In the hearts of Tibetan compatriots, there are four mountains as sacred mountains. They are neither Everest, which is the highest peak in the world, nor Mount K2, which is the second highest peak in the world, but Meili Snow Mountain located on the border of Yunnan and Tibet, Mount Kailash in Ngari region of Tibet, Gaduojuewo and Qinghai Yushu. Armani Qing Peak in Guoluo, Qinghai. The majority of Tibetans believe that every sacred mountain has a patron saint who protects the safety of the people. Turning around the holy mountain will wash away the sins of this life and pray for the peace of the next life. Many Tibetans have to spend their life savings to visit the four holy mountains. They all walk around the mountains to show their piety. Tibetans turn around the mountain (including turning around the prayer wheel) in a clockwise direction. Later, it also evolved into driving around the island in the Tibetan area and also driving around the island clockwise on the left. Friends who drive to Tibetan areas must pay attention and respect the etiquette of the local ethnic groups.
So far, humans have conquered 14 peaks above 8,000 meters in the world, but no one has conquered Meili Snow Mountain so far. In the last century, there were two human activities to climb Kawaborg Peak, the highest peak of Meili Snow Mountain. In the 1970s, a Japanese mountaineering team failed to reach the summit due to weather. Once again, in January 1991, 11 Japanese mountaineering members and 6 Chinese mountaineering members of the Sino-Japanese joint mountaineering team encountered an avalanche at the last moment of climbing to the summit, and all 17 mountaineering members were killed. Tibetan compatriots are extremely dissatisfied with the behavior of climbing the holy mountain, thinking that it violates the gods. Later, relevant departments issued a ban, permanently prohibiting anyone from climbing Meili Snow Mountain. As a result, Meili Snow Mountain has become a snow mountain that has never been conquered by humans until now.
The part of Meili Snow Mountain in Yunnan is in Deqin County, Diqing Prefecture. From downtown Shangri-La to Deqin County, take the national highway G214, which is the famous Yunnan-Tibet line. First of all, we have to cross the pass of Baima Snow Mountain at an altitude of 4,292 meters. The peaks here are continuous and snow-capped. Looking at the main peak covered with snow all the year round, it looks like a galloping white horse, so it is named Baima Snow Mountain. Further ahead is the Meili Snow Mountain, which we have traveled thousands of miles just to see it. There are thirteen peaks above 5,500 meters in Meili Snow Mountain, which are collectively called Meili Thirteen Peaks arranged in a line from north to south. "Meili" is a transliteration of Tibetan, which means medicine mountain. Every year, a large number of Tibetan people come here from all over the Tibetan area to turn around the mountain, especially in the year of the sheep in the Tibetan calendar, as many as 100,000 people turn around the mountain.
At sunrise (or sunset), the sun's rays dye the snow-covered peaks golden red, and people call this natural landscape "Sunshine Golden Mountain". There are many places where you can watch the Rizhao Golden Mountain, such as the Gongga Snow Mountain in Sichuan and the Nanga Bawa Snow Mountain in Nyingchi, Tibet. However, Meili Snow Mountain is an ideal place to watch the Rizhao Jinshan because of its relatively low altitude, convenient arrival, and good accommodation conditions. There are two viewing spots on the east side of Meili Snow Mountain, one is Wunongding, which is far from the snow mountain, and the other is Feilaisi Town, which is relatively close to the snow mountain. We chose the latter, because I just took pictures with my mobile phone, and the distance from the top of the fog is too far to take pictures clearly. Of course, it depends on luck to take pictures of the Rizhao Jinshan of Meili Snow Mountain. Feilaisi Town is very famous among travel enthusiasts. The altitude here is 3,600 meters, which is about the same altitude as Lhasa. There is also a viewing platform built in the town, but the fare on the platform is 40 yuan. Coming from Shangri-La, when you arrive at Deqin County, you will soon arrive at Feilai Temple. If you are going to Wunongding, you will turn before the county seat. Mobile phone navigation can be found. We arrived at Feilai Temple the afternoon before, and the majestic snow-capped mountains were already shocking at first glance. The Meili Snow Mountain is shrouded in clouds and mist, and the sun shines through the gaps in the clouds and mist to illuminate the mountains from time to time.
We stayed at the inn at the Eye of Meri, the northernmost part of the town. This inn has three advantages (not advertising, real experience). 1. The rooms facing the snow-capped mountains are facing the Kawabog Peak, and the hotel is in front of the road and an open field, and there are no buildings to block it, so the viewing effect is good. The hotel has observation decks on the fourth and sixth floors, so you don’t need to go to the observation decks in the town; 2. The room is equipped with heating and air conditioning, so you can stay in the room without freezing when watching the sunrise. In the first ten days of December, the temperature in the morning there is only -5c°; 3. The house has an elevator. The viewing effect is best on the sixth floor of the top floor. If there is no elevator, it is not easy to climb the stairs with luggage at this altitude. The Eye of Meili can be booked on Ctrip, the rooms on the lower floors are cheap, and the rooms on the upper floors are more expensive.
Since we arrived in Yunnan, we have been concerned about the weather every day, checking the weather forecast on our mobile phones in the morning and evening. However, the weather forecast in plateau mountainous areas is really inaccurate. This is the so-called plateau microclimate. The most likely time to see the sunrise of Meili Snow Mountain is from November to April of the next year. This is the dry season in Yunnan and there are more sunny days. Before we went to the plateau, some people told us that now when we go to Meili, the sun shines on the golden mountains every day, and we lack the sense of gain from hard work and persistence. I woke up several times that night to go out on the balcony and watch the weather. The sky was still full of stars at night, but at sunrise in the morning, there was a cloud covering the Thirteen Peaks of Meili, so I couldn’t see or take pictures. In order for my readers to see the honor of Meili Snow Mountain Rizhao Jinshan, I downloaded several photos of "Rizhao Jinshan" from the innkeeper's mobile phone for readers to read.
Feilai Temple is on the east side of Meili Snow Mountain, and on the other side of Meili Snow Mountain is the famous Yubeng Village. To go to Yubeng Village, there is no car road so far, and it takes more than six hours to walk on forest trails. Tibetans also take this path when they turn around the mountain. This path is also one of the favorite hiking routes for hiking enthusiasts. After thinking about it, let's avoid it, after all, we are not young anymore.
The altitude of Feilai Temple is already not low, and my wife and the partners who came with me have experienced high reactions to varying degrees. Can't stay here for long. Leave immediately after breakfast.