Kunming and Environs Multiple-day Tour
Duration
6 days
Language
EN/CN
Tour Theme
Food/Culture/History/Outdoor/Sustainability
Tour details
Day 1
Kunming Zhuanxin Wet Market
Stepping into this market is like going to a botanical garden. Zhuanxin, the most famous wet market in Kunming has the abundance of fresh fruit and veggies as well as local snacks and amazing meals from every region in Yunnan.
As we explore the stalls, our guide will introduce you to 3-4 vegan snack foods and after we’ll sit down to a table tasting-menu of 1-2 vegan dishes. Some dishes to sample include: douhua mixian (豆花米线) or Kunming’s famous rice noodles smothered in spices and tofu. You’ll get to try cakes made from local buckwheat, corn or purple rice and sample freshly fried lotus fritters. As you wander through the market stalls, feel free to sample the different products and produce being handed out by the stall merchants and artists.
The amount of delicious vegan food you can find in this market is enough to impress any cuisine enthusiast. You don’t need to be a vegan or vegetarian to sign up for this tour; we guarantee that you will leave this tour with your stomach full, taste buds satisfied, and your curiosity piqued.
Lunch At a Vegan Wild Mushroom Hotpot Restaurant
Yunnan is famous for its treasure of biodiversity in China, which changes from season to season. During the rainy season from June till October, every street and market in Yunnan are filled with freshly picked wild vegetables and mushrooms that burst into life from the rain and humidity. That’s why you have to try our local favorite Wild Mushroom Hotpot when you visit Yunnan! While most hotpot restaurants believe meat is the key ingredient for hotpot, we’ve picked one of few vegan wild mushroom hotpot locations available in Yunnan. It has a rich and nutrient broth full of flavor that’s easy on the body and doesn’t tire you out like ordinary hotpot!
Tofu Making Workshop and Dinner at An Organic Farm Outside the City
After lunch, we’ll drive up to a local organic farm outside the city in our electric vehicle for an authentic stone-mill tofu-making experience. We’ve been working with this local farm for many years, as their permaculture practices promote and restore the soil’s natural biodiversity unlike typical agricultural practices. Upon arrival, we’ll take a tour around the fields to understand its permaculture philosophy. After that, we’ll get to experience one of China’s sacred traditions: stone-mill tofu making. During the mill experience, we will get to taste our soybean milk and cook tofu on a stone hot stove in the forest besides freshly picked organic veggies from the fields for an all-natural picnic feast!
Day 2
Guniu Guiyuan Homestay is located at the mountainside of Daguniu Mountain. The project consists of five different Yi style huts. The owner of this place sold her house and her business in Kunming, returned to her homeland to embrace the sacred mountain and started the first vegetarian lodging in the mountains. We will enjoy a mouth-watering and colorful vegan meal curated by her, all ingredients are sourced from her own ecological semi-wild garden farm.
Bajiaodi Eco Village Tour
Bajiaodi Eco Village is located in Dongchuan, Kunming. Four years ago, after all the villagers moved out, the new Bajiaodi was founded by two friends with the goal of building a green sustainable community where new residents would practice an eco-conscious self-sufficient lifestyle. It’s currently the only vegetarian village in Yunnan.
The entire village is a sustainable community built around the themes of natural architecture, natural education, natural medicine, natural farming methods, and the revitalization of the entire abandoned village and its surrounding resources through the reconstruction and reuse of rural buildings, and project-based study and research activities, which will lead to the revitalization of the local countryside.
Day 3
Daguniu Mountain Tour
Daguniu Mountain sits at the elevation of 4017 meters, the highest peak of the Umeng Mountains. The foothills are located in the Xiaojiang River Valley, a tributary to Jinsha River, at the elevation of only 695 meters with the relative height difference of more than 3300 meters. The Daguniu Mountain is amongst the most steep mountain ranges in Yunnan with the mountain top roaring into the clouds. Hiking here is more difficult and offers an intense yet fascinating experience compared to other famous hiking routes in Yunnan(Tiger Leaping Gorge). This hike is not recommended for the faint-hearted and it’s weather dependent.
Besides the thrill of deep canyons and steep cliffs, Daguniu Mountain is also famous for its ever-changing climate, and flora and fauna. You can enjoy a variety of vegetation all year around, and the rhododendrons all over the mountainside is amongst the locals’ favorite. Sheep, goats, horses, cows and even yaks are found at the vast highland meadow sitting at the top of the mountain.
Day 4
Yi Village
Yunnan is home to 26 ethnic groups, most culturally diverse in China. You can still travel to remote areas and small villages hours away from the main cities to have a glimpse of what the life of the minority groups looks like and usually you will end up being invited to enjoy a meal with their family. Unfortunately, it’s more of a rarity to see their traditions, even the most remote areas are modernizing and the “old tradtions” considered as outdated and old-schooled are dying out rapidly. This Yi village built from scratch by two Dongchuan(Kunming) locals, is aiming to bring all the old traditions back to life in one single settlement. You can experience on-hands workshops, eg. tofu making with millstone, pottery making, Yi embroidery, savor Yi style meals in an open-air space with dancing and singing performed by the local Yi women. The bon-fire ethnic dancing is a can’t-miss.
Red Land
Located in northeastern part of Kunming, Dongchuan Red Land is a perfect spot for photography lovers, the soil rich in iron and aluminum, hence the red color. From May to June and from September to November, are the best season to visit when the land is not covered by crops.
Day 5
Soy Sauce Making Workshop
Kanshan Studio was built from scratch in 2016 on a farmer’s land just outside of Kunming. Their soy sauce is made by traditional brewing method, selecting Heilongjiang(Northeastern China) soybeans and wheat, using high salt dilute fermentation. The process takes more than six months, the soy sauce is rich in soybean flavor, mellow and delicious. Soy sauce made in a traditional way is one of things that are rapidly dying out in China as nearly all the products are manufactured from factories.
Day 6
We’ll drive a few hours out of Kunming to enjoy a wild hot spring located alongside a gorgeous natural running river. There we can relax and unwind from our trip with a warm bath and then a cold dip in the river. After our rest, we will return to Kunming city and end the tour with a scrumptious family style dinner.
Please note that the itinerary is subject to changes due to availability, weather condition, and so on, it’s recommended to consult us first prior to booking. The length and the itinerary of the tour can be adjusted upon request. We offer tours all across Yunnan, for more extended sustainable tours in different regions of Yunnan, feel free to get in touch with us.
Price List(Varies by Group Size, Please consult us first if you are a large group)
1 guest, 2800 RMB per person per day
2 guests or more, 2500 RMB per person per day
Price Includes
All Food and Water
All Workshops
Tickets to all the Sights(included in the tour)
Experienced Local English-Speaking Guide
Licensed Private Car(electric) with Professional and Responsible Driver
Accommodation(For a more authentic experience and to really support the local business, we usually choose clean, characteristic and comfortable local accommodation over international and local hotels, but when there are no local options, we would stay in regular local or international hotels. The standard of our accommodation is equivalent of 3 or 4-star hotels. If you wish to upgrade your hotels, please consult us prior to booking.)
Mandatory Insurance
Price Excludes
Tips (Optional)
Souvenirs and Personal Expenses
Good To know
1. Food: we will choose mostly ecological and organic local ingredients, we advocate low-carbon eco-friendly healthy diet, the food we eat during the trip will be primarily plant-based with some high-quality local non-vegan options or fully vegan.
2.There are public or local-style restrooms available throughout the tour but western-style toilets are mostly available in hotels and large malls.
3.On this tour, our guide will also share with you our plastic-free lifestyle. We will help you to refuse all single-use plastic disposables.
What to bring
1.Please bring comfortable footwear and water-proof hiking boots, rain jacket, swimsuit, towels, toothbrush, tooth tablets, soap bars for body and hair. You are also recommended to bring a reusable shopping bag.
2.Each guest will be provided with a reusable bowl, bamboo chopsticks, a spoon and a reusable water bottle. Feel free to bring your own reusable water bottle if you have one.
3.We will also provide an eco-travel gift box for your use during the tour, including bamboo toothbrush, tooth tablets and soap bars, etc.
