Our Team 
Our Tour Experts 
Heroes and Heroines Places to stay
Every captivating tailor-made itinerary needs a perfect base. Our team has handpicked this collection of properties to give you luxury options in styles to suit any adventure.
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![Amy Waters snow biking]()
Our Team Steppes Travel is made by the people who work here. Incredible holidays are made possible because of their vast travel experience and the great enthusiasm they bring to their work.
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![William Dalrymple]()
Our Tour Experts We carefully select our experts based on their knowledge, companionship and influence, ensuring that you can travel with the most knowledgeable leaders in the field.
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![Liz Bonnin]()
Heroes and Heroines The people who lead the way when it comes to those things which matter to us: exploration, the environment, women’s empowerment and education.
Lijiang, Shangri La and Yunnan
Yunnan, meaning ‘Beautiful clouds in the South’ is one of China’s most diverse and naturally beautiful provinces with terrain ranging from snow-capped, alpine mountains to tropical rainforests.
China is home to more than 56 minority groups, over half of which can be found in the South West of the country within the provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou.
During a trip to Yunnan you will find cormorants still being used to catch fish on Erhai Lake, trading communities living in bamboo houses in the sub-tropical regions along the Burmese border, volcanoes in the west and excellent walking in the mountains, where you can get a true taste of the diverse range of flora and fauna on offer.
Yunnan
Yunnan is home to the towns of Lijiang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site nestled beneath the Jade Dragons Mountains with a wonderfully atmospheric old town and Dali with its lakeside location. The province stretches to the borders with Tibet and as one journeys beyond the famed Tiger Leaping Gorge towards the town of Zhongdian it is possible to get a real feel of Tibetan life at the 300-year-old Tibetan Monastery of Ganden Sumtseling Gompa which is still home to around 600 monks.
Guizhou
Guizhou is well known for its hospitable people and enjoys more folk festivals than any other province in China – the colourful clothing, traditions and individual cultures, which are particularly prominent at festival times, are still an unexpected sight in China. The unusual and varied scenery of Guizhou includes striking karst formations, rolling mountains, terraced fields, limestone caves, verdant forests and Asia’s biggest waterfall.
Giant pandas in Sichuan
A visit to the province of Sichuan in the South West is also the place to see China’s most iconic animal, the Panda at the Giant Panda breeding research centre in Chengdu or for the more adventurous you could trek into the mountains to search for these elusive creatures in their natural habitat.
Experiences
What do you really love doing? We curate your itinerary especially for you.
Meet our experts
A passion for travel runs right through every one of our experts - meaning they're always ready with first-hand insight about their specialist countries.
Paul Craven
Paul is the Conde Nast Traveler chosen Specialist for Central Asia and the Silk Route.
Being from a family with Army connections I can from an early age remember travelling. From camping in Europe and then later being sent to boarding school when we lived in Germany at the age of eight, complete with shorts, long socks, a cap and my suitcase. In appearance not too dissimilar to the children evacuated to the countryside during the blitz. Later, my father’s postings took us to Nepal where we had to transit Delhi and Kathmandu where we were sometimes stranded for days and Hong Kong from where I travelled in 1983 through China for two months.
Talk with our experts
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Clare Higginson
It was my passion for languages that first encouraged me to leave the UK behind and grab my rucksack. Since then, it’s been a mixture of intriguing cultures, jaw-dropping landscapes and the wonder of seeing animals in their natural habitat that sees me continuously extending my travel wish list. I also seek adventure; exploring the deep blue or hiking a peak often winning favour. Although it’s my time horse herding in Mongolia that I regularly want to relive.
Talk with our experts
- 01285 601 784
Chengdu and giant pandas
Home to many of China’s natural wonders, wildlife preserves, archaeological sites, and historical buildings.
Xian
Chang An, as Xian was once known, was the start of the Silk Road to Europe through Persia and the Subcontinent.
Beijing
In the North of the country, it is a veritable metropolis of epic proportions and offers more than just the entrance to…
Guilin and The Li River
Guilin's charm lies in its magical scenery which has inspired poets and artists for thousands of years.
Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou
A city of contrasts, Shanghai has two distinctly different faces, one old and one new, and is evolving at a rapid pace.…
Yangtze Cruises
There's are few better way to experience China's stunning landscapes and ancient culture than on a Yangtze cruise.
Tibet
Tibet still exudes a magic that is hard to emulate.
The Silk Road
The Silk Road was the most well known international trade route for the Chinese Empire
Pingyao and Datong
Easily reached by train from Beijing, Pingyao was China's most important trading city during the late Ming and Qing dynasties and is…
Hong Kong
Great shopping, accessible beaches, local history and culture, sky-scraping modern architecture and a wide choice of restaurants.
Why Choose Steppes?
Our knowledge and expertise sets us apart. So too our curiosity. A curiosity of the world and of you, and your passions. It is this that drives us to create a journey that is really bespoke to you, all the while ensuring we travel and operate sustainably.
Are you ready to discover extraordinary?
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