Day 1: Arrival

Arrival with the night flight to Chengdu. Before boarding on our connection flight to our final destination in Shangri-La, we enjoy some refreshments at the Airport Hotel. We start the triip at a high altitude. Shangri-La, where we land, is located at 3,200 meters altitude, in a picturesque landscape. We arrive in the evening after our long journey and enjoy our first delicious dinner at our luxury 5-star Songtsam Retreat. (2 nights)

Day 2: Shangri-La (Dêgên)

After breakfast, we explore the first part of the “Tea Route” through the tea-and-horse caravan trail. This trail has been the crossroad for the finest teas from Yunnan, travelling to Tibet. From there, the view on the city and the surroundings is outstanding. In the afternoon, we visit the greatest Tibetan monastery of the Yunnan province, the Songzanlin Monastery.

Day 3: Tiger Leaping Gorge / Lijang

Early in the morning, we travel to the Tiger Leaping Gorge. This unique natural beauty gathers many explorers and wildlife lovers from around the world. This huge gorge presents a rare rough beauty. From there, our final destination at 2,300 meters altitude are almost reached – the city of Lijang and its famous Old Town. We check in at our 5-star Crown Plaza Hotel and enjoy some free time in this picturesque old city, which still looks similar to what China was ages ago. For dinner, enjoy some local dishes made of yak meat. (3 nights)

Day 4: Lijang, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

On the next day, we climb up to the top of Jade Dragon Mountains (5,596 meters high) with off-road 4×4 trucks. This road goes along the southest glacier in the entire northern hemisphere on the borders with the Tiger Leaping Gorge. In one of the villages, we visit a shaman from the Yi tribe.

Day 5: Puji Yuhu and Baisha Villages, Lijang

After about 30 minutes drive, we reach the village of Puji where we start our 30-minute walk up to a Puji monastery. There, we meet the monks and share a bit of their tea and their stories from the old days. After that, we visit Joseph Rock’s botanical garden in a Yuhu village. Joseph Rock is a half-Austrian, half-American botanist, who emigrated there 27 years ago. In a Baisha village on our way back to Lijang, we will have the chance to see wall paintings dated back to more than 600 years ago.

Day 6: Lijang, Shuhe

In the morning, we visit the Old Town of Lijang once again, a world Heritage Site.
 In the afternoon, we drive to the district of Shuhe, where we check-in at our 4-Star Huifeng Resort Hotel. From there, one can enjoy the lively city of Shuhe at its own leisure and enjoy a tea ceremony in a traditional tea-house or visit the Black Dragon Pools. (2 nights)

Day 7: Shuhe

We visit the Dongba Culture Museum and then enjoy abundant free time to walk around the great Old Town in Shuhe.

Day 8: Flight to Guiyang

We transit to Lijang Airport to take the 11.10 am flight to Kunming and from there the 14.15 pm flight to Guiyang, the capital of the Guizhou Province (1,200 meters high). Guiyang is also the hometown of our young Tee Master Shi Yu Rou.

We transit to the Guiyang Hyatt Regency Hotel where we spend the next five days until departure. Dinner is at the hotel

Day 9: Huangguoshu Waterfalls, Tianxinggiao Natural Park

We start our day early and make our way to the Tianxingqiao Natural Park. In the Park, you will see giant bamboo trees, stalactite caves, beautiful creeks and natural pools, deep gorges as well as great botanic flowers.

At the end of the day, we drive to the Huangguoshu Waterfalls, the biggest waterfalls in Asia and a spectacular natural beauty. Dinner is at the Hotel.

Day 10: Hefeng, Cloud Mountain Tea Garden

After a one-hour-and-half drive, we arrive in the idyllic district of Hefeng, where the historical city of Hefeng is situated. After another 10 kilometers drive, we finally reach Cloud Mountain Tea Garden. We explore the Tea Garden and its luxury vegetation, which makes those teas so particular. We enjoy our lunch in this beautiful scenery before returning to the hotel in the afternoon.

Day 11: Guiyang

After the exotic excitements of the previous day, we enjoy relaxation. In the morning, we observe locals having their morning gym. We learn more about the local minorities and their culture and finally visit the Jiaxiu Pagode. We come back to the hotel after a visit to the municipal park.

Day 12: Qingyang

In the morning, we visit the old military city of Qingyang, about an hour away from the city of Guiyang.

Back in Guiyang, we enjoy some time with our Tea Master who teaches us all about Tea and its great history.

Day 13: Flight back from Guiyang to Chengdu and destination of Origin

We check out and make our way to the airport. We fly back to destination of Origin through Chengdu International Airport.

Please find above the road trip. Small changes might occur.

We are accompanied at our tour by:

• our English-speaking guide
• our sweet Tea Master Shi Yu Rou
• local guides