3 Days of Lijiang - Jade Dragon Snow Mountain - Lijiang

The Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is a holy mountain in the heart of Naxi Minority. In the morning of the first day, you can take bus No. 7 to the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain which is 15km away from Lijiang. 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. Hike for one hour to go accross the Snow Flake Lake, the Yak Stream, the splendid meadow and the hemlock forest. Then you will arrive at the destination of the first day, the alp meadow with the altitude of 3500 meters. Set camp on the meadow. You have the afternoon to enjoy the beautiful landscape of the mountain. There, you can experience the changable scenery of the snow mountain.

On the second day, hike across the alp meadow, the bushy virgin forest and the Black Water River and reach the Third Kingdom of Jade Dragon. It is the Holy Land of Naxi Minority and the heaven on earth in their heart. Hike down the mountain and take bus back to Lijiang.

On the third day, if you are still energetic, you can have one day hiking to the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain through another way. Take bus No. 7 to the Dry Sea which is a large natural pasture. It is 23km away from Lijiang and the altitude is 3100 meters. Walk along the dry riverbed in the valley to the end, you will see the cliff stand around the three sides. The Base Camp is in the pine forest which is under the crack of the head-on cliff. There isn't any source of water near the Base Camp, but because the sunlight can not reach there all the time, the snow can be offered for drinking. From the Base Camp, walk along the launder of the glacier on the left side of the head-on cliff to the end. Then you have to walk on a upward way on the cliff with 150 meters high. Afterwards, passing the cuckoo cluster, the meadow and a section of the glacier, you will arrive at the Rolling Stone Slope. Hike along the left side of the slope till a small platform which is formed by the ice, snow and detritus. It is the No. 1 Camp with the altitude of 4600 meters.

On the north of the No. 1 Camp, it is the detritus valley. The vertical distance is nearly 200 meters. Go on climbing down to the bottom of the valley and then climb up to the opposite mountainside. Now, you have to walk upwards along the ice slope which is 1000 meters long and arrive at a small escarpment. You can see the ice cliff then. Climb carefully along the right side of the ice cliff and you will arrive at the destination, the icecap. You can return to the foot of the mountain by the same way.