(7 and 9 days)

Overview:

North-west Yunnan has enchanted travellers and explorers for centuries – from Marco Polo in the thirteenth century to Joseph Rock and fellow botanist Frank Kingdon Ward in the early years of the twentieth.

Today, this region’s incredible diversity of plant and animal life, and the large number of ethnic minorities that make this area their home, make this part of Yunnan Province a wonderful and colourful region of China to explore.

On this journey, you will travel to tiny rural backwaters to shoot photographs of local people in traditional dress, drive through beautiful mountainous regions with amazing panoramas, and wander cobbled streets in well-preserved old towns and feel as though you and your camera are travelling back in time.

Highlights:

• Stay in the beautiful Linden Centre, a traditional Bai family home that has been converted to a boutique hotel.

• Explore the well-preserved Ming-dynasty caravan town of Shaxi, and stay in a beautifully converted coaching inn.

• Visit Lijiang, the UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the beautiful valley at the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

• Drive on stunning mountain roads to Shangri-La and see the incredible Tiger Leaping Gorge (Extended itinerary).

• Meet the monks at Shangri-La’s Ganden Sumtseling Temple (Extended itinerary).

• Focus on Photography:
  • Tutorials conducted on composition, light, landscape, architecture, and portrait photography.
  • Amazing photographic opportunities from minority village markets, to dramatic landscapes surrounding the historical mountain kingdoms, to the cobbled streets of ancient towns.
  • Unique opportunities to work with and create portraits of members of ethnic minority villages.
  • Visit and photograph a traditional Tibetan home and its family members (Extended itinerary)
  • Guidance and instant feedback from Ron while photographing out in the field.
  • Present your favourite shots of the trip to the group at a ‘show and tell session’.

Itinerary:

Day 1:  Arrival in Kunming

You will arrive in Kunming in the early afternoon according to your own arrangements. We will pick you up at the airport and take you to Kunming’s best hotel by the side of the city’s Green Lake. If you require a temporary Chinese driving license, we will complete your application straight after your arrival – fortunately this is a short administrative procedure. Afterwards, take a stroll around the lake to get a taste of the easy-going pace of life in one of China’s most pleasant large cities, before having dinner in a beautifully restored Qing-dynasty house.

Distance: 0km
Driving time: 0 hours
Road Conditions: NA.
Hotel: Green Lake Hotel, Kunming (*****)

Day 2:  To the heart of Nanzhao Kingdom

Today you will drive to Dali and on to Xizhou, home of the Linden Centre – a lovingly converted Bai minority mansion, where you will stay for the next two nights.

After a relaxed start to the day you will set out from Kunming and drive along a world-class highway until you reach Chuxiong – today’s lunch stop. After lunch continue west and north toward the picturesque town of Dali, formerly capital of Yunnan’s independent Nanzhao Kingdom. Dali lies on a strip of land between the brooding Cangshan Mountains and Lake Erhai, a beautifully scenic location. Continue north for a short distance to the tranquil village of Xizhou. Xizhou boasts some of the best preserved Bai courtyard homes from the Qing Dynasty, and prior to 1949, was the major centre for Bai commerce.

Photography:
In the afternoon, Ron will conduct an optional technical photography class, to simplify and emphasize the most important functions on the camera – the knowledge base with which subsequent lectures and field sessions will build upon. We will then explore and photograph around Xizhou. After dinner, a lesson on composition will help prepare you for tomorrow’s activities.

Distance: 350km
Driving time: 5.5 hours
Road Conditions: Excellent, modern divided highway and a short section of country road
Hotel: Linden Centre, Xizhou (****)

Day 3:  Around Xizhou

Explore a nearby courtyard market in the shade of large Banyan trees. After an early lunch in the Linden Centre, we will visit a fabric dying home before enjoying a fantastic late afternoon drive along the shores of Erhai Lake. We will then drive into Dali for dinner and then return to the Linden Centre for the evening.

Photography:
You will have your first chance to practice your composition skills in the morning at the courtyard market. After lunch, Ron will conduct a class on taking portaits, and then we will visit a fabric dying home where you will have an opportunity to photograph both the action as well as setting up your own portraits of the Bai workers.

Distance: 60km
Driving time: 1-2 hours
Road Conditions: Mixed
Hotel: Linden Centre, Xizhou (****)

Day 4:  Drive to Shaxi…a journey back in time

Today you will make the short drive from Xizhou, across the Cangshan Mountains to Shaxi. This short journey will take you back centuries to when the Tea Horse Road was in its heyday as you drop down into a pretty valley. Shaxi itself is an incredibly well preserved caravan town – spend the afternoon wandering its cobbled streets and visiting local craftsmen, or simply relax at the hotel, a converted Ming dynasty coaching inn, and imagine that you are about to set out on the long road to Lhasa.

Photography:
A class on photographing architecture will be conducted in the early afternoon, and then we will explore and photograph the picturesque old town, with its Ming-dynasty theatre and cobbled streets. There will also be an opportunity to capture images of an elderly calligrapher in his workshop in the main courtyard.

Distance: 150km
Driving time: 3.5 hours
Road Conditions: A short stretch of busy national road, and scenic country roads
Hotel: Laomadian Inn, Shaxi (****)

Day 5:  On the back roads to Lijiang and the Nakhi Kingdom

Spend the morning in Shaxi, exploring the well-tended fields around the village or taking a short drive out to the nearby cave complex at Shibaoshan. Return to Laomadian for lunch, before setting out for Lijiang along a wonderful country road.

Lijiang, former capital of the ‘Nakhi Kingdom’, was introduced to the West by eccentric American botanist Joseph Rock in the 1930s and 40s. The cobbled streets of Lijiang’s old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, run alongside crystal clear streams and up the steep slopes of Lion Hill, from where you can enjoy a wonderful view over Lijiang’s old town to 5,000 metre (16,400 feet) tall Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. We will spend the next two nights in Lijiang.

Photography:
There will be plenty of opportunities to stop during the drive for impromptu photographs of life along the road in the beautiful countryside. We will wander through the twisting passageways of Lijiang in the late afternoon light, and then after an early dinner, we’ll capture dusk scenes in the heart of the old town when the light intensity on the streets matches that of the sky above.

Distance: 105km
Driving time: 3 hours
Road Conditions: Winding, but perfectly paved and smooth for most of the route
Hotel: Crowne Plaza, Lijiang (*****)

Day 6:  In the Lijiang Valley

In the early morning, we will return to Lijiang’s old town, and continue our exploration in different areas. The quietness of the mornings contrast heavily with the bustle of the previous evening, and you will see the town from a completely different perspective.

After lunch, visit the tiny village of Yuhu, Joseph Rock’s home while he was stationed in the Yunnan region. Yuhu is a quaint Naxi minority village very close to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

We will return to Lijiang in the late afternoon where a short walk up nearby Lion Hill will provide you with a fantastic view of the thousands of rooftops of the old town.

Photography:
Walk around the old town in the quiet of the early morning to experience and photograph the town as it was in years gone by. In the village of Yuhu, we will arrange a special portrait session with several Naxi villagers and their horses and you will be free to roam with them and decide on your favourite areas to photograph. In the evening, we will have a light hearted and fun photography wrap up session where customers will choose their favourite photos and we will project them onto a large screen where Ron, and anyone else, can provide feedback and comments.

Distance: 100km
Driving time: 1.5-2 hours
Road Conditions: Generally excellent
Hotel: Crowne Plaza, Lijiang (*****)

Day 7:  North to the edge of the Himalayas

For those who begin their journey home, this morning will begin with the drive to Lijiang’s new airport.  A short flight will take you back to Kunming, where you will be able to connect to an onward flight out of Kunming any time after noon today.

(Extended Itinerary)
For those joining the extended journey, today’s drive runs along a broad country road to Shangri-La – an ethnically Tibetan town on the eastern lip of the Tibetan Plateau.  Drive along beautiful river valleys and past Tiger Leaping Gorge – where the Yangtze River is channeled through a narrow gorge between two snow-capped mountains. Stop and enjoy the power of the river as it roars through the narrow gorge.

As you will ascend over 1,000 metres (3,280 feet) during the course of today’s drive to reach Shangri-La, spend the late afternoon enjoying the fabulous setting of the hotel and its view over the countryside, or casually wander around the nearby Ganden Sumtseling Monastery. This monastery is the largest Tibetan Buddhist Monastery in Yunnan.

Photography:
There will be photo opportunities during the day, especially along the length of Tiger Leaping Gorge, and a chance to capture beautiful landscapes in nearby locations to the hotel in Shangri-La. In the evening, Ron will conduct a lesson on landscape photography.

Altitude: 3,250m/10,660ft
Distance: 210km
Driving time: 5 hours
Road Conditions: Excellent country roads
Hotel: Songtsam Retreat, Shangri-La (*****)

Day 8:  In Shangri-La (Extended Itinerary)

We will spend the morning exploring the landscape around the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery and then head inside where we will be able to meet the monks. After lunch in Shangri-La’s old town, we have options to stroll though the old town, visit a traditional Tibetan family home, or go to a hidden Buddhist shrine.

Photography:
The first part of the morning, we will capture landscapes around the monastery, where you can test your ability to produce images with good foreground and background balance. In the later morning, we will enter the monastery where you may have an opportunity to photograph the monks in a debating session. You will then be able to capture images of the monks during a prayer session that has been specially arranged for our travel group. In the afternoon, we have various options to photograph in Shangri-La’s old town, take portraits in a Tibetan family home, or capture the thousands of prayer flags surrounding a hidden Buddhist shrine in the hills.

Altitude: 3,250m/10,660ft
Distance: Under 60km
Driving time: 1-2 hours
Road Conditions: Mixed
Hotel: Songtsam Retreat, Shangri-La (*****)

Day 9:  Starting your journey home… (Extended Itinerary)

Today you will start your journey home.  After breakfast at the hotel, you will be taken to Shangri-La’s small airport to catch a flight back to Kunming (the flight takes fifty minutes, and is included in journey).  You will be free to start your onward journey from Kunming any time after noon today.