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10 Days Sichuan-Yunnan Overland Tour from Chengdu to Lijiang
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Features
This one week plus overland tour takes you to see the real Shangri-la! You will have almost two days to explore Yading Nature Reserve for its three saint snow capped peaks, impressive forested valleys with clear rivers, glacier-fed lakes and abundant wildlife. Then continue traveling to Deqin in Yunnan via Xiangcheng and Derong counties to Snow Mountain of Meili, another great holy mountain for Tibetans, the spectacular view at Feilaisi will make the whole trip worthy, hiking to Minyong Glacier at the foot of the mountain is another plus. Afterwards heading to Shangri-la (formerly called Zhongdian County), another main Tibetan Kham culture center, visit the grand Songzanlin monastery in the town and then travel to Lijiang to end this time of travel, with a stop to visit to Tiger leaping Gorge.
Day by Day Itinerary
Arrive in Chengdu
Arrive in Chengdu International Airport. Meet the local guide and transfer to the hotel.
— Chengdu City is mountainous in the northwest area, with plains in the south-east area, and low hills in-between. It has a sub-tropical climate with an annual average temperature of 16.2 degree Celsius, and rainfall of 1.000 millimeters, and a frost-free period of about 300 days. Its mineral deposits include coal, iron, talcum, serpentine, dolomite etc. It abounds in agricultural resources.
Chengdu-Kangding
Drive to Kangding, overnight and sightseeing in Kangding. It is 376Km and 6hrs on the expressway from Chengdu to Kangding While traversing the Western Sichuan Plain, you will arrive at Kangding, the capital city of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in the afternoon. you can appreciate the idyllic scenery and visit the local people. After dinner, enjoy the hot spring at Erdaoqiao.
Kangding-Litang
In the early morning, visit Anjue Monastery-the very first Tibetan monastery on this trip, an rare chance to see their morning ceremony per day! Drive to Litang. Today’s journey from Kangding to Litang will take us approximately 5 hours (306km). At an altitude of just over 4000m, Litang is one of the highest towns in the world (Lhasa is 3700m). Situated high on a grassy plateau, Litang has the feel of a rough and tumble ‘Wild West’ town.
Khampas – dressed in yak skin coats, bedecked in colorful necklaces and hair ornaments, long daggers hanging from their belts – from the surrounding areas amble into town to stock up on food and supplies, play pool on the streets and hang out in the local teahouses. This small town is great for people watching and just strolling around.
You will also visit the famous Chang-Qing-Chun-Ke’er-Si monastery and pay homage to the living Buddha with a personal interview. The monastery here is now home to 1400 Yellow Hat sect monks.
Litang-Daocheng-Yading
Today you will reach the highlight of this journey – Yading Nature Reserve, home of three sacred Tibetan mountains – Chenresig (Avalokitesvara, 6032m), Jambeyang (Manjusri, 5958m), and Chanadorje (Vajrapani, 5958m). Tibetan Buddhists believe that making a kora (pilgrimage) around these mountains brings great merit, and that the three mountains represent compassion, wisdom and energy – attributes one must cultivate on the path to enlightenment. The scenery here easily rivals that of national parks of the west such as Yellowstone and Yosemite in terms of spectacular, pristine mountain scenery. The drive from Litang to Daocheng will take approximately 4 hours (180km), and the trip from Daocheng to Yading (60km) will take approximately 3 hours as much of the road to the park is dirt track. You will spend the night in tent hotel.
Yading Nature Reserve
You will visit beautiful Yading by horseback riding or hiking. From the reserve entrance you will traverse a beautiful wooded pathway leading to a valley set at the foot of the spectacular Mt. Chanadorje.
You’ll pass piles of Mani stones by the side of the pathway and at the base of the Reserve’s most stunning vistas. You’ll also visit Tshonggo Gonpa Monastery (Chonggu Si in Chinese) – a small Tibetan temple, which Joseph Rock nicknamed ‘Bandit Monastery.’ You will continue your hike to the foot of Mt Chenresig, where you’ll ascend a small but steep hill to view a beautiful mountaintop emerald green lake. Local lore has it that this magical lake can reveal your future if you spend a few moments in quiet contemplation by its side. You’ll return to the meadow at the foot of Mt. Chanadorje and spend the night in a tent hotel.
Yading-Daocheng-Xiangcheng-Benzilan
Today you will take a long (5 hours, 290km) but scenic drive to Zhongdian (3,300m, 10,000 ft), a small town on the Tibetan Plateau.
Shangri La is described by James Hilton in his World famous novel “Lost Horizon”. If more and more tourists travel to Shangri La (also call Zhongdian, its former name), this area still preserves a unique and remote atmosphere, also due to the Tibetan minority that keep the place different from the rest of Yunnan. Shangri La is in the center of a famous scenic area where three mighty rivers converge: the Nu River, the Yangtze River and the Mekong River.
Benzilan / Deqin-Feilaisi
Walk to see the famous Jinsha River Bend, then start driving to Deqin by pass White Horse Mountains. Feilaisi is several km away from Deqin, it is the best place to see holy Mt.Meili. Mt. Meili is one of the most sacred mountains of Tibetan Buddhism. ‘Kawa Karpo Peak‘ means the God of Snow Mountain in Tibetan, and is a holy land for worshiping. Pilgrims from Tibet, Qinghai, Sichuan,and Gansu travel to the mountain at the beginning of each winter to worship. Thousands of devout pilgrims worship together and encircle the holy mountain, adding even more mystery and loftiness to the mountain. Overnight at Feilaisi or Deqin.
Feilaisi-Deqin / Shangri-La
On this day, try to get up early and reach Feilaisi Observation Deck (3,470 meters) to capture the incredible scene of golden sunrise shining upon its dramatic snow-capped peaks. (Sunrise time for reference: 06:40-07:40 in spring, 06:25-06:45 in summer, 07:00-07:30 in autumn, and 07:55-08:10 in winter.)
After the magic time, you’ll drive 1.5 hours to Mingyong Village for Mingyong Glacier. It is a long glacier at Kawagebo Peak, stretching from 6,470 meters to 2,600 meters, with a length of 11.7 meters. At over 13 sq km, Mingyong Glacier is not only the lowest glacier in China but also an oddity - a monsoon marine glacier with tundra, taiga, broadleaf forest and meadow. You’ll take a sightseeing bus for about about 4km to Mingyong Glaciers, and continue your visit to Tibetan Taizi Monastery (2,720 meters) - another good spot to view the magnificent Mingyong Glaciers. (Optional: You can choose to walk along the trail to the glacier which would be a little challenging.)
After Mingyong Glacier appreciation, you will do some hiking along the Lancang River Grand Canyon as well as visit some Tibetan villages. This hiking is attractive and exciting. If your energy permits, try to trek back to Feilaisi from the Lancang-Mekong River with a nice view of Meili Snow Mountain and Baima Snow Mountain. Stay overnight in Feilai Temple Scenic Area.
Shangri La-Tiger Leaping Gorge-Lijiang
From Shangri-La, you’ll drive about 100KM to the Tiger Leaping Gorge, the deepest gorge in the world. With 34 rapids of the Yangtze River, it is called the Jinsha in this area because you can find gold in the river.
After lunch continue the driving 50KM more to visit the First Bend on the Yangtze River with imposing gorge scenery, and the Iron Chain Bridge in the Stone Drum Town. The town of Stone Drum got its name from a large, cylindrical, marble tablet shaped like a drum. The scenery is magnificent as the road running through the Lijiang valley which is filled with wheat fields and drying haystacks.
Drive 60KM more to Lijiang. Explore Lijiang Old Town at night.
Departure from Lijiang
Departure from Lijiang
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