7-Day Kunming, Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La Tour | Highlands & Craft

Your Kunming, Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La tour starts with the following arrangements. Meet the confirmed local reception team at the Kunming airport or station specified in your booking and transfer to your hotel. Keep the rest of the day unhurried after travelling. Nearby walks and food suggestions are available for early arrivals, but independent exploration does not include an ongoing sightseeing vehicle or guide.

Take the booked second-class train from the confirmed Kunming station to Dali, allowing roughly 2–2.5 hours on the selected service plus transfers. Meet the local team for Xizhou’s Bai courtyards and an open Erhai shoreline walk. The optional three-course tea ceremony is separately paid. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included; a current train booking, not a generic duration, determines the afternoon’s starting time.

Xizhou Ancient Town · Erhai Lake

Explore selected Old Town streets and the Three Pagodas before the approximately 2.5–3-hour private drive to Lijiang. Pagoda forms and surviving town gates provide a useful contrast with the Naxi setting ahead. Join the booked thangka-inspired painting workshop with a local artist, using a small format suitable for an introductory session. The artist explains the motifs and process; materials, drying and collection arrangements are agreed in advance. This is a visitor art lesson, not a promise to complete an expertly consecrated religious painting in one afternoon. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included, with time for luggage and check-in before the workshop.

Dali Ancient Town · Chongsheng Temple and Three Pagodas · Introductory painting workshop

Visit Jade Dragon Snow Mountain using the reserved scenic bus and cableway arrangement. The Glacier Park upper station is around 4,500 metres: stairs and thin air remain even after the lift. Choose the actual walking distance around individual condition and operating restrictions, without promising the highest boardwalk. Descend to Blue Moon Valley for its pools and limestone edges, allowing 1.5–2 hours there. Return for a selected Lijiang Old Town walk, tracing the water channels and courtyards rather than assuming a private Dongba ritual. Impression Lijiang is an optional separately paid daytime show and must fit the reserved mountain slot. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included.

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain · Blue Moon Valley · Lijiang Old Town

Travel roughly 3.5–4.5 hours to the Shangri-La area and visit Pudacuo using official scenic transport and selected open boardwalks. Alpine forest, lakes and wetlands offer a different environment from Lijiang, but altitude and walking require a measured pace. Keep Dukezong’s evening walk short, with the overall schedule checked against park closing time. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included.

Pudacuo National Park · Dukezong Ancient Town

Spend the morning in Songzanlin’s courtyards and permitted halls, respecting worship and photography rules. Continue to Napa Lake’s accessible wetland viewpoints; water, exposed meadow and birdlife change with rain and the seasons, so no fixed summer-grassland or winter-lake appearance is promised. Horse riding remains an optional paid activity with a confirmed operator and participation conditions. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included.

Songzanlin Monastery · Napa Lake

Descend from the plateau by private road transfer to Lijiang, allowing around 3.5–4.5 hours plus breaks, luggage and airport formalities. The standard endpoint is Lijiang rather than Shangri-La despite the route’s title. Choose a late-afternoon or evening departure only after the actual hotel-to-airport timing is confirmed; early flights need an advance change to the route.