Discover the Rich Cultures, Flora & Heritage of Yunnan
BACKROADS CHINA
April 18–May 7, 2008

OVERVIEW
Nestled in Southwestern China, edging 18,000 foot Himalayan peaks, is the most scenic, spectacular, and culturally rich area in China—Yunnan Province. More than 25 traditional ethnic groups live here, and there is also rich biodiversity—more than 12,000 plant species in the region! Scientists believe the world’s azaleas evolved here, with geographic isolation leading to a wide array of species. We will visit during peak spring bloom for this and many other groups of plants.

A profound cultural transition is underway in Yunnan, as elsewhere in China. Traditional cultures in remote country villages are challenged by images of a vibrant, rapidly modernizing Chinese society. Yet Yunnan still possesses delightful backroads to explore and fascinating remote cultures to discover.

From Kunming, we will travel toward the Himalayan border regions, visiting ancient towns like scenic Weishan, the walled city of Dali, and the world heritage city of Lijiang at the base of the Jade Dragon Mountain Range. Our accommodations will be comfortable, in the Chinese style. In Lijiang, we will discover the Naxi, descendants of Tibetan buddhists, who have developed distinctive cultural adaptations to life in the isolated, visually stunning high valleys.

We will then travel to remote Zhongdian at the edge of the Tibetan Plateau, now known as “Shangrila.” Memorable experiences await us here in this spectacular alpine region with Tibetan lamaseries and a pastoral yak herding culture. From the high regions, we will travel to the south of Yunnan Province, where we will visit tropical sites, including Elephant Valley and the Tropical Botanical Garden at Xishuanbanna.
Please join us in 2008 and share this magical land!

ITINERARY

Days 1/3 – New York to Kunming, China
Expedition members depart New York’s JFK International Airport for Kunming, China, in Yunnan Province arriving on Day 3. Situated on a 6,000 foot plateau near the edge of the tropics, Kunming enjoys delightful spring-like weather and is known across China as the “Spring City.” Welcome dinner. Kunming Hotel (3 nights).

Day 4 – Dian Chi Lake
Today, we will visit the West Hills, a dramatic limestone escarpment along the western edge of Dian Chi Lake near Kunming with a subtropical forest of cypress, Yunnan pine, and evergreen oaks. With wonderful views and expanses of forest, the cliffs of the West Hills are cut with grottoes holding Buddhist images carved during the past 1200 years of Chinese history. We will climb carved stone steps to grottoes in the lower half of the complex or ride a chairlift. In the afternoon, we will visit the Nationalities Museum to see exhibits on the cultures of Yunnan's more than 20 ethnic minority groups.

Day 5 – Kunming—Botanical Garden to Chuxiong
This morning we will depart for the Yunnan Botanical Garden, famous for its collections of rhododendrons and camellias. Yunnan has a mountainous, subtropical climate with a profusion of plant species. The Botanical Garden offers an excellent overview of Yunnan's rich tropical and subtropical plant heritage. In the afternoon, we will embark on our overland journey in the footsteps of Marco Polo along the Burma Road. Rich in history as a trade route followed by Marco Polo, the Burma Road served for centuries as a connection between India and China. This “Southern Silk Road” was the gateway for spices, foods, ideas, and people for centuries. The road is now a modern divided highway which follows the old Burma Road. Xiongbao Hotel, Chuxiong, a properous center for the Yi Minority Autonomous Prefecture.

Day 6 – Weishan
This morning we will depart for Weishan, a tranquil agricultural town with traditional architecture and cottage industries. En route, we will pass Midu, a stopover for the American Flying Tigers during World War Two. From Midu, we will continue through the mountains to Weishan, a scenic town near the ancestral homeland of the indigenous Bai minority people. Here we will explore older neighborhoods where families of Han Chinese, Bai, and Hui people have been living for generations. In the evening, enjoy a cultural performance at the beautifully restored, old wooden house of the Liu family who were influential aristocrats prior to the Communist Revolution. Weishan Hotel (1 night).

Day 7 – Weishan to Dali
Depart Weishan this morning for Dali, passing through a fertile valley enclosed by mountains. En route, we will visit Dacang, a farming town with a large Hui Muslim population. The Hui are Chinese who converted to Islam centuries ago, unlike the Muslim groups in northwest China who are racially distinct from the Chinese. We will continue to Dali, cross a mountain pass, and stop briefly in Diaocao, a village populated by the Yi, one of Yunnan's most prevalent upland minority groups. The Yi in this area retain their ethnic identify—women wear distinctive dress and the architecture and agricultural methods differ from other ethnic groups.
After lunch, we will arrive at the ancient walled town of Dali, once the head of the Nanzhao and Dali Kingdoms that controlled much of the territory that today comprises Southwest China. Dali has recently become a major attraction for domestic Chinese tourists. This has led to changes, but to our Western eye, renders it no less interesting or exotic. Enjoy a performance of traditional Bai music tonight by a local troup of musicians. Landscape Hotel (2 nights).

Day 8 – The Walled Town of Dali
The ancient walled town of Dali is dramatically situated on alluvial plains between the Cangshan Mountains and the long, deep Er Hai Lake. For centuries, visitors to this remote corner of China have praised its mountain-irrigated rice fields, lake-fed fish, and local marble quarried from the foot of the mountains. We will depart for the west shore of Erhai Lake and embark on a boat trip which offers spectacular views of the Cangshan mountains. Our boat trip ends at a lakeside village whose temple is dedicated to local animistic deities. We will enjoy a picnic lunch at Gantong Monastery, at the foot of the high mountains. After lunch, you may walk down a scenic path through pine woodlands and green grasslands with a splendid array of spring flora, or take a cable car to the upper reaches of the valley. There will be time in the afternoon to explore the intriguing streets of Dali's ancient walled city.

Day 9 – Dali to Laojunshan
We will travel today on an all day journey to Laojun, a mountain enclave with jagged sandstone cliffs and dense conifer forests, home of the Yunnan golden monkeys. This elusive endangered primate lives at a higher elevation than any other and subsists mainly on lichen that hangs from the branches of black fir trees above 12,000 feet. Laojun Guesthouse (2 nights).

Day 10 – Laojun
We will spend the day exploring this exciting montane habitat. Here, we’ll have wonderful opportunities to look at Yunnan’s biological wealth. The forest also supports lichens, mushrooms, and many species of plants like peony, rhododendron, and begonia that are wild ancestors of our garden plants. Many montane birds are found here, including laughing thrushes, grosbeaks, creepers, and finches. A highlight will be Kiushijiu Longtan, the 99 Dragon Pools, where small glacial lakes are interspersed among forests of rhododendron and fir.

Day 11 – Laojunshan to Lijiang
This morning we will travel east from Laojunshan to Lijiang. Visit the Haixi or Shigu village, a historic town on the first bend of the Yangtze River, once crossed by Kublai Khan and also by the Red Army during the Long March. Stay in Lijiang near the entrance to the architecturally distinctive old town. Enjoy an evening of traditional Naxi music. Some of the songs we will hear were composed and played on similar instruments during the Tang Dynasty, more than a thousand years ago. Sanhe Hotel (2 nights).

Day 12 – Lijiang & Jade Dragon Mountains
The Naxi, descendents of Tibetan Buddhists, have developed a distinctive cultural tradition, centered on life in the isolated, visually stunning, Lijiang Valley. Distinctive mythology and a curious pictographic script distinguish the Naxi from all of Yunnan’s other ethnic minority groups. Seventy years ago, American botanist and ethnographer Joseph Rock made Lijiang his adopted homeland and described the area in a series of books and popular articles. Naxi women in traditional dress sell produce and homemade goods in the outdoor market. Family shops open onto the canal-lined alleys, and private gardens add color to the streets.

During our visit to Lijiang (“beautiful valley”), we will also explore the Jade Dragon Mountain Range. This gives access to glacial valleys and alpine pastures speckled with primrose and spring-blooming gentians where ponies and yak graze surrounded by ancient forests of fir and oak. Naxi and, higher up, the wild Xiaoliangshan (“Small Cool Mountain”) Yi people live traditional lives of farming and animal husbandry. From time to time we will glimpse the Upper Yangtze River flowing as a silver ribbon thousands of feet below, while glaciers or fog-bound crags tower above.

Day 13 – Lijiang to Zhongdian (“Shangrila”)
Depart for the town of Zhongdian, which Chinese authorities have recently renamed Xianngelila (“Shangrila”) and local Tibetan people call Gyaltang. The road from Lijiang descends to the upper Yangtze River near its first “Great Bend,” passes Tiger Leaping Gorge, then climbs a tributary valley through dense conifer forest of spruce, pine, and larch until the plateau landscape opens up at an elevation of 11,000 feet. At Tiger Leaping Gorge, the torrent of the upper Yangtze, is displaced by faulting from its ancient course, and disappears into a narrow defile between two mountain ranges. The mountains are 10,000 feet higher than the upper Yangtze River, making this one of the deepest gorges in the world. We will then ascend to the alpine grasslands of Zhongdian. Holy Palace Hotel (3 nights).

Day 14 – Zhongdian (“Shangrila”)
This morning we will visit Songzanlin Lamasary, the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan. This complex, with its multi-pillared assembly hall and numerous chapels, is painted in shades of ochre and terra cotta, according to the Tibetan scheme. Situated on a promontory, it offers beautiful views of the surrounding peaks, covered in snow much of the year. Red-billed Choughs are high elevation birds seen around the temple. We will also walk through recently refurbished older neighborhoods, then depart for Napa Hai, a seasonal lake and grassland that provides important habitat for migratory birds. Shelducks visit in summer and a few Black-necked Cranes are here in spring. This is also a good place for falcons, harriers, and Himalayan griffons. We will visit a Tibetan village, with distinctive earthen and timber houses. In a local home we may sample tsampa (roasted barley flour) and Tibetan yak-butter tea.

Day 15 – Bita Hai
Today we will have an all-day excursion to Bita Hai, a pristine alpine lake 25 km east of Zhongdian. Here we will walk or ride ponies to the lake through an old-growth spruce forest. After lunch, we will take a boat ride to look for rhododendrons blooming on the island and nesting parakeets.

Days 16/17 – Zhongdian to Kunming & Xishuangbanna
Morning flight Zhongdian to Kunming. Then fly to Xishuangbanna in the tropical lowlands of southern Yunnan. This region has great cultural diversity with many hill tribe groups, including the Shan Thai (Dai) minority. The tropical forest supports populations of Asian elephants and a few Bengal tigers, hornbills, peafowl, and many other tropical bird species. We will stay at the Tropical Botanical Garden Ecology Guesthouse (2 nights) and discover the flora of lowland Yunnan.

Day 18 – Elephant Valley
This morning, we will visit the botanic garden and tribal villages in the monsoon forest. Then we will go to “Elephant Valley,” where we will stay in a dozen tree houses with canopy walkway, perched above the rich tropical rain forest. Here, we can look down on the forest floor where wild Asian elephants may come by. A 2,063-meter passenger cable way is used to reach deep into the forest where the elephants may be found. The area also includes China’s first butterfly farm and a school for domesticating wild elephants. Elephant Valley Treehouse Lodge (1 night).

Days 19/20 – To Kunming & USA
We will have another morning to look for elephants and then depart for Jinghong and our late afternoon flight to Kunming. Farewell dinner in celebration of our journey. Kunming Hotel. Next day, take flights to Hong Kong and New York.

What to Expect:
This expedition is planned for travelers who would enjoy exploring the flora, natural heritage, and cultures of the most scenic area in China, Yunnan Province. Leading the expedition will be an excellent American botanist with years of experience in Yunnan Province. The group will travel 4 to 7 hours by bus on each of several days. On traveling days, we will take time for both planned and spontaneous stops to walk, look at plants of interest, and talk with local people. Walks will be at a leisurely pace suitable for botanical discovery and natural history study. Food will include a varied Chinese menu.

Weather is pleasant, with midday temperatures in the 70s to upper 80s and some rain. Elevations will range from 6,000 feet in Kunming to 12,000 feet at Laojunshan and 10,000 feet at Zhongdian with temperatures in the 50s or 60s. Most time will be spent between 6,000-8,000 feet. This expedition will be a tremendous experience for travelers with an appetite for adventure who would enjoy a chance to explore culturally and biologically rich environments in a remote area of China. Please be flexible concerning time schedules, hotels, food, bumpy roads, and mechanical breakdowns. With this in mind, we will have a grand adventure of discovery in areas rarely seen by western visitors. (No smoking in vehicles, during lectures, or meals, please).

Accommodations:
Are in comfortable and clean Chinese hotels based on twin share. Expect a good bed, showers, Western style toilets, and carefully prepared food. For two nights we will stay at the only hotel at Laojun (very modest), which gives us the opportunity to explore this exquisite montane habitat. We will share very limited facilities here with good food, cheerful wait staff, no electricity in the evening, one bathroom, and cold showers. Between hotels, some Asian toilets or bush toilets may be available (some “clean” and some not).

Questions:

Please call Deborah at Betchart Expeditions Inc.

Telephone (800) 252-4910 or (408) 252-4910
Fax (408) 252-1444

Email:

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