Searching for Shangri-La (9 Days) We love road journeys. They are by far our favourite way of traveling. We think the world of western China and the countries that border on this region – think Vietnam, Lao, Thailand, Myanmar, for example. On the Road Experiences is all about sharing with like-minded travelers just how beautiful a road journey in these varied lands can be. Now turn the page to find out what we’ve come to love so much… p2 p3 Itinerary Map …where you will travel… p. 006 Yes, it is possible… p. 008 Journey of Discovery… p. 010 Day-by-day… p. 054 In closing... Any car you like, so long as it is an SUV… p. 069 Adventures and discoveries in local cuisines p. 070 What’s included/Best Months to Go... p. 072 Photo credits p. 074 p5 Itinerary Map Day1 Day6 Arrival in Kunming – In and around Deqin – Preparing for Your journey Exploring the foot hills of Meili Snow Mountain... Day2 Dali and Xizhou – Day7 To the heart of the Nanzhao Kingdom Deqin to Shangri-La – Across the Baima National Reserve Day3 to Shangri-La... Xizhou to Shaxi – Drive to Shaxi...a journey back in time Day8 Shangri-La to Lijiang – Day4 On the back roads to Tiger Leaping Shaxi to Tacheng – Gorge... Along the Yangtse into the Three Parallel Rivers region Day9 Lijiang to Kunming – Day5 Life goes on... Tacheng to Deqin – Up and up to the edge of Tibet p6 p7 Yes, it is possible... A driving holiday in this part of the world is indeed possible. We take care of everything. All you need to do is come, drive and enjoy a rare adventure! Searching for Shangri-La is a breathtakingly beautiful itinerary that will take you north from Kunming to some of the Yunnan’s less well- known treasures – Xizhou, Shaxi, Tacheng, and Deqin – all the way to the province’s Tibetan region which can lay a reasonable claim to being the home of James Hilton’s fictional Shangri-La! All along this exciting route you will enjoy the best accommodation available – staying in some of Asia’s loveliest hotels – and travel through an area steeped in the cultures of many different ethnic minorities and through some of the region’s most stunning countryside. On the Road Experiences has paved the way for you to cross borders in your own properly insured SUV, so that you can enjoy the romance of a classic overland journey without any of the logistical headaches that typically accompany such journeys... p8 p9 p11 Awaking in China’s RURAL COUNTRYSIDE…” Sunrise in Xizhou p13 Take a lake shore DRIVE and enjoy the BEAUTIFUL sunset reflections…” Lake Erhai, Xizhou, near Dali p15 Stepping BACK in TIME...” A Bai minority village near Shaxi p17p17 Explore SHAXI’s beautiful old town - much of which dates from the MING Dynasty...” Beautiful old town of Shaxi p19p19 A small section of the ANCIENT TEA HORSE TRAIL…” In Shaxi… p21 CHINA as in TIMES GONE BY...” Cobbler and artist in Shaxi... p23 Your JOURNEY in the THREE PARALLEL RIVERS region...” The Yangtze’s upper reaches p25 Lunch in THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE…” In the Tacheng lodge p27 SLEEPING WELL while FAR AWAY from anywhere...” In the Tacheng lodge p29 Visiting the CUTEST MONKEYS in the world…” Yunnan Snub-Nosed monkeys p31 A colourful WELCOME as you APPROACH TIBET...” Tibetan prayer flags p33 What a SUNRISE at the EDGE of TIBET …” Kawagebo peak in the Meili Snow Mountain range p35 Wonderful HIKING, if you like, as a WAY TO RELAX…” In the foot hills of Meili Snow Mountain p37 Along the way, one of the LARGEST MONASTERIES in SOUTH-WEST China…” Shangri-La’s Ganden Sumtseling Monastery p39 RED-ROBED MONKS in Shangri-La...” At the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery p41 A chance to PURIFY YOUR MIND?” Prayer Session at Ganden Sumtseling Monastery p43 STUNNING LANDSCAPES on the way to LIJIANG…” From a back road near Baishuitai p45 The TIGER LEAPING GORGE… where the YANGTZE makes you TREMBLE!” Tiger Leaping Gorge p47 LIJIANG is touristy, but there ARE HIDDEN GEMS to DISCOVER…” Jade Lake not far from Lijiang... Jade Dragon Snow Mountain seen from the Black Dragon Pool, Lijiang… p49 The lovely winding alleys of Lijiang’s old town are a UNESCO World Heritage site...” Lijiang Old Town p51 Where DR. Joseph Rock lived and worked to INTRODUCE northwest YUNNAN to the outside word…” Naxi minority lady in Yuhu, near Lijiang p53 p55 Day 1 Day 2 Tourism is now the mainstay of Dali’s economy, but in years Preparing for your To the heart of the gone by the city was the capital Driving Distance & Duration Driving Distance & Duration journey Nanzhao Kingdom of the Nanzhao Kingdom, which Distance: NA ruled a swathe of what is today Distance: 360 km Arrive in Kunming according to local restaurant near your Duration: NA On your first day, you will Yunnan Province and northern Duration: 4.5-5.5 hours th th your own arrangements. hotel and attend our staff’s drive to Dali and on to Xizhou, Burma between the 8 and 9 centuries AD. safety briefing. Elevation home of the Linden Centre – a Elevation lovingly converted Bai minority We will meet you at the airport Highest Daytime: 1850m From Dali it is only a short drive mansion, where you will stay Highest Daytime: 2000m and transfer you to your hotel. Dinner will be an opportunity to north to the Bai minority village Overnight: 1850m for the night. Overnight: 2000m If you require a temporary begin to acquaint yourself with of Xizhou…a hidden gem in the Chinese driving license, we the many flavours of Yunnan’s countryside. Hotel Today’s route is designed will take you to the hotel via cuisine and to meet your fellow Hotel the Vehicle Licensing Bureau. travellers. Green Lake Hotel (*****) to ease you into driving in Slowly, we’re sure, you will feel Linden Centre (****) All the documents for your mainland China…mostly on your workday stresses ebb as temporary license will be a wonderful highway that you ease into the rhythm of prepared; you will just need to allows us to gain distance from travelling. take a simple eye test and sign Kunming, the capital of Yunnan the forms. province. Yunnan has one of the best After settling into the hotel, road networks in China, as you may want to go for a stroll today’s drive will demonstrate. along the city-center Green After a relaxed start to the day Lake where many locals enjoy you will set out from Kunming relaxing hours. The vicinity of and drive along a world-class the lake bustles with people highway until you reach Dali young and old and throughout – formerly capital of Yunnan’s much of the year is lush green. Nanzhao Kingdom. Depending on the season, energetic migratory birds make The population of the region the lake their temporary home. around Dali is predominantly Bai minority and you will see In the evening, enjoy a group ladies wearing the traditional dinner together in a lovely, Bai headdress all over Dali. p57 Day 3 After driving up through the densely forested slopes of the Drive to Shaxi… a Cangshan mountain range and journey back in time then crossing a 3,000m mountain pass, you will descend into a Today’s destination is Shaxi, picturesque valley where times which lies just a short drive seems to have stopped and you from Xizhou, in a pretty valley on find yourself centuries back when the other side of the Cangshan the Tea Horse Road was in its Mountains that lie to the west of heyday as you drop down into a Dali and Lake Erhai. pretty valley. Driving Distance & Duration Soon after departing from the Shaxi itself is an incredibly well Linden Center you will turn preserved caravan town – spend Distance: 150 km the afternoon wandering its onto a small country road and Duration: 3.5-4 hours into another world, one that is cobbled streets and visiting local characterised by farming, sleepy craftsmen, drive out to see a small Elevation villages and people who live cave complex nearby or simply a way of life that seems to be relax at the hotel, a converted Highest Daytime: 3000m Ming dynasty coaching inn, and changing only very, very slowly… Overnight: 2000m imagine that you are about to set out on the long road to Lhasa… Hotel Landscape Hotel Shaxi (***) p59 Day 4 come to what the Chinese hold further until you come to the and many fruit trees. The semi- 2000 can now be found in the Along the Yangtse into in high regard, the “first bend idyllic hamlet of Hada where, wild boars of the area, which wild. They live at the highest of the Yangtse” where, at a to your great surprise, you will feed on wild nuts before winter, altitude (3,000-4,500m) of any Driving Distance & Duration the Three Parallel town called Shigu, this mighty find a beautiful lodge set in one make the best ham in the world. primate, except for humans. Distance: 210 km river does, indeed, make a of Yunnan’s loveliest regions. Tacheng is also famous for its Rivers region… After arriving at the lodge Duration: 5 hours 150-degree turn and seemingly This lodge, in Tacheng county, rich Tibetan culture and Naxi in mid-afternoon, you will After about an hour and a half begins to flow uphill. is located between the Yangtse and Lisu villages with charming Elevation have time to enjoy the lodge’s of driving on the main road that and the Mekong, where some distinctive black-roofed surroundings and at least get Highest Daytime: 2000m leads from Yunnan to Tibet (the You will continue along of the best old-growth forests farmhouses.