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August 2022
Yunnan is a province in southwest China and shares a border with Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. Yunnan is known for its jaw-dropping landscapes of snow-capped mountains, rice terraces, lakes, and deep gorges. Most people will visit Kunming (the capital), Dali, Shangri-la, and Lijiang. All these places are located within a couple hours’ drive from each other, so it’s essential to have at least 7 days to explore and get a taste of what Yunnan has to offer!
We opted to go on a group trip that helped us get COVID tests when needed, organized the transportation, and pre-planned the boutique hotels we stayed in. Traveling within China in 2022 is ever-changing, so a group trip was the best choice to avoid potential headaches!
Itinerary at a glance
Day 1 - Fly into Dali via Chengdu, Three Pagodas and Dali Old Town
Day 2 - Dali: Xizhou Old Town, Zhoucheng Village, Erhai Lake cycling
Day 3 – Shangri-la: Napa Lake, Songzanlin Monastery, Shangri-la Old Town
Day 4 – Tiger Leaping Gorge, part 1
Day 5 - Tiger Leaping Gorge, part 2
Day 6 – Lijiang: Jade Buddha Snow Mountain, Blue Moon Valley, Lijiang Old Town
Day 7 – Lijiang: Baisha Village, fly back to Shanghai
Getting There
If you’re flying from Shanghai, the direct flights into Dali are so expensive. I’m talking ¥2,700 ($412) per person for a one-way, 3.5hr flight! A better option is to check WeChat > Services > Rail & Flights for more selection in airlines and cheaper tickets. We picked a flight with a layover, stayed the night in Chengdu and ended up paying ¥900 ($137) per person – checked baggage included!
We arrived about 8-hours before the rest of the group on the tour, so we had the majority of the first day to ourselves and explored Dali’s top attractions.
Dali
The tour booked E-Outfitting Boutique Hotel Dali for us. It was a quaint room that was in the middle of Dali Old Town. The location was perfect for exploring the surrounding area and had a wide variety of restaurant options! It was quite the contrast strolling through the old town, with a backdrop of mountains dotted against the rustic architecture and the occasional sports car lining the streets.
We didn’t get to do everything Dali has to offer, but here are some of the things we were able to experience:
Erhai Lake cycling. This is one of the main reasons why people come to Dali. It’s about 125km around the entire lake, and in 2.5hrs, we leisurely biked about 1/5 of the way (22km). There are many scenic places for photos, lunch stops, and restrooms along the way so you can easily spend the entire day biking. Top tip: bring bike seat padding for additional comfort!
Dali Old Town. The big cities in Yunnan province (Dali, Kunming, Shangri-la, and Lijiang) all have old towns. The Dali government doesn’t allow modern construction in the old town, so you can wander around and see architecture that’s 1,000 years old! It’s also great for pedestrians because there are no vehicles allowed in the town.
Three Pagodas. This wasn’t on the group tour itinerary, but we were lucky enough to explore these structures on our own. The tickets were ¥75 ($12) per person. You can pay more for the buggy option, as it’s a massive complex that easily takes 3+ hours to walk from the front entrance to the back gates. If you’re short on time, I recommend taking 1 hour to see the 3 pagodas, take some cool photos (drones are allowed to fly here), skip the temples, and then exit.
Xizhou Old Town. This old town is very close to one of the entrances to Erhai Lake. It is home to some of the oldest tie dying houses. We were able to see how the famous blue dye was made from the indigo plant as well as the intricate way of making the patterns.
Qinyuan Flower Sea. This was another stop that wasn’t included on our group itinerary, but worth checking out if you like taking photos and have some down time. This area is quite literally a “flower sea” with endless rows of flowers and props placed all around the fields. For ¥20 ($3) per person, you can capture epic photos, pet llamas, and enjoy the scenery!
Shangri-la
Next up: the peaceful Tibetan world of Shangri-la. It’s about 300km between Dali and Shangri-la, so we had a 5-hour road trip ahead of us. Shangri-la is the point where Tibet, Sichuan, and Yunnan all meet and has the most beautiful scenes of nature. You can see surging rivers, snow-capped mountains and sacred monasteries. In fact, the main reason travelers visit Shangri-la is for the Songzanlin Monastery and Tiger Leaping Gorge.
For accommodation, the tour group booked E-Outfitting Boutique Hotel (Shangri-la). Although the hotel was in Shangri-la’s Old Town, the location was not great as it was difficult to find our way back. The cobblestone roads were not well-lit, nor were the road signs accurate. The rooms itself were sub-par, and I will look for another place to stay if we have the chance to go back to Shangri-la.
Songzanlin Monastery is home to 999 monks and is the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan. It mirrors the image of Potala Palace in Tibet, hence the nickname “little Potala Palace”. The architecture itself - with the golden roofs, impressive statues, and colorful halls - is something to marvel at.
I’m glad we had an English-speaking tour guide to tell us more about the culture and what some of the signs, figurines, and treasures meant. For example, you shouldn’t step on the threshold board in the doorways to the monastery. Instead, you must step over it to 1) keep your head down as you enter the sacred areas as a sign of respect and 2) it’s said spirits shuffle their feet so if they try to enter, the board will trip them.
The other main attraction in Shangri-la county is Tiger Leaping Gorge. It’s one of the deepest and most spectacular river canyons in the world. Our tour did 2 days in the mountains surrounding the gorge; 8 hours hiking the first day, a night’s sleep in Tea Horse Guesthouse at the top, and about 4.5 hours the second day plus an hour around the scenic spot.
I will admit, it was very challenging, particularly the “28 Bends” section, which was an uphill, winding trek to the top. As cliché as it sounds, the views 100% made it worth the climb! When we stopped for lunch at Naxi Family Guesthouse and dinner at Tea Horse Guesthouse, the food and drinks were some of the BEST I had in Yunnan! Possibly because I was insanely hungry, but mostly because the families that work there cook these dishes day-in and day-out. There was also Shangri-la craft beer which I initially gravitated towards because of its pink label, but it turned out to be sweet & citrusy, and a perfect pairing with dinner.
Lijiang
Lijiang was our last stop of the 7-day Yunnan tour and was hands-down my favorite place of the whole trip. The hotel booked for us was another E-Outfitting Boutique (Lijiang) hotel. It was the nicest of the Dali, Shangri-la, and Lijiang locations. The rooms were spacious, had a great courtyard area, was close to Shuhe Old town, and very close to a COVID testing center.
Even though we didn’t get to explore the city as much as I had hoped, here are some of the activities we did:
Lijiang Impression Show. THIS IS A MUST! I cannot recommend this show enough. It’s ¥80 ($12) for the 60-minute outdoor singing and dancing performance that showcases the stories and lifestyle of the local ethnic people. You’re seated in the outdoor amphitheater looking at the Jade Snow Mountains as the backdrop. You’ll witness colorful traditional clothing, moving story lines, synchronized drumming, and an amazing horse show.
Jade Snow Mountain. We only had 2 hours to spend here but could have easily spent an entire day wandering around the scenic places of the mountain. There are spots where you could bring your own food and have a picnic lunch as well as stands to purchase snack foods.
Blue Moon Valley. This is a stunning, blue river nestled in the valley of the Jade Snow Mountain. If you take out the tourists and the surrounding mountains, I swear, I was in back in the Maldives! Many of the tourists are couples taking their wedding photos, and I can see why they wanted this iconic spot as their backdrop.
Lijiang Old Town. Personally, this old town was over-rated for me. Top tip: if you only have time for one old town, I’d recommend Shuhe instead (description below). Lijiang Old Town is massive, and it does have a lot to offer. There’s a lively bar street, a section for food, a street for handicrafts, and everything in between. It was just too crowded and super difficult to call a cab/Didi back to the hotel after dinner.
Shuhe Old Town. This is essentially the same as Lijiang Old Town, but smaller, has less crowds, and is less commercial. What’s cool is there’s a part of the old town that has some abandoned buildings so there’s photos ops galore. There’s also a COVID testing center at one of the entrances to this old town, so that’s convenient have if this is your last destination before returning home.
Getting Back to Shanghai
The flight from Lijiang back to Shanghai was a direct 3.5-hour flight. We took Capital Airlines (which I’d avoid in the future as they’re super particular with their luggage requirements). Plus, it was ¥4,150 ($630) for two people; not the cheapest one-way flight.
Upon arrival in Shanghai, we landed at 7pm in Pudong Airport, retrieved our luggage from the carrousel, and was able to pick up our 2 cats from their pet hotel well before they closed at 9pm! We showed our green health codes to exit the airport (nobody looked at our COVID test that we took the day before in Lijiang), and didn’t need to register with our apartment complex.
Overall, we had an amazing time in Yunnan. It’s been a province at the top of our travel wish list for the longest time. The fact that accommodation, COVID tests, and the biggest thing - transportations between the cities – were pre-planned for us, made this experience completely hassle-free.
Up next: time to plan our next vacation for October holiday!
Happy traveling,
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