“Guilin in Yunnan” & “Lost Shangri-La” with Karst Landscape & Idyllic Rural Scenery
The famous Chinese poet called Tao Yuanming, a perfect example of "the true lover of life", has described an ideal peaceful land for living "a forest of peach blossoms stretching for several hundred paces along both banks of the waterway, a fresh and pleasing scent of fragrant grass, fallen peach blossoms scattered about in abundance, small cave in the side of the mountain." This Xanadu is real and it is in Puzhehei and Bamei area in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province.
Puzhehei Scenic Area belongs to typical Karst landscape with numerous limestone peaks, karst caves and natural lakes which is different from the feel in Guilin. Traveling here, you'll get true meaning of living - the harmony between human and nature, human and animals. Your soul will relax, your mind will travel freely and your eyes will be feasted with breathtaking scenery. The best time to see the peach flowers is in spring (early-March to mid-March) and to appreciate lotus flowers is in summer (June, July and August).
Highlights of this tour
Welcome to Kunming, the Spring City of China! Upon arrival at the Kunming airport/train station, the local tour guide and driver will meet you in the arrival hall and escort you to your hotel and help you check in. (Please note: to take the afternoon itinerary, you'd better arrange flight or train landing in Kunming before 10:00.)
In this afternoon, you’ll take a visit to Yunnan Nationalities Museum for a wonderful understanding of the 25 ethnic minority groups in vast Yunnan. This largest minority museum in whole Asia boasts a collection of over 20 thousand pieces (units) of precious cultural relics to show you the beautiful costumes, diverse ethnic festivals, daily life scenes, exquisite musical instruments, brilliant cultural texts, and so on to know the essence of Yunnan culture!
Later, visit the famous Western Hills which is called “Sleeping Beauty Hills”, looking like a beautiful young lady lying beside Dian Lake (the largest freshwater in Yunnan and famed as the “Pearl on the Plateau”). It is a particularly pleasant experience to walk in such verdant forest mountain park with elegant sightseeing and a series of cultural relics and sites, including some old temples. You will not miss the symbolic visit to the magic Dragon Gate as it says “If you do not visit Western Hill, you haven't visited Kunming; if you do not come to Dragon Gate, you haven't been to Western Hills”, where to admire the colorful old grottoes on the wall and catch the panoramic view of the large peaceful Dianchi Lake and Kunming City. (You can visit the temples if interested. Huating Temple and Taihua Temple are included in the ticket.)
After the tour, drive back to your hotel.
After breakfast, drive 85 km to the typical Karst landform - Stone Forest. As the “Essence of World Karst Landform”, Stone Forest has been listed as the UNESCO World Natural Heritage with the incomparable coverage of 12 square kilometers’ stone pinnacle groups. Take the sightseeing bus to visit the Greater Stone Forest Scenic Area to admire the typical concentrating cinerous stone pinnacles by walking through the maze of stone peaks and jumping high for the panorama of the forest of protruding stone peaks. Also, you will see the famous peak on many photos and even stones towering over 40 meters. Then, continue to ride the bus to explore the Lesser Stone Forest to closely look at the iconic stone “Ashima” like a young lady, listen to the touching love story of Ashima, and fill your eyes with the emerald garden-like park of wilder stone peaks surrounded by lush green plants and blossoms. Take the sightseeing bus to exit the scenic park.
After the discovery, drive back to Kunming downtown for a cultural visit to Yuantong Temple that is one of the top oldest Buddhist temples in Kunming with more than 1,200 years’ history. Take your stroll there to feel the rich Buddhist atmosphere of three Buddhist sects filling the antique halls and houses specially designed into a traditional Chinese garden layout for a quite different appreciation of temple in China.
Then, walk to Kunming Green Lake nearby. This pretty park with a lovely lake, old-styled pavilions, corridors, flowers, etc. is the most popular place for an authentic feeling of local Kunming people’s leisure life with citizens singing, dancing, talking, exercising, etc. During November to the next March, Black-headed Gulls from Siberian will never be late to fly there for their expecting comfortable warm winter holiday. Do not miss playing with those adorable and vigorous elfin during your relaxing roam!
After breakfast, be driven to Puzhehei by private car (about 326 kilometers, around 4 hours). Welcome to Puzhehei, known as “Guilin in Yunnan” with amazing karst landscape. Upon arrival, you will be picked up at the arrival hall of Puzhehei Railway Station and escorted to Puzhehei Scenic Area for sightseeing. “Puzhehei” in Yi language, means “a pond teeming with fish and shrimp” and this scenic area mostly consists of clusters of limestone peaks, karst caves, natural lakes, blossom lotuses, and idyllic Yi villages. If you come in spring, you will see lots of peach trees in blossom and if you come in summer (June, July and August), you can appreciate large scale of lotus flowers on the lake.
You’ll take a canoe trip from Pucaotang Pier to sail through winding clear water with beautiful limestone peaks and lively villages along each side. Enjoy breathtaking scenery along the way and disembark at Qinglongshan Pier. Climb about 20 minutes to reach the top of Qinglong Mountain (1555 meters) to have a panoramic view of the whole area which looks like a pastoral Chinese painting unfolding before your eyes. Then, enjoy a short visit to Kwan-Yin Cave and Torch Cave. Later, enjoy amazing sunset at Xianrendong Village or Puzhehei Village.
Stay overnight in Puzhehei.
Note: High speed train from Kunming to Puzhehei is available, taking about 75 minutes. To provide better experience in Puzhehei, we suggest to use our private car instead of bullet train at present.
After breakfast, you will enjoy some merry time for a trip to the peaceful Swan Lake which is also located in Puzhehei Scenic Area. This place shows you great harmony between human and nature, as well as human and animals.
After the tour, be driven about 170 kilometers (about 3.5~4 hours) to Bamei Village, a real Xanadu in China and regarded as another “Lost Shangri-La”. Enjoy a boat trip to sail into this hidden utopia through a dark limestone tunnel called Taoyuan Cave, taking you to go back in time. After ten minutes, the Bamei Village comes into view which is as beautiful as Chinese writer Tao Yuanming described. People in the village belong to the Zhuang ethnic group and Bamei means “cave in the forest” in Zhuang language. Visit Bamei Village and the Big Banyan Tree and enjoy the simple life of Zhuang people. If lucky, you could enjoy singing and dancing performance as well as attend the local market. (Peach Blossom Time Note: The best time to appreciate peach flowers is in spring usually around early March to mid-March.)
Stay overnight at Bamei Village (please note the accommodation is very basic tonight).
After breakfast, enjoy some quiet time to walk around Bamei Village and visit Bamei River. Take the relaxing boat to get out of the village from Tangna Cave.
After the tour, be escorted to Puzhehei Airport or Puzhehei Railway Station for a flight / train to next destination. Service end!
Departure Ideas: Travelers can take flights from Puzhehei Airport to Kunming, Nanning, Chengdu and Chongqing with limited schedules. Or, you can take high speed train to Kunming (about 1 hour and 20 minutes) and Nanning (about 3.5 hours).
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