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Jon Baines Tours Jon Baines Tours Jon Baines Tours

Southwest China and Tibet

8 - 21 Sep 2019
  • Cultural Tours
Bai Women In traditional dress In Dali The Three Pagodas, Dali Mosuo Women on Lugu Lake A street in Lijiang Lijiang China Black Dragon Pool, Yunnan Naxi culture in Lijiang Potala Palace, Lhasa Visit Samye Monastery in Tibet

About the tour

The Trail of the Tea Horse is an ancient part of the Silk Road that linked Yunnan and Tibet. Tea porters carried enormous bricks of tea along this road, traversing dramatic mountain passes, and in exchange, Tibet traded its coveted horses. Follow this trail from remote south west China, an area of incredible diversity in both landscapes and ethnic groups. Visit spectacular Lugu Lake in the remote northwest plateau of Yunnan, home of the matrilineal Mosuo people. The Mosuo community were largely sequestered from the outside world until recently and their ancient, unique traditions and culture are still intact.  

Cross the mountains into Tibet, a land that is, above all, uplifting – both spiritually and physically. It is a land where the devotional dominates art, culture, architecture and politics on every level, and where Buddhism has settled more firmly than in any other country. Located on the “Roof of the World”, encompassing the highest points on the earth, it offers extraordinary landscapes and an almost otherworldly sense of tranquility. Little travelled, wild and sparsely populated, this tour to the remote, fascinating province of Yunnan and extraordinary Tibet is for the culturally curious.

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Southwest China and Tibet

Your tour leader

Picture of JBT tour leader, Janice Liverseidge

Janice Liverseidge

Janice Liverseidge was previously Director of Membership at The Royal Society of Medicine and is now a full time guide and in her spare time a trustee of both the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund and the London Handel Festival. Earlier in her career she worked for the British Medical Association. She is also a registered Blue Badge tourist guide and regularly leads groups in London on medical history walks, tours of the Wellcome Collection and other healthcare locations plus provides music and art tours for the Foundling Museum and the London Handel Festival. Janice has travelled extensively, including an eight month journey around India, South East Asia and Australia, and has led highly successful RSM tours to Vietnam and Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Cuba, South Africa, China, Uzbekistan and Japan.

Need more information?

  • Tel: (Toll Free) 1-8777-398-764
  • Mon-Fri: 9am-5pm
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Itinerary at a glance

  • 8 Sept (Sun) Kunming: Arrive Kunming and transfer to the hotel
  • 9 Sept (Mon) Kunming: Take an orientation tour of Kunming and visit the old city square and flower market. Explore the old town and at leisure.Welcome dinner and briefing
    10 Sept (Tues) Kunming / Dali: Take the train into the mountains train to Dali. Arrive and transfer to the lakeside Grand Bay View International Hotel. Take a walking tour of Dali old town
  • 11 Sept (Wed) Dali: Take a cruise on Erhai Lake, visiting a local Bai village and temple. Visit the Three Pagodas
  • 12 Sept (Thurs) Dali / Lugu Lake: Depart for Lugu Lake, visiting the local market en route to see traditional textiles. Check into your lakeside hotel Hu Tu Sui Yue Inn and at leisure by the lake
  • 13 Sept (Fri) Lugu Lake: Visit the Mosuo People’s Museum to learn of their culture and customs. Take a lake cruise. At leisure or optional bike ride
  • 14 Sept (Sat) Lugu Lake/ Lijiang: Drive to Lijiang and transfer to your hotel. Walking tour of the old town
  • 15 Sept (Sun)  Lijiang: Visit Jade Dragon Mountain, Black Dragon Pool and the Museum of the Naxi People. Take a chairlift ride up Jade Dragon Mountain. Later walk around the water meadows at the foot of the mountain
  • 16 Sept (Mon) Lijiang/ Lhasa: Fly into Tibet and transfer to the hotel. Afternoon at leisure to acclimatise
  • 17 Sept (Tues) Lhasa: Visit Potala Palace. Explore Lhasa, including Jokhang Temple, Barkhor Street (the window of Tibet) and the hospital of traditional Tibetan medicine
  • 18 Sept (Wed) Lhasa: Drive to Shan Nan to visit Tandruk Temple. In the afternoon visit Samye Monastery and return to Lhasa
  • 19 Sept (Thurs) Lhasa / Chengdu: Fly to Chengdu. Arrive Chengdu, check into your hotel and visit a traditional tea house. Hot pot dinner
  • 20 Sept (Fri)  Lhasa / Chengdu: Drive out to west Sichuan to visit to Wo Long Nature Panda Reserve, where you can see giant and red pandas in the semi-wild amongst beautiful mountain scenery. Return to Chengdu for a farewell Sichuan dinner
  • 21 Sept (Sat) Chengdu: Depart Chengdu       

Tour cost

Ground only cost is US $4,816 pp sharing (excluding international flights and transfers)