Day 1

Lijiang, Yunnan 丽江

Arrived in Lijiang.  Beautiful place, very friendly people!  

Lijiang is located in the northwest of Yunnan, in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Yungui Plateau. Famous for its ancient city Gucheng 古城, Lijiang consists of 3 famous old towns, namely, Dayan 大研古鎮, Baisha 白沙古镇, and Shuhe 束河古镇. Lijiang has 3 UNESCO Heritage Sites, making it the only prefecture in China with that honor. Aside from the Han descendants, Lijiang has approximately 22 minority groups so offers a wide variety of customs and cultures.

Lijiang is the only heritage site in China that does not have a city wall. It’s believed that due to the the governor’s given last name of Mu 木, if that Chinese character is surrounded by the character for city wall, the resulting character becomes the word “kun” 困, meaning “trapped” in Chinese. Mu’s last name was given to the Naxi people 納西族 by ChuYuanZhang 朱元章, the first Ming Emperor, for helping the Ming dynasty expanding its territory southwards. The Naxi people was appointed as a governor until its power was demoted during the Qing Dynasty and was eventually demolished during the era of the Republic of China.

Lijiang is also famous for its complex ancient water system which is still operating up to the present day.

Yulong Snow Mountain provides water sources to the rivers and springs which flow into Heilong Pond which provides water supplies through canals and waterway network to the towns.

Songtsam Lijiang Resort

Our friend Esther and her husband Wang Ke, accompanied us throughout our visits in China. They recommended using Songtsam 松赞 Resort travel package for a 8 nights/9 days arrangement and it has been amazing. Since she is a resort club member, we got a great deal on the package.

The package includes 6 star accommodations throughout the trip, with a guide and a driver in a 6 seater Mercedes Benz to show us around select places throughout Yunnan province, and unlimited dining menu for about USD 2500! That’s a steal! Needless to say, we have each gained a good 10lbs of healthy weight during this part of our adventure, and we side it without eating any skewered bugs – yet!

After being picked up at the airport, we checked into the resort. Upon arrival, we were greeted by the hotel staff at the entrance and brought us to the waiting room, serving cookies and drinks, while finalizing the check-in process.

The resort, featuring ancient Chinese architecture, is surrounded by mountains in the backdrops. Lovely place equipped with a gym and spa for visitors.

Lunch was amazing!

Shuhe 束河古镇

We visited this old town after lunch …

Shuhe old town is a scenic spot in Lijiang on the Ancient Tea Route, exhibiting the history of the Naxi minority group. It is said this town is the birthplace of the Mu family of the Naxi minority group.

Shuhe is also known as the “Village of Leather” where a market with ancient shops illuminates the night streets of the town.

There are also bugs on a stick for sale. There are many choices including scorpions, grasshopper, silkworms etc., a delicacy in Yunnan!

There are also bugs on a stick for sale. There are many choices including scorpions, grasshopper, silkworms etc., a delicacy in Yunnan!

Day 2

We left for Shangri-la this morning. The ride was about 1 1/2 hours from Lijiang. Our first stop was at Tiger Leaping Gorge, an amazing gorge through which the JingSha (golden sand) river runs. The ride was smooth until we reached the ticket booth… tour buses and cars were bumper to bumper. Not sure if this is Shangri-La/Tibetan culture or not, but it seems that the local ladies like to leave the bathroom doors open while using it… awkward!!!

Originally known as ZhingTangZhen 建塘鎮,it was changed to Shangri-La by the Chinese authorities due to the novel Lost Horizon 消失的地平线 written by James Hilton in 1933, which introduced Shangri-La based on the “Tibetan Buddhist Scriptures” where humans, animals and nature live in harmony.

This picture above depicts the philosophy of how the 6 elements including the crane, the deer, trees, rivers, humans, and mountains coexist harmoniously to achieve longevity. The absence of one of these elements would fail to achieve the utmost level of living. The old man in the middle symbolizes the God of Longevity.

Tiger Leaping Gorge 虎跳峽

The scenery was spectacular.

I have to give myself a pat on the back for hiking up at this elevation…. Beautiful scenery! Beautiful memories!

Things I see on the hike …

More things I see on the hike …

We hiked up to our restaurant on the mountain – the restaurant was called Half Way, which explained the jokes our guide was making along the trip as he kept telling us that we were almost halfway there. Food was mediocre but serving portions were huge with flies as extra proteins.

Screenshot

Tiger Leaping Gorge

After lunch we went to see the Tiger Leaping Gorge rapids…

As we have traveled through Yunnan province, most of the time we have been in mountain ranges through which the JinSha river runs. JinSha translates as golden Sands and this river runs through Sichuan, Yunnan and Chinghai provinces as one of the main headwater rivers that eventually forms China’s most famous river, the Yangtze. The river flows nearly 1500 miles and creates beautiful gorges as it carves through the mountains of these provinces in Northwest China. One of the most beautiful of these gorges is tiger leaping gorge just outside of the city of Shangri-La, which was an amazing site to behold.

As Jing Shan River passes through Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Haba Snow Mountain, the mountain gorges cause the river to pass through an increasingly narrow area which drives the river current, resulting in amazing white water river rapids.

There are three main sections here, upper/middle/lower gorge, the upper gorge scenic spot is arguably the most beautiful of the three and this is where the tiger statue is located for which the gorge is named. There is a tourist scenic area there where you can park and walk down about 1000 steps (or take the escalator ) to a beautiful viewing platform that jets out over the top of an amazing rock formation in the middle of the river.

Legends behind Tiger Leaping Gorge

Chinese legend is that a hunter was chasing a tiger through the gorge and to escape the hunter, the tiger leapt across the river and used the rock in the middle of the river to spring across the river at its narrowest point (about 80ft) using the rock in the middle of the river as a stepping stone; thus came the name of the gorge.

Another interesting story is that there were 2 brothers (Yulong and Naha) and 3 sisters (Jinsha, Lancang, and Nujiang) living by the gorge. When the tricky little sister Jinsha decided to get married and elope with a young man, her brothers Yulong and Haba decided her suitor was not worthy of their sister so they decided to try to stop her. They waited by the gorge and took turns resting while the other would prevent Jinsha from escaping, with the threat that the one who failed would get his head cut off. Jinsha, knowing Haba’s weakness of falling off to sleep when lulled by songs, sang 80 songs continuously during Haba’s guard. Naha eventually fell asleep and Jinsha escaped. Yulong was very sad as Jinsha was long gone when he returned and with great sorrow, he had to carry out their vow and cut off Naha’s head. Naha’s head fell into the river and turned into the tiger leaping rock.

We checked into Songtsam Linka Resort in Shanghai-La, it’s amazing!!!

There’s a sunroom right before the entrance hall, a huge living room with spectacular views, study table, dining table, nightly dessert delivered to the room, a king size bed, 2 bathrooms, a kitchenette, all just for Kevan and I. With the futon couches in the living room, I think this room can host a few extra people❤️

Our altitude sickness was not bad, apparently anyone who changes elevation to this magnitude experiences some level of altitude sickness, ranging from a light headache and tightness in the chest/shortness of breath to more severe symptoms like nausea, dizziness, loss of appetite and other more severe symptoms. Fortunately, our symptoms were on the light end. But we certainly did not have a restful sleep the first night due to headaches and tightness in the chest. The best we could manage were a couple of hours of sleep at a stretch.

We used the local car with a driver to take us to the hiking spot. Our 3 mile hike at high elevation took us along the top of the gorge overlooking the river down below. A beautiful two hour hike, we made it through, but probably not the best thing to do the first day after having moved to 11,000 feet elevation 😂.

Western dinner two nights in a row, Kevan’s a happy man❤️

Day 3

We visited Songtsam Monastery which is right next to the resort.  

The Ganden Sumtseling Monastery 松赞林寺

Also known as Sungtseking and Guihuasi, this monastery was established by the Fifth Dalai Lama in 1679, fully patronized by the Emperor Khanxi, is the largest Tibetan monastery in Yunnan province and the most important monastery in Southwest China. It is also referred to as Little Potala Palace.

Its structure is a combination of Tibetan and Han architecture. The temple was extensively destroyed during the cultural revolution and was rebuilt in 1983.

Day 4

Left Shangri-La and headed to Meili today. We stopped at a few places on the way including Napa Lake, and HeLong Bridge, and Jinsha River Curves 金沙大拐弯.

Napa Lake 纳帕海

Napa Lake is a wetland that is located in the middle of a number of surrounding mountains, not far from Shangri-La. The size of the wetlands changes significantly. Depending upon the time of year, when runoff from the mountains is strong in the spring and summer, the wetlands are expansive, covering almost 15 mi.² . But wheb the runoff slows during the late fall and into the winter, it shrinks to about 20% of that size. The wetlands are home to a huge variety of birds that we saw flocking to and feeding across the entire area. There are also livestock that graze in the grassy areas between the wetlands, including horses, yak, sheep.

In the wetlands, we also visited a Tibetan prayer flag. Local families will hang these out during the Tibetan new year, but also during the year as expressions of gratitude and request for blessings. The flag colors are blue, white, red, green, and yellow, representing the sky, the clouds, fire, water, and earth. This indicates that we are all part of nature, and we are grateful for the elements of nature in our life. These same elements are also present in our physical body, with our material body, the air we breathe, water in our body, and our souls.

BenZhiLan 奔子欗

We stopped at 奔子欗 SongTsam hotel for lunch. This is the second time I’ve experienced seeing the chef using rocks for cooking! Thinly sliced fish were cooked on heated rocks, then added hot broth in the pot before adding passion fruits.

Helong Bridge 贺龙橋

HeLong Bridge was rebuilt to commemorate General HeLong, one of the 10 revolutionary generals.

Jinsha River Curve 金沙江大拐弯

As we have traveled through Yunnan province, most of the time we have been in mountain ranges through which the JinSha river runs. JinSha translates as golden sands and this river runs through Sichuan, Yunnan and Chinghai provinces as one of the main headwater rivers that eventually forms China’s most famous river, the Yangtze.

The river flows nearly 1500 miles and creates beautiful gorges as it carves through the mountains of these provinces in Northwest China.

Meili 梅里

Arrived in Meili and checked into the Songtsam Meili Resort. We got the standard room this time but it’s still amazing with a balcony overlooking the Meili Snow Mountains.

View from our room! Though overcast, the scenery was still amazing – living in the clouds!

Meili is higher elevation than Shanghai-La so oxygen level was thinner and I was huffing and puffing hiking up the stairs to the room. We cancelled our hike and relaxed in the hotel. That was nice!

Dinner at the hotel. Lots of selections. My favorite part was the chef making fried rice in front of us and he gave us all kinds of sources and knowledge about each of the ingredients used. Apparently, cured ham can be eaten raw after 3 years …

Day 5

Meili Snow Mountain 梅里雪山

We visited Meili Snow Mountain early this morning. This mountain range is on the border of Yunnan and Tibet and is sacred in Tibetan Buddhism. There are 13 peaks across the range, Kawagebo, also known as Taizi 太子, is the highest peak (over 22,000 feet). Definitely one of the most beautiful mountains in the world. The best time to visit is right at sunrise as you see the snowy white mountain peaks get bathed in a beautiful golden sunrise.

Meili Snow Mountain Range

Kawagebo is one of the most sacred mountains in Tibetan Buddhism. In 1991, a group of 17 Japanese and Chinese hikers tried to climb the mountain over the objections of many of the local people (their objections were based on the holiness of the peak, and the manner in which the climbers were attempting to scale it). As they ascended, an avalanche collapsed upon them and all 17 perished. Since that time, the government has not allowed any attempts to climb the summit. As a result of these restrictions, the major peaks of Meili have not yet been successfully explored.

Stupa at Meili Lookout

There are eight stupas depicting the life of Gautama Buddha with different deities in each stupa which symbolize attributes portrayed by them which the Buddha progressively sought and obtained throughout his lives. The last stupa does not have a deity in the middle which represents the enlightenment of Gautama. As we have been hiking throughout Yunnan province, we have frequently seen small and large rock stupas, which have been built by passersby as a symbol of their commitment to the Buddhist path of enlightenment and their efforts to attain the characteristics of deity.

Our tour guide Nima and Kevan holding up a prayer flag.

We left for BingZhongLuo 丙中洛 after lunch. It rained on and off… We stopped at Lancang River Horseshoe Curve and Nujiang First Curve.

Lancang River Horseshoe Curves

Nujiang First River Curve 怒江第一湾

We saw some rock slides on the way due to the rain on previous days. The mountain passes that we had to drive on to traverse our various stops throughout Yunnan province were definitely beautiful places to see, but also pretty sketchy from a driver safety perspective. Fortunately, we did not have any problems, other than when we got close to the Burmese border and got stopped at four different police stops in the same day.

We also saw two monks hiking and praying around the mountains which they believed to be sacred. These two religious pilgrims would take one step and then prostrate themselves before rising to take the next step, symbolizing their devotion and commitment to the Buddhist path. Since they rely on others for their sustenance, we stopped and took them some water and snacks.

We also shared the road with some goats…

Arrived at BingZhongLuo

Peach Flowers Island 桃花岛

Due to the mountainous landscapes, Nujiang River curves around 270 degrees and surrounds an island known as 桃花岛 (Peach Flowers Island) believed to be a place described in a famous Chinese Author named The Condor Heroes (射雕英雄传).

Bingzhongluo 丙中洛

Bingzhongluo, a little town, also known as “A Haven of Peace and Happiness” is believed to be the most beautiful place in Nujiang Grand Canyon.

Bingzhongluo is also known as a place where 人神共居(Human and God living harmoniously) due to the fact that there were different religious practices such as Buddhism and Christianity is the area.

Songtsam BingZhongLuo Resort

We checked into Songtsam BingZhongLuo resort. Our room was upgraded to a two bedroom suite with a fantastic view of a farm field with the mountains beyond. The room is definitely too big for Kevan and I.

Dinner was by far the worst this trip. The chicken meat dishes were tough to chew, mashed potatoes with pickled vegetables was very interesting but not too tasty, and tofu with bacon and fish soup is not my favorite.

Day 6

Breakfast had a lot more selections, pretty good. We first visited Zhongding Church (the oldest Catholic Church in the region, started by a French monk) and then went for a hike to the Village in the Mist 霧里村.

Zhongding 重丁

Churches and Chinese temples can be found throughout the little town of BingZhongLuo. Zhongding 重丁church built by a French missionary is the most popular church in Bingzhongluo.

Service was supposed to start at 10am but the main gate wasn’t opened until 9:50am. We left about 15 mins after 10 but the service still hasn’t started. Since mass generally starts on time, we suspect that this church is kept in place as a tourist prop, there were lots of local tourists that came to take pictures, but we definitely didn’t see any parishioners going into the church for mass.

Village in the Mist 霧里村

We hiked for about 3 miles to get to the village. This is an easier hike at a lower elevation on paved path.

Colorful spiders were all over the path…

We were welcomed by a local couple at their humble home with chestnuts and drinks.

His beautiful wife taught me how to knit for a bit, it’s definitely not my cup of tea.

Lunch back at the hotel. The truffle noodles were amazing!

Since there are no local groups of the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints to meet with, we visited the Catholic Church this morning and then in the afternoon we went to a nearby monastery to do some buddhist art painting 唐畫, taught by a monk.

These are the paintings by the monk. It took him about 2 months to finish each painting. Lots of details and patience shown on these paintings depicting the 3 kingdoms, mainly heaven, earth, and hell.

It took us about 3 hours to complete the paintings. With the touch-up work done by the monk, we now have two wall-worthy paintings to bring home.

Day 7

From BingZhongLuo, we embarked on the next adventure to Stone Moon 石月亮.

After traveling for about 3 hours, we arrived at Stone Moon 石月亮.

Checked into Songtsam Stone Moon Resort. Our room was spacious with excellent view of the stone moon.

At Gaoligong Mountain Peak, you can see a hole formed by erosion with a diameter of about 100 meters that resembles a moon hanging at the peak. That’s how this little town got its name, I think. This picture is taken from our hotel.

Lunch at the resort. The rice dish with meat and vegetables on the side is called hand-picked rice 手抓饭, it’s a traditional dish in Stone Moon influenced by neighboring Burma.

Our local guide told us that the local people in Yunnan call these types of goats Obama because of the black face. We had to ask him multiple times to clarify that this was true and not a joke!

At dinner, we had hand shredded chicken 手撕鸡 where they cooked the chicken wrapped in tin foil and 1/2 inch of Himalayan salt (which formed a hard shell almost like clay on the outside of the tin foil ) for approximately 6 hours. After which, we got to break the outer layer of the chicken with a hammer before the chef shredded the chicken for us to enjoy.

It was a rather relaxing day at Stone Moon with beautiful scenery all around.

Day 8

This morning we started our journey early to Dali 大理. It’s a total drive of about 6 hours. We stopped at Tiger Leap 老虎跳, midway for lunch, and arrived at the hotel at Dali later in the afternoon.

Tiger Leap 老虎跳

We ate like pigs at lunchtime! They even had fried glass noodles, which we really enjoyed.

Arrived in Dali and checked into a hotel which is a joint venture with Songtsam. Beautiful with a garden!

We had a farewell dinner with our tour guide and driver for the week in Yunnan. So much food! We have thoroughly enjoyed the Songtsam experience. The accommodations have been beautiful, particularly the location of each place, which seems to be in the prime viewing site for the best scenery of each location. The food has been generally really good, with some exceptions. And since each meal was included in the overall package price, we really couldn’t complain, even on the rare occasion when it didn’t exceeded expectations. Our guide and driver have been exceptional.

Our guide NiMa is local, but has also spent a decade overseas in India and other places and has an intricate knowledge of local customs, culture, religion, geography, history, and everything else that you might want to know as you travel throughout Yunnan province. We peppered him with questions all week and I don’t think there was anything he couldn’t answer thoroughly with context. It was particularly interesting because he adheres to Tibetan Buddhism, which differs from the Chinese sanctioned version of Buddhism, which follows the Panchen Lama instead of the Dalai Lama, so understanding some of that political context from him as it relates to religious affairs was an interesting perspective. He also arranged various tours and interesting events for us to participate in as we experience the sites and culture.

Truly a remarkable adventure!

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