An Exceptional Adventure in Northwest Yunnan
6-Day Lijiang to Shangri-La Adventure Tour
Lijiang and Shangri-La could well be Yunnan destinations that are most full of the explorer's spirit. This is not only because the great explorer Joseph Rock pioneered the atmosphere of adventure there, but also because the awesome landscapes and the old and mysterious cultures create a natural and cultural adventure for travelers today.
In this 6-day Lijiang to Shangri-La tour, you will visit the must-sees in an off-the-beaten-path way and also experience the local culture in the aspects of religion, art, food, and lifestyle.
Tour 'Wow' Points
Discover a Hidden Valley of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain
Skipping the cable car and tourist crowds, you will hike through the bushes, wade across a little stream, and enjoy the exclusive views of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain that only hikers can.


Explore a Hidden Fairyland of Purple Azalea (option for tours in May)
Enjoy a leisure walk on the purple meadow. The yaks might be wandering around the beautiful plateau lake.


Lie down on an Alpine Meadow with a Breathtaking View of Haba Snow Mountain
Discover a hidden treasure on Haba Snow Mountain, which is unknown to 99% of tourists. You will be jealous of the yaks living on this meadow! It is unbelievable that Haba Snow Mountain and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain can be seen so superbly at the same time.


Visit a Non-Public Dormitory of Songzanlin Monastery
Talk with a local Tibetan lama in his dormitory's study room, which is not normally open to tourists. If you are lucky, you might meet a living Buddha!


Discover the Mystery of Prayer flags at Songzanlin Monastery
Experience a Tibetan ceremony of blessing behind Songzanlin Monastery, which is not seen by ordinary tourists. Leanr how the local people pray toward sacred Songzanlin Monastery.


Walk in a Tibetan Family's House
Avoid the commercial house tours and visit a traditional Tibetan family's house near quiet Napa Lake. There, you will enjoy some homemade Tibetan snacks and friendly conversation.


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98.8% Positive Customer reviews among 10,000+


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We love China
From the beginning we had a trustfull knowlegeable base of communication, started with Lukas the tour advisor and guide around Guilin and continued with the other guides in the other locations. Shanghai FU, Zhangjiajie Emili, Xián Juanli, Kunmimg Nen ,Lijiang Luzhuoying, Chongqing ??, Yangtze, Haikou ?? and Beijing Chengang. We were totaly positivly impressed about the overall service during our time in China. We felt save and wellcomed at any time. We had every day our individual highlight. For example, breathless nature, extraordinary hotels, historical buildings and places, well tasting food and social contacts on the streets. All our tour guides and drivers made a professional customer orientated job and supported us in the best possible way. Even if we want to make changes on short notice they made it happen. We spent a remarkable and unforgetable time in China and been very thankful to China Highlights to create this moments in time for us. more
Jun 2023,
Karlheinz Potuznik
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Unforgettable Yunnan!
Jack Li , our tour guide at LiJiang, took great care of us when we climbed Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and suffered high altitude issues. At Dali, our tour guide Nancy Li doubled up as our photographer and speaks excellent English and entertained us with her rich knowledge of Chinese history. We had a wonderful time. more
Apr 2023,
April Lee
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Thank you for such a wonderful traveling experience!
We have Jack Lee in our Lijiang trip he was such a considerate and kind tour guide. He is very knowledgeable and he accommodated all our requirement. We were fortunate to have such a nice local tour guide. I had altitude sickness and he really cared. Our private driver Mr Tang is very safe and patient. He is compliant and cares for our safety all the time. He is very humorous and gave us so much laughter. He was also very caring towards me. more
Apr 2023,
Hazel T
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Cultural and scenic beauty second to none!
I would highly recommend this tour to Lugu Lake to everyone and anyone! The tour guide Jack taught me more in two days about minority cultures, Chinese history, and the amazing natural history and geography of Yunnan and the Lijiang area. As well, the drive to Lugu Lake requires an expert - and Mr Wang is an expert! (From someone who has crossed the Rockies at least 20 times) As a single woman travel who still doesn’t have great Chinese it was a flawless experience - from the communications, accommodation and breathtaking scenery and cultural experiences. Please book and go! more
Feb 2023,
Connie VH
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We have been travelling around Yunnan…
We have been travelling around Yunnan Province for 8 days and it’s been amazing. The culture, the food, the people’s kindness, all these things made our trip unforgettable. Especially our guide Nancy! The most helpful and friendly guide we could have. We really appreciate her knowledge about the local history and the culture. She’s really amazing and we strongly recommend her services. more
Mar 2022,
Danielle Toledo
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Awesome Yunnan trip with Nancy
We had a 6-day tour with guide Nancy around Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La in Yunnan. She’s very professional and experienced guide that made our tour far exceed expectations. It was a pleasure to have her as our tour guide. We strongly recommend her. Thank you! more
Mar 2022,
Rodrigo
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One of the best things I’ve done in China
One of the best things I’ve done in China. Being that I am pretty well traveled in China this Experience was so different from the others. Each city provided a different aspect of the culture, local traditions and beauty that China has to offer. Our Tour guide Nancy was amazing as she made our itinerary very well constructed and organized. She was there to make sure we were comfortable and happy. Her hyper energy and cheerfulness made us feel enthusiastic for the day. We are very satisfied with this trip and Nancy’s services that we will be sure to book again. more
Feb 2022,
RoshR
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Lijiang Trip July 2021
Kudos to Alisa Liu from the agency who I must say was on hand almost 24/7 for requests and queries. Even though our trip was marred with the onset of the Typhoon In Fa with various flight and train cancellations but Alisa was quick to arrange for alternative solutions under the circumstances and made the most effort to make our journey as comfortable as possible whilst we made our way back to Shanghai. As for the itinerary, Alisa understands her clientele’s different needs very well and for the most part my expectations were met. I love private tours with a very relaxed itinerary and comfortable accommodation and some of us prefer more exclusive accommodation vs a packed itinerary trying to go to a hundred location type of tour. more
Aug 2021,
Ida Suriani
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Summer holiday in Yunnan
After spending 5 nights in Dali visiting sights in our own time, Alice who was very friendly and helpful, accompanied us on our drive from Dali to Lijiang. She shared interesting facts about the local area and the things we had done. In Lijiang, we met our guide Peter. Peter did an amazing job taking care of us and showing us the beautiful sights for our 3 days. He was so kind, providing us with snacks each morning and always ensuring the food met my dietary requirements. He even picked up our last minute NAT results that we did before our departure late at night! His passion and dedication to his job was very impressive, and we would highly recommend him to our friends. more
Aug 2021,
O6866ZGlaurag
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Amazing experience in Yunnan
Please bear in mind that booking tickets and actually getting to the sightseeing point is very challenging, especially during peak season. But with the help of our guides everything went smooth and silky. Thank you, China Highlights, for making our first trip to Yunnan an unforgettable and carefree adventure. It was a true relaxation without any headache or stress. We had nothing to worry about, except enjoying breathtaking beauty of Yunnan. more
Jul 2021,
olya84
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Natural landscapes are everything
I visited Lijiang during the Spring Festival and I thought it was gonna be packed with people but my guide always knew were to take me to avoid crowds. I had a great time, my guide was very knowledgeable and answered all of my questions with gusto. I’m very happy with my trip. --lunarcicles,Buenos Aires, Argentina more
Feb 2019,
lunarcicles
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Thank you 施小梅(shixiaomei)
My family and I had the pleasure of 施小梅(shixiaomei)‘s tour guide services in Dali and Shaxi. She was attentive, caring, knowledgeable about local history and constantly walking the extra mile to give us a wonderful experience. We have enjoyed our stay in Dali and Shaxi because of her. more
Aug 2023,
Molly
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Wonderful trip to Dali
Our trip to Dali was led by Daisy. It was such a beautiful city, rich in nature, culture, history, and of course good food. We were really lucky to be paired with Daisy - she was such a warm-hearted, thoughtful, and flexible guide. She was incredibly attentive to our energy levels throughout the day, knew so much about Yunnan’s history, and even led us tea tasting when it wasn’t originally on the itinerary. We are grateful for the chance to visit the beautiful Dali and to have Daisy guide us, and we would definitely use China Highlights for future trips more
Jul 2023,
Amy Y
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Nancy Lee - China Highlights , Professional Guide
I am impressed by Nancy Lee’s professionalism. She has high energy , thoughtful , eloquent and resourceful and execute well in all our requests . She is detailed and highly recommend her excellent service to all who visit Yunnan . To add on, Nancy has excellent skills in photo taking! Driver Tang is very helpful , thoughtful and has a great sense of humour . I enjoyed my Dali , Shaxi trip from 17-20April 23 and will definitely engaged Nancy more
Apr 2023,
Beautifoo
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Enjoyable and memorable trip
Personally, we are very happy and fortunate to have Nancy been appointed as our dedicated local guide to both, Shaxi and Dali. Nancy is very professional, helpful, resourceful and thoughtful guide which made our ladies’ trip a very enjoyable and memorable. We love ? her. more
Apr 2023,
Jane Foo
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Unforgettable Yunan trip
We have a wonderful tour guide Ms Nancy Lee who make our trip so memorable. She is so knowledgeable with China History, a great facilitator.and very professional. Nancy is very accommodative and goes all way out to make our trip a fun and interesting. We will also want to express our gratitude to Mr Tang, our driver who is so attentive, makes us laugh and entertain us with great songs and jokes. They looked after us on a five days trip to Shaxi and Dali. We will definitely engage their services again when we are back. Fantastic experience! Highly recommend to use China Highlights. more
Apr 2023,
Patricia T
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Thanks for the memorable experience! I love Dali!
With Nancy as our tour guide, we really get to see a lot of authentic local attractions and taste local cuisine in Shaxi and Dali. She is knowledgeable and provided good advice. We really appreciate her as our tour guide. The driver Mr Tang is a very safe and patient driver. He has also given us a lot of laughter along the way. Very humorous. more
Apr 2023,
Hazel Tan
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A great tour of Dali, a beautiful city!
Our China Highlights tour guide, Grace, was very knowledgeable about the local sites, culture, history, and mythology. She was also very helpful in providing information about transportation between the airport and the hotel, and communicating with the hotel staff in Mandarin when we needed help with that. The activities China Highlights arranged were really fun and worthwhile and the car that took us around made it possible to see the key sites but not waste time trying to figure out how to get to the sites by ourselves. A great tour of a beautiful city! We were highly satisfied. more
Jan 2023,
Nadav Katz
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Stunning nature and beautiful culture
We had a fantastic time traveling with China Highlights to Lijiang, Shaxi and Dali. The dry winter season was perfect without the crowds and with beautiful blue skies most of the time. The first part of the tour we enjoyed with our great guide Lee and for the second part the amazing Daisy took over. more
Dec 2022,
Elizabeth H
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Dali is Delightful with Nancy
A most delightful 3-day trip to Dali was had this past Golden Week thanks to #ChinaHighlights and our most amazing tour guide Nancy! Nancy was able to navigate and keep our travel group of 16 persons on task with a full itinerary including: Shaxi SiDeng Street, Xinjiao Temple, Erhai Lake cruise, a tour of Xizhou (Bai tie-dying and silk art), a cable car ride to Cangshan Mountain, Three Pagodas, and the Ancient City of Dali. Despite several pre-trip COVID-related challenges that included itinerary changes, we were AGAIN in the best of hands with CH, our driver, Mr. He, and Nancy. Dali was absolutely breathtaking and we were so fortunate to have Nancy leading us on a most memorable journey where we met the people of Dali, enjoyed the local fresh foods, along with the most perfect weather - we couldn’t imagine anyone taking a trip to Dali without Nancy! more
Oct 2022,
Erin
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Itinerary Quick Look
Here is a suggested itinerary. We are happy to customize a tour according to your interests.
Meet your private guide at the airport and transfer to your hotel. Explore Lijiang Ancient Town. Discover the splendid history of the Naxi minority. Enjoy a panoramic view of the town from Lion Hill at sunset.
Walk around Yuhu Village where American explorer Joseph Rock lived for 27 years, you will see typical stone houses of the Naxi people and villagers in their traditional dress on their way to their farms or fields. You will visit Rock's former residence and listen to his adventure stories. And then follow in his footsteps in the embrace of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.
Skipping the cable car and tourist crowds, you will hike through the bushes, wade across a little stream, lie down on an alpine meadow, and enjoy the exclusive views of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain that only hikers can.
The hike is about 12.5 km (7.7 miles). There is about 600 meters (2,000 feet) of ascent, and normally people need about 5½ hours.
You will drive from Lijiang to Shangri-La in the morning. On the way, you will stop at magnificent Tiger Leaping Gorge. Listen to the roar of the Jinsha River (upper Yangtze).
After lunch, discover a best-kept secret of Haba Snow Mountain. During a 2-hour hike on an alpine meadow, enjoy exclusive views of Haba Snow Mountain and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.
Continue to Shangri-La by a brand-new highway. Be impressed by the amazing scenery along the way and another super project of China.
Visit the largest Tibetan Buddhist Lamasery in Yunnan, Songzanlin. Discover the beating heart of local Tibetan belief, which reflects the elevated purity and awe of its surroundings.
Visit the dormitory of a lama, which is not normally open to tourists. If you are curious about their lifestyle, religious beliefs, practices, and discipline, this is a great chance to ask a lama face to face. Prepare some questions!
And then you will walk to the back of the monostery to experience a Tibetan ceremony of blessing.
Walk around Shangri-La Old Town in the afternoon. Turn the huge prayer wheel on the top of Guishan hill (if you like) and overlook the old town.
On day 5, you will discover the natural beauty and the life of local people in Shangri-La. The plateau lake and forest are the scenery you cannot miss. You will skip the well-developed scenic areas and just visit the lake and forest, which local people live around.
Explore Nixi Tibetan village. Get close to the daily life of the local Tibetan people and also experience making their famous Nixi black pottery.
Visit a Tibetan family's house. Sit and chat with the host and enjoy some traditional Tibetan snacks.
Driving alongside Napa Lake, you'll see yaks wandering on the grassland, verdant wetlands, and the clouds "floating" on the bright lake.
Private transfer to the airport
Hotel Selection
—the Icing on the Cake
Boutique hotels are recommended to enrich your travel experience.


Price includes:
- Private air-conditioned business car with big windows and ample space
- English speaking local guide
- Activities, hotels, and meals listed in the itinerary
- 24/7 helpline for while you are traveling
Tour code: lj-4
Start planning your tailor-made tour now. Your 1:1 travel consultant will reply within 1 working day.