CangShan Mountains - your other Yunnan experience | Itinerary

With all 19 peaks over 3,500 m - Mt. Malong standing at 4,122 m, with an ever white top - the CangShan mountains are an impressive site. You will get inspired by nature and culture; the mountains are noted for a very rich and diverse flora, while cultural relics of the Bai and Yi people as well as the lively contemporary markets will make you feel in an undiscovered world.

This tour is just an example of what is possible in the province of Yunnan. To get more ideas about the CangShan Mountains, read the 'highlights'.
If you want to spend more days in or around the CangShan Mountains, or you have ideas yourself, please contact us. We are happy to make the trip according to your wishes; tailor-made.

Day 1: Dali/other city - Guanping, Yunlong and Nuoden

Visit Guanping in the CangShan mountains

We leave in the early morning and first we take the highway in the direction of Baoshan. After an one hour drive, we slide into the mountains via a small road. The scenery is magnificent and after each curve you are surprised by again another natural scenery. Of course, we stop whenever you want to make a picture.

Colorful local market with Yi and Bai people

First, we visit the market in Guanping. This village is only visited by a few tourists, which makes the experience even more special. Local farmers - Yi and Bai people - from nearby mountain villages visit the market by horse. The market is very colourful and big for such a small place.
Besides the daily needs such as fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, snacks, seeds, herbs, spices, tools and clothes, the vendors also trade all kinds of local livestock; horses, donkeys, goats, cows, pigs, chicken and so on.

Tuesday-market in Guanping; the uniqueness of this tour

Because one of the highlights of this tour is the Tuesday-market in Guanping, we can only start this tour either on Monday or Tuesday.
If we leave on Monday we will visit the market on the second day.

Yin-Yang river and ancient history

Then, we continue to the small town Yunlong, where we will arrive one hour later. But before we visit the center, we drive to a viewpoint in the mountains where you can witness the Yin and Yang symbol that is formed by the river in the landscape and splits the town into two different parts.
After we visited the town Yunlong, we cross the river by an old wooden bridge. We drive 7 km through the mountains to the small and very old - founded in 863 DC - and charming village Nuoden. The ancient village is situated at the Tea-horse road, that links Burma and Tibet. Traders bought salt in Nuoden and resold it later to Tibetan people. Take your time to walk around; the small alleys are worth it. And, there is a major possibility that you will be invited by some friendly local people to have a cup of tea together. Mountainvillages Guanping, Yunlong and Nuoden

Mountainvillages Guanping, Yunlong and Nuoden

If you're done sightseeing, we will visit the small historical museum.Then we drive back to Yunlong to check in in your hotel. Early in the evening, we will have dinner in a restaurant of your choice.

Spend the night in Yunlong.

Day 2: Yunlong - Dali/destination of your choice

The next morning after breakfast, we leave Yunlong and drive back to Dali or we drive you to your next destination.
Getting back to Dali will take about 3.5 hours.

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