Lijiang Things to Do

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This was the one place I did want to visit for its unusual scenery of rock formations against a beautiful mountain backdrop and it was gorgeous. The reason this place is called Blue Moon Valley is apparently at certain times of the year the moon shadow inverts and is reflected in the waters of the blue lake created by the Yulong river. The Valley is divided into four lakes Yue Lake, Mirrow Lake, Blue Lake and Tingtao Lake. For us the most interesting part of the lake is the rock formations.

We got here by luck mainly. As our bus travelled down from the cable car going to Yak Valley our little group of four (on the bus) got very excited as we crossed the bridge overlooking the area and so the bus driver obliged and let us off and we caught another similar bus from the car park area down from the bridge. Suggest you do the same. 20 Yuan

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We caught a bus and then a cable car ride to Yak meadow. The bus snakes along hairpin bends takes about an hour through magnificent scenery. Be prepared with your camera. The cable car ride takes about 20 minutes.

Yak meadow is called Ge –Zhanut -Gu in Naxi language. Ge means alp meadow, Zhan starlike distribution, and Gu place. Yak meadow is at an altitude of 3,700 metres. In spring and summer yaks are supposed to wander along the meadow and flowers in bloom. We were here in winter so there was none of that. There is a lamasery and a walkway about the main “mountain side” where you can view the main peaks of the mountain.

It will take about an hour to walk it. Be prepared with a thick coat if going in winter. There is not much to see so if you have other things to do I would avoid doing this in winter.
60 Yuan cable car 80 Yuan entry to park

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Yulong Snow Mountain or Olu (silver rock) in Naxi language is a scenic area that covers an area of 415km. The mountain itself is always covered in snow and has an extensive chain of 13 snow peaks that looks like a flying dragon and so it is often called Jade Dragon. The other name it is referred to is Black White Snow Mountain because it is made up of limestone and basalt.
There are a number of scenic spots you can visit including Glacier Park, Ganhaizi, The Blue Moon Valley, Spruce Meadow, Yak Meadow, Yushui Village, Dongba Valley, Yuzhuqingtian, Dongba God’s Garden, Dongba Kingdom and Jade Peak Temple. For us, the mountain dominated and was a beautiful backdrop to Old Lijiang and numerous other tours we took including Tiger Leaping Gorge. We did make our own way to the mountain and ended up seeing Yak Meadow and Blue Moon Valley. (see other tips)

To do this we caught the number 7 bus which took us to the booking office. Make sure that you do get them to drop you off here not at the Tourist Office which is some 200 metres away and if you are not sure what you are looking for hard to find.

Once at the Booking Office we bought tickets to Yak Meadow(see other tip). It was too windy the day we went to use the cable car to go to the top.

Cost to get in to the park was expensive

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Near to and visible from town is a rather large mountain. It was summited only fairly recently by the Chinese, but today I believe that there are two chair lifts that take tourists up to something like 3500 and 4500 meters... I don't have exact information yet... but it may be worth a visit, especially if you don't mind lots of tourists. Again, go early.

Ok, so we went to Snow Mountain on the second visit to Lijiang. I have to say that I am very disappointed. I understand that, without this, the land would be destroyed by people who don't necessarily understand conservation, but we went to the Yak Meadow and walked the stair-and-slope boardwalk along the circuit. Don't believe the Lonely Planet insofar as it talks about hiking. Don't envision you, alone, wandering amongst grazing yaks on a mountain. Envision tour groups yelling loudly, walking off the boardwalk for photos. Envision goat poo on the path. Envision what is much more common in Chinese tourist sites, disappointment and over-development.

Yak Meadow is a long, winding, 20 yuan per person bus ride (after a staggering 160 yuan entrance fee, per person) not to mention the cost to actually get the cableway up... 960 yuan for four people, not including transport to the mountain. Rip off. Gouging every step of the way. Anyway, the buses leave at 8:00 am and every half-hour or so after that. To get down, you catch a bus where it dropped you off in the parking lot... you might catch a small van, which will take you to the White River parking lot (the river looks a bit fake with the travertines, but the color is beautiful. If you catch the van, you'll be dropped off on the up-hill side of the river, so cross (trucks MIGHT slow down on the bridge) the bridge and go to the parking lot to catch a bus to the bottom. Now, if you came by yourself, remember what parking lot you parked in (1, 2, or 3). 3 is the main parking lot from which you buy tickets and from which you probably left if you came in a bus, so stay on the bus until you get there. If you get off at the wrong stop, you can catch another bus to the next stop (1, 2, then 3). More images coming soon.

Again, it's worth a visit, but it's not the free-range hiking experience that you might think of... that we though of. Oh well. But for the price, it really felt like a ripoff.

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I guess it's interesting... didn't get in because of the rip-off price of 80 yuan for the protection fee... BS...

Anyway, the sign outside says that, "The following people are exempted from paying for the Lijiang Old Town Maintenance Fee... 3. Disabled Chinese veterans; Children under the height of 1.2 meters; Retired people; Old people above the age of 70."

First of all, the 80 yuan fee is absolutely absurd. If it were a private city, but it's not. This is China. Tourists shouldn't have to pay a maintenance fee, and considering that without tourists, the place wouldn't exist... what a rip-off.

Secondly, we're traveling with two retired people. But the woman at the ticket window said that the sign was wrong and they had to pay. Bull. What a scam. This is part of my problem with China. What is written is law, and if not it should be removed. Follow your contracts.

Well, to get to Snow Mountain (which we needed to do for acclimatization) we had to pay the 80 yuan ripoff. So, we decided to head back to the pond. Yeah, it's sort of pretty and maybe there's more to do than it seems, but it's not really worth the 80 yuan. I'll add photos in a few months!

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On our last day in Lijiang we visited this very picturesque spot just outside the Old City of Lijiang.It makes for a very pleasant day out and it is very pretty and interesting to stroll around the Park.Inside the park we also visited the Dongba school where they teach the traditional Dongba Pictorial writing which was very interesting.

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After visiting Yulong (Jade Dragon Snow MOuntain) our guide Steven took us to Yak meadow where there is a river and you can have your photo taken on yak-back.Then we went to the village of Baisha to see the frescoes, and most important to meet Dr Hu the world famous chinese medicine expert.He is around 85 and speaks many languages.He will give you a consultation and prescribe herbal treatment and you pay him whatever you think is right.It is a real experience.We also ate a wonderful lunch in the village at Bai Sha Times restaurant (local Naxi food and ree internet)

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WE took a day tour to see Jade Dragon Snow mountain, which also included a stop off on the way back at Yak Meadow and at the village of Baisha to see the frescoes and meet the famous Chinese Doctor Hu.It was a really wonderful day,and our guide Steven was really cute.