Shangri-La

Yunnan-shangri-la01 : 8 Days Kunming - Shangri-la - Luoji - Hongxin Village - Niru Village - Shudu Lake - Lijiang

Yunnan-shangri-la02 : 10 Days Shangri-la - Dongwang - Shangri-la - Lijiang - Kunming

Yunnan-shangri-la03 : 7 Days Shangri-la - Deqen - Weixi - Tacheng - Shangri-la

Yunnan-shangri-la04 : 10 Days Kunming - Gongshan - Qiqi - Dongshaofang - Nanmowang Pass - Sandui - Bapo - Qinlangdang - Bapo - Kongdang - Gongshan - Kunming

Yunnan-shangri-la05 : 10 Days Shangri-la - Feilaisi - Yubeng Village - Sacred Waterfall - Yubeng Village - Base Camp - Yubeng Village - Ninong Village - Feilaisi - Shangri-la

Yunnan-shangri-la06 : 11 Days Kunming - Liuku - Gongshan - Dimaluo - Biluo Snow Mountain - Cizhong - Minyong Village - Yubeng Village - Deqin - Zhongdian - Kunming

Yunnan-shangri-la07 : 7 Days Lijiang - Shangri-la - Benzilan - Feilaisi - Xidang - Yubeng - Base Camp - Yubeng - Xidang - Feilaisi - Shangri-la

 
 Day by Day Itinerary

Departure: Daily 
 
Day 01: Arrival in Lijiang
Arrive in Lijiang and get prepared. Stay overnight at the local hotel.

 
Day 02: Lijiang - Shangri-la - Benzilan
Drive to Shangri-la via Lashihai and First Bend of Yangtze River. Go ahead to visit Layi Grassland. Hike to Benzilan. Stay overnight in the local hotel.

 
Day 03: Benzilan - Feilaisi - Xidang - Yubeng
Drive to Feilaisi Temple. En route, visit the Jinshajiang Moon bay and Baima Snow Mountain, which is one of the most important bio-diversity sites for the Great Rivers Project sponsored by the Nature Conservancy. Pay a visit to Feilaisi Temple, where you can see the whole 13 Peaks of Meili Snow Mountain if lucky enough. Hike from Xidang Village to Yubeng Village. Stay overnight in the local hotel.

 
Day 04: Yubeng - Base Camp - Yubeng
Trek to the Base Camp. Trek up about 3 hours to the Mountain pass in the virgin forests. On the way there are many remains of the dead woods. Trek down 1 hour along the horse-road from the Mountain Pass, and reach the base camp, where the view becomes very open. Then come back to the village. Stay in the guest house.

 
Day 05: Yubeng - Xidang - Feilaisi
Hike to visit the Sacred Waterfall. Continue hiking to Xidang Village where you will drive to Feilaisi Temple.

 
Day 06: Feilaisi - Shangri-la
Enjoy the great view of mountain shining under the sunshine. Drive back to Shangri-la.

 
Day 07: Departure from Shangri-la
Leave Shangri-la according to your schedule.
 

Yunnan-shangri-la08 : 13 Days Kunming - Zhongdian - Deqin - Xidang - Yubeng - Mt. Kawagebo - Yubeng - Mingyong - Deqin - Cizhong - Weixi - Lijiang - Kunming

 
 Day by Day Itinerary

Departure: Daily 
 
Day 01: Arrival in Kunming
Arrive in Kunming and get prepared. Stay overnight at the local hotel.

 
Day 02: Kunming - Zhongdian
Fly to Zhongdian, 10,827ft/3,300m. Zhongdian is where the Tibetan and Chinese worlds meet. Until recently it was the northernmost open point for foreign travelers in Yunnan. The city and county have recently been renamed Shangri-La after an exhaustive search (and a strong PR minded local committee) concluded that this region was the inspiration for James Hilton's best selling "Lost Horizon" (1933). You will visit the Ganden Sumtsaling Monastery which was founded in 1679 by the Fifth Dalai Lama (known as the Great Fifth for his services to Buddhism in Tibet). It is now flourishing with around 800 monks of the Yellow Hat Sect of Tibetan Buddhism.

 
Day 03: Zhongdian - Deqin 
Drive to Deqin, 10,712ft/3,265m, 5 hrs. You will drive northwest through some stunning scenery that gives you a taste of what to expect on trek. While there has been extensive logging in this part of Yunnan, enough forest cover remains to get a sense of the enormous bio-diversity of this area. This region is part of the enormous new Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected area, a World Heritage Site created through the assistance of the Nature Conservancy. The road offers spectacular snowy mountain views. Logging is banned and there are active programs of reforestation throughout the county. Visit the Dongdrupling Gompa, the second largest in the region and again undergoing reconstruction. There may also be time to visit the Shusong Nunnery. The region is famous for the production of wooden bowls made from local azaleas. Deqin is the last township of Yunnan's northwestern most county, and it sits on the border with Tibet to the west and Myanmar (Burma) to the southwest. 

 
Day 04: Deqin - Xidang
Drive westward to Flying Monastery to have a panorama view of Mt. Kawagebo. Thousands of brightly colored prayer flags, enormous incense burners and hundreds of religious pilgrims create a beautiful scene of natural beauty and cultural ceremony. You will first circle the chortens then start descending to Mekong Valley. It is a 2 hours walk to the bridge of YongDzon. After a picnic lunch at YongDzon, you will hike for one hour to Xidang, a Tibetan village overlooking the Mekong. 

 
Day 05: Xidang - Yubeng
Start hiking from Xidang. You will climb from 2,500m (7,500ft) to over 3,500m (10,500 ft) at the pass, but will bring you through beautiful, pristine alpine forest. This forest is rich in bird life including many Giant and Elliott's Laughing Thrushes. After a picnic at the summit (where there may still be snow in early spring), you will descend to the isolated village of Yubeng (1670m/5,479ft). This is a spectacularly beautiful mountain valley beneath towering snow-covered peaks. Total hiking today will be about 7 hours. Horses may be available upon request. You will spend the night in a small lodge.

 
Day 06: Yubeng - Mt. Kawagebo
If weather permits, you'll wake up to a clear view of the Mt. Kawagebo glacier. After breakfast you will hike to the sacred waterfall, from which Yubeng's name originated. Buddhists on a pilgrimage to the area circumambulate the waterfall 13 times with the belief that this act will erase all sins from this life. In the early afternoon, you'll head back to the village lodge, visiting sacred sites along the way. Enormous hemlocks, rhododendrons and fir trees line the path. Sunbirds are common. Pilgrims have piled rocks in balanced columns along the rivers in reverence of local spirits.

 
Day 07: Mt. Kawagebo - Yubeng
Today you will hike to the Base Camp of the ill-fated Japanese expedition in 1991. It is a beautiful trek to Xiaonong where the Tibetans graze their yaks in summer time. If time and your body condition allow, continue hiking to Glacier Lake, or just enjoy the beauty of this high meadow watching the high glaciers as little ice falls and avalanches tumble down the slopes. Return to Yubeng for overnight again.

 
Day 08: Yubeng - Mingyong 
Retrace to the trailhead. Drive to Mingyong Village for an overnight at a pleasant hotel. Local Tibetans run this small lodge by the edge of a glacial cascade. 

 
Day 09: Mingyong - Deqin
Today's morning hike will be relatively easy, but ponies or mules are available for hire on the uphill leg. Your destination is Taizi Monastery built at the edge of the Minyong Glacier. This monastery is believed to be the final destination of a long traditional pilgrimage. Prayer flags smother the entrance to the monastery. Flowers line the lower path. A spectacular board walk scaffoldings scales the precipitous edge of the glacier affording incredible views of the glacier and nearby peaks. It is a wonderful, rewarding hike. Return to Deqin for overnight. 

 
Day 10: Deqin - Cizhong - Weixi
You will descend from high Deqin to the scenic, subtropical Mekong Valley. After breakfast you will drive along the Mekong to Cizhong (1900m/6,234ft), where you will visit the village church built of stone in the early 20th century. This church remarkably escaped destruction in the Cultural Revolution. It is the center of a rapidly expanding grape growing region. Also, you will visit Yechi, the ancient governor's house and lesser Weixi Church. Enjoy a scenic drive to Weixi for overnight.

 
Day 11: Weixi - Lijiang
After breakfast, you will be drive about 5 hours to the Yangtze River leaving the mountains and forest behind. You will visit the Stone Drum Town and the great bend of the Yangtze. You will see modern China shaping the landscape once again. Continue driving to Lijiang for overnight in a very nice hotel at the edge of the old town.

 
Day 12: Lijiang - Kunming
You will spend the whole morning wandering in the old town of Lijiang, an ideal place to relax after this long journey. Lijang is a favorite destination for travelers from all over China as well as the rest of the world. Here you will find traditional architecture and culture well preserved in everyday life. In the afternoon you will take a flight back to Kunming for overnight. 

 
Day 13: Departure from Kunming
Leave Kunming according to your schedule.