Lijiang Travel Journal

Preface

I actually planned to travel to Lijiang last year too, but those few days happened to be rainy. If I wanted to see Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, I probably would not have seen anything, so I refunded the flight ticket and went to Xinjiang instead, Northern Xinjiang. This year I finally got the chance to visit Lijiang. I have been genuinely busy lately. Even though there are all kinds of clever AI tools helping now, there are still plenty of requirements lined up. I felt embarrassed to take too many days off, so I only took one day. With early departure and late return, it made a three-day, two-night trip. Overall, I think the experience was okay.

My imagined itinerary, the super hardcore version:

• Day1 Lijiang Old Town
• Day2 Lugu Lake, but it was not a sunny day and it is too far, an 8-hour round trip from Lijiang, so I skipped it this time
• Day3 Tiger Leaping Gorge, but my butt still hurt from horseback riding, and the water volume is not very high right now, so I skipped it this time too

Itinerary

Schedule

Day1 Yuhu Village

I got up early and took a ride-share to Pudong Airport. Today’s shared car had four passengers including me, packed full. As soon as I got in, a strong stink hit me in the face 😅.

At the airport, I chose a front-row window seat at the check-in counter and headed to security. It was only just after 6, but the security line was already very long.

The plane took off at 8:55. I was too sleepy and slept for a while. When we were almost at Lijiang, I saw the Jinsha River on the ground and Gongga Snow Mountain in the distance, though I could not photograph it. The weather was great today, and before landing I could see Jade Dragon Snow Mountain very clearly.

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

Meili Snow Mountain in Shangri-La was also faintly visible in the distance.

After landing at Lijiang Sanyi Airport, I had no checked luggage, so I went straight out and took the bus to the city. The airport bus costs 20 yuan per person and runs every 30 minutes.

There was a “staff member” on the bus, whom I will call the bus lady for short. She introduced Lijiang’s geography, history, culture, and some things to watch out for. She said the most convenient and cost-effective way to get around Lijiang is “shared rides,” and if tourists wanted more information, they could ask at the visitor center near the bus drop-off point. She also said the weather was good today and it was very suitable to visit Yuhu Village, the village closest to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. The flowers were blooming, and the scenery was beautiful.

I happened to have no idea where to go that afternoon, so after getting off at the South Gate stop of Lijiang Old Town, I went to the visitor center to ask how to take a shared ride to Yuhu Village. Only after asking did I realize the staff were actually from a travel agency. Whether they were “official” or not, who knows. The staff said there was no simple shared ride to Yuhu Village, only a package including sightseeing, horseback riding, boating, and lunch, priced at 148 yuan. I thought that was not expensive, so I bought the package and went to Yuhu Village.

Actually, by then I already had a slight bad feeling. We took a 7-seat car to Yuhu Village, and once we arrived, we went straight to the horseback riding place, which looked like a villager’s home. Before riding, they first served us cured pork rib hot pot. It was neither good nor bad, just bland. There was not even dipping sauce for the hot pot, and it felt like they mainly wanted to sell their sauce.

After lunch, we went horseback riding. I had never ridden a horse before, so it felt quite novel. The ride went up the mountain, looped around, and returned to the starting point. There was horse manure all along the way, and the horses would also poop while walking. The smell was just barely acceptable. Herbivore manure is not enough to make someone pass out. The whole ride took about 50 minutes. The saddle was not soft enough, like sitting directly on the horse’s spine. My butt hurt a lot, and it was still faintly sore the next day 😅.

After the ride, the horse owner invited us to taste tea. I tried their mountain tea, which was a little like the vine tea from my hometown, with a sweet aftertaste. It was 50 yuan for a small bag or 200 yuan for a tin.

They had also dug a pond below the courtyard. The boating activity mentioned in the package was in this pond. I could accept the horseback riding, but this boating thing really broke me.

While we were riding, someone else took photos of us. After we came back, they asked us to buy them for 20 yuan each. I thought it was too expensive and did not take any. Even if he had said 10 yuan, I still would not have taken them. Luckily nothing happened.

Some people in our group went boating in the pond. After they came back, the guide took us to Yuhu Village. At the Yuhu Village visitor center, we were asked to buy scenic electric cart tickets, 40 yuan round trip.

This stretch was not far at all. It only took a few minutes to reach the village. The village was still being developed, and many houses had scaffolding on them.

We walked through the stone road in the village, then took the second section of the electric cart to Longnu Lake.

This section was not far either. When we arrived at Longnu Lake, my inner reaction was: ?

Isn’t this just another pond 😅 Where is the promised forest? Where is the blue lake water?

The clouds in Yunnan look relatively low, and they are very pretty.

Fortunately, today’s weather was not too disappointing. Although the snow mountain was backlit in the afternoon and clouds and mist started to rise, the sunlight piercing through the clouds and falling onto the grassland was beautiful.

A horse and a little dog

Let me see what kind of dog this is. The little dog was so happy, rolling around on the ground.

A little dark-faced cutie

There was a dead tree by the lake.

The guide asked us to return to the visitor center at 6 to gather and head back to Lijiang City. I walked back and got on the scenic shuttle a little after 5.

A local village cat

I was really sleepy on the way back and slept in the car for a while.

When I got back to Lijiang City, it was already after 7. The sky was not dark yet, but it was probably dinner time here.

For dinner, I had a bowl of small-pot rice noodles upstairs in Lijiang International Shopping Plaza. It was good. I had previously bought pre-made small-pot rice noodles at Hema, and the flavor was about 80 percent similar to this. While eating, I also met a group of tourists from Taiwan.

Small-pot rice noodles

After finishing the rice noodles, I went through the underground passage to the Big Water Wheel in Lijiang Old Town.

It was just an ordinary landmark, nothing especially novel.

There was a stage set up in the open space today, with song performances.

I was not interested in the night market, so I went back to the hotel to check in and rest. I had to get up early tomorrow to go to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

Day2 Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

The day before, I booked today’s “Golden Sunrise on the Snow Mountain shared ride” tour at the South Gate visitor center. I got up at 5, and at 5:30 I met the driver at the designated spot to head to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

On the way, the driver kept talking nonstop, saying one trip did not earn much, and now in the off-season he earned even less. Then he went on to say that golden sunrise on the mountain is rare, usually only in winter, and we should not expect it now.

When entering the mountain, staff boarded the car to check mountain entry tickets. You could also buy one on the spot. After arriving at the parking lot, the driver started selling glucose oral solution, 40 yuan per bottle. I did not buy any. The clouds were quite thick this morning, so seeing golden sunrise was indeed impossible. After arriving at Ganhaizi Visitor Center, the driver handed us over to another “staff member.” This staff member briefly explained some reminders and took us to an altar. After some setup, they led us to the place where prayer flags were sold. The prayer flags were not purchased directly. The staff asked tourists to put their hands on the table where the prayer flags were placed, which naturally meant whoever touched them would need to pay. Then they asked tourists in the front row to pass yellow prayer flags to the back rows. I was in the middle of the crowd and did not take one. Those who received flags paid on the other side of the room.

Next, the staff took us in front of the altar for a prayer before entering the mountain. A Dongba priest beat a drum and sprinkled holy water, said to be snowmelt from above 5000 meters on the mountain, very rare. One drop landed on me. Although I did not buy a prayer flag, I still hope it brings me good luck 🍀.

Altar

In short, we were stuck there for an hour, and I had not even eaten breakfast 😅. At that moment, a little sunlight broke through the clouds and shone on Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. There were some clouds in front of the mountain, very beautiful! The driver told us not to take photos now, saying it would be better at noon when we came back. Anyway, I took some very nice photos.

A little like Yosemite

My cableway ticket was for 8:00-8:29. According to the rules, I could enter before 9 and board the cableway before 9:30. At the visitor center, I queued for the bus to the Blue Moon Valley cableway station.

At Blue Moon Valley Station, we were already very close to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. I looked up at the mountain, and the peak was covered by clouds.

The driver kept telling us that the Blue Moon Valley route was 4.8 km one way, and if we did not buy the sightseeing car ticket, we would have to walk 9.6 km round trip, which would take hours. He also said that after getting off the cableway at Spruce Meadow, we would need to walk 3 km. In short, he was trying to get us to buy sightseeing car tickets, 60 yuan in total. (Don’t buy it, unless you have money to spare)

We queued for Spruce Meadow. After going up, the place selling sightseeing car tickets said the distance was 2 km. If you walked further in, you would see the actual walking distance was 900 meters. This electric sightseeing cart was completely ridiculous.

After arriving, the clouds grew even thicker, and the upper part of the snow mountain was completely hidden. As its name suggests, the scenic spot is a large meadow surrounded by fir forest.

I walked a big loop around the meadow. There is an older boardwalk loop and a smaller newer boardwalk loop. I took the old one.

There were many couples taking wedding photos on the meadow. This was really the first time in my life seeing a place with so many wedding photo shoots.

It was still a bit cold here, and my nose kept running uncontrollably. There were many little sheep in the meadow. Lots of small yellow daisies were blooming on the ground, and the sheep ate them one bite at a time.

This is what the little flowers looked like

The forest here was quite beautiful, a bit like the forests I saw in Jiuzhaigou, with lots of moss on the trunks. But everywhere you could see trash left behind from wedding photo shoots, though I did not include it in the photos.

At this time, the grass was not very green yet.

After walking around, I took the cableway down the mountain. Halfway down, looking over Blue Moon Valley, the lake water looked like gemstones. There was a little sunlight then, shining on the lake surface, very beautiful. At the cableway station, I bought 4 xiaolongbao for 10 yuan to fill my stomach a little. They were not good.

After eating, I took the sightseeing bus to the lakeside of Blue Moon Valley. The main scenery of Blue Moon Valley is made up of several lakes cascading down from higher to lower levels.

The stream water was very clear

The waterfall looked artificial. Behind the waterfall was cement, so it looked kind of fake.

A dead tree. Some of the water here looked blue, while some looked green. Maybe it has something to do with light reflecting off algae or deposits from water dripping through stone.

It felt a little like Jiuzhaigou. The water was very clear, though there was some algae.

The clouds over the snow mountain were still there.

A duck, seemingly eating fish.

The calm lake reflected Jade Dragon Snow Mountain like a mirror.

Rainbow trout. Here it seems to be called “snow mountain fish.”

After finishing Blue Moon Valley, I took the bus back to Ganhaizi Visitor Center. This “shared ride tour” I joined included lunch. The driver said the meal was quite average and we could decide whether to eat it. I skipped it and went to KFC.

After eating, I went upstairs to the morning photo spot and looked at the snow mountain for a while, then headed to the parking lot to get in the car and wait to return to Lijiang City.

This one was taken with iPhone, because the longest lens I brought for my camera was only 70 mm, a little shorter than the iPhone’s 100 mm. It was majestic and stunning.

It took about an hour to return to the city. When I got off, the temperature was quite high.

On Yuyuan Bridge

After getting off, I went to Black Dragon Pool Park. There were not many people today. The park has an iconic photo spot where you can see the snow mountain and the five-arch bridge in the same frame.

Black Dragon Pool Park

After leaving, I bought a drink from Cotti Coffee at the entrance, then walked to the hotel to check in and rest. I passed a fruit shop that looked like it was run by a father and son. I asked the owner how much sugar apples were per jin. He said 25. I saw the skins were a bit bruised, so I did not buy any. Then I asked how much salak was. He said 15 yuan for two. I had just passed another fruit shop selling salak for 10 yuan for three, so I told him another shop was 10 yuan for three. The owner replied grumpily: “Then why didn’t you buy from that shop?” Me: 🙄 This owner really does not know how to do business.

I returned to the hotel to check in and rest. Today’s room could see a corner of the snow mountain. The location was very convenient. From the entrance, I could take the underground passage directly into the old town. I did not know what to eat for dinner and was too lazy to go out, so I ordered takeout: porcini mushroom braised rice and tossed luffa tips. Both were things I had never eaten before. The porcini rice was a huge bowl, and I could not finish it. The luffa tips had soy sauce and were a bit salty. Overall, not a disaster, but not amazing either.

I had not slept enough for two nights in a row, and my watch had already shown three abnormal alerts, heart rate, blood oxygen, and sleep duration. I did not plan to go anywhere far tomorrow, just wander around near the old town.

Day3 Lijiang Old Town

I slept until I woke up naturally and had breakfast. After eating, I still did not feel like moving. I lay in bed scrolling on my phone and got sleepy again, so I took another nap.

At noon, I checked out and went to the Big Water Wheel. There are two pretty good spots here for photographing the snow mountain.

I walked to Dashiqiao. Along the river, there were lots of flowers, with a clear stream lying in the middle. It was beautiful.

Small stream, flowing water, music.

At Dashiqiao, two very photogenic people held poses there for 10 minutes. I stood nearby feeling a bit awkward.

I walked back and bought a milk tea from Chagee near the Big Water Wheel to quench my thirst.

I saw on Xiaohongshu that there were two photo spots where you could capture “the old town beneath the snow mountain.” It looked very appealing. I checked navigation and it was only 500 meters on foot, so I decided to go.

Passed by Wenchang Palace.

Overlooking Lijiang Old Town.

Street view.

The first spot was in front of “Shan Kaka.”

The second spot was in front of “Zai Shanye.” This photo is the cover of this post.

Today, there was a ring of clouds around the top of the snow mountain, so it did not reveal its full appearance. But these two photo spots are indeed great!

My return flight was at 18:20. I booked a ride-share for 3:40, expecting to arrive at the airport two hours early. On the way, the driver asked if I wanted to take the expressway. I thought it was better to be safe, so I chose the expressway and paid an extra 10 yuan toll.

At the airport, check-in and security were very quick, only a few minutes in line. It was still early, so I ate a bowl of black-bone chicken rice noodles. It was good, very fresh-tasting.

After takeoff, I saw mountains in light and shadow. Beautiful. I had deliberately chosen a left-side window seat because I wanted one last aerial view of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain as I left, but there were too many clouds and I did not see it.

Daliyuan, crossed out, Tyndall effect

Jinsha River

Arrived in Shanghai! I took a ride-share home, sorted myself out, rested properly, and had to go back to work tomorrow.

Expenses

Reflections

• The flowers, plants, and trees are all neatly trimmed
  The streets are very well maintained and tidy.

• The scenic shuttles are a small trap
  The distances are obviously not that far.

• The so-called shared ride experience was not very good
  It is probably better to take a taxi yourself or use public transportation. My small-group tour experiences in the Northwest last year, Xinjiang and Gansu, were all very good, which made me lower my guard.

• Altitude sickness?
  Did not encounter it.

• A feeling of being tricked
  It did not cost much money, but it affected the mood a bit.

• Blue Moon Valley: a substitute for Jiuzhaigou?
  I have always believed that all kinds of so-called “substitutes” can never truly replace the original. If you come for a “substitute,” you will definitely be disappointed. But if you do not treat it as a substitute and instead look at its own characteristics, it is still pretty nice.

Finally

See you in the next travel journal 👋