Shanghai - Yunnan from Apr 26-May 4

I have a little over a week to spend in Yunnan (first time) over the May holiday. I am hoping it won%26#39;t be too crowded, as only May 1 is a holiday. I have heard that we need to visit Lijiang Old Town, Lugu Lake, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, and Tiger Leaping Gorge. Would a trip to Dali and Shangri-la be possible? If I have to choose one, which one should I choose (we originally wanted to go to Tibet and decided against it, because of recent events). Also, should we get a flight in and out of Lijiang (Kunming would be less expensive, but I think the city is not as interesting as some of the sites I mentioned above)? Any advice regarding the route would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Shanghai - Yunnan from Apr 26-May 4

I think at this time is not good to go to Shangrila,i went there in Feb,thats nice.Maybe choose Dali

Fly Via Kunming will save you lots of money

Kunming also nice,i like the stone forest(very crowded) also the Jiuxiang

West mountain also nice

Shanghai - Yunnan from Apr 26-May 4

Lugu Lake will take you at least 2-3 days round-trip from Lijiang, so if you do that, effectively half your trip is gone. Out of all those places that you named it should be the least crowded for the 1st 3 days of May.

Tiger Leaping Gorge takes 1.5-2 days to hike.

I would leave a full day for Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. The admission is expensive, if you spend less time there then it%26#39;s not worth the money! Impressions Lijiang (http://www.yx-lj.com) is a must-see.

Don%26#39;t bother with Dali and Shangri-La (Zhongdian) if you%26#39;re already going to Lijiang, Lugu Lake, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Tiger Leaping Gorge. You won%26#39;t have enough time.

Thanks for the replies and the good advice. I definitely don%26#39;t want it to be too hectic, so less is more in this case. Any suggestions on the itinerary if we want be at Lugu Lake around the holiday? Also any recommendations on budget (but comfortable with private rooms) accomodations would be helpful. Approximate how much would we be spending in one week - any estimations?

Thanks again!

Are you flying round-trip into and out of Kunming? What time will your flights in and out be?

I usually reckon on about 4000-5000 RMB for travelling in that week, depending on various factors. The lowest I%26#39;ve done was probably around 3000+ RMB, but that was without flights.

You might want to email me directly at ellyse99@yahoo.com -- put ';TripAdvisor'; and your own username (eg jasmine0809) in the subject line, thanks.

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