Evening flight to Guilin. The next morning you embark on a spectacular 5 hour cruise slowly winding your way down the Li River, viewing the unique surrounding landscape of the most variegated limestone peaks suspended in fantastic shapes over the tranquil jade green river waters like some gorgeous series of ancient Chinese scroll paintings, while around you boatmen and peasants on shore carry out their immemorial activities. From Yangshuo you journey by coach back to Guilin.
In Guilin, visit Reed Flute Cave, Elephant Trunk Hill, Fupo Hill and Diecai Hill for a panoramic view of this ancient town which has evolved into an extraordinary magnet for contemporary tourism, particularly as a gateway to the beauties of the local landscape. Evening flight to Kunming, capital of Yunnan province and best known to Americans of the Second World War generation as the headquarters of the famed "Flying Tigers" with their distinctively decorated fighter planes.
Full day excursion by motorcoach southeast of the city to the so-called Stone Forest, some 200 acres of wierdly shaped and endlessly fascinating karst limestone formations, some rising as high as 100 feet into the air, through which you can wander on a path for over a mile past streams, pools and pavilions. Souveniers and handicrafts may be purchased at the entrance to the Stone Forest at the stalls operated by the local Sanyi minority, one of the 22 minorities represented in Yunnan province.
Morning tour of Kunming to visit the Western Hills, which boast a sweeping panoramic view of tranquil and attractive Lake Dianchi; as well as the Dragon Gate standing atop Buddha Hill and lastly, Grand View Park, all highlights of this beguiling city with its excellent cuisine, mild climate and numerous colleges and universities. In the afternoon you fly to Guangzhou.
To sample the highlights of Guangzhou (also known as Canton), the most important southern industrial and foreign trade center, you mkae a morning visit to Six Banyan Pagoda, the Memorial to Dr Sun Yatsen, the nationalist leader and founder of the Chinese Republic in the early 20th century and the Chen Family Ancestral Temple, an intricately carved handsome structure symbolic of traditional ancestor worship and respect . Afternoon departure by train to Hong Kong.
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