This tour will take you to visit the ethnic groups of Naxi, Yi and Tibetan. Visit the old town of Lijiang built by Naxi people and Shangri-La. Trekking through the famous Tiger Leaping Gorge with the drop of 3900m and Climbing up to Mt.Haba at 5396m.
Itinerary
Day 1, Arrival in Kunming and transfer to Hotel
Kunming, also known as the Spring City, is the capital of Yunnan province, with mild weather throughout the year. It is nice to walk around the birds and flowers market in the old part of the downtown of Kunming. 100ms away from the market is the commercial center of Kunming, which is full of the modern buildings. Here you can see the different aspects of Kunming.
Day 2, Visit Kunming, and fly to Lijiang
Morning visit to the Western Hills, climb up to the Dragon Gate to visit Taoist Temples. Take a walk in the hill above the Dragon Gate where you can have a good view of the Lake Dianchi. Visit the Bamboo Temple with 500 Buddhist Arhats Images where possibly you can find yourself look like one of the arhats. Evening flight to Lijiang. Lijiang is the home of the matriarchal Naxi culture, which is protected as a UNESCO Cultural Heritage Site. Lijiang was at the end of the Tibetan tea caravan route that gave rise to the Naxi women’s strong commercial bent as successful shopkeepers and traders.
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Day 3, Monastery and Naxi villages
Drive to Puji village where we start to walk. Enter the villages and climb up the hill. Go through the pine forest for an hour, then reach Puji Monastery hidden in the mountain, which is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery built three hundred years ago, with copper roofs. No tourists come here but we can meet up with a few lamas and locals who take care of the Monastery. After visiting the Monastery, we drive to Baisha village to visit this traditional Naxi village, and then carry on to Yuhu village where the explorer Dr. Rock used to live for his research. It is a very beautiful Naxi village in front of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Visit the village and meet up with the locals.
Day 4, Tiger Leaping Gorge Trek
Drive to Qiaotou and start the seven hour Tiger Leaping Gorge trek from Qiaotou at 1980m and trek up the hill on the zigzags called 28 Bends via villages, terraces, with great views of the Gorge and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain on the other side. Reach the top at 2640m within five hours,and take a rest. Another two hours walk in the forest and bushes to Sanjianren village. o/n Tea & Horse Guesthouse.
Day 5, Tiger Leaping Gorge Trek
Continuing walking to Tina's Guesthouse in the middle of the gorge ,via Bendiwan and a waterfall. Three hours and a half trek down to the Yangtze River to see a very narrow part of the gorge. The Gorge is 19km long with the drop of 3900m from the top of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain to the Yangtze River. There are three different parts of the Gorge. The narrowest part of the river is only 30m. It’s said that someone saw a tiger jumped from one side to the other, hence the name. Both sides of the Gorge are very steep, with rocky mountains, but you will see the changes of the landscape as walking on. o/n: Tina's Guesthouse.
Day 6, Drive to Haba village & Trek to Black Sea Lake
One and half hours drive through the Tiger Leaping Gorge, the Walnute Grove to Haba, with some stops along the road to see more of the Tiger Leaping Gorge. At Haba village, we need horses to take our bags and all the camping equipments up to the mountain. We just carry a small bag with some food and drinks, and it takes about five hours and half to hike up to the Lake, through villages, meadows ,forests and small rivers. Black Sea Lake, with an elevation of 4170m,is in front of the Haba Mountain, and you can see the reflection of the Haba in water just from the camping site.
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Day 7, Explore the Black Sea Lake area
There are some small lakes, grasslands and mountain passes in the area near the Lake, so we spend the day here to walk around the lakes and climb up to the mountain passes to get acclimatized to the altitude here. There are different kinds of the flowers and plants which grow in the area, esp. azalea, and you will see the different sceneries in different seasons.
Day 8, Trek up to 4900m
Today, we move to another Base Campt at 4130m. After breakfast, we will walk to the Base Camp within an hours and half via a couple of Lake and some mountain passes where you can have good views of Haba Mountain and the area. And then, walk up to 4900m from the Base Camp for some training and back to the Base Camp.
Day 9, Topping Haba Mountain at 5396m
Get up early and top Haba Mountain. We walk up, on a rocky mountain in front of Haba, from the Base Camp to 4900m, and then we need to use ice crampons and ice axes to get to the top of the mountain. On the top, you can have a very good view of the mountains in distance, including Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in Lijiang, Meili Snow Mountain in Deqen, Three Holy Mountains in Yading and many other nameless mountains.
Day 10, Trek to Haba village
Four hours and half trek down to Haba village, Haba is a Naxi village which stands in front of Haba Snow Mountain and there are many rice terraces near the village. Nice to walk around the village and the terraces nearby.
Day 11, Drive to Shangri-La
Drive to visit Baishuitai (formed by Calcium Carbonated) in Sanba. Sanba is inhabited by Naxi people and this is the place where the Naxi Dongba Culture originated. Carry on to Shangri-La with visits to Yi villages on the way. Visit Ringsha Temple, which is the first Tibetan yellow hat sect Buddhist temple. Built on a hill in the area, it’s small and quiet. The tourists seldom visit it but it’s very popular among the local Tibetans. At the Chinese New Year, thousands of people will come to worship and express their good wishes for the coming year. In the temple, we can see how Tibetans make the praying flags, and you can also learn to make some praying flags by yourself and hang them over the mountain behind the temple to get your good luck.
Day 12, Day in Shangri-La and fly to Kunming
In and around Shangri-La.Visit the Tibetan monastery, local villages and the old town. Although the town has undergone enormous and not particularly sensitive development in the past few years due to its new designation by the Chinese as the original Shangri-la, the surrounding countryside is very attractive, with lakes and scattered villages of alpine-style houses which we will visit to sample yak butter tea and tsampa. Evening flight to Kunming, overnight hotel and tour ends.
Seasonality: April, May, June, October & November
Departures:
Oct.17th – Oct.28th, 2010
Jun.6th – Jun.17th, 2011
Price:
US$ 1,560.00 Per person
US$ 270.00 Single Supplement
The price includes:
Flights: Kunming/Lijiang
Shangri-La/Kunming
Hotels with breakfasts
Meals during the treks
Porters for Haba Mountain
Sightseeing Programs & entry fees
English Speaking Guides
Transfers and transportation by private vehicles
Group Size: 06 - 12
You may prefer a different date and time frame for this tour, or wish to adjust the itinerary to suit your interests. We will do all we can to meet your preferences. Please note that tours of less than six persons may cost more per person, and other expenses may increase as a result of customization of your tour. In all cases, however, we are committed to providing the best value for your experience.
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