Day 1 Kunming-Stone Forest -Yuanyang (-/L/D)
08:30am pick up from your hotel in Kunming , then drive to the Stone Forest (85 km, 1.5-2 hrs). An extremely rare geological phenomenon dating back to 270 million years ago, the Stone Forest is 80 hectares of karst limestone pillars in fantastic shapes that resemble a forest viewed from a distance. It is also home to the Sani tribe, a branch of the diverse Yi minority renowned for their diligence, embroidery and dancing. After lunch , drive 300 kilometers, or 5.5-6 hours to Yuanyang. Populated 1.3 million in Yunnan, Hani minority single out themselves in their traditional costumes with silver accessories and mud brick house roofed with pine leaves that look like mushrooms from a distance, Yuanyang is now attracting more and more attention of overseas tourists for its unparalleled terraced paddies and diversified ethnic cultures of the Hani, Yi, Dai and Yao. Photographing time will be arranged when the sun sets.
Day 2 Yuanyang (B/L/D)
Pick up from hotel. Get up every early in the morning,you'll drive 30KM to visit Doyishu Village and enjoy the sunrise of Duoyishu Rice Terrace Fields when the sun appears above the eastern horizon. The terraced fields are ring upon ring and cascade one by one. They go along the hillside up to the sky. You will see the scenery of the terraced fields from the top of the mountains to the bottom. They are all farms under the sunshine and cloud and mist. The landscape is spectacular. And then, you will visit Qingkou Village and rice terraces where Hani people for generations inhabit. Visit Bada Hani Rice Terrace, Shengcun Market as well. You will enjoy the sunset of Laohuzui Rice Terraces.
Day 3 Yuanyang-Tonghai - Kunming (B/L/-)
Departure early from your hotel in Yuanyang to Kunming ( 7hrs ) on the way , have a stop at Tonghai to visit Xiushan Moutain with an array of traditional Temples and Pavilions in various styles of Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism some of which are from the late Jin Dynasty (265-420). and Xinmeng Village which is the only Mongolian village which inhabited by a Mongol minority left behind by Khengis Khans army over 760 years ago. After arrival, drop off at your hotel in Kunming downtown.
