Well, my Chengdu-Kunming train K165 was 2 hours late. It originated in Xi'an rather than Chengdu and that was the problem.

There are trains that have no letter in front of them, just numbered only. It means they are very slow trains that stop just about everywhere on the line. They are to be avoided unless absolutely necessary, as usually they are the oldest rolling stock.

On the latest itinerary, I guess I'm not understanding why you are bouncing around erratically from Shenzhen to Chengdu to Lijiang/Dali to Kunming up to Zhangjiajie???? Why are you bothering with Shenzhen, especially since you say you aren't focused on big cities? Is there a specific reason you need to be in Chengdu on a specific date? Is there a reason you need to go to Kunming (besides as a transport hub?) The Stone Forest is redundant with Zhangjiajie and could be skipped without regret. Climbing Emei Shan in December is probably not a good idea.

There's definitely some missed opportunity between Lijiang and Dali. But I think the overall days are OK, just plan on not spending them all in Lijiang itself. On my Sichuan/Yunnan trip thread, there will be a bunch of details about this area, but I won't have it written and on the thread for another 2-3 days.