Yunnan
China's most diverse province — snow mountains, old towns and 25 ethnic minorities, now a favorite for returning Western travelers.
Best time
March–June and September–November
Suggested stay
7–10 days for the classic route
Getting there
Fly into Kunming (KMG); high-speed rail links Kunming–Dali–Lijiang (~2–3.5 h per leg).
Don't miss in Yunnan
The experiences Western travelers rate highest here.
Stone Forest (Kunming)
A 270-million-year-old karst labyrinth of razor-sharp limestone shards outside Kunming.
Erhai Lake (Dali)
Cycle the lakeshore past Bai villages and fishing boats beneath the Cangshan mountains.
Lijiang Old Town
A UNESCO maze of canals, cobbles and Naxi culture under the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.
Tiger Leaping Gorge
One of the world's deepest gorges — a legendary two-day trek between 3,900-m walls.
Shangri-La & Songzanlin Monastery
Tibetan plateau monasteries, prayer flags and yak-butter tea at 3,200 m — the 'Little Potala'.
Keep exploring
More destinations at the same level of the journey.
Hangzhou
West Lake perfection an hour from Shanghai — the landscape that defined Chinese ideas of beauty for a millennium.
Suzhou
The classical garden city — 2,500 years of canals, moon gates and scholar aesthetics, 30 minutes from Shanghai by rail.
Huangshan (Yellow Mountain)
Granite peaks above a sea of clouds — named to the New York Times' 52 Places to Go in 2025, now 2.5 h from Shanghai by high-speed rail.
Harbin
China's ice city — a Russian-built winter wonderland whose Ice and Snow Festival took over Western social media.