Old kingdoms on a lake, a Naxi town laced with canals, the deepest gorge in China and the edge of the Tibetan plateau, Yunnan, the country's gentle, ethnic southwest.
Into Yunnan's mild capital, the 'spring city', gateway to China's most diverse province, 25 ethnic minorities, mountains and rice terraces. An easy first evening and a bowl of crossing the bridge noodles, the dish the city is known for.
The surreal limestone pinnacles of the Stone Forest in the morning, then the train west to Dali, an old Bai kingdom on the shores of Erhai lake, its cobbled town under the Cangshan range, the Three Pagodas standing for a thousand years.
A cycle or a boat around Erhai lake, the white walled Bai villages along the shore, the indigo tie dye workshops of Zhoucheng and a bustling morning market. The pace here is slow and the light is famous.
On to Lijiang, the UNESCO old town of the Naxi people, a maze of canals, cobbles and willow bridges, car free and lantern lit. The Black Dragon Pool, where Jade Dragon Snow Mountain hangs reflected in still water, is the postcard everyone takes.
The glacier cable car up Jade Dragon Snow Mountain to high alpine meadows above the clouds, and the frescoed Naxi village of Baisha at its foot. The thin air, the prayer flags, the white peak watching over the valley.
A day to Tiger Leaping Gorge, one of the deepest canyons on earth, where the upper Yangtze thunders through a slot between two 5,000 metre massifs. A walk along the high trail, or the viewing platforms above the roaring water; back to Lijiang's quieter Shuhe town.
The road climbs onto the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau (about four hours, via the gorge) to Shangri La at 3,200 metres, an old Tibetan town of whitewashed houses, the great Songzanlin monastery rising like a 'Little Potala', and the world's largest prayer wheel.
The alpine lakes and flower meadows of Pudacuo national park, yaks grazing under the firs, prayer flags strung across the passes. A Tibetan farmhouse lunch, butter tea, and the high, clean silence of the plateau.
A slow last morning before your flight home (via Kunming). Yunnan is the China few outsiders see, gentler, higher, older, and stitched from a dozen different worlds.
Three ways to do the same route: Comfort, Premium or Luxe. Breakfasts in. Mix tiers city by city if you like, it is your trip.
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