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| Yunnan - Lijiang |
As famous as the mountain, Lugu Lake, which is about 184 kilometers (about 114 miles) to the northeast of Lijiang City, is a must for visitors. The Mosuo People there who still maintain a matriarchal clan society today will introduce you to another one of the Chinese minority cultures. |
For this 6 days' hiking route, there is one highlight site in each day respectively, namely Yufeng Temple, Lashi Lake, the Stone Drum Town, the First Bend of Yangtze River, Middle Tiger Leaping Gorge and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. |
The Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is a holy mountain in the heart of Naxi Minority. Take the Yak Meadow cable car to the Yak Meadow. On the Yak Meadow, you can enjoy the scenery of alp snowfield, the stream of Black Water River, the natural and peace virgin forest. |
This is a hiking route along the Jinsha River. On the way, you can see the landscape of the valley, such as the walnut forest, the banana tree and the olive garden. The villages like Yong'an, Xiumei, Banqiao and Jiahe are the places where the Naxi Minority, the Bai Minority, the Yi Minority, the Lisu Minority, the Miao Minority and Han people lived together. |
Shuhe Ancient Town is your first destination on the first day. On your second day, take a coach to Yongsheng County. On the morning of the third day, stroll along the lake to enjoy the patches of terrace and villages. On the fourth day, go through a dense mountain village. |
The Laojun Mountain scenic area is an important part of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain scenic area. You are recommended to visit the Laojun Mountain in May when the azaleas bloom. |
On your first day, go to the Xishuangbanna Nationality Culture Park where you can find various types of tropical plants and fruit trees. Someone once likened Xishuangbanna to a green peacock and the Olive Dam was its tail feather. Enjoy the tropical scenery, at the same time you can purchase all kinds of fruits. |
Jinghong, also known as Xishaungbanna, is the only tropical rain forest nature reserve in China. The area has surprising biological diversity in the virgin forest, particularly because Xishuangbanna is so far away from central China and considered isolated. |
Located in the south extension of the Hengduan Mountains, Xishuangbanna/ Jinghong has over ninety-five percent of its territory occupied by mountainous and hilly areas. To the Dai people, Xishuangbanna was known as 'Mengbanaxi' in ancient times, a name that means a miraculous and nice utopia. It had been a settlement where 13 ethnic minorities have lived in tight-knit communities for generations. |
Focus your hiking in Zhanglang Village, where the Bulang ethnic minority people have led their life for thousands of years. Today this village still preserves the relatively complete historical site of Bualng tea culture. You can find the cultural legacy as living fossil from the villagers’ daily life. So you have to enjoy a cup of tea at Zhanglang Village. |
Hiking out of Lijiang and this 5-day itinerary will guide you to Tengchong for exploration. You will visit the Dieshuihe Waterfall, Rehai Park, Beihai Wetland Park, Heshun Village and Vocanic Park. |
Our 4-day itinerary will provide you a chance to experience the ancient Tea-horse Road, which was used for trading in ancient times. The Road runs through Jianchuan County, Shaxi Town, Shibao Mountain and Maping Pass. |
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 Lijiang13 : 4 Days Lijiang - Middle Tiger Leaping Gorge - Lijiang
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Catch the coach at 8:30 at the Passenger Station to Qiaotou Town on the first day. It takes you about 2.5 hours on the way and you need to pay CNY18.5 including insurance one way. Upon arrival at Qiaotou, take another local minibus to Middle Leaping Gorge. The price including the admission fee is CNY50. Pass by the Upper Leaping Gorge and get off the car at the sign of 14 kilometers highway. Start up the high way on foot. When you go through the Half Way, start to climb down and arrive at Tina's, which is actually the Zhongxia Tavern. This hiking journey will only take you about 3 hours, but this stretch of the road is “the pick of the basket” among those hiking ways of Tiger Leaping Gorge. The river banks here are filled with jagged rocks and sheer cliffs. Even in the river, indented rocks are spread as stars everywhere. Swift current are impacting against them and it makes heavy fog on the river. So the scenery here is the most beautiful throughout the high way. Since you only need to tramp the latter part of the high way, you can get some idea of the splendid sights of the high way as well as save a lot of time and physical strength. Stay overnight at the hostel in Middle Leaping Gorge, like the Tina's, Teacher Zhang's and Tianti Tavern.
On the morning of the second day, walk down along the Teacher Zhang's pland path to the Middle Tiger Leaping Gorge. CNY10 of road toll is required here. Continue to follow the Celestial Ladder (Tianti) pland path and you will reach a highroad finally. 4-hour's walking may be needed here. Please remember not to look back when you climb up the Celestial Ladder since it is almost vertical and you will feel dizzy if you look back. After lunch and a short rest, take a minibus back to Qiaotou and then transfer yourself back to Lijiang. The Lijiang International Youth Hostel (Address: No.44 Mishe Lane, Xinyi Road, Lijiang; Tel: 0888-5105403) is recommended for you to stay.
After two-day's hiking and riding, you may want to ease of your body and mind. Stroll about in the old town of Lijiang. On the morning of the third day, walk to visit Lion Hill Park, which stands only 1.5 kilometers (0.9 mile) south of your hostel. The entrance fee is CNY15 and it is the best place to get a bird's-eye view of the whole Lijiang Town. This former imperial garden now is covered with lush green trees. It is said that the cypresses on the mountain were planted in Tang Dynasty (A.D.618 - 907). At the top of the hill is a five-storey wooden Wangulou Tower with typical Naxi architectural feature. Look into the distant north from here and you will find the beautiful and mysterious Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. In the afternoon, walk to north for about 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) and you will get to the Museum of Dongba Culture. For the museum helps you a lot understand the Dongba culture, it worth a visit.
Farewell to Lijiang and your tour in Lijiang ends.
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