China Turpan: Tuyoq, Bezeklik and the Flaming Mountains Two days below sea level in the Turpan depression: a mud-brick village at the bottom of a gorge, Buddhist caves above a river, red-striped mountains, and a whole city built of packed earth.
China Lijiang and Shangri-La: Old Town Roofs and the Tibetan Plateau Lijiang gets written off as a tourist trap and Shangri-La gets written off as a marketing exercise. Both judgements are lazy, and half a day in the right places undoes them.
China Dali and Shaxi: Bai Country by Scooter Dali has the lake, the pagodas and the crowds. Shaxi, three hours north, has a market square that has barely changed since the caravans stopped coming. Do both.
China Jianshui: The Old Town Most Yunnan Itineraries Skip A Confucian temple, a merchant's garden of 42 courtyards, a seventeen-arch bridge and a street full of potters — Jianshui deserves two days, and almost nobody gives it one.
