We decided to visit Yunnan quite spontaneously in the summer of 2022. We had just survived the long Shanghai lockdown and were eager for some fresh air. Most expatriate travel agencies offer full package tours with guide, driver, 5-star hotels and the main tourist hot spots everyone visits. But we wanted a more personal trip, discovering some of the local hidden gems without constant baby-sitting. Sylvie was the perfect solution for us. She organized our full trip, included some smaller B&B hotels and an eco-resort we selected already, and gave us many insights into the possibilities of every major stop we made. Her long experience and wide personal connections throughout all of Yunnan opened doors for us that we would never even have seen. This way we were able to join a local Yizu minority torch festival as the first foreigners ever, join a local English teachers class, visit rice terraces south of Kunming, discover Dali and its hippie artisans, visit an American farmer and experience the vast beauty of the Shangri-La landscape. Throughout the whole trip Sylvie was in contact with us daily and provided invaluable assistance with hotels, train stations and difficult taxi drivers. She knows the hidden gems in all of Yunnan, but especially around Dali. With her fluent Chinese and very pragmatic, customer oriented mindset she helped us 24/7. She made our trip perfect and we will come back for sure!
Patrick, Madeleine, Elena & Akira, from Germany/Luxembourg, living in Shanghai. Yunnan Circuit, July-August 2022