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A large tree with extensive roots and a dense canopy of green foliage. 1
An elderly man sitting on a wooden bench in a rustic brick building. 2
A pond with lily pads, large banana plants, and a small waterfall. 3
A dense forest with numerous deer skulls arranged in a chaotic pile. 4
A traditional village street with wooden buildings, a cobblestone path, and people walking. 5
By Vista Joy Yunnan Travel Agency
Free cancellation available
Price is €527 per adult
See tickets

Features

  • Free cancellation available
  • 10d
  • Mobile voucher
  • Instant confirmation
  • Selective hotel pickup
  • Multiple languages

Overview

  • Venture deep into Yunnan's least-explored corner, where ancient tea-horse roads wind through misty mountains and ethnic traditions thousands of years old remain vividly alive. This 10-day journey takes you far beyond the typical tourist trail — from the karst spires of Shilin and the fiery communal feasts of the Yi people, to the sacred cliffs of Cangyuan, home to 3,000-year-old rock paintings and the last primitive Wa village in China. Cross Asia's tallest arch dam, walk one of the country's longest glass skywalks suspended 200 metres above a forested valley, and wander thousand-year-old tea gardens on Jingmai Mountain, a UNESCO World Heritage tea forest. Sleep in Ctrip 4-Diamond hotels each night, travel with a private vehicle and guide throughout, and experience a side of China that few travellers ever see — where borders blur between Yunnan, Myanmar, and centuries of living tradition. Come with curiosity; leave having witnessed a Yunnan most people don't know exists.

Activity location

  • Stone Forest
    • 652200, Shilin County, Yunnan, China

Meeting/Redemption Point

  • Stone Forest
    • 652200, Shilin County, Yunnan, China

Check availability

single room

  • Activity duration is 10 days10d
    10d
  • English

single room supplement: single room supplement
Pickup included

Starting time: 09:00
Price details
€526.74 x 1 Adult€526.74
Total
Price is €526.74

10 Day Private Yunnan Religious Culture and Wa Ethnic Minority

  • Activity duration is 10 days10d
    10d
  • English

Pickup included

Starting time: 09:00
Price details
€2,326.44 x 1 Adult€2,326.44
Total
Price is €2,326.44

What's included, what's not

  • Inclusions
    Entrance fee
  • Inclusions
    Licensed English/Mandarin-speaking tour guide service
  • Inclusions
    Air-conditioned vehicle
  • Inclusions
    Accommodation - Ctrip 4-Diamond hotels, twin/double sharing
  • Exclusions
    Lunch and Dinner not included
  • Exclusions
    Personal expenses, service charge, and international/domestic flights

Know before you book

    • Wheelchair accessible
    • Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
    • Public transport options are available nearby
    • Specialised infant seats are available
    • Transport options are wheelchair accessible
    • Not recommended for travellers with poor cardiovascular health
    • Travellers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
    • In accordance with EU regulations about consumer rights, activities services are not subject to the right of withdrawal. Supplier cancellation policy will apply.
    • This activity is provided by a professional trader (a party acting within their trade, business or profession).

Activity itinerary

Day 1: Kunming – Shilin – Chuxiong

  • 2 stops
  • Meals: Not included
  • Accommodation: Ctrip 4-Diamond rated hotels or equivalent boutique guesthouses throughout the journey (twin room for 2 travellers)

Stone Forest

  • 3h
  • Admission ticket included
Explore Shilin, a UNESCO World Heritage karst landscape where towering limestone pillars rise from the earth like a natural maze, shaped by 270 million years of erosion. Wander narrow stone corridors, take in panoramic views from the peaks, and pass through traditional villages of the Sani people, a subgroup of the Yi ethnic minority, along the way.

Yiren Ancient Town

  • 2h
Explore Yizu Ancient Town, a national AAAA-rated cultural tourism town built around traditional Yi ethnic architecture from Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan. Wander through scenic squares, ancient theatres, and riverside pavilions, taking in the town's blend of architecture and Yi culture. If travellers wish, they may also join the Yi Long Street Banquet, a lively nightly communal feast held within the town — Yi villagers in festive dress welcome guests with singing, the Zuojiao dance, and torch performances, while the traditional "Eight Bowls" Yi cuisine is served along a water-side stilted pavilion, accompanied by rice wine and music.

Day 2: Chuxiong – Nanjian

  • 1 stop
  • Meals: breakfast
  • Accommodation: Ctrip 4-Diamond rated hotels or equivalent boutique guesthouses throughout the journey (twin room for 2 travellers)

Nanjian County

  • 2h
Visit Nanjian's Earth Forest, a striking natural formation of colourful earthen pillars carved by centuries of wind and rain. Unlike the limestone Stone Forest, these soft-hued clay towers create a starkly beautiful, otherworldly landscape. The entire site is fitted with wooden boardwalks, making it an easy, comfortable walk suitable for all ages.

Day 3: Nanjian – Lushi Ancient Town

  • 2 stops
  • Meals: breakfast
  • Accommodation: Ctrip 4-Diamond rated hotels or equivalent boutique guesthouses throughout the journey (twin room for 2 travellers)

Fengqing County

  • 1h
Cross the dramatic Lancang River Grand Canyon on the border of Nanjian County and Fengqing County. Stop at Xiaowan Dam, Asia's tallest double-curvature arch dam, for sweeping views of the reservoir known as the "Hundred-Li Long Lake," its still waters stretching like a vast inland sea between the mountains.

Fengqing County

  • 2h
Arrive at Lushi Ancient Town, a well-preserved Ming and Qing dynasty staging post along the ancient Tea-Horse Caravan Road. Wander its cobblestone streets and timber courtyard houses, where centuries of trading history linger in the evening light

Day 4: Lushi Ancient Town – Yunxian

  • 2 stops
  • Meals: breakfast
  • Accommodation: Ctrip 4-Diamond rated hotels or equivalent boutique guesthouses throughout the journey (twin room for 2 travellers)

Fengqing County

  • 1h
Discover Gumo Village, a secluded hamlet tucked deep in the mountains and virtually unknown to outsiders. Its earthen-and-timber houses and terraced fields offer an authentic glimpse into rural Yunnan life, unchanged by time.

Fengqing County

  • 1h
Visit Anshi Village, known as "China's No.1 Dianhong Village," and walk through its ancient tea gardens to learn the century-old history of Dianhong black tea. Enjoy a cup of handcrafted tea brewed by local farmers and feel the deep bond between the land and its leaves.

Day 5: Yunxian – Cangyuan

  • 2 stops
  • Meals: breakfast
  • Accommodation: Ctrip 4-Diamond rated hotels or equivalent boutique guesthouses throughout the journey (twin room for 2 travellers)

Cangyuan Rock Paintings

  • 1h 30m
  • Admission ticket included
See the Cangyuan Rock Paintings, among China's earliest known cliff art, dating back over 3,000 years. Painted in red ochre across a cliff face nicknamed the "Kilometer-Long Ink Painting Corridor," the scenes depict ancient hunting, ritual, and dance.

Cangyuan County

  • 1h
Explore Gourd Town in the afternoon, where the Wa ethnic people's distinctive gourd-based culture and folk art come to life through decorative motifs, crafts, and local customs. Location: Mengdong Town, Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County.

Day 6: Cangyuan

  • 4 stops
  • Meals: breakfast
  • Accommodation: Ctrip 4-Diamond rated hotels or equivalent boutique guesthouses throughout the journey (twin room for 2 travellers)

Banhong Mountain

  • 2h
Rise early to catch the Wa Mountain Sea of Clouds from a scenic viewpoint, where layers of mist roll like cotton through the valleys below at sunrise — a breathtaking natural spectacle. Visit Banhong Township and its Anti-British Resistance Monument, commemorating the Wa people's 1934 uprising against British colonial encroachment — a little-known chapter of local history.

Banhong Township

  • 1h
Visit Banhong Township and its Anti-British Resistance Monument, commemorating the Wa people's 1934 uprising against British colonial encroachment — a little-known chapter of local history.

Banhong Mountain

  • 2h
Walk the Xiabanba Glass Skywalk in Banhong Township, one of China's longest glass skywalks at approximately 800 metres, suspended roughly 200 metres above a forested valley. Nestled within a pristine woodland reserve, the skywalk offers a thrilling, transparent-floor walk with sweeping views over the valley below — and on lucky days, glimpses of wild Asian elephants roaming the surrounding forest.

Wengding Wa Nationality Gregarious Village

  • 1h
  • Admission ticket included
End the day at Wengding, China's best-preserved primitive Wa village, where thatched-roof houses and timber-post village gates reflect the ancient wisdom of Wa survival and community life.

Day 7: Cangyuan – Ximeng – Lancang

  • 1 stop
  • Meals: breakfast
  • Accommodation: Ctrip 4-Diamond rated hotels or equivalent boutique guesthouses throughout the journey (twin room for 2 travellers)

Mengsuo Dragon's Pool

  • 3h
Arrive at Mengsuo Dragon Pool, known as the "Kidney of Ximeng" — a serene highland lake ringed by dense rainforest, its mirror-still waters home to rare waterbirds and said to share an underground water source with a sister lake across the border in Myanmar. Follow the lakeside boardwalk through wetlands and forest, passing lotus ponds, a holy spring, and ancient banyan trees along the way. Continue on to Longmoye, tucked within the same scenic area — the most sacred spiritual site of the Wa people, shrouded in mist and mystery deep in the Awa Mountains. Thousands of buffalo skulls hang from cliffs and trees here, offerings accumulated over generations, where tribal leaders have held solemn annual ceremonies for centuries to pray for blessings and protection.

Day 8: Lancang – Jingmai Mountain – Lancang

  • 2 stops
  • Meals: breakfast
  • Accommodation: Ctrip 4-Diamond rated hotels or equivalent boutique guesthouses throughout the journey (twin room for 2 travellers)

Jingmai Mountain

  • 2h
  • Admission ticket included
Spend the morning exploring Jingmai Tea Mountain. Walk through thousand-year-old ancient tea gardens and visit Wengji Ancient Village, where the Blang ethnic people still live alongside centuries-old tea trees, hand-picking and processing leaves using traditional methods passed down through generations.

Nuogang Mountain

  • 2h
In the afternoon, walk through Nuogan Ancient Village, the best-preserved Dai traditional settlement on Jingmai Mountain, where bamboo houses nestle beneath ancient shade trees and time seems to stand still.

Day 9: Lancang – Xinping

  • 2 stops
  • Meals: breakfast
  • Accommodation: Ctrip 4-Diamond rated hotels or equivalent boutique guesthouses throughout the journey (twin room for 2 travellers)

Ning'er County

  • 1h
Pass through Nakeli, a historic stop on the ancient Tea-Horse Caravan Road, and trace the footsteps of the mule caravans that once carried tea and goods across Yunnan's mountains. This is a natural stop en route from Lancang to Xinping, near the Pu'er city area.

Xinping County

  • 2h
Visit Xinping Ethnic Culture Square to learn about the Huayao Dai, a Dai subgroup renowned for their elaborately colourful traditional dress and distinctive folk customs. In the evening, admire Wucai Pavilion, a striking architectural complex blending Dai, Yi, and Hani ethnic design elements, glowing in vibrant colour under the sunset and evening lights.

Day 10: Xinping – Kunming

  • 2 stops
  • Meals: breakfast
  • Accommodation: Not included

Mt. Ailao Natiaonal Natural Reserve

  • 2h
  • Admission ticket included
Explore Jinshan Primeval Forest Park, located within the visitor-accessible zone of the Ailao Mountain Nature Reserve — an ancient forest known as the "Oasis on the Tropic of Cancer" and one of Yunnan's most biodiverse regions. Towering, moss-draped trees create an otherworldly atmosphere, and rare plants and wildlife may be glimpsed among the dense canopy. Travellers stay within designated, developed trails with safety railings; access to the undeveloped core reserve is prohibited by law.

Xinping County

  • 2h
From Gasa Town, follow the scenic mountain road up into the Ailao range to Nan'en Waterfall, where water cascades down a 100-meter drop across sheer cliffs — dramatic and easily viewed right from the roadside. Continue along the same route to Shimen Gorge, a deep, narrow canyon flanked by towering cliffs and natural stone "gates," often called the "Jiuzhaigou of the Ailao Mountains" for its crystal-clear streams and lush greenery.

Location

Activity location

  • LOB_ACTIVITIESLOB_ACTIVITIES
    Stone Forest
    • 652200, Shilin County, Yunnan, China

Meeting/Redemption Point

  • PEOPLEPEOPLE
    Stone Forest
    • 652200, Shilin County, Yunnan, China

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