10 Days in Lincang
Ten days across Lincang's counties — Bingdao and Xigui tea, Wengding, the cliff paintings, Mengding paper and Fengqing's 1939 Dianhong — plus the 2023-listed Jingmai groves as labelled neighbour days.
Quick Answer
Is 10 days enough for Lincang?
10 days lets you go beyond Lincang's core into neighborhoods, food markets, and one or two day trips at a relaxed pace.
Source: NihaoVisit Lincang guide
10-day Lincang itinerary at a glance
Use our full Lincang travel guide as the base and adapt it to 10 days. Keep the city's three signature attractions as the backbone; fill the rest with neighborhood walks, food markets, and an easy day trip.
Arrival & the tea city
Land at Lincang — its railway has run since the very end of 2020 — and open gently with the Mekong-bank tea gardens of Xigui, about an hour northeast.
- lincang xigui tea village
Shuangjiang — Bingdao tea hills
About 90 minutes into Shuangjiang county for Mengku and the Bingdao old-tea village around 1,400 metres, with the wild-tea forests of the snow mountains above 2,200 metres across the valley.
- lincang bingdao old village
The road to Cangyuan & Wengding
An honest transfer note — about three hours southwest — for the Wa village of Wengding, thatched wooden houses rebuilt after the serious fire of February 2021; walk it as a living village and sleep in the county town.
- lincang wengding village
Cliff paintings & the Simangli cave
Red-ochre figures and cattle on the Menglai cliffs, commonly estimated at some 3,000 years, and the limestone halls of the Simangli cave named for the Wa origin epic.
- lincang cangyuan cliff paintings
- lincang sigangli cave
Temple & the Mengding road
The Qing-era Guangyun temple, listed for national protection in 1988, then west into Gengma county — Mantuan's Dai papermakers and the border market town of Mengding; sleep in Gengma.
- lincang guangyun temple
- lincang mantuan paper village
Gengma back roads to Lincang
The long drive back northeast with a break at the reservoir behind the Manwan dam, the first big station on the Mekong, generating from the early 1990s; evening in Lincang.
- lincang manwan long lake
Fengqing — the Dianhong county
About two hours northwest to Fengqing, where the black-tea style called Dianhong was first made in 1939; factory and estate tastings with an overnight in the county town.
- lincang fengqing dianhong
The 3,200-year tea tree
Into the hills of Xiaowan town for the ancient tree known as the Jinxiu tea zun, usually estimated at some 3,200 years, still tended by the village below — then the road back toward Lincang.
- lincang jinxiu tea zun
Jingmai old-tea forest (neighbour day)
Honestly labelled neighbouring-city day — a long drive of about five hours southeast across Pu'er's Lancang county to the Jingmai old-tea-forest cultural landscape, inscribed by UNESCO in 2023; sleep in a village on the mountain.
- puer jingmai old tea forest
Jingmai morning & departure
Morning mist over the groves and the Dai and Blang villages among them, then the honest five-hour road back toward Lincang for the railway or the airport.
- puer jingmai old tea forest
Budget for 10 days in Lincang
| Tier | Per day | 10 days total |
|---|---|---|
| Backpacker | USD $50–$80 | USD $500–$800 |
| Mid-range | USD $100–$200 | USD $1,000–$2,000 |
| Luxury | USD $300+ | USD $3,000+ |
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Frequently asked questions
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See also: Lincang travel guide, China visa 2026, China trip cost.