Undiscovered China / 10 days
Daily schedule
1 Start in Guilin. Wonderful Li river cruise to Yangshuo. Overnight in Yangshuo
2 Free day to leisurely enjoy the beautiful village of Yangshuo by yourself. Overnight in Yangshuo
3 To Dragon's Backbone Rice Terrace near Longsheng. Overnight in Longsheng
4 To Wind and Rain bridge in Dong minority area. Overnight in Chengyang
5 To Congjiang, on the way beautiful scenery dotted with minority villages. Visit Biasha Miao village. Overnight in Congjiang
6 To Rongjiang (sunday market), continue to Kaili. Overnight in Kaili
7 Day trip to Leishan. Go hiking and see the Longhorn Miao. Overnight in Kaili
8 To Buyi minority Stone Village near the Huangguoshu waterfall. Overnight in Huangguoshu
9 To Huangguoshu waterfall and Tianxing National park. Overnight in Huangguoshu
10 To the Longgong ( Dragon Palace) caves with underground river. Continue to Anshun for soft sleeper train to Kunming. Overnight on the train
Itinerary:
Day 1: Your tour starts in wonderful Guilin. You will be transferred to Yangshuo by boat. The area around Guilin is famous for its beautiful karst hill formations and on the boat you can admire the karst hills which seem to come straight out of a Chinese landscape painting.
Day 2: Free day in Yangshuo. You can rent a bike to explore the small towns around Yangshuo, or stroll along Yangshuo's famous West Street.
Day 3: In the morning you will go to Longsheng. Several minority groups live in this town, like the Dong, Yao, Miao and Zhuang. Longsheng is famous for its spectacular rice terraces. The most famous of these rice terraces is the Dragon's Backbone Rice Terrace, where the terraces are built on the slopes of 800 meters high peaks.
Day 4: We leave Longsheng for Sanjiang, where the Dong minority lives. The Dong are known for their beautiful wooden constructions and we will spend the night next to the Wind and Rain Bridge. It is 78 meters long and is made without using any nails. We will stay in a wonderful Dong minority hotel, entirely made of wood in the traditional Dong way. There are several villages nearby, and we will take a walk in the country side and visit the villages around the Wind and Rain bridge. In the afternoon we will see the traditional dancing on the square in front of the Drum tower where the local boys and girls dress in their best traditional costumes.
Day 5. Today we go to Congjiang. On the way we see many minority villages, mostly from the Dong and the Miao minority. We will stop in one of the villages to take a look inside a local house and walk around the village. The country side is so beautiful, and the people are incredible friendly. In the afternoon we visit Biasha Miao minority village. The Biasha men here are famous for carrying guns!
Day 6: We continue to Kaili, capital of minorities in Guizhou province. On the way we visit the small town of Rongjiang, where on Sundays, many minorities come down from the nearby mountains to go shopping. It is really great to see all the different minority clothing and this market will really stun you because of its authenticity. You will see dogs for sale to be eaten, a local specialty, and many different herbs and teas. But mostly the colorful people make this market a must see.
Day 7: We make a day trip to Leishan, and we will use today to take a walk in the Leigong Shan mountains (2178 m). From these mountains we can see beautiful scenery with terraces. This mountain is home to several isolated villages. Here we also find the Longhorn Miao with their incredible silver jewelry.
Day 8: Today we drive to the Huangguoshu waterfall, where we first go to see the Stone Village of the Buyi minority. The women make in the village make intricate patterns with indigo for their traditional clothes and the village is wonderfully pure and old.
Day 9: Today we visit the number one tourist attraction of Guizhou: the Huangguoshu Falls. This is the biggest waterfall on China. It is about 70 meters high and the water cascades down over a width of 81 meters. From the park entrance it is a 30 minute walk to the falls and from far away you will hear the thunder of the water. It is really great to walk in the cave behind the waterfall, the water from the fall slightly spraying on your skin. Wonderful! After visiting the waterfall, we go to the fantastic Tianxing National park. Here we can see a forest of stones and the nature in this park is amazing! We can also see a waterfall here, though not as big as the Huangguoshu waterfall, but still impressive. Also we can go into the Tianxing cave with wonderful colored stalagmites and stalactites. Nice park to spend the afternoon.
Day 10: We go to the Longgong ( Dragon Palace) caves, this is a collection of over 90 caves tied together by an underground river. You can visit 6 of these caves by hand peddled boat. Inside the caves is a huge collection of fantastic stalactites and stalagmites with stunning lighting. After that we continue to Anshun where we board the soft sleeper night train to Kunming.
