All meals listed as breakfast as B, lunch as L, and dinner as D

Day 1 Arrive at Kunming

Arrive at Kunming airport. You will be greeted by our English-speaking tour guide at the airport and transfer to the hotel on a nice private vehicle.

Time before dinner is for relax and rest, especially after the long journey with jet lag. If you prefer to walk around, the guide will be happy to assist and offer suggestions upon your request.

Tonight the whole group gathers at hotel lobby and departs for a welcome dinner at a local restaurant.

Overnight Green Lake Hotel 5* or similar (D)

Day 2 Stone Forests, Yi Ethnic Minority Village

This morning we drive 1 hour to visit the well-known Stone Forests. The Stone Forest, A region of typical Karst formation, covers an area of more than three hundred square kilometers and a stunning place to visit. We enjoy the scenery of mysterious stone pinnacles rising abruptly from the ground resemble a huge, dense forest.

This afternoon we pay a visit to an original Yi village nearby. Yi minority is among the 25 different ethnic minorities in Yunnan. Here we have a slight touch with local cultures to feel the way of life of Yi people.

Overnight Green Lake Hotel 5* or similar (B,L,D)

Day 3 Kunming to Jianshui

After breakfast we drive around 3 hours to Jianshui, one of the earliest developed cities in south Yunnan that enjoys the fame of being an ancient cultural city and important gateway. From the establishment of the city in the Tang Dynasty (618-907AD) to now, Jianshui County has had a history of over 1,180 years. It is one of the areas that have been deeply influenced by the Central Plains culture.

After lunch at a local restaurant, we visit the Jianshui Confucius Temple, the biggest temple in Yunnan Province. Located near the north Gate to Jianshui, its scale is second only to that of the Qufu Confucius temple in Shandong Province and is now one of the provincial historical relics.

Afterwards we tour the Private Garden of the Zhu Family, a type of large and magnificent buildings now rarely seen in China. This grand complex is a typical local residence with distinctive features. With well-arranged yards and well-furnished rooms and halls, the structure of the architecture characterizes itself with a "streamlined" style.

Overnight Zhu Family's Garden 3* or similar (B,L,D)

Day 4 Jianshui to Yuanyang

This morning we drive around 2 hours over the mountain toward Yuanyang. Out of Jianshui, we pass the mountain and descend into the Red River Valley. Since the area is in subtropical, it is quit humid.

We check in the hotel before lunch time. In the afternoon we explore the magnificent Yuanyang Terrace at Ai Lao Mountain. The famous Red River just winds from Ai Lao Mountain to Vietnam. Opened up by the minorities living here hundreds of years ago, the terrace extends thousands of miles possessing a strong beauty of curve, therefore becomes a popular destination among photographers and visitors, regarded as an ultimate scene of terrace.

Time permitting, we drive to visit Hani people in their thatched mushroom houses. The Hani ethnic group is one of the many unique tribes in Yunnan Province. With a population of 1.25 million, they are mainly distributed over the mountain areas between the Red River and the Lancang River in Yunnan Province.

Overnight Yuanyang Yunti Hotel 3* or similar (B, L, D)

Day 5 Yuanyang to Jinghong via Kunming

Today we take a long drive (up to 5 hours) from Yuanyang to Kunming, with a lunch stop at Jianshui. Upon arrival in Kunming, we take the late afternoon flight (around 50 minutes) to Jinghong, the capital of Xishuangbanna.

Overnight Tai Garden Hotel 4* or similar (B, L, D)

Day 6 Jinghong

Today, we drive about 35 km to Ganlanba, visit the local Dai Market, and try ferry boat across the Mekong with local people for a short experience. The Mekong River is one of the world's 10th rivers in its river length and has great influences upon nature and societies of the Indo-china Peninsula. Afterwards, we drive into countryside to visit villages of Dai, and explore their religion and rural life.

After return to Jinghong this afternoon, we drive toward the northeast to Mengyang. There we take a closer look at two sorts of ethnic minority people: Jinuo people and Kongge people. We tour the village, visiting the traditional wood and bamboo houses with straw roofs. We drive back to Jinghong City in late afternoon.

Overnight Tai Garden Hotel 4* or similar (B, L, D)

Day 7 Jinghong to Menghun

In the morning, we drive 70 km west to Menghun for the Sunday market. On Sunday market, the local ethnic groups will get together for trading in the market. All of them are nice and friendly, wearing their traditional colorful costume. We will spend the morning here to explore around the market before our lunch in a local restaurant for authentic food.

In the afternoon, we will have a half-day hiking to some ethnic villages nearby to know about their countryside life, to learn about their history and culture.

Note: if we visit Menghun on weekday and Saturday, the alternative for Sunday market is to explore the nearby villages.

Overnight Home Stay in the village (B, L, D)

Day 8 Menghun to Jinghong

After the breakfast in the village, we will start our one day hiking in the mountains. The dense vegetations of the palm trees with sunshine will pour through the leaves onto our shoulders. The off-the beaten track will bring us to the deep of the rain forest, peaceful and beautiful. We will have picnic lunch on hiking.

In late afternoon, we drive back Jinghong and visit the Jingzhen Octagonal Pavilion, which was constructed in 1701 through the joint efforts of the Han and Dai peoples. In the Pavilion, a copper sculpture of Sakyamuni is enshrined inside.

Tonight we have a farewell dinner at a local restaurant.

Overnight Tai Garden Hotel 4* or similar (B, L, D)

Day 9 Fly out

We fly to Kunming to catch international flight.

Trip ends.

(B)