Is it possible to cover a sizeable amount of Yunnan province in just a few days? Find out how we got on backpackpacking through Yunnan, visiting Dali, Lijiang and Tiger Leaping Gorge.
During my time studying languages in China, I was always on the lookout for suggestions on the top places to visit. Interestingly, Yunnan kept popping up near the top.
A close friend and I finally decided to find out what all the fuss was about. We wanted to see how much of the huge province we could fit into the 4 days we had off from university.
Our Yunnan backpacking itinerary looked like this:
Kunming > Dali (1 night) > Lijiang (1 night) > Tiger Leaping Gorge (1 night halfway) > back to Kunming
You may be wondering how the hell we didn’t think was a little optimistic, or even plan for transfers maybe taking a little longer.
What could go wrong with this full-on plan?
Here’s how we got on…
Day 1 – Dali
The flight into Kunming was a breeze. Arriving into the airport however, we couldn’t find an official taxi stand. It was close to midnight, so we opted for an unofficial driver who kept pestering us.
The entire ride was a little tense. Both of us were light-heartedly joking that all the driver needed to do was turn into a dark alley and we’d be in a tad of trouble.
The driver pulled up to a dimly lit shack and announced we arrived. Cue a rise in heart rates…
Confused and slightly concerned we got out and saw…
This was indeed the bus station 😅.
The bus station isn’t all that confused us. We got on the bus to find beds instead of seats.
Our trip to Dali was supposed to take about 4 – 4.5 hours, so we didn’t think we’d need them.
We were wrong. Our journey to Dali ended up taking about 10 hours instead.
Why? Our driver fancied a nap about 2 hours in 😂.
Imagine the surprise of the receptionist at our hostel (The Jade Emu) in Dali as we checked in at 10am on the day we were checking out.
After grabbing a shower, we checked out to explore the two main places we’d earmarked:
3 Pagodas – We loved the views of the pagodas that we found here, and the clear weather made for some really nice and serene reflections.
Cangshan mountain – Take cablecars to see all of the breathtaking scenery offered here. With 19 peaks and multiple scenic sites, there is so much to see. We only really scratched the surface here.
At the end of the day we felt we had done nowhere near enough justice to Dali… However, we were glad we’d managed to do something despite arriving late and with little sleep.
Tired but full of optimism, we grabbed another (thankfully more time-efficient) bus to Lijiang.
Day 2 – Lijiang
Thankfully our journey to Lijiang was comparably quick (our driver decided to stay awake the whole journey this time), and we checked into the Land of Canaan Inn without issue.
We knew the highlight of Lijiang was the Old Town. We spent a few hours here, buying some trinkets and exploring the cobbled streets.
However we weren’t really sure what to do next, so we decided to take one of the excursions our hostel suggested which included a pony ride and boat trip on the lake.
This day out was actually really great. The pony ride was very touristy sure (especially when we were asked if we wanted to pay to feed our pony) 😅, but the boat trip was actualy incredible.
To top it all, we had barbecued fish on a little cabin raft, with a cool beer.
So. Damn. Dreamy.
Some travelling Chinese people even stopped by and seemed to find us two fascinating. It’s times like these when the painfully small amount of Mandarin we’d learnt came in handy to engage those who were pointing and shouting “foreigner!” 😂
This excursion rounded off our time in Lijiang, but next up we had the piéce de resistance, the main reason we’d come to Yunnan in the first place.
The Tiger Leaping Gorge trek.
Tune in for the final and best part of this backpacking trip – if ever there was a moment to follow us for travel tips this is it!
Day 3 and 4 – Tiger Leaping Gorge
Tiger Leaping Gorge is legendary throughout China as being one of the most impressive and beautiful bits of scenery in the entire country.
Is it all it’s cracked up to be? Hell yeah it is.
The trek starts about 1h30 from Lijiang which you need to reach by taxi. If you can share with others, this works even better.
The first part of the trek is named “28 bends”, and we’d read it would challenge most people physically. As we started up the road, we noticed it kept bending and winding. Thinking this must be the first part we started counting the bends, finding it pretty easy going. So much so that we wondered what all the fuss was about.
At around “Bend 7” we noticed a farmer trying to get our attention. Turns out we’d been going the wrong way, and hadn’t even started the trek yet 😂
The actual “28 bends” is a real b**ch and totally worth it’s reputation. I had to stop multiple times, and my pride took a totally understandable hit compared to the hour before 😂
After this section the trek is pretty standard… apart from the views.
Glorious mountain faces stand resolute on your path either side, and the occasional glimpses you get through the middle of the gorge are simply gorj’ (sorry).
This was my first trek of this kind, and it blew me away every time I looked up.
After about 8 hours of climbing and walking, obviously you are pretty exhausted.
And where better to rest your weary feet than a hostel right in the MIDDLE of the gorge.
Halfway House offers an amazing place to stop and rest, and still enjoy the insane scenery.
Once I’d eaten my bodyweight in Chinese food, we just sat on the veranda looking around us.
What an unbelievable place. Incidentally, the best view I’ve ever had while using the toilet too.
The next day we continued the trek. The going was mostly straightforward, until we faced the classic choice on treks:
Easy path or hard path?
Wanting to make the most of our time, (and maybe because our pride was still wounded from the “28 bends”), we elected for the hard path through Bamboo Forest.
In hindsight it probably wasn’t that dangerous… But at the time I did think I could die. Honestly, it was mad.
The “path” is basically climbing a steep trail, holding onto branches and roots at opportune moments. “Path” is being VERY generous.
So… approach with caution maybe?
This section pretty much led us to the end of the trek, and we were rewarded with some insane shots of the end of the gorge, and some even more insane memories.
I think this trip cemented for me just how good travelling is for us. If I hadn’t done this journey, I would never have had these memories, seen these sights or shared it all with my mate.
The most exciting thing? There are countless more places, experiences and memories like this out there waiting for me.
And I can’t flippin’ wait.
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