Code: YUNNAN07

5 Days Yunnan Tour from Kunming to Xishuangbanna

► Route: Kunming  Guandu Ancient Town  Puer  Tea-horse Road Scenic Area  Wild Elephant Valley  Xishuangbanna  Starlight Night Market  Dai Garden  Manting Park  Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden  Wangtian Tree Scenic Area
Start your travel from Kunming, the provincial capital, to experience its natural beauty, which is the reason why it is known as the ‘Spring City’. Then travel south to Puer, famous for the Pu-erh Tea, and learn about the city's pivotal position on the Ancient Tea-horse Road. Finally, arrive at Xishuangbanna in the southernmost part of Yunnan, where you can enjoy the rich wildlife of the tropical rainforest, and experience the unique culture on the China-Myanmar-Laos border.
Day 1 Kunming Day Tour
You are recommended to arrive in Kunming the day before and stay overnight near the Old Street. In the morning of the first day, visit the Dianchi Haigeng Park and Yunnan Nationalities Village.

Dianchi Lake is the largest natural water wonder and a must-see in Kunming. The Haigeng Park, located on the east bank of Dianchi Lake, is an excellent place to enjoy the lake. Every winter from November to the next March, the lake becomes a paradise for black-headed gulls, where you can feed and watch the birds.
► How to Get There: A taxi from Kunming Old Street to the Dianchi Haigeng Park takes half an hour and costs CNY 30 to 35. Or you can walk to the Jingguo Road station to take bus line 73 to reach the park, which takes 1 hour and 20 minutes and costs CNY 2.
► Opening Hours: All day long
► Recommended Time for a Visit: 1 to 2 hours
► Ticket Price: Free

After enjoying the scenery of the Dianchi Lake, you can go out from the north gate of the park and walk 5 minutes north to reach the south gate of Yunnan Nationalities Village. Here you can learn about Yunnan's various ethnic minorities, such as Dai, Bai, Yi, and Jingpo, visiting their villages and residences while appreciating their performances and folk culture.
► Opening Hours: 9:00 – 18:00
► Recommended Time for a Visit: 2 to 3 hours
► Ticket Price: CNY 90

After lunch, start the afternoon tour of Yunnan Provincial Museum and the Guandu Ancient Town next to it. The Provincial Museum is a great place for you to learn the local history and culture.
► How to Get There: A taxi from Yunnan Nationalities Village to the museum takes 25 minutes and costs CNY 30. Or you can take bus line 24 from Nationalities Village to Taijiahe station and then transfer to bus line K15, get off at Yunxiu Lukou station and find the museum on the southwest. It takes one hour and costs CNY 4 by bus.
► Opening Hours: 9:00 – 17:00 (closed on Monday)
► Recommended Time for a Visit: 2 hours
► Ticket Price: Free

Finally, you can walk 5 minutes north to the Guandu Ancient Town, which has been a thriving commercial and handicraft town since the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1911 AD) and retains rich historical sites.
► Opening Hours: All day long
► Recommended Time for a Visit: 1 to 3 hours
► Ticket Price: Free

Take a taxi to get back to the Old Street in 40 minutes at a cost of CNY 40. If time allows, you can visit the nearby Green Lake Park (Cuihu Park).
Day 2 Kunming to Puer Tea-horse Road
In the morning, take a high speed train to Puer. The train No. C268 or C265 are recommended.

Facts of Train from Kunming to Puer
► Departure: C268 departs at 7:37 from Kunming Railway Station; C265 departs at 8:01 from Kunming South Railway Station
► Arrival: 10:55 at Puer Railway Station
► Duration: 3 hours 18 minutes
► Fare: CNY 148 for a second-class seat; CNY 236 for a first-class seat

Upon arrival, you are recommended to visit the Puer City Museum to know Puer’s fame as one of the largest tea-growing areas in China, the Puer Tea’s history and culture, as well as the local ethnic minorities’ folk customs.

► How to Get There: A taxi from Puer Railway Station to the museum takes 20 minutes and costs CNY 20. If you would like to take a bus to go there, it needs a transfer, taking 1 hour in total and costing CNY 4. You need to take bus line K1 from the railway station to Lingongshang stop, and here change to bus line 4 and get off at Puer Theater stop, which is 8 minutes’ walk from the museum.
► Opening Hours: 9:00 to 17:00 from Tuesday to Sunday; closed on Mondays.
► Recommended Time for a Visit: 1 hour
► Ticket Price: Free

After lunch, head for the Tea-horse Road Scenic Area. The Ancient Tea-horse Road originated from the tea-horse trade in the southwest frontier of China in the late 6th century. It had two routes – the Sichuan-Tibet Road and Yunnan-Tibet Road, both of which extended into Bhutan, Nepal and India, and finally reached West Asia and West Africa. Puer had long been a unique stop of tea production and transfer on the Ancient Tea-horse Road. The scenic area is designed with a loop that shows the history of the ancient tea horse trade in the natural tea mountains. You can take the cableway up to the middle of the hill to enjoy the wonderful osprey show, continue to take the cableway up to the Tang Tea Hall on the top, and then hike downhill to visit various exhibitions and enjoy the natural scenery all the way.
► How to Get There: Take a taxi from Puer Museum to the Tea-horse Road Scenic Area, taking 12 minutes and costing CNY 15.
► Touring Route: Entry  Tourist Center  Cableway A  Show of Osprey Catching Fish  Cableway B  Tang Tea Hall  Song Tea Tower  Yuan Palace Station  Mingpu Tower  Tea King Valley  Horse Caravan Path  Reed Marsh  Exit
► Opening Hours: 8:00 – 16:30
► Recommended Time for a Visit: 2 to 3 hours
► Ticket Price: Free to enter; CNY 15 for single-trip battery car in Tea King Valley; CNY 60 for round-trip battery car in Dingbo Lake; CNY 98 for cable car

Finishing the visit, you can wander around the Tea-horse Ancient City at the exit of the scenic area, which is very busy in the evening. You can enjoy the night view, watch performances, go shopping, and taste the local snacks.
Day 3 Travel from Puer to Xishuangbanna
Visit the Puer Sun River Forest Park first and travel to Xishuangbanna in the afternoon. You are advised to get up early this morning and better set off around 7:00. Take a taxi to the Sun River Forest Park in 1 hour at a cost of CNY 120.
► Highlights: The park features subtropical rainforest scenery with a forest coverage rate up to 91.8%. The forests with rivers and valleys are home to many protected animals such as black bears, wild oxen, green peacocks and macaques. You can experience fun entertainment activities there, such as jungle flight, ropeway, pontoon bridge, and steel rope walking.
► Opening Hours: 8:00 – 16:00
► Recommended Time for a Visit: 3 hours
► Ticket Price: CNY 150 for entrance; CNY 50 for round-trip sightseeing car

After having fun in this park, you are recommended to take a taxi back to downtown Puer to catch a train to the Wild Elephant Valley in the noon. A taxi from the Sun River Forest Park to the Puer Railway Station takes 1 hour and costs CNY 120.

The high speed train No. C303 departing at 13:08 is recommended. Upon arrival at Puer Railway Station, you can have a quick lunch or pack some food onboard for lunch.

Facts of Train C303 for Your Reference
► Departure: 13:08 from Puer Railway Station
► Arrival: 13:42 at Yexianggu Railway Station (Wild Elephant Valley)
► Duration: 34 minutes
► Fare: CNY 32 for a second-class seat; CNY 50 for a first-class seat

Upon arrival, you are recommended to visit the Manzhang Village and the Wild Elephant Valley in the afternoon.

Manzhang Village is a Dai village with a history of more than 500 years. Here you can learn a variety of amazing traditional handicrafts, such as the ancient Dai paper making, pottery making and pattra-leaf carving, as well as experience the bamboo rafting and fishing.
► How to Get There: Take a taxi from the Yexianggu Railway Station. It takes 5 minutes and costs CNY 10.
► Opening Hours: All day long
► Recommended Time for a Visit: 1 to 2 hours
► Ticket Price: Free

Next, the Wild Elephant Valley is highly recommended. It is a great nature reserve where you can get up close with the Asian elephants. You can take the cableway uphill and then hike down the plank road. Along the way you can enjoy the lush forest landscape, track wildlife, watch elephant performances and visit the Asian Elephant Museum.
► How to Get There: Take a taxi from the Manzhang Village to the Wild Elephant Valley. It takes half an hour and costs CNY 60 to 70.
► Opening Hours: 8:00-18:00, entry stops at 17:00; 8:30 to 16:00 for the cableway
► Recommended Time for a Visit: 2 to 3 hours
► Ticket Price: CNY 60 for entrance; CNY 50 for a single trip and CNY 70 for a round trip of the cableway.

There are tourist through buses from the Wild Elephant Valley to Gaozhuang Xishuangjing in downtown Xishuangbanna. The bus takes 1 hour and costs CNY 35. If you miss the last bus, don’t worry. You can take a taxi back to the Yexianggu Railway Station, and catch the last train to Xishuangbanna.

Facts of Train C317 for Your Reference
► Departure: 20:06 from Yexianggu Railway Station (Wild Elephant Valley)
► Arrival: 20:18 at Xishuangbanna Railway Station
► Duration: 12 minutes
► Fare: CNY 9 for a second-class seat; CNY 15 for a first-class seat

Upon arrival, take a taxi to reach the the Starlight Night Market in Gaozhuang Xishuangjing Area. It takes 20 minutes and costs CNY 25. Here you can enjoy the nightlife in the bustling floating market with the Great Golden Pagoda in view.
Day 4 South Yunnan Tour at Xishuangbanna
The Xishuangbanna Dai Garden is recommended for this morning. It consists of the five best preserved Dai villages, namely Manjiang, Manchunman, Manting, Manzha and Manga. Here you can visit Manchunman Ancient Buddhist Temple, learn about the folk customs of Dai people, and join their water splashing carnival.
► How to Get There: Take a tourist through bus from the gate of Gaozhuang Xishuangjing to the garden, taking 30 minutes and costing CNY 20.
► Opening Hours: 8:00-18:00, ticketing stops at 17:00
► Recommended Time for a Visit: 3 hours
► Ticket Price: CNY 65 for entry; CNY 40 for a round trip of the sightseeing car.

After lunch, get back to the downtown area to visit the Xishuangbanna General Buddhist Temple and the Manting Park in the afternoon.

Xishuangbanna General Buddhist Temple is the center of Buddhist worship in Xishuangbanna with the highest ranking. It owns the Weihan Hall and the teaching building of the Buddhist College with magnificent architectural style and delicate carvings.
► How to Get There: Take the tourist through bus from the Xishuangbanna Dai Garden back to Gaozhuang Xishuangjing, taking 30 minutes and costing CNY 20, and then take a taxi to go to the south gate of the General Buddhist Temple in 15 minutes at a cost of CNY 20.
► Opening Hours: 8:00-17:30
► Recommended Time for a Visit: 1 to 2 hours
► Ticket Price: Free

After visiting the temple, exit from the back door and walk to the Manting Park just north of the temple. Manting Park used to be the back garden of the Dai king. With a history of more than 1,300 years, it is the oldest park in Xishuangbanna in a natural village style. There are 8 areas in the park, including the National Culture Square, Vine Plant Area, Tropical Orchid Garden, Peacock Garden, and Buddhist Culture Area. In addition, the ‘Lancang-Mekong River Night’ performance and bonfire party are the biggest highlights of the park and well worth your time.
► Opening Hours: 8:00 to 17:00 for day tour; 18:30 to 21:40 for night tour.
► Recommended Time for a Visit: 2 to 3 hours
► Ticket Price: CNY 40 for a daytime ticket; CNY 280 to 480 for a night ticket, including the entrance fee, campfire party, performance, and buffet dinner.
Day 5 Tropical Rainforest Landscape of Xishuangbanna
On the last day, you are advised to visit the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of Chinese Academy of Sciences in the morning. It is a comprehensive botanical garden integrating tropical scientific research, species conservation and popular science education. As the largest botanical garden in China with the most abundant collection of species, it has three tourist areas including the Western Area, Tropical Rain Forest and Green Stone Forest. There are a lot of plant varieties that will blow your mind.
► How to Get There: You can take a bus from Banna Bus Station to Menglun, which is near the entrance of the garden. It takes 1 hour and costs CNY 25. The bus would pass Gaozhuang Xishuangjing, and you can take it there.
► Opening Hours: 8:00 – 18:00
► Recommended Time for a Visit: 3 hours
► Ticket Price: CNY 80 for entry; CNY 50 respectively for sightseeing car of the west and east areas.

In the afternoon, visit the Wangtianshu Scenic Area, which is the heart of Xishuangbanna's tropical rainforest and the only place in China to experience the rainforest from water, land and air. The most attractive Aerial Corridor features a 34-meter-high suspension bridge built among the trunks of dozens of parashorea cathayensis trees, from where you could overlook the entire tropical rainforest.
► How to Get There: From the Tropical Botanical Garden, you can take a bus to Mengla County, taking 1.5 hours and costing CNY 30 to 35. Upon arrival at Mengla Bus Station, change to another bus to the Wangtianshu Scenic Area in 20 minutes at a cost of CNY 10.
► Opening Hours: 8:30 – 18:00
► Recommended Time for a Visit: 2 to 3 hours
► Ticket Price: CNY 55 for entrance; CNY 170 for a combo ticket A including the entrance fee, single-trip boat tour, and Aerial Corridor; CNY 230 for a combo ticket B including the combo ticket A and a round-trip bus to downtown Xishuangbanna.

After completing the tour, you can return to Xishuangbanna by bus. Then, depending on your own schedule, you can fly from Xishuangbanna Airport to other Chinese cities, or Laos, Thailand, or Cambodia.