Trekking Yunnan in 15 days: the gorge, the valley and Meili

This route walks three of the good ones. The high trail through Tiger Leaping Gorge, which is two days above a river running in a slot 10,000 feet below the peaks on either side. The old caravan valley around Shaxi, which is gentle and pastoral and the right way to start. And the Yubeng valley under Kawagebo, the 22,113 foot (6,740 m) peak at Meili, which is the finest three days of walking in southwest China.

Fifteen days, seven hotel changes, three genuine trekking days plus two more of walking, and a gain from 6,230 feet (1,900 m) to about 12,500 feet (3,800 m) that we take slowly on purpose.

Who it suits: walkers who are comfortable with six-hour days, some exposure on the gorge trail and simple accommodation on two nights. You do not need technical skill. You do need to be honest about your fitness.

Your specialist: Asaf Zamshtein, our Southeast Asia and China specialist, with our Kunming partner team on the ground.

A note on who is on the ground. Our own offices are in Japan, Vietnam, India and the Philippines. China is not one of them. We run Yunnan through a Kunming partner we have worked with for years, whose guides walk these trails weekly.

Day by day

Day 1: Arrive Kunming. At 6,230 feet (1,900 m), which is where the acclimatisation quietly begins. Transfer and nothing scheduled.

Day 2: Kunming to Dali. Two hours by high-speed rail to Dali, at 6,560 feet (2,000 m) on the shore of Erhai lake with the Cangshan range behind it. Afternoon in the old town, which is touristed and pleasant, and a first look at the ridge you will walk tomorrow.

Day 3: The Cangshan cloud path. A warm-up day. Cable car up to about 7,900 feet (2,400 m) and then the Jade Belt path, an easy contour walk of about seven miles (11 km) along the flank of the range with the lake below. Four to five hours, nothing steep, and a useful test of how you are handling the altitude.

Day 4: Dali to Shaxi. Two and a half hours by road into the Shaxi valley, which was a staging post on the tea horse caravan road and is now the best-preserved market town in Yunnan. Afternoon on foot around Sideng square and the old theatre.

Day 5: Shaxi, the caravan trails. A full walking day on the old routes: up to the Shibaoshan grottoes through pine forest and Bai villages, about eight miles (13 km) with 1,600 feet (490 m) of climb, or the longer loop over the pass to Mapingguan. Farmland, cobbled sections of the original road, and almost nobody.

Day 6: Shaxi to Lijiang. Three hours by road, climbing to 7,900 feet (2,400 m). Afternoon free. Lijiang old town is busy and commercial and we stay on the quieter northern edge or in a Naxi village outside it.

Day 7: Wenhai and the Jade Dragon foothills. An acclimatisation day that is also a good walk: up through the villages on the flank of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain to the Wenhai basin at about 10,200 feet (3,100 m), six to seven hours, and back down. This is the day that decides whether we go higher on schedule.

Day 8: Tiger Leaping Gorge, day one. Drive to Qiaotou, about two hours, and start walking. The high trail climbs away from the road, through Naxi Family Guesthouse, and then up the 28 Bends, which is the hard hour of the trek, to about 8,860 feet (2,700 m). Five to six hours to Tea Horse or Halfway Guesthouse.

The accommodation on the trail is simple. Clean beds, hot water most of the time, good food, shared terraces with the best view on the itinerary. It is not a hotel and we will not pretend otherwise.

Day 9: Tiger Leaping Gorge, day two, and on to Zhongdian. Three to four easier hours contouring above the river to Tina’s, with the option to drop to the Middle Rapids on the ladders if the path is open and your knees agree. Then the drive up to Zhongdian, which is the old name for the county town and the one most travellers still use, at about 10,760 feet (3,280 m). Two to three hours.

Day 10: Zhongdian, altitude and monasteries. A deliberately light day at altitude. Songzanlin monastery in the morning, which is the largest Tibetan monastery in Yunnan and houses several hundred monks. Afternoon on the Napahai grassland or the old town. Walking, not climbing.

Day 11: Zhongdian to Feilaisi. The road to Deqin, five to six hours over two passes with a stop at the Baima Snow Mountain viewpoint. Overnight at Feilaisi at about 11,150 feet (3,400 m), facing the Meili range. The sunrise on Kawagebo from here, on a clear morning, is the reason people come to this province.

Day 12: Into Yubeng. Down to the river at Xidang and up the other side, over the Nazongla pass at about 12,500 feet (3,800 m), and down into the Yubeng valley. Five to seven hours with a 3,300 foot (1,000 m) climb, and it is the hardest day of the trip.

Vehicle access into the valley has changed in the last few years and the rules have moved more than once. We confirm exactly what is permitted at the time of quoting, and if a shuttle is running we will tell you and let you decide.

Day 13: Yubeng, the ice lake or the sacred waterfall. Two options and you can do both over two days. The ice lake sits under the glacier at about 12,800 feet (3,900 m), six to seven hours return and steep. The sacred waterfall is a pilgrimage route, four to five hours return, gentler, and you will walk it alongside Tibetan pilgrims circling it three times.

Accommodation in the valley is guesthouse standard. Simple rooms, shared bathrooms in some, good food, no heating to speak of. It is the trade for being there.

Day 14: Out of Yubeng and back to Zhongdian. Walk out by the lower Ninong gorge route, which is a spectacular four to five hours above the Mekong on a cut path, or back over the pass. Then the long drive south, five to six hours.

Day 15: Fly out. Diqing airport to Kunming, about an hour, and on to your international connection. Or a night in Kunming if your flight is early.

What is included

Accommodation throughout, in hotels where they exist and trail guesthouses where they do not, with the standard stated honestly for each night. All ground transport with private vehicles and drivers, the Kunming to Dali rail leg, the Diqing to Kunming flight, an English-speaking trekking guide for the whole route, a local porter option on the Yubeng days, all national park and site entries, permits and registrations where required, a pulse oximeter carried by your guide, all breakfasts and the meals on trail days, a VPN and payment apps set up and tested before departure, and a WhatsApp group with your consultant and our Kunming partner team throughout, with WeChat alongside it as a local fallback.

What we would change, and when

• Not comfortable at 12,500 feet? We can build the same trip without Yubeng: more days in Shaxi, the Nixi and Baishuitai valleys, and the Haba side of the gorge. It is a very good trip and it tops out around 11,000 feet.
• Only ten days? Kunming, Dali, Shaxi, Lijiang and the gorge. Cut Meili, which needs the full six days to do without rushing the altitude.
• Travelling in July or August? This is the wet season here. The gorge trail is still walkable and the Meili peaks are usually in cloud, which is the thing worth knowing before you commit. Late September to early November is the clearest window and April to May the second best.
• Want the tea mountains too? Xishuangbanna in the far south adds four days, drops to 1,800 feet (550 m) and is a completely different Yunnan.

Honest notes

Altitude is the real constraint on this route, not fitness. We build in the Wenhai day and the light day at Zhongdian for a reason, and if you arrive unwell we will change the plan rather than push you over a 12,500 foot pass. Your guide carries a pulse oximeter and knows the descent options.

Trail accommodation on three nights is basic. Twin beds, thin walls, uncertain hot water and no heating in the Yubeng valley, where nights are cold even in June. Everyone who has walked it says it was worth it and we would still rather you knew in advance.

The Meili view is weather. Kawagebo is in cloud more often than it is not, and there are travellers who spend three nights at Feilaisi and never see it. We schedule two chances rather than one, and we will not promise you a mountain.

Mobile coverage is patchy in the Yubeng valley and absent for stretches on the gorge trail. Your travel group works when you are back in signal, and your guide carries a local phone that works in more places than yours will.

Built by Asaf Zamshtein, our Southeast Asia and China specialist, and checked with our Kunming partner team before it goes out.

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