Arrive in Lijiang by xxxx (your own tickets, flight details to be advised).
After airport formalities, meet your local guide in Lijiang. A gathering place of rugged mountain people with the Naxi forming the majority, Lijiang is a small mountain town of stone and tile, laced with swift canals, which has been recently listed as an UNESCO world heritage site.
Lunch and dinner at leisure – on your own account
Breakfast at hotel. We will take a first visit of the old town to the Zhong Yi market, where we may see vegetables freshly harvested from fields and quite a few copper wares. Old town of Lijiang is a big area with its center, or Si Fang Jie (Square Street) in the form of an official ink stone, hence its name Dayan (ink stone) Town. It enjoys a long history of over 800 years and unlike most of the old towns in China, there is no city walls due to a superstitious belief of the local ruler whose family name is Mu (tree), when encircled by walls, would be Kun (besieged). Wooden structures, mountains, small rivers and lanes integrate harmoniously in this mountain town.
Then climb up to the Lion Hill to visit the Wangu Pavilion and bird-eye view of the old town. Ascending the Pavilion, you may take fine pictures of the old town quarter. Visit also to the Black Dragon Pond with the Wufeng Temple (Five Phoenix Pavilion) and Dongba Cultural Museum. The Pond provides you opportunity of taking great pictures of the crystal clear pond with backdrop of snow mountains in a distance.
Lunch en tour at local restaurant. Dinner at leisure – on your own account
Meet at your hotel in Lijiang and proceed to an overland drive of 280 kilometers, or 6 hours, along Yangzi River, to Tacheng. Tacheng is located between Lancang River (Mekong River) and Golden Sand River (or the upper reach of Yangzi River), where you may see primary forests as far as your sight may reach. Apart from Tibetan villages, there are also villages of the Naxi and Lisu minorities. The fertile lands in and around Tacheng yields two harvests every year and abounds in fruits of various kinds. It is also home and paradise to wild animals.
En-route, we will take stops to visit the First Bend of the Yangzi River at Stone Drum village and Liming Scenic Area. The village of Stone Drum stands at the First Bend of the Yangzi River, some 70 kilometers west of Lijiang. Approaching to Stone Drum offers a dramatic view of the Yangzi's near-180-degree turn, where the wide, swift waters perform a miraculous about-face. For nearly 20 kilometers the river, first flowing south, then north, runs parallel to itself. Locals say if it were not for their village standing guard at the bend, China would lose the water of the Yangzi to Southeast Asia, like that of the adjacent Mekong and Salween Rivers.
The Liming Scenic Area is mainly inhabited by Lisu minority people. To visit Liming, we will climb 3km along well-paved trails uphill from an elevation of 1900 meters to 2700 meters, until we reach a turtle-like mountain. On the way, we may see cliffs of red sandy rocks, a special landform know as Danxia, tracing its name to the Danxia Mountains in Guangdong Province. Liming belongs to the Laojunshan Mountains, a major mountain found in the counties of Lijiang, Jianchuan, Lanping and Weixi, forming the main body of UNESCO designated nature heritage of Three Parallel Rivers.
Lunch en route at local restaurant. Dinner at Songtsam Lodge Tacheng.
Breakfast at hotel.
Full day visit to Yunnan Snub-nosed Monkey Nature Reserve. Yunnan Snub-nosed monkey is also known as Yunnan Golden Monkey. Here, you may watch golden monkey families in the wild. The rare snub-nosed monkeys are found in southwest China in Yunnan, Sichuan, and Guizhou Provinces, and northern Vietnam. They are one of the world’s most endangered primates species and currently numbered about 1700 to 2000, and live in very high mountains of between 3000 and 4000 meters. In the winter, they descend to low altitude area to find food.
Lunch at local restaurant and dinner at Songtsam Lodge Tacheng
Breakfast at hotel. Today, overland drive via Wujing and Nixi to Tacheng (120 kilometers, or 4 hours). Benzilan is located on the right bank of the Golden Sand River (or the upper reach of the Yangzi River). It is an important transportation hub between northwestern Yunnan with Tibet and Sichuan Province and is one of the stops along old tea horse trading route. En route, we may stake some stops to visit villages of Naxi and Lisu minorities.
Lunch at local restaurant and dinner at Songtsam Lodge Benzilan
Breakfast at hotel. In the morning, visit Tibetan Dongzhulin Monastery. The Dongzhulin Monastery was built in 1667, the sixth year of the Kang Xi Reign in Qing Dynasty. Its original name was Congchongcuogang Temple, meaning ‘the temple by the crane lake’. It was renamed Gedandongzhulin Temple after a combination of seven small temples, meaning ‘benefit others and oneself’. In the afternoon, we will visit in and around Benzilan to traditional handicraft villages, where you may paint traditional Tibetan lacquer bowls at Gangjue village, and walk through Tibetan villages in the gorge of Benzilan.
Lunch at local restaurant and dinner at Songtsam Lodge Benzilan.
Breakfast at hotel. Today, overland drive of 100 kilometers, or 3 hours to Shangri-La (Zhongdian) At 3,160 meters above sea level, Zhongdian (or Gyalthang in Tibetan, and approved by State Council to be renamed Shangri-La County as of late December 2001) lies in a landscape of rolling hills, snow-capped peaks, virgin forests of spruce, pine and meadow dotted with wild flowers and tranquil lakes. The old town which was lost in fire in the recent years has been rebuilt in attractive local Tibetan style and is to the south of Zhongdian.
Midway, we will visit the black pottery workshop at Tibetan village Nixi. The handmade black earthenware is decorated with broken pieces of white china. We will also take a stop to visit the Napa Lake. Napa is a seasonal lake just a few kilometers away from Zhongdian. In dry season, the lake area turns to a swamp that provides open ground for horse riding and an ideal location for migrant birds. In rainy season, with a backdrop of green mountains in a distance and blue sky, offers quite a few photogenic opportunities.
In the evening, take a guided stroll in the Old Town where you may attend the local dancing in the market square from 2000 PM, and visit the great prayer wheel on the Guishan Hill.
Lunch at local restaurant. Dinner featuring Gyalthang hot pot at local restaurant.
Buffet breakfast at hotel. In the morning, visit the Ganden Songzanglin Monastery. Founded in the 17th century during the reign of the Great Fifth Dalai Lama and nicknamed as Lesser Potala Palace by the locals, Ganden Songzanglin Monastery is one of the thirteen Tibetan monasteries in the Kangba Region, where Tibet, Yunnan and Sichuan join. Holding about 700 monks and one living Buddha, the monastery is a must-go in the region.
Spend rest of the day enjoying spa treatments, taking leisurely walks around the resort beautiful surroundings. We can also arrange horse riding on request. Dinner at leisure – on your own account.
Buffet breakfast at hotel.
Balance of the day at leisure before transfer to Kunming Airport for your departure by Silkair to Singapore (your own tickets, flight details to be advised). End of services.
****We Wish You a Very Pleasant Journey****
