Tentative Itinerary

This week two friends and I are flying from Shanghai to Lijiang. The following week is National Holiday Vacation and we'll return around October 4th. We have a loose itinerary in with expectations to properly explore Yunnan Province. Yunnan Province borders Tibet and Vietnam, a fact that still barely the geographic diversity justice. From snow-capped mountains bordering Tibet to the Yangtze River's beginning in the Tiber Leaping Gorger, to Kunmings Stone Forests, to rice terraces in Dali I hope to get my fill of natural beauty.
Yunnan is also China's most culturally diverse province, with 38% of the population representing 25 minority groups. The oldest hominid fossil in China was found in Yunnan, and it is disputed to contain the area known as Shangri-la.
We plan to spend a day or so in Lijiang. Then our first real outing will be hiking a day above Tiger Leaping Gorge, stay in a guesthouse on the trail, and return to Lijiang the next day.

From there we plan to take a bus to Shangri-la and do the tourist thing there- I expect to find some good hiking and possibly see what we can do to get into Tibet. Assuming we do not make it into Tibet, we will take an overnight bus to Dali and spend a few days there in the Old Dali part of town also hiking and sight seeing. From there we are destined for Kunming and the stone forest; Kunming is the capital of Yunnan and there will be plenty to see in the city as well as outside of it. By then we will be ready to take the 36 hour train ride back to Hangzhou and start classes on Monday.