Yunnan Holidays

What is the best option for Yunnan holidays?

So where to go and what to see in Yunnan? The provincial capital of Kunming will likely feature on your itinerary and it's one of China's more manageable cities. Low-rise (well, relative to many cities in China), low key and laidback Kunming is worth a short stay to explore its ancient temples and not so ancient craft breweries.

Aside from the capital, we'd recommend visiting the lakeside town of Dali, once a western backpacker fixture and now a favourite for domestic tourism, but still a soulful setting where fishermen fish with their cormorants.

Further north in Yunnan is the charming old town of Lijiang (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), but again local tourism has blossomed so the streets can be crammed. As so often (and in keeping with our regular mantra) if you nip one or two cobbled lanes parallel to the main drag you may well find yourself away from the hordes. Even better, we can arrange trips out of the city entirely and up the surrounding valleys where you will definitely experience beautiful solitude.

Keep heading north and you come to first the picture (and hike) perfect Tiger Leaping Gorge and then Xianggelila, the inspiration for the literary creation of Shangri-La: the mythical perfect valley and city; to the extent that the Chinese authorities have actually renamed the town Shangri-La. As before, our guides can get you off the beaten track with walks in the surrounding countryside.

For more picture-perfect scenery, this time quintessential rice paddy terraces, head south of Kunming to Yuanyang. Keep going and you're into hill country home where you can hike to visit hill tribes closely related to those across the border in Laos and Sapa in Vietnam.