The Old Town of Lijiang

Discover Yading-  " the last pure land on the blue plant !  " 

The land road trip will start in Lijiang, then Shangrila, then to Yading natural reserve.

Day 1, Arrive Lijiang Private pick up at Lijiang airport and transfer to Lijiang hotel. Check in and relax.   

Day 2,  Jade dargon mountain tour, over night at Lijiang.

-Visit Jade dragon mountain by cable car, Blue moon valley and Lijiang old town.   

Day 3,  Lijiang to Shangrila Via tiger leaping gorge , over night at shangrila.

-Drive to Tiger leaping gorge, visit one of the deepest gorge the world. Drive to shangrila check in hotel at Shangrila old town. Enjoy the cozy time explore shangrila old town. Turtle hill park and the biggest prayer wheel in the world. 

Day 4, Drive from Shangrila to Riwa

-Enjoy view of Napa lake, and snow mountain on the way to Riwa. Total driving time today is ~8hours.     

Day 5, Tour Yading nature reserve

-Tour Pearl lake and Chonggu moastery. Night at Yading.   

Day 6, Tour Yading nature reserve 

-5 color lake, milk lake and Luorong pasture, Stay at Yading . 

Day 7,  Yading to Benzilan,   Enjoy scenery on the way to Benzilan,   Check in hotel and relax.

Day 8,  Benzilan- Shangrila,  over night at Shangrila.

-Visit Songzanlin monastery,  Tibetan home visit,  Shika snow mountain.   

Day 9, Departure from Shangrila airport 

Overviews:

Enjoing a morning Walk at  nice garden-Black dragon pool park at the original of ancient town, you will enjoy yourtime in this park, when the weather is good, you can see the reflection of Jade dragon mountain in the pond.

 visit a local market to see the daily life of local people.  Exploring the palace of Naxi chief to learn history of Naxi kingdom, you will also enjoy a birdeye view of Lijiang old town from on the lionhill.   Explore Lijiang by walking on the ancient cobblestone street with canals , try local snacks and taste a cup of Pu’er tea at the local teahouse.

 Exploring the mysterious yak meadow on the mountain, you can enjoy some nice walking on the highland meadow, if it’s a clear day, you can see snow-capped peaks of Jade dragon mountain near a Tibetan monastery.   on the way back to Ancient Baisha Naxi village, you will enjoy view of Blue moon valley.  Visit the former capital of Naxi kingdom-  Baisha village,  to see ancient architectures and learn ancient Dongba pictographic and Other Naxi handicraft.

Drive back to Ljiiang after the day trip.

Itinerary

 Day 1, May 29 Friday,  Meet at hotel at 09:30am, Walk tour of Lijiang old town and black dragon pool park. (walk tour,no private car )

Day 2,May 30, Saterday,  Meet at hotel at 09:30am , Day tour of Jade dragon mountain including Yak meadow, Blue moon valley and Baisha village. (Private car)

Quotation include:

Professional tourguide service,  Priavate car , Mineral water  

Quotation don’t include:

Tourist’s entrance fee tickets, Tourist’s hotel, Meal , Travel insurance, tip

** If Tourists number are more than 2 person, please contact me for the updated price.

After breakfast we go up to explore the Reddomain Mountain glacier lake (note this detour is optional). Follow the stream and walk to the lake of Reddomain. The lake is a glacier lake by the foot of the 6112-m Mt. Reddomain (or Mt. Roddmain). It is surounded by mountains and at an elevation of 4400m. We can see the end of the glacier is not far away on top of the lake. Side of the lake is used as base camp by climbers to Mt. Reddomain. We will have a short break by the lake to have some snacks, drink water and take photos. Afterwards we will continue up to the pass of Riuqi to gain overview of the valley with mountains of Jiazi, Grosvenor, Little Konka and Reddomain, Daddomain and many more mountains by the south of the pass. Note the walking up is strenuous so please take your time yet try not to waste too much time even though the views are really amazing. The pass is called Riuqi Pass at the elevation of 4850m, which is also the highest point on this trek. After a short stay by the pass we walk down from the pass no late than 3pm. After the pass we drop down to around 4200m to today's camp at the base of Yulongshi and sleep in lodge.

Hiking Tiger Leaping  Gorge is the most famous hike in Yunnan province. The Tiger leaping gorge also called The Yangtze River Gorge. It's the one of most beautiful and dangerous gorge in the world.  It's incredible hiking trail with wonderful viewing. Jake Dragon Snow Mountain,Haba Snow Mountain,Yangtze River,Local Villages,Waterfall,Cliff,Gorges....That all  will makes you unforgetable trip in Yunnan.
The most of our groups hiking in the gorge 2 days. 
Day 1:In the morning met English-speaking guide at hotel in Lijiang. This day hiking will be hard.It's take about 2 hours by car to Qiaotou. Then start hiking from Qiaotou with your backpack. About 3 hours hike to Naxi family for Lunch, after lunch hike another 3 hours to Tea Horse guesthouse<Overnight Tea horse guesthouse>
  Day 2: Today hiking not so hard. The hiking path is flat. From Tea Horse Guesthouse about 3 hours to Tina's Guesthouse. After lunch by car To Shangri-La or Back To Lijiang
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Day 1. Arrive Lijiang from Kunming. 
Receive in the airport and drive an hour to Hotel. To adjust the altitude of Yunnan, the remainder of the time to wander the walk in old town of Dayan. Dinner in old town.
 
Day 2. Visit Baisha village (ancient capital of Lijiang), and Baisha Buddhist moral paintings. Lunch in Suhe old town. 
Afternoon visit Yuhu village the former residence of Joseph Rock, an Austrian-American who spent over two decades in the early 20th century researching and Naxi history heritage and documenting the flora and cultures of southwestern China. Dinner at Dayan old town. Evening enjoy with Naxi orchestra, the one of oldest Naxi orchestra. 
 
Lijiang is famed for being a main portion of the Ancient Tea and Horse Caravan Trail, a trade route that began in the Tang Dynasty (618 AD-907 AD) with the main goods being hardy Tibetan horses and tea from Sichuan and Yunnan provinces to Burma, Tibet and India. Pu’er tea from Yunnan, in particular, was prized by traders, as Tibetans used it to make butter tea, providing invaluable daily nutrients for life on the Tibetan Plateau. This leaf’s taste is described as being bitter at first with a sweet finish. 
 
Day 3. Lijiang – Shangri-La 
Morning check out of the hotel. And drive to Shangri-La along the Yangtze then visit to Tiger leaping Gorge, lunch at Tiger leaving Gorge, During the drive will discover different ethnic group like Naxi, Lisu, Yi , you will have fantastic view of Mt Jade Dragon and Mt Haba. Tiger Leaping Gorge, one of the world's deepest gorges, tucked between the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and the Haba Mountains. Legend has it that a tiger once leaped across in flight from a hunter, hence the name. With more than 3048 meters (10,000 feet) of vertical relief between the mountain summits and the river, Tiger Leaping Gorge is one of the most spectacular gorges on earth.
 
After check out the hotel. We take a walk in heritage of Shangri-la old town where recently fire disaster and rebuilding now. Dinner and over night in Shangri-La old town.                .                            

Day 4. Shangri-La    
After breakfast we will visit Songzanlin Monastery, which is one of the 13 largest Gelukpa monasteries in Kham; built by the Fifth Dalai Lama in the 17th century. The monastery currently has about 500 monks who follow the predominant Gelukpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. We visit the Grand Assembly Hall (Dratsang), one of the colleges (Khamtsen) where we will meet monks from all over Gyalthang County. You will tour the monastery and confirm this with the guide and see if any of the religious ceremonies taking place at this time. We will specially meet a Lama in his chamber to talk about his monastic life. 
Later drive back to the old town. Visit Shangrila Association of Culture Preservation. We will take the afternoon to learn the basic Thangka Paintings here. www.thangkacenter.com 

Late afternoon drive down to Trinyi village where people still lead their traditional lives based on agriculture and pastoralism. In the evening you'll enjoy a traditional hotpot dinner, made from delicious local ingredients, followed by traditional dancing and singings by the villagers(19:30). 

Transfer back to the hotel in the evening. 

Day 5. Shangrila 
Morning we will visit pudatso national park : the first National Park in China and it’s beautiful. Located 30 minutes outside of town off of Road 214, the 660 square mile park has a visitor center, two lakes, a number of interesting minority villages, lush forests and pasture views. At the visitor center you take a park bus to the first stop 8 miles away from where you can walk for a mile to several miles on a raised wooden walkway, pass by Shudu Lake 300 acres in size and then catch the bus again to your next destination. Bita Hai Lake is 11,482 feet above sea level and is usually the next lake you will encounter. It is surrounded by dense forests that are spectacular to see in their late October autumn colors. The bus lets you off a few feet from the wharf where you can catch a boat ride around the lake and the island in the center. Later drive back to Shangrila old  town.
 
Day 6. Nixi Pottery village and Gonjo Artisian Village
After driving out of town, we will have an overview of the Napha marshlands (The wintering grounds of the black neck crane) and then cross over the Tsebula pass before we get to the district of Nishar whose villages are rich in folklore and arts. We will visit Tangtoe village where Tibetans are making pottery.We will specially visit a local family who is making the pottery and see the process of how a pot is made. 
Then we will descend through some wild landscapes before we come hit the upper Yangtze gorges. This drive will take you through beautiful gorges and valleys with the breathtaking sight of Yangze River. The drive to Gonjo village is simply the best way to view the great variety of landscape in the Great Rivers region. Gonjo village which is also making wooden bowls and arts which we can visit of.  Later drive back to the oldtown.
Day 7. Fly out of Shangrila