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You are here » Home » Tours » The Road to Shangri La

The Road to Shangri La

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Suitable for Families Suitable for Solo Travelers

Trip Highlights

- Volunteering with English teaching, harvesting and crop planting, learning about Chinese medicine
- Yunnan Province’s diversity and matchless beauty
- Boat cruise through the fairytale landscapes on the Li River
- Dali - the colourful ancient capital of the Bai people, known for their marble & brilliant textiles
- Tiger Leaping Gorge and Yangtze River
- Tibetan tablelands
- Shangri La - the pearl of South Kham, famed for its impressive mountains and the most beautiful highland lakes on earth

Your "Taste of Volunteering" Project

It is with the Naxi people in South-West China that you will volunteer by teaching English, harvesting and crop planting, and where you will also learn about Chinese medicine.

Trip Summary

Starting from Hong Kong, you’ll visit the southwestern province of Yunnan with its diversity and matchless beauty and you continue on the Li River from Guilin to Yangshuo  to arrive in Dali, the colourful ancient capital of the Bai people.

This journey takes you from China’s south coast to the southwestern province of Yunnan: a region where the results of nature’s forces can be seen in all their diversity and matchless beauty. We start from the city of life in Hong Kong; after our leisurely cruise through the fairytale landscapes on the Li River from Guilin to Yangshuo, we fly via Kunming to Dali. Dali is the colourful ancient capital of the Bai people, known for their marble, brilliant textiles and excellent horse breeding. We drive southeast to Lijiang, home of the Naxi people who even today maintain a matriarchal society.

It is with the Naxi people that you will volunteer by teaching English, harvesting and crop planting, and where you will also learn about Chinese medicine.

This routing leaves us enough time to really appreciate the fascinating mountain people who populate the lush valleys of the Upper Yangtze, as well as the awesome landscapes through which we travel. It also means that we can reach some of the less frequented sites such as the sacred Yulong Shue Shan (Jade Dragon Peak), and the breathtaking Tiger Leaping Gorge through which the Yangtze River foams and roars on her way down to the plains, offering some of the most dramatic views in China.

From here, our trip takes us across the Tibetan tablelands to Gyalthang, also known as Zhongdian, or, Shangri La - the pearl of South Kham, famed for its impressive mountains and the most beautiful highland lakes on earth.

* Note Comfort Level
Accommodation is in comfortable 4* hotels (12 nights), with one night on overnight sleeper train, and one night in a guesthouse in Tiger Leaping Gorge.

If you like this trip, you may also be interested in:
Indonesia - Lombok Love Affair 
Laos - Sticky Rice
Nepal - Native In Nepal
Thailand - Smiles of Siam
Thailand - Thai/Lao Explorer
Vietnam - Hanoi & Hilltribes

 
The Road to Shangri La
 
 

Info

Tour Code:
CN002
Length:
15 days
Activity Level:
Comfort Level:
Projects:
Teaching
Environmental
Police Check:
Required
Guest Numbers:
2 to 12

Pricing
£1,800

Approximately:
NZD $4,500
USD $3,600
AUD $3,700
CAD $3,550
EUR $2,300
Single Supplement:
USD $1,080

(Flights not included)
Click here to request flight costs for this tour

Trip Dates

2009: Jun 13, Sep 19

If you are booking for two or more people, you can select your own departure date if these dates do not suit. We can also tailor-make a trip to suit your exact requirements

Itinerary

Day 1: Hong Kong (D)
Day 2: Fly to Guilin (B,L,D)
Day 3: Yangshuo (B,L,D)
Day 4: Fly to Kunming (B,L,D)
Day 5: Kunming, Stone Forest, Overnight train to Dali (B,L,D)
Day 6: Dali, Mt Cangshan cable car, Bai Village(B,L,D)
Day 7: Lijiang, Black Dragon Pool (B,L,D)
Day 8: Walking in Tiger Leaping Gorge – upper (B,L,D)
Day 9: Walking in Tiger Leaping Gorge – lower (B,L,D)
Day 10: Lijiang – Teaching English (B,L,D)
Day 11: Baisha Village – Teaching English (B,L,D)
Day 12: Huangshan Naxi Village – Volunteering, Chinese Medicine (B,L,D)
Day 13: Huangshan Naxi Village – Crop Planting or Harvesting (B,L,D)
Day 14: Transfer to Shangri La (B,L,D)
Day 15: Shangri La tour; trip ends (B,L)

B = Breakfast, L= Lunch, D = Dinner