having biked the area extensively and always on the lookout for traffic free areas, I can recommend the following:
Diqin (I assume you mean Shangri-la): head out east on the East Ring road, over Baishuitai, Haba and the east end of the Tiger Leaping Gorge. Go to the west end. Do the trek back to the east. Hop in a ferry or take the new bridge over to Daju. Get transport or hike or ride towards Lijiang on this old road. It has a couple inevitable touristy spots, though. From Lijiang, if you are walking, there's a beautiful hike over Shigu (at the first bend of the Yangtze) on an old horse trail towards Jianchuan. If you can't hike, you're stuck to a fairly tourist-laden road to Jianchuan.
At Jianchuan head out to Shaxi, do Shibaoshan etc. Continue down the valley over Yangbi, or head out to Yunlong if that's not too far out of your way, go into Dali. From Dali take the old road over Chuxiong to Kunming.
Of course, if you can meander more, I suggest you approach Kunming from the north.
Setting up an international dental clinic in Kunming
发布者Where's my april fool's article!
Highway promises easier access to Meili Snow Mountain
发布者cyled it. The road is at phenomenal altitude (some stretches as high as 4400masl), that probably had something to do with it the slowness :)
Kunming driver boldly goes where few have before
发布者I.e. one of the men was driving and they blamed the woman.
Yunnan to spend 500 billion on roads
发布者sounds like a desperate attempt to boost the economy rather than fulfilling a really necessary need. Yunnan's roads are not of such poor quality. Well let's hope it works, whichever the target.
200 Kunming officials punished for corruption
发布者She is raging like a devil in a font of holy water.