Capture "God's Palette of Colors"
3-Day Kunming and Dongchuan Red Land Tour
Only the red land in Brazil can rival it. The rich iron deposits in the soil have been gloriously exposed for thousands of years as local people worked on this land generation after generation. This is Dongchuan Red Land — "the palette of colors placed on Earth by God".
On this 3-day Kunming and Dongchuan Red Land tour, you will visit the highlights of Kunming City and then head north for the unique landscape of colorful earth. Enjoy the most artistic sunrise and sunset shoots, and also encounter authentic rural life photo ops on China's greatest red land.
Tour 'Wow' Points
Maximize Your 2 Days to Photograph Dongchuan Red Land at 5+ Viewing Points
Your local guide will take you to the right places at the right times for the big scenic area's best shots.

Prepare your camera and take photos of beautiful views at sunrise and sunset.

Visit the Earliest Guanyin Temple with 1,200 Years of History
Discover the three main branches of Buddhism in one temple: Chinese, Tibetan, and Theravada Buddhism.

You can also burn incense and make a wish (prayer) there like a local.
Record Locals' Daily Life with Your Camera at Green Lake Park
Feel local people's happiness when they dance in traditional dress together.

China Highlights' Special Discovery Experiences
Take some photos of local life at beautiful Beihe Village, which is generally not visited by tourists.


Taste Dongchuan-grown baked potatoes with their 18 home-made sauces and pickles.

Why Choose Us

Your Wellbeing is Our Priority.
- 1-to-1 travel expert
- Vaccinated guides
- Private Rides

Your Trip is Perfectly Planned.
- Less crowded
- Exclusive Exciting Experiences

Your Booking is Risk-Free.
- No cancellation fee (up to 22 days before departure)
- Free changes
Finish Your Booking in as Quick as 1 Day
1. Tell us your dream travel idea
2. Work out your unique plan with 1 to 1 expert advice




98.8% positive customer reviews among 10,000+
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Best Decision Engaging China Highlights - Yunnan
Local guide from Kunming @ 程靖淇 is calm , well mannered and accommodated all the ladies whims and fancies ??as we were very overwhelmed with the harsh afternoon. more
May 2023,
Sherwee
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Excellent Tour of Yunnan
China Highlights prepared an excellent trip for us in Yunnan. Murphy, Frank, Lily and Daniel were amazing! They were kind, knowledgeable and went above and beyond to make our trip enjoyable! We had the same driver for our time in Dali to Shangri-La and he was fantastic. He was kind, respectful and focused on the safety of his passengers! I would absolutely book another trip with these guides and driver. Thank you for a wonderful trip! more
Aug 2021,
Ashley Meadows
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5 stars!
What a memorable and smooth trip with China Highlights! I will most definitely be choosing China Highlights for my next adventure. My friend and I organized two private trips with them back to back, one through Qinghai/Gansu and this one through Yunnan. I give both experiences five stars. As for our Yunnan tour specifically, I believe that this trip is well-worth its value. How awesome is it to just “show up” and have everything organized for you, with friendly guides and drivers to take you where you need to go, explaining all you need to know along the way. The trip was seamless and well-organized, and accommodations were comfortable even when choosing the more economical options. We opted for the 8 day trip (the first and last day of which were arrival and departure, so 6 true days of sightseeing). This included Kunming, Dali, Lijiang, and Shangri-la. If you are okay with a high-paced trip, this is a great option to see the main highlights in a short time. more
Aug 2021,
ruth_charity
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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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Bai-curious in Dali
We had a fantastic time in Dali, our host Alice was very knowledgeable and flexible. She enhanced the good times with her positive and laid back attitude. We learned much about the Bai culture and took part in the torch festival celebration. We had an amazing bike ride round the lake and a memorable trip up the mountain in a cable car. China Highlights and Alice made every part of the tour straightforward and gave us great peace of mind when navigating the COVID rules. We can't wait to visit again in future with family and friends. more
Jul 2022,
Michael H
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Outstanding days in Dali
We have asked China Highlights to organize our Yunnan vacations. Our experience in Dali was outstanding: the program was good, and our guide Carrie Li was wonderful! She made us feel part of the culture, of the history. more
Jul 2021,
Bruno Duarte Alves
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A Day in Dali
We only had one day in Dali. Alice with China Highlights made Dali come alive for us. She explained the clothes, houses and history by taking us to the local market and walking us through the streets of Dali. We visited Dali houses, saw an Embroidery School, an Old Antique Market and the fishing village near the lake. She did a great job showing us Dali and yet keeping us away from crowds and tourist attractions. more
Jul 2021,
244pattm
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Thank you China Highlights
to the wonderful guides including Peter (Lijiang), Baima (Shangrila) and the all-knowledgeable and effervescent Nancy in Dali. It has been a holiday we will remember forever. Thank you China Highlights- we already look forward to booking our next holiday with you. Best wishes, Jo, Brett, Mia (16 years) and Tom (14 years) more
Jul 2021,
joannasQ1065GL
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Lovely Time in Dali
Nancy really went above and beyond to let us try delicious foods, experience local culture, teach us about history and art, and adapt the trip to what we wanted! Everywhere we went was worth going to (local market, silk artisans, horse carriage ride, local lunch with a family, etc). I would highly recommend the experience! more
Jul 2021,
Amy Vernon
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Tour Guide Nancy - amazing!!!
We are finishing our 1.5 day tour with Nancy today, and we are sad to leave her as we head to a new city! She has shown us around her hometown of Dali and it has been such a beautiful experience. Nancy is so friendly, her English is great, and she has been very helpful and flexible. Super sweet woman and we feel so grateful to have had her as our guide, even for just a short time. Nancy did a great job giving us authentic (non-touristy) experiences. more
Jul 2021,
acd1520
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In my recent visit to China, I had the chance to explore Dali and its surroundings. The city of Dali in the South West of China in Yunnan province is a beautiful place. There is nature in abundance and the interesting culture of the Bai and Yi minority people to discover. The highlights for me were the “Three Pagodas”, and walking on the Cangshan mountain after taking the chair lift. After a long day of sightseeing, the delectable flower pastries of the old town added the sweet finish to my day. While the sights were lovely, what made my visit truly special was my guide Daisy in Dali. She was not only knowledgeable, funny and an absolute pleasure to be with but what really set her apart was her very caring nature. For instance as the weather was pretty cold, she advised to visit the mountain in the afternoon which turned out to be a wise decision; to make for a comfortable drive to Shaaxi which is a longish drive, she bought snacks and by many such acts of caring made the trip a wonderful experience for me. I cannot praise her enough and hope that other travelers to Dali are lucky enough to have Daisy as their guide! I am looking forward to going back to Dali one day and hopefully discover more of it with Daisy again! ---36debim more
Nov 2019,
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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. Visit Yuantong Temple, and see the three main branches of Buddhism — Chinese Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, and Theravada Buddhism — meet together there. Walk around Green Lake Park, where you are likely to find local people in traditional dress dancing together. You are welcome to join them.
Drive from Kunming to Dongchuan. Have a lunch in a local restaurant and try the famous snacks of Dongchuan.
The key to touring Dongchuan Red Land (photography-wise) is visiting the right place at the right time. Enjoy the views and take pictures at Luoxiagou and Luosiwan in the late afternoon. Capture the sunset at Wafang Liangzi and catch the sunset glow at Yuepuao after sunset.
See a sunrise at Damakan and then take pictures at Jinxiuyuan and Qichapo. Take the chance to photograph local life in a photogenic and peaceful traditional village — Beihe Village, a place generally not visited by travelers, on the way back to Kunming. Not listed as a Dongchuan attraction, Beihe is an untouched village set against the background of a red-field hill.
We'll get you back to Kunming airport for your departure.
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: km-5
Start planning your tailor-made tour now. Your 1:1 travel consultant will reply within 1 working day.