China exotic places
 

This is my third trip to China .Been to the usual tourist destinations.I want to do this on my own without the help of a tour operator. Since I dont speak a word of the local language is this doable ?
My planned Itinery
2N Lijiang to see the black dragon Pool The Mufu
3N Guilin The Jade Mountain Yangshuo Countryside
3N Yangtze river cruise and 3 gorges dam
2 N Zhangjiajie National forest.
My entry and exit airport in China is Kunming.
Please give suggestions regarding the itinery the connections and how to arrange the tours without the help of a tour operator and the least possible number of flights necessary.

You are still doing usual tourist destinations. The Yangtze cruise is as touristy as it gets, so are Lijiang and Guilin these days.

Yes, you can travel on your own without speaking Mandarin - a number of TRs here from people who have done so.

You need a good guidebook with Chinese characters for place names and a phrase book with characters as well as pinyin. A good guidebook will also help answer your questions, as will ctrip.com. If you fly everywhere you will never get off the tourist trail, look at trains and (better) buses.