8 Days Yunnan In-Depth Photography Tour (Kunming / Dongchuan / Yuanyang / Jianshui / Kunming)

Summary

Day 1 Kunming Arrival
Day 2 Kunming: Stone Forest, Jiuxiang Scenic Resort
Day 3 Kunming-Dongchun: Dongchun Red Soil Land
Day 4 Dongchun-Kunming: Luoxiagou Valley
Day 5 Kunming-Yuanyang: Yuanyang Rice Terrace
Day 6 Yuanyang: Duoyishu Rice Terrace, Blue Rice Terrace, Bada Rice Terrace
Day 7 Yuanyang-Jianshui: Jianshui Swallow Cave, Jianshui Ancient Town
Day 8 Jianshui-Kunming Departure: Xingmeng Mongol Ethnic Town, Kunming Departure

Day 1 Kunming Arrival

Pick up service can be arranged at Kunming train station or Kunming airport, our Kunming local guide will meet you at the exit with a welcome sign "China Private Tour". The rest day is free on your own to go around Kunming city or take rest in your hotel. Our guide will give some good suggestion for things to do in Kunming.

Day 2 Kunming

After breakfast, drive about 1.5 hours from your Kunming hotel to visit the famous tourist sites Stone Forest in Kunming. A local saying states: "A visit to Kunming without seeing the Stone Forest is not completed". Stituated close to the bustling city of Kunming, it is a famous scenic area boasting an array of captivating limestone formations. Walking through the site, visitors marvel at the natural stone masterpieces and are bewitched by the intricate formations. The magnificent, strange and steep landscape creates countless labyrinthine vista.

In the afternoon, head to Jiuxiang Scenic Resort: Known as the "museum of karst caves", Jiuxiang boasts more than 100 karst caves and is the largest cave group system in China. The cave formations are very varied and the rivers, waterfalls, and natural rock bridges are very enchanting. The local saying goes, "If one spent his entire life counting the caves in Jiuxiang he may not finish the job". 

After the tour, you will be taken back to your hotel in Kunming.

Day 3 Kunming-Dongchun

After breakfast, drive about 3 hours from Kunming city to visit the Dongchun Red Soil Land. Located 250km northeast of Kunming city, Dongchuan Red Soil Land extends about 50 kilometers in Xintian County. It is the second striking and distinctive red land in the world following the one in Rio Brazil and praised as “God’s palette”. Tourists can see different scenery in different season. From January to February, the red fields are covered by melting snow. From May to June, the fields are decorated with blooming flowers and golden wheat. And from September to December, the white and yellow rape flowers make the red land extremely beautiful. The place is loved by photographers and many visitors to Kunming area.

After the tour, you will be taken back to your hotel in Dongchun.

Day 4 Dongchun-Kunming

Get up early in the morning, you can get an amazing sunrise scenery over Dongchuan Red Soil Land. Viewed from distance, the hills and fields appear in all kinds of red colors. The flowers blossom on hills and slopes and produce multicolored sceneries together with golden wheat fields waving in the breeze. 

Later, head to the Luoxiagou Valley to enjoy magnificent view onto the villages and farmlands surrounded by red land. The sunset atmosphere in the late afternoon turns the splendid views to an even more remarkable event, offering almost endless opportunities to photographers.

After lunch, you will be taken back to your hotel in Kunming.

Day 5 Kunming-Yuanyang

After breakfast, drive you to Yuanyang from your Kunming hotel. It takes around 5 hours by driving, but you can enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way. Once you arrive, our guide will arrange local authenic lunch for you.

After lunch, start your photography tour at Yuanyang Rice Terrace is a self sustaining ecosystem. During winter to early spring, the entire field is irrigated with spring water from the forest above to rejuvenate and getting prepared for the next season. The Hani people have repeated this for more than a thousand years. It's worth waiting for the sight of terraced fields of Laohuzui (Tiger Mouth) at sunset.

After the tour, you will be taken back to your hotel in Yuanyang.

Day 6 Yuanyang

After breakfast, if the weather permits, try to get up in the early to appreciate the sunrise at Duoyishu Rice Terrace. It is the best place to shoot sunrise and misty Hani village, surrounded by high mountains in three sides and stretching to the valley in one side. There are many mushroom-like houses dotted aside the rice paddies. The ray appears splendidly over the high mountains at first light and when the sun rises up, the whole rice terraces change its colors from quiet blue into golden, shining brilliantly.

Next, our guide will take you to visit Blue Rice Terrace at Aichun Village. It is in blue not because the water here is blue but for the terrace is the huge mirrors of the blue sky. Standing at a high observation deck, you can feast your eyes with a beautiful painting scrolls with azure sky and white clouds above, blue rice terraces layer by layer on the ground, traditional Hani houses hidden among the trees at a short distance.

Later, spend your leisure time at Azheke Village, it the best example of harmony living between humankind and nature, fully presenting Forest - Village - River - Clouds fused together. When you walk around the village, you’ll numerous old mushroom houses, stone mills, sheep, buffaloes, back pigs, smoke rising continuously from the chimneys.

In this afternoon, have a nice shoot in the spectacular Bada Rice Terrace - the best place to shoot sunset and catch the terrace panorama. At dusk, when the sun shines on the 950-hectare rice paddies rising from 800 meters to 2000 meters, then the magnificent scene forms - like the ladders toward heaven led by bright light. Hold your breath when sunset glow shining upon the paddies and you'll see the 3700-level terraces first turns pink, then rosy and later dark red, pink, golden and white.

After the tour, you will be taken back to your hotel in Yuanyang.

Day 7 Yuanyang-Jianshui

After breakfast, drive about 3 hours to Jianshui County from Yuanyang. You will visit the visit Jianshui Swallow Cave along the way, it is the largest karst formation cave in Asia. There are usually thousands of swallows flying around in this aptly named cave.You will follow a guide in the cave to see the striking caverns and also to see the bare hand rock climbing performance in the cave. Walk into the cave and visit the colorful Karst landform and take the small boat cruise out of the cave.

Upon on your arrival in Jianshui, our guide will take you to explore the Jianshui Ancient Town where you can take picture of the traditional buildings in Yunnan Province. During the tour, you will have chance to visit the famous Confucius Temple with its interesting history. Confucious was born in Shandong province 2,500 years ago and taught more than 3,000 students in his lifetime, among them 72 were outstanding. He is the greatest teacher in China’s history and has worldwide influence.

After the tour, you will be taken back to your hotel in Jianshui.

Day 8 Jianshui-Kunming Departure

After breakfast, you will be taken back to Kunming city for your departure. On the way back to Kunming, our guide will take you to visit Xingmeng Mongol Ethnic Town, it is the only dwelling area of Mongol minority in Yunnan Province. It has a history of more than a thousand years with unique ethnic culture. The fame of “Mongolia in South Plateau”, “Home of Songs and Dances”, “Home of Architecture” and “Home of Muskmelon” make the ethnic town an attractive destination. Through the promotion of “Mongols on the Southern Plateau”, improvement of scenic spots construction and comprehensive facilities, Xingmeng now has become a tourism zone for sightseeing, recreation, holiday and experience of minority ethnic culture.

Once you arrive in Kunming, transfer to Kunming train station or Kunming airport for your next destination.

Price Per Person in US Dollars

Price Includes 1. All transfer and city transportation 2. Air-conditioned car or van 3. Hotels specified in the itinerary, all based     on two persons sharingone standard room; 4. Meals specified in the itinerary: Western     breakfast in hotels Chinese lunch and     dinner in local restaurants 5. Sightseeing: All arrangements mentioned     in the itinerary will be covered All first     admission/entrance fees in the itinerary 6. Tour guide: Conducted by a professional     tour guide

Price Excludes 1. International air-tickets 2. Airport departure tax. 3. International or domestic air tickets which     are not listed in the itinerary. 4. Insurance coverage of personal loss, illness     or damages incurred during your trip 5. Tips to the tour guide and driver 6. Meals not specified in the itinerary. 7. Personal expenses: phone bills, laundry,     optional tours, postage, excess baggage     charge, entertainment fees out of the     itinerary. 8. Single Room Supplement.