Lijiang Highlights

In the morning, your guide and the driver will accompany you on a 50-minute drive to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. The first stop will be Dry Sea Meadow, a vast alpine meadow at the mountain’s base, offering a panoramic view of the thirteen snow-capped peaks of the mountain. In spring and summer, you may see herders grazing their yaks and sheep across this serene landscape.

To ensure your comfort, we’ll specially include the round-trip cable car to whisk you up to the 3,240-meter-high (10,630 feet) Spruce Plateau for a stunning vantage point. Here, you’ll enter a fairyland: under the magnificent Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, green lawns seem to stretch endlessly, with lofty spruce trees standing straight like soldiers to guard the whole land.

After a return cable car, we’ll take the park’s electric shuttle to Blue Moon Valley, located about 2,900 meters (9,500 feet) above sea level. This stunning area features four lakes fed by glacial meltwater. Rich in minerals, the water reflects dreamlike shades of Tiffany blue and emerald green in the sunlight. A short walk upstream will lead you to the White Water River, which flows over a limestone riverbed and takes on a milky-white hue. According to Naxi legend, the river flows from the mouth of a dragon, giving it spiritual significance and the name “River of Love.” 

★ Naxi Ethnic Culture Adventure in Baisha Village

After descending the mountain, we’ll drive 30 minutes to Baisha Village, the historic cradle of the Mu family. Six centuries ago, this influential clan commissioned the exquisite Baisha Murals that still adorn the village temples today. Encouraged by the rulers to embrace Han Chinese culture, the murals blend Naxi, Han, and Tibetan artistic traditions. They depict not only religious figures but also vivid scenes of horses, lotuses, flowers, and birds, offering a lively glimpse into Naxi life from centuries ago.

We’ll also visit a local Naxi family, where the host will warmly serve you with traditional Naxi tea snacks, such as sweet preserved fruits and rice cakes. You can chat with an elder Dongba sage and try writing ancient Dongba script, a “living” pictographic language in which each character resembles a drawing. For example, the character for “mountain” is simply a sketch of a peak. 

At the end of the day, your guide and the driver will offer a half-hour car ride back to your hotel.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, afternoon tea

On the final day, your guide and the driver will first accompany you to Black Dragon Pool Park (Jade Spring Park). Strolling along the eastern shore, you’ll see the reflections of historic bridges and pagodas in the water, framed against the distant backdrop of the snow‑capped Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

We’ll then visit the adjacent Dongba Culture Museum, a repository of Naxi heritage. Inside the exhibition halls, you can admire vibrant traditional Naxi clothes as well as the rustic helmets and leather armor once worn by Naxi warriors. Through pictures and illustrations, you’ll learn about the Dongba paper-making process, from collecting the bark of the Wikstroemia plant to steaming, pounding, and sun-drying. This special paper was once used for sacred scriptures. The museum also houses ancient Dongba manuscripts and solemn ritual instruments, offering a deep insight into the spiritual world of the Naxi people.

After the visit, your guide and the driver will escort you to Lijiang airport or train station according to your onward travel schedule. Hope you enjoyed this trip with us!

Meals: Western buffet breakfast