The Yunnan-Tibet Highway starts from Kunming in Yunnan province. If you go this route, you will encounter many local ethnic groups. There are Miao, Tibetan and Naxi minorities in Dali. You will also find many foreigners there.Also you will  can see Mount Cang, Erhai Lake (Dali), the ancient city of Naxi (Lijiang), Shangrial (Zhongdian), and the Hengduan Mountains. In ancient times, merchants also traveled along this route.

Kunming(397km)-Xiaguan(14km)-Dali(166km)-Lijiang(145km)-Zhongdian(152km)-Deqen
(103km)-Yanjing(111km)-Makam(359km)-Baxio(450km)-Nyingchi(420km)-Lhasa