3-Day Jianshui Culture and Cave Tour

Day 1: Jianshui (L)
At 9:00 we will pick you up from your hotel and drive about 3.5 hours to Jianshui, what used to be the historical center of the province and is over 1200 years old. Many Ming dynasty (1368-1644) houses are still intact, and her cobbled streets and grand Residential Houses will charm any visitor.
After lunch, we will the Zhu Family Garden, built in the late Qing dynasty (1644-1911) by the influential Zhu brothers. This private residence is downright impressive in its historical importance and gigantic size: it covers 20.000m2 and has 218 pavilions and towers with painted crossbeams and painted ceilings, as well as 42 small courtyards. The Zhu brothers earned their wealth by trading in everything possible from tin to opium until they eventually fell victim to the political chaos in 1911. Then you will visit the second largest Confucius Temple in China.
 Day 2: Tuanshan (B, L)
After breakfast, we will drive to the 19th century Yunnan-Vietnam railway to take the train to go to Tuanshan Village, a typical Qing dynasty village owned by the wealthy Zhang Family for over 600 years. Along the road we will stop at the Double Dragon Bridge and at the Xianghui Bridge. The final destination is Tuanshang Village. Grand houses with courtyards were built by villagers who earned money from trade made possible by the Yunnan-Vietnam railroad.
In the afternoon, take the train back to Jianshui and visit the Purple Pottery street to learn how to make Purple Pottery. For centuries, Jianshui was the center of pottery industry in Yunnan and has a pottery history for over 3500 years. This kind of purple pottery is one of the four famous pottery styles in China and originated in the Song dynasty more than 900 years ago.
Day 3: Swallow Cave & Xing Meng (B, L)
After breakfast we will go to see a Tofu Workshop where locals make the famous Shipin Tofu, one of the most popular snacks among locals. See how they still produce this local product the traditional way, from sweet water from an old well, you can even try to make some yourself. Afterwards we will go to the Swallow Cave, one of the biggest water caves in Asia, with a plank road of 3 km long leading into the cave past the quiet stream and impressive stalactites and stalagmites. Millions of swallows migrate to these sharp cave cliffs from Malaysia every spring to nest and give birth and can be seen flying around the huge entrance to the cave.
After lunch we will drive back to Kunming with a stop on the way to visit Xingmeng Mongolian village which is the only place with the Mongolian ethnic group in Yunnan. They descent from the Mongolian conquerors that came with to Yunnan about 700 years ago.