I had a nice inspection trip with our dear and kind clients from the Netherlands in Yunnan Province from 12 to 18 April 2018. During the trip, we checked some hotels and experienced some tours that we could offer to the customers. And indeed, we found some nice hotels and charming tours there.

2018-4-12 Zhoucheng Village and Xizhou Town, Dali

If you want to experience the local culture in Dali Bai peoples area, then the tie-die is what you have to experience. There are some local tie-die workshops in Zhoucheng Village near Dali Old Town (about 30 minutes by car). But due to limited time, you can only experience the simple ones. If you want to do something more beautiful and complicated, then I think you need to stay here for at least a while to make it possible. In addition, there is a local market in the village. I think youll be attracted to many things you havent seen there. Even though Ive lived in Yunnan for four years, there are still a lot of things I dont know. You will love it because you can meet the friendly local people and experience the real local life. Of course, if you want, you can try some local snacks in the market.

After visiting Zhoucheng Village, we went to Xizhou Old Town, about 20 minutes drive along Erhai Lake. Xizhou Old Town, quiet and elegant, is not as busy and crowded as Dalis Old Town and Lijiangs Ancient Town. So if you want to experience a quiet pastoral life in the Dali area, come to Xizhou.

2018-4-13 Dali-Lijiang 3-3.5hrs public bus

After 3.5 hours on the public bus I arrived in Lijiang. This was not my first time in Lijiang, I came here to meet one of our clients and then check out some hotels in the ancient town. The Ancient Town of Lijiang at night is quite different from the one in the morning, the Ancient Town at night is noisy and in the morning it is so quiet. You should experience the big difference there.

2018-4-14 Lijiang-Shangrila 3.5hrs drive

Early in the morning I left Lijiang for Shangri-la to meet our lovely Bea. On the way, I came across an amazing farm with a beautiful landscape. It was a beautiful scene that we absolutely cant see in the high-rise city. But the temperature was very low there, it was so hard to imagine that the temperature in Zhengzhou was 20 degrees higher at that time. You cannot imagine how big our China is.

In the afternoon we cycled to Songzanlin Monastery, a 30-40 minute ride. There were no dedicated bike lanes all the way, so we had to be very careful parallel to all kinds of vehicles on the road. But it was so nice because you were in a Tibetan town, with the local people. You will enjoy the bike ride.

After the visit, we walked back to Dukezong Old Town, which was not very crowded, perhaps because it was off-season. Dukezong Old Town is the best-preserved Tibetan dwelling in China and the centre of the Ancient Tea Road. Duke Zong" in Tibetan means "white stone city" and "moon city" because most of the houses are made of white stones.

2018-4-15 Shangri-la -Shaxi (4.5hrs driving)-Dali (2.5hrs drive)

We left Shangri-la early in the morning and arrived 3.5 hours later at Shibaoshan, where we wasted a lot of time in the small caves looking for the wild monkeys. But we didnt think it was worth visiting for the clients. Its just the scenery on the way, and the more charming ancient city of Shaxi awaits.

Shaxi Ancient Town is a real ancient town with a long history and still retains the most primitive architectural features. You can see the ancient temple, ancient stage, ancient shops, horse shops, ancient red stone streets, 100-year-old trees and ancient roads. If you walk around the old town in the early morning with its yellow mud walls, I am sure you will love it. It is so peaceful and comfortable. You can just stay here and relax. Shaxi is very small and can be finished very quickly, but you will never want to leave. Youll love every inch of this place.

2018-4-16 Dali-Kunming (normally 5hrs driving), via Haishe

In the morning we checked out some hotels in the old town and then went to Haishe (part of Erhai Lake) in Xizhou town for a quick visit. We thought this was the most beautiful part of Erhai Lake, which is not to be missed in Dali.

Then we were taken to Kunming. It was supposed to be a five-hour drive, but it took us eight hours to get to Kunming because of a huge traffic jam on the way. My dear Bea said its almost time to fly from Amsterdam to Beijing.

2018-4-17 Kunming-Dongchuan, 3hrs drive

Dongchuan Red Land in Yunnan Province is considered by experts to be the most impregnable red land in the world except Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and its landscape is more magnificent than that of the Brazilian red land. The best time for photography in the Red Land is from May to June and from September to December. Besides, the snow-covered landscape in winter is also beautiful. You can see the different landscapes in different seasons. Maybe we didnt see this spectacular colour because the season wasnt right. But standing here, we can imagine how spectacular it will be in the right season. And I believe that if you can stay here for one night and see a sunset and a sunrise, it will be a worthwhile trip.

2018-4-18 Flight to Zhengzhou / Beijing

I returned to the office and Bea went to Beijing to meet Danny and Angie, then had an amazing trip to Jiankou Great Wall.

By Leena - Charmission Travel