Day 1 Morning – Pick up at Lijiang airport, transfer to downtown Lijiang

12:30pm- Lunch in Shuhe Old Town and spend the afternoon exploring Naxi culture.
1:30pm- We will split into stations and walk through Shuhe Old Town in a hands-on experience where we get to learn about Naxi culture up close.
Station A: Naxi embroidery workshop
Station B: Walking tour in old alleys with Naxi history talk on architecture
Station C: Explore the Dongba writing system
4:30pm- Naxi Shaman dance performance
5:30pm- Transfer to Authentic Naxi style dinner
7:30pm- Arrive at Hotel or local guesthouse and check in. Settle into hotel and rest

8:30am – Eat breakfast at hotel in Lijiang
9:00am – Depart hotel, Drive 97km (1 hour and 40 min.) to Shaxi Old town
11:30am – Check into your historic homestay in Shaxi, eat a local lunch with the Bai people.
1:00pm – Explore Shaxi old town and market, take a relaxing bike ride through the countryside and the cobblestone streets OR explore the many shops and the old stone arch bridge
3:00pm – Bai cultural activities around a restored temple
5:30pm – Travel to the the Old Theatre Inn for a night of local dishes and historic performances
8:30pm – Return to homestay for a great nights sleep

8:00am – Eat breakfast in guesthouse
9:00am – Enjoy the morning to sip coffee in the courtyard of your hostel and find new treasures among the winding alleys of old Shaxi. After this take a hike up Shibaoshan to discover a very old temple situated in the mountains over Shaxi town.
1:30pm – Lunch in Shaxi
3:30pm – In the afternoon, drive back to Lijiang
6:30 pm – Dinner in Lijiang
8:00pm – Sleep at a hotel in Lijiang

8:30am – Eat breakfast in hotel
9:00am – Drive 90km (2 hours) to Tiger Leaping Gorge, along the way you will see the first bend of the Yangtze River.
11:30am – View the Gorge from the road with dramatic cliffs under Jade Dragon Snow Mountain
12:30pm -Eat lunch near Tiger Leaping Gorge
1:30pm – Hike the first half of Tiger Leaping Gorge, starting at Naxi Family Guesthouse. Our hike will be 10.5km (about 4 hours) mostly uphill through the gorge and will take us upward through the famous 28 Bends that lead to the highpoint of the trail.
5:30 pm – Arrive at guesthouse, clean up and sleep in Tiger Leaping Gorge
7:00pm – Local style dinner at our stone guesthouse
8:00pm – Sleep in our guesthouse

8:00am – Eat breakfast in guesthouse with an incredible view over Tiger Leaping Gorge
9:00am – Start our descent down to Tina’s Guesthouse. Today’s hike will take us down through the gorge trail and past some stunning waterfalls as we descend back down to the river level over about 4 hours of hiking.
1:00pm- Arrive at Tina’s Guesthouse for a nice hot lunch and a cool drink.
2:00pm – Drive 2 hours to Lijiang
4:30pm- Check into hotel in Lijiang, clean up and rest.
6:30pm -Eat dinner in Lijiang
8:30pm – Sleep in hotel in Lijiang.

8:00am – Breakfast at hotel
9:00am- Take the short drive out of town to visit Ganden Songzalin Monastery, the largest Tibetan monastery in Yunnan Province, aka “The Little Potala Palace”
12:30pm- Lunch in Shangri-La
1:00pm -Walk around Dukezong Ancient Town, an important town own the ancient Tea Horse Trade Caravan.
3:30pm -Walk to the top of Guishan Hill to see the largest prayer wheel in the world and to get a great panoramic view of Shangri-La below
7:30pm – Sleep in hotel in Shangri-LA

8:30am – Eat breakfast at hotel
9:00am – Spend the day at Bita Lake and Shudu Lake in Pudacuo National Park. This area contains over 20% of Chinas plant species and 30% of its mammal and bird species.
5:30pm – In the afternoon, return to hotel in Shangri-La
6:30pm – Final dinner in Shangri-La
8:30pm – Sleep in hotel in Shangri-La

8:00am – Eat breakfast in hotel
9:00am – Relaxing morning to explore Shangri-La then a 1 hour drive to Shangri-La airport

Depart Shangri-La airport and tour ends.