It is impossible to cover all of China's highlights (let alone the more remote locales) in two weeks, two months or even two years. If you've already done a "beginner" highlights of China trip (usually a two-week trip visiting Beijing, Shanghai, Guilin, and Xian), it's time to get a little off-the-beaten trail that is rapidly becoming more "beaten" by the day. That is what ex-Marine (husband, Steve) and I try to do. With a little research, you'll find many different tour operators organizing trips to Yunnan for 2008. Keep in mind that the Summer Olympics take place 8/8/08 in Beijing and will produce a mob scene through China. Not only will the Chinese be traveling but millions of tourists from all around the world.

The most-sees in Yunnan are: Kunming, Dali, Lijiang, Xishuangbanna (pronounced "Shish-E-Banna"), and Zhongdian (now labeled Shangri-La by the Chinese Government). But when we visited in 1999, Yunnan was still a relatively unvisited area in China for Western tourists. The Chinese tourists consider Yunnan their own version of Thailand.

Once again, my great Chinese tour operator, Shi Ming (Cindy) of Shanghai Far East Expeditions (e-mail her at: fareast@shfareast.com) had responded to our request for someplace "different" to visit in China and concocted a complete Yunnan experience, starting in Kunming and exploring the South of Yunnan to begin with. The majority of Yunnan is very tropical (the South especially so) and would be hot and humid when we visited in June. However, the Northern Tibetan areas of Yunnan would be higher in altitude and cooler. Never cold but cool.