Review: Luxury Trip to China, Hong Kong, Guilin, Dali, Kunming, Pudacuo National Park, Li River Rafting, Yangtze River Boating

Our Guilin experience was wonderful. The scenery was amazing and we can imagine returning to this part of the country. The trip to Ping’an village and the dragon backbone terraces were both a great start to the vacation. It would be good to be told ahead of time about the need to pack a small bag of essentials and clothes for the next day before the uphill walk to the village. We were clearly the first to stay in the hotel room as it was not completely finished; the room was clean and the odor of the wood paneling was marvelous. It was a pleasant surprise to have a view of the terraces from our balcony. We loved the dragon backbone terraces; autumn is a great time to visit with the change in color. On arrival, we initially told the guide that hiking in the heat may be too much after our experience in Hong Kong (hiked a strenuous path in 38*C heat), however, it was much cooler in the mountains. The guide took us on a paved commercial path to Longji terraced fields which was a short, easy walk. In hind sight, we would recommend the more strenuous option to Jinkeng terraces. We ended up having a free afternoon in Guilin city instead. We were happy with the change in restaurant locations to experience more local food; this was very much appreciated.

Our day rafting along Li river, hiking up a karst hill and cycling around Yangshuo ecological park really stands out – we loved the activity with beautiful unique scenery and the accommodation in Fenglou village was amazing with great views and food. We will return here!

In Kunming, we were introduced to the many different ethnic minorities and local food – we were unaware of the importance of potatoes in the Yunnan diet. Our guide informed us of a show in the city: Dynamic Yunnan. It was a spectacular show that both my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed; we recommend that you consider it as an option for other visitors. Red lands was impressive; we had a beautiful day. We also had a unique experience at the Stone Forrest since it was Moon Day. Folks warned us about travelling over the national holiday week. However, the traffic was not bad. We were interviewed by two TV channels amongst the national flowers for our perspective on the location. Many locals were dressed in their traditional ethnic attire which was great for a foreign tourist to witness. Our guide in Kunming spoke great English and was an amicable person, however, we would encourage her to turn the sound off on her phone while using WeChat – she was constantly writing and receiving pinging messages (perhaps we are just too old!).

We actually flew from Kunming to Dali but it may have been interesting to drive or travel by train instead. We loved the Linden center traditional courtyard hotel and it’s village setting near Dali. The owner was engaging with plenty of stories to tell; all food was great, however, as a Westerner, the chocolate desert more than fulfilled our chocolate craving. Our guide was the most engaging, thoughtful, funny and responsive guide during our China experience – we loved her and highly recommend her. Our day exploring sites around Dali was active and quite a different experience to the first few days of our trip. We enjoyed seeing more on villages, culture, and temples. We loved the setting of the three pagodas and the Chongsheng temple complex; mountains behind and lake Erhai in front. Wherever we went, Chinese tourists were friendly, wanting to talk with us and have their photos taken with us (perhaps because my husband is so tall!). We loved the atmosphere around the fish market, and meandering around the old Dali town. Although we tried Durian (smelly) ice cream and liked the custard-like taste, the after taste hung around for a long time - it’s not so pleasant when it repeats on you… The traffic on the way to Shuanglang village was bad. Although the village had some old buildings and a theatre painted with beautiful classical Chinese drawings on the side walls, we would probably recommend not taking visitors to the lake-side village until the huge pot holes in the road have been fixed. 

We enjoyed learning about the importance of Shaxi town and the tea-horse road to India as well as being educated in the differences between Deism, Confucianism and Buddhism. The scenery to/from the Shizhong Temple was rural and seeing it in October as the fields had turned golden was quite a site. We would consider October again given the change in season. We also loved the unspoiled mountainous setting of the suspended Baoxiang Temple. It was made more special by meeting a local and his extended family who were making a pilgrimage; the grand-father had been involved in the roof renovation 40-50 years ago.

It was interesting to hear the locals say that Lijiang is the true Shangri La! We found Shuhe old town to be picturesque and conveniently close to Lijiang. Newlyweds clearly loved this place – we have never seen so many couples dressed up in traditional costume posing for their wedding photos. We also enjoyed meandering around the many narrow streets and alleyways in old Lijiang town – it was so clean and well kept. Our tour involved listening to traditional Naxi music – it was interesting to have that exposure but our guide forewarned us that some of the musicians were over 80 and had a tendency to doze when they were not playing – and that was our experience as well! This was very different to the vibrant young life in the old town at night – so many competing bars with live music playing and bright flashing lights and completely full of young people (the crowds may have been due to the fact that it was still the national holiday).

We stayed at a hotel perfectly situated on the edge of the old town of Lijiang where we able to watch the sun rise over Jade Dragon Snow Mountain while eating breakfast - quite a magnificent view. This prepared us for our trip to the mountain. Since the mountain is high, be prepared to take it relatively slowly while climbing the stairs to the glacier and the highest point (4680 m); many tourists brought oxygen canisters with them and still suffered from altitude sickness. We were glad that we had been increasing in elevation as our trip progressed so didn’t suffer. At the base of the mountain, we enjoyed the impressions of Lijiang show performed by ~500 locals in traditional dress – we noticed that some folks were shedding tears as the performers sang local songs – quite an experience in a beautiful setting.

When visiting the Yufeng temple, we joined in the dance with locals who were trying to make some money by singing with enthusiasm. The story of the local who nurtured the old camellia tree most of his life was moving and was more memorable than the temple itself. After a short visit to Baisha village to check out murals and local dye tapestry, we were more than ready for hotel cocktails.

We were glad to stop at the first bend of the Yangtze River and leaping tiger gorge to stretch our legs while on our way to Shangri La. We were impressed at the speed of rebuilding of the old town of Shangri La – other places could learn from that. It was good to see that the town decided to keep old traditional style frontages to the shops and houses. Our guide was extremely well versed in Buddhism which was useful while exploring the Tibetan-style temples. We loved the quiet picturesque farming community (plenty of yaks) and accommodation (Banyan Tree Ringha) – great staff, food, attention to detail and a wonderful bathing experience (the joss sticks and scented oils were a nice romantic touch). As a warning to other visitors, the resort is at 3300 m elevation and the air is extremely dry… there were oxygen canisters in the room for those with breathing issues.

We found Pudacuo National Park picturesque with similarities to landscape in New England. The park bus ride was well organized and the walkways aroud the lake were well maintained. For us, this was more like the scenery near where we live back home. Our last Yunnan experience was the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery; an impressive Tibetan bhuddhist complex. Our guide was enthusiastic when he talked about the monestry, statues and Buddhism.

Our trip ended with a stop-over at the Bund district in Shanghai – so different to everywhere else we visited: A great way to end the vacation. I would recommend our tour to others who like activity and culture… We will be returning to China!