When a Yunnanese Prince crossed the cloud covered mountains of Sichuan Province to visit the imperial Chinese court he informed the emperor his kingdom lay ‘south of the clouds' and the Mandarin translation – Yunnan – has stuck to the present day.

Without doubt China's most diverse and fascinating region, both culturally and scenically; bordering Burma, Laos and Vietnam, this remote, borderland province includes everything from wild elephants and tropical jungles in the far south to yaks and snow-capped mountains of the Tibetan Plateau in the north, and is home to over 25 different ethnic minorities.

Linking to our existing network of SE Asian itineraries, our highly original Yunnan tour takes you to China by train through the mountains of Northern Vietnam and returns to Thailand by way of a cruise down the Mekong River between Burma and Laos. For 2 weeks in between we'll cover our regular mixture of essential sites and hidden gems; - cultural highlights and historic towns such as Dali, Jianshui and UNESCO World Heritage Lijiang, the awesome scenery of Yuanyang, the Yangtze's Tiger Leaping Gorge and the dramatic mountains of Eastern Tibet as well as leaving plenty of time to explore the exotic markets, check-out the bustling street life and meet the local people, in China's friendliest province.

If this isn't enough we can happily arrange add ons, before or after your tour, to any of this vast country's other sites and destinations.