulness of the drivers more than made up for this.
The tour was very well organised and we knew what we were doing from the time we met our guide on arrival at the Kunming railway station to when we walked through security at the airport on our way out. The tour comes with 4,5 and 6 star accommodation choices and we went for the cheapest 4 star option. While the English at the hotels was limited the guides made sure we were checked in and out and took care of any issues (which were minimal). The 4 star option is largely “Chinese style” hotels ie designed for Chinese visitors with breakfast consisting of what many westeners would consider dinner style food but there was always eggs and toast for the less adventurous. The hotels were all clean and comfortable and generally very well located. The Hotel in Kunming (Jin Jang Inn) was a bonus as it seemed higher than 4 star and we stayed there both on our way in and out. As well as breakfast, lunch came with the tour which was enjoyable as the guides choose the restaurants so we got a variety. I got the feeling that most of the restaurants were owned by friends or family or there was some arrangement with the guide, but as you get to formally review each guide and the meals at the end of each stop they work hard to make sure you enjoy the meal and there was always an abundance of food. We tried a range of local cuisine and there was only one meal we didn't think was up to par. You get your own dinner which also suited us as there is invariably a range of restaurants or for the more adventurous there is the street vendors and you can choose what you want. The vehicles we were driven in were all very good- plenty of space and very comfortable.
Being a private tour, while there was a set itinerary, which was diverse and very interesting with something for most people, the guides could tweak it to suit individual interests eg more time at one site and less at another. It is easy to get a bit templed out but overall the itinerary was a good mic of nature and culture. I would thoroughly recommend the tour and the company and we will be looking to the company if/when we go back – Guilin is next on the list as the guides were very happy to discus what they thought we would and wouldn't enjoy based on working with us on this tour,

N2265ZIinfo

5.0

Excellent guides, flexible and knowledgeable travel agent. They speak good English. Our trip was very well organized. We are 100% happy and I can recommend Yun Sky Travel to everybody.

Wesley O

5.0

I contacted Yun Sky Travel for a 13 day China vacation (Beijing/Xian/Yangtze River cruise/Shanghai) and right from the start Bonnie provided me with great choices and package options. Throughout the entire planning and even during the trip Bonnie was there for us following up and making sure everything was perfect. Thank you Bonnie for making our China vacation unforgettable.

Johnf8958

5.0

From the minute I contacted Vicky at Yun Sky Travel to book our holiday, to the time we were taken to Pudong airport for our flight home, the experience was perfect.
My wife and I visited Beijing, Xian and Shanghai and all of our tour guides were fluent in English, very knowledgeable and very friendly.
Thank you Vicky and all at YUNSKY and I will definitely be in contact when I return to China.

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