My family of 6 and I are flying into Kunming on 22nd Jan, 2014, arriving in the middle of the day.

We are thinking of leaving on the sleeper train that night, after seeing the stone forests. Is this possible? (how far away are the stone forests, and are a few hours enough to see the main part?). Also, we experienced some difficulty booking overnight trains last visit in China (I used to work in Tianjin)...what is the best way to book a train from KM to Lijiang for the night of the 22nd? I am not sure if I am able to purchase now, more than a month in advance, and I don't want to miss out on tickets, so the option needs to be reliable. Thanks!