Ethnic Tour of South and West China

Begin your journey into China's diverse ethnic cultures in Guilin, a globally renowned gateway to the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

If time allows, you're warmly welcome to drop by Odynovo's headquarters for an insider's glimpse into how your personalized tour is crafted. Here, you'll have the chance to meet your travel consultant face to face, explore their working environment, and get to know the dedicated team working behind the scenes to fine-tune every aspect of your adventure.

Start your day with a relaxing cruise down the Li River toward Yangshuo, enjoying lunch served onboard. As the boat glides through emerald waters flanked by misty, bamboo-fringed hills in varying shapes, you'll feel as though you've stepped into a living Chinese ink painting.

After about four hours, disembark and check in at your hotel for a short rest. Later, follow your guide on a cycling tour across Yangshuo's scenic countryside. Pedal through traditional villages nestled among rice fields, observe everyday rural life, and marvel at the serene beauty of the surrounding karst mountains and flowing streams.

Get to Guilin railway station with your guide for a high-speed train to Congjiang. On arrival, change a private vehicle to visit Zhaoxing Dong Village, the largest one of the Dong minority in southeast Guizhou. Famed as "the village of drum towers", it boasts five stunning drum towers -a real triumph of Dong architecture- built without any nail and representing the five Dong groups here.

Another day to delve more into the peculiar culture and life of local ethnic groups, with the first stop at Basha Miao Village, the last Chinese tribe with its men carrying guns legally. The next is Zhanli Dong Village, a place attracting many who come to seek its mysterious prescription to balance the genders of the newborn. Followed by Xiaohuang Dong Village famous for the UNESCO-listed Dong Chorus Singing and the less known Huanggang Dong Village which better retains its original appearance and lifestyle.

In the mountainous ethnic area, industrious farms don't like to waste any inch of arable land, so cascading terrace fields, in all sizes and shapes, have become one of the most distinctive landscapes in such area.

Spend two to three hours in the morning hiking from Tang'an Village to enjoy the painting-like terrace field scenery and then get to Congjiang railway station for a high-speed train to Guiyang. Upon arrival, be welcomed by the local guide.

Just about 1.5 hours' drive from Guiyang lies Tianlong Tunbao Ancient Town, where a Han Chinese subgroup has preserved their distinctive attire and customs for more than six centuries, giving rise to the fascinating Tunbao culture. As you wander through the town, you'll come across remarkably well-preserved stone dwellings and catch a rare glimpse into what life was like six hundred years ago.

In the afternoon, head to Huangguoshu Waterfall, one of the largest in Asia, famous for its powerful torrents and dramatic natural scenery. Follow the paved pathways to view the falls from various angles, including the renowned Water Curtain Cave, where you can feel the thunder of water crashing down just behind a veil of mist and rock.

Conclude the day by returning to your hotel in the late afternoon, carrying vivid impressions of Guizhou's breathtaking nature and deep-rooted cultural charm.

Board a high-speed train for Dali, the scenic and romantic autonomous prefecture of Bai people, a minority who favors the color white.

Arrive in 4.5 hours, and meet your local guide for the transfer to your hotel. The rest of the day is yours to wander through the old town and explore the city gate, busy streets, old temples, and colorful shops and bars.

Head to Xizhou and explore a local village of Bai people in the morning. Stroll around its morning market to see people of different minorities trading local products, visit an old house of a distinguished family and enjoy the hospitality of the Bai people. Later on, an hour's horse carriage ride will take you to Haishe Wetland Park to take in the natural beauty of Erhai Lake and the surrounding countryside. What's following is a relaxing cruise on the lake.

Shaxi Old Town is a historical trading hub, probably the most intact one, on ancient Tea Horse Road, along which caravans in southwest China transferred tea and other goods through the mountains of Sichuan, Yunnan, and Tibet. Today, on the four hours land journey to Lijiang, you will stop at the old town and explore Sideng market square on the World Monument Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites.

Lijiang is the main inhabiting area of Naxi people, a minority with its own language and well-known to the world with its historical poetry, painting, music and dance.

Explore the old town of Lijiang in the morning, discovering the Mufu Palace, the splendid mansion of the chieftain family of Lijiang in old times, capturing a panoramic view of the whole town from the Lion Hill, and enjoying the well-preserved Naxi ancient music. Outside the old town, at the Museum of Naxi Dongba Culture, get a deeper insight into attractive Naxi culture and Dongba religion.

Board a morning flight departing Lijiang and touch down on the Tibetan Plateau, the Roof of the World. Meet your Tibetan guide at Lhasa Gonggar airport, take the private transfer to your hotel, and relax to get adapted to the high altitude over 3,600 meters.

Spend the day ticking off the significant landmarks in the city. The first stop is, of course, the Potala Palace, initially built in the 7th century and rebuilt in the 17th as the political serving as the winter palace of the Dalai Lamas until the mid of the 20th century. Today it is an art palace to appreciate Tibetan artistic treasures. Followed by the most sacred Jokhang Temple, with rising smoke of the incense, blinking better lamps, and devoting pilgrims taking you into a different world. Outside the temple, the Barkhor Street well preserves the original appearance of the old town and the essence of traditional Tibetan life. Finally, at the Sera Monastery, you will see lamas debating on Buddhist scripture.

About 70 kilometers southwest of Lhasa, the Yamdrok is one of the three largest holy lakes in Tibet and the largest inland lake in the northern foothills of the Himalayas. Drive out of Lhasa this morning to relish in the overwhelming beauty of the lake with sapphire water mirroring the surrounded snow-capped mountains. Afterward, continue to Shigatse - the second largest city in Tibet - and enjoy a distance view of Karuola Glacier on the way.

Get a glimpse into local life by exploring the bustling Free Market in Shigatse before visiting the magnificent Tashilhunpo Monastery, the traditional monastic seat of Pnachen Lamas and the largest functioning religious institution in Tibet. Spend some time exploring the massive religious complex, glancing at the routine life of the monks, and catching some historical clues about Tibetan Buddhism.

Later on, drive about seven hours back to Lhasa. It may be a long and tough journey, however, the beautiful scenery along the way will relieve your fatigue.

Bid farewell to Lhasa, conclude the psychological tour to rural China and board your flight home.