@christian4870
I should better visit 云南民族村 (Yunnan Minzu Cun)?

Absolutely not !!!!!!!!!
This place is a disgrace. A blatant exploration of the minorities in Yunnan.

What is meant is that should visit minority villages instead of the well known tourist towns which are now all run by Han commercial entrepreneurs.

Difficult to find the good itinerary...
When I look at my travel book to China, I read about Lijiang, Shining, Dali, Shangri-La... But here, people say "don't go there"...

Well, I would like to find beautiful landscapes but not thousands of tourists..
And I dont know exactly if the season I will be traveling (late march / early april) will be ok for the different places...
So what do you thing about :
- Stone forest
- Yuanyang
- Tiger leaping gorge
- Luoping
- Dongchuang
- Deqin
- Cangshan moountain
- Jade dragon snow mountain
Can I avoid Lijiang and Dali ? or is it worth a short visit ?
Thank you !!

Lijiang and Dali are worth a short visit. If you like quiet, I would recommend walking around in the early morning before 10am. Generally, Chinese people love their beds. Also most of the coach parties would not have arrived before this time.
With both towns, if you wander into the backstreets it is much quieter. In Dali there is only one quarter of the old city that is fully touristy (southwest). The southeast quarter is mostly locals, and there is an old Catholic church that is interesting to see. The city is divided by a central EW road. North of this road has still not developed for tourism, except one street.
Lijiang is similar, in that, once you get away from the centre streets and small square, the back streets are not commercialized and the tourists (coach parties) don't go there. Shuhe (3km outside Lijiang) used to be nice, but I went last year and it is now a bazaar.

- Stone forest: NO
- Yuanyang: worth the trip if you include the surrounding areas, Jianshui, Yuanjiang etc
- Tiger leaping gorge: yes
- Luoping: not really worth it
- Dongchuan: sure
- Deqin: yes
- Cangshan moountain: yes
- Jade dragon snow mountain: yes

Can I avoid Lijiang and Dali ? or is it worth a short visit ? no more than a day each. maybe more time for around Dali.

Also check out the Jiaozi snow mountain if you'll be in or around kunming

in Dali, rent a bicycle and cycle along Erhai lake. You can visit Xizhou and other small villages on a day trip, orcycle around the whole lake in 2 days, spending a night on the north shore around Shuanglang (which used to be very interesting but has become a bit of a tourist trap - still the scenery around is great!). Go up the city walls for nice views. avoid the Pagodas, and maybe check out some of the markets nearby.

In Lijiang, get up early to see the Old Town and then explore villages in the surrounding countryside. Halfway between Dali and Lijiang is Shaxi, a quiet small village worth a visit especially on Fridays when a weekly market is held.

Yuanyang is worth a visit, but a long bus ride to get there. Stay in a guesthouse in Duoyishu village. Stop in Jianshui, it's halfway between Kunming and Yuanyang

Important thing is, in only 14 days, it's probably better to pic only about 3 places and travel between them by land by local transport so you can get some idea of what the country is like when it is not putting on a show. Exception might be Stone Forest - I agree with King of the kerb that it is not all that fantastic and is very touristy, but it's an easy one-day trip, go & return from Kunming on the same day. If I were you I'd come to Kunming & then play it by ear - buses & trains go almost everywhere, daily, and you can always find a guesdthouse. And don't bring a lot of gear with you. Late March-early April is a pretty good season to be here - won't be really cold, but it partly depends on altitude, like everywhere. Bring a backpack, get you some of that serendipity.

I'm here in France, I've never been in Yunnan, so it's difficult to make a good idea of what is worth a visit - or not. In the guide books places like Yuanyang, Dali, Lijiang, Shangri-La are very famous, and people here say it's not so good, so A have to change my mind...
The main things I've inderstood is :
- Dali, Lijiang, Shangri-La : those places may be seen, but are not really great and I won't spend a lot of time there
- On the opposite, Tiger leaping gorges and Yuanyang are worth a visit
- Jianshui, Dongchuan, are OK too
- Shinin's stone forest, Luoping : maybe
- Other good places : Deqin, Cangshan mountain, Jiaozi snow mountain, Jade dragon mountain, are good places too (and what about Meilin snow mountain ? Tengchong ? Nujiang ? Pudacuo Park ?) Where is it possible to ho and hike ?
- Another good idea is to bike around Erhai lake
- I don't have to worry about moving or sleeping, it will be easy to find buses, trains, and guesthouses, without having to book
- The weather won't be cold

And, yes, i want to bring my backpack, as light as possible !

Are there other ideas ?

Thousands thanks !

Hi Woody,
I am planning my trip to Yunan from Spain. But it will be in August. I will entry thorough Chengdu and then go to Shangrila and visit Lijiang, tiger, DAli, Kunming.
Can I give you my email ssanchez_avila@hotmail.com and when you come back contact me for recomendations. I am just like you, I do not know if they are nice land scapes, nice places to visti...
Thank you.
Sandra

Hi Sanguaojia,
of course i can email you when i'm back, in april... I'm now very interested by the mountains (Deqin, Yubeng, Feilai Si, Mingyong,...,) it seems really great but I'm afraid it may be cold in april, bette in August I believe !
You have lot of time to think about it again !

Hi Woody,
Thank you very much!
I have time to planning but I Need to buy my ticket during this month.
Would it be nice when you come back in April give me some advices about your experience. I am very excited about this trip that I am doing by myself.
Wishing you a nice trip!
Sandra
+34 622347690
ssanchez_avila@hotmail.com