Why go to Lijiang and Diqing Shangri-La?

It’s my child’s summer vacation, and I want to take my child out to have a look. I’ve always been in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Zhuhai, and Sanya, either wandering around various paradises, or staying with the sea in my arms. Therefore, this year's summer vacation travel wants to change the style, change the place, and experience different natural scenery; at the same time, in order to achieve the effect of vacation and rest, the accommodation conditions are better. In the end, after looking at various domestic tourist destinations, I finally chose Lijiang and Diqing Shangri-La, hoping to experience a trip that "eats well, lives well, plays well, and is not tired"; He went to the plateau to experience it, first to see if there would be altitude sickness, and second, to see the great rivers and mountains of the motherland, to feel the vastness of the country, and to achieve a good patriotic education.

Lijiang, a prefecture-level city in Yunnan Province, is located in the northwest of Yunnan Province, at the junction of the three provinces of Yunnan, Sichuan and Tibet. It is an important passage of the ancient "Southern Silk Road" and "Tea Horse Road". It is located at the junction of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The terrain is high in the northwest and low in the southeast. The highest point is the main peak of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, with an average altitude of over 2,000 meters.

Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is one of the eight autonomous prefectures in Yunnan Province, and its capital is Shangri-La. Tibetan means "auspicious place". It is located in the northwest of Yunnan Province, at the junction of Yunnan, Tibet and Sichuan provinces, with an average altitude of 3380 meters.

After seeing the introduction of these two places on the Internet, we decided to fly to Lijiang first, and then drive to Diqing. The altitude changed from low to high, and we gradually adapted. We visited the ancient city of Lijiang, climbed the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, and visited On the banks of the Jinsha River, we also paid homage to Songzanlin Temple and walked through the virgin forest of Pudacuo... In short, we will have an in-depth tour of Lijiang and Diqing Shangri-La.


first day


I go to work during the day, and at night, I take Capital Airlines flight JD5215 from Beijing to Lijiang at 21:10. After more than 3 hours of flight, we arrived at Lijiang Sanyi International Airport.

Because I arrived in Lijiang in the early morning, I directly booked the Lijiang Huatai Hotel (express hotel) which is very close to the airport, rested as soon as possible, and picked up the car at the car rental store (Lijiang Airport Branch) the next morning to go to downtown Lijiang.


the next day


The key word for the second day is rest.

At 10 am, after picking up the car at the car rental store, we drove directly to the Banyan Tree Lijiang Hotel located on the east side of Shuhe Ancient Town. From the airport to the hotel, the distance is about 40 kilometers, and it takes nearly 1 hour to drive. Near 11 o'clock, we arrived at the Banyan Tree Hotel. Because we can only check in around 2 pm, we decided to go to Baisha Ancient Town to the north of the hotel to visit the Baisha murals.

Baisha Ancient Town is located about 10 kilometers north of Lijiang City. It is adjacent to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in the north, Longquan in the south, and Zhishan Mountain in the west. It is the ancient capital of the Naxi people and the world-class "Ancient Naxi Kingdom". . As one of the important birthplaces of Naxi culture, the chieftain of the Naxi Mu family has accumulated experience in town planning in Baisha. Baisha Ancient Town is the birthplace of the regime of Lijiang Tusi "Mu Clan". Baisha Ancient Town is the ancient town with the most Naxi legacy and the most original Naxi village.

We first visited the Baisha murals, which were drawn for more than 300 years from the early Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, and most of them were Buddhist themes. Because the scenic spot is relatively unpopular, there are few tourists inside, it is very quiet, and you can visit it very comfortably. At around 12:30 noon, we went to the ancient town to find something to eat after visiting the Baisha murals. There are not many tourists in the town. There are aboriginal houses on both sides of the street, as well as some restaurants, bars and inns. Generally speaking, it is very quiet and not crowded. You can really slow down the pace and appreciate the customs of the Naxi people quietly.

Near 2 pm, we decided to drive back to Banyan Tree.

The design of Banyan Tree is very beautiful. As soon as you enter the gate, you can see the central lake and pavilions. The trees on both sides are shady, and the snow-capped mountains are faintly visible in the distance. The scenery is very beautiful. The booked garden suite has a balcony and you can see the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

Flying directly from Beijing to Lijiang, the altitude rises by more than 2,000 meters, which will cause certain altitude sickness. Slight dizziness and chest tightness are inevitable, so I decided to take a nap in the room in the afternoon, take a rest, and recharge my batteries. In the evening, after having a meal at the restaurant of the hotel, take a stroll in the nearby Shuhe Ancient Town to enjoy the night view.


third day


In the morning, I checked the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Scenic Area and cableway tickets at the front desk of the hotel. I was told that there were no cableway tickets for the 4680 mountain top that day, and we could only book for the next day, so we made a quick decision and bought the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Cableway for the next day. And Impression Lijiang joint ticket (you must buy the joint ticket, you cannot buy it separately).

When I was eating at the restaurant last night, I chatted with the waiter and heard that there is spring water on the Xiangshan Mountain in Heilongtan Park, and you can call it back and drink it directly; the child was very excited when he heard it, and said he must go and see it. So after breakfast, we drove directly to Heilongtan Park.

Because it was early to go out, we parked the car on the education road outside the west gate of Heilongtan Park. There are plenty of parking spaces on the side of the road around 9:00 in the morning, so it is easy to park. After getting off the car, we entered the park and began to climb Xiangshan Mountain. After a few steps, we felt heavy feet, shortness of breath, and altitude sickness. But in order to find the "legendary" spring, we still insisted on climbing online for a while. About an hour later, we arrived at a small platform, feeling exhausted, so we went down the mountain to ask about the spring water on the top of the mountain. They told us that "there is no one on the top of the mountain, and there is only one seller of bottled mineral water." Upon hearing this news, Of course the children are disappointed, so they can only make up for the regret by taking pictures of some high places.

After coming down from Xiangshan Mountain, we decided to go to the Old Town of Lijiang, stroll there and have lunch. We parked the car in the paid parking lot at the south gate of the ancient city (near the Bailong Cultural Square), and then walked north from the south gate to the vicinity of Mufu. Compared with Shuhe Ancient Town and Baisha Ancient Town, Lijiang Old Town is obviously more crowded and crowded. Although there are many restaurants and shops, shopping is convenient, but the commercial atmosphere is too strong, and the original quaint atmosphere of the ancient city is lost. I would like to remind you that if you plan to climb Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, you can buy a few oxygen cylinders in ancient towns or tourist shops, usually 20 yuan a can, which will be much cheaper than in the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain scenic spot.


At 2:30 in the afternoon, we left the ancient city and drove to Shigu Town on the Jinsha River, 50 kilometers southwest of Lijiang, to see the "First Bay of the Yangtze River". The First Bay of the Yangtze River is located between Shigu Town of Lijiang City and Shasongbi Village in the south of Shangri-La County, at an altitude of 1,850 meters. The Yangtze River rushes down from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to Shasongbi Village in Shangri-La County. Suddenly, there is a temperature of more than 100 degrees. The sharp turn of the river turns to the northeast, forming a rare "V"-shaped bend. People call this wonder of the world "the first bay of the Yangtze River". In April 1936, the Second Front Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, led by He Long, Ren Bishi and Xiao Ke, crossed the river from here to fight against Japan in the north. After liberation, on the high slope behind the stone drum stele, an 8.1-meter-high "Red Army Long March Ferry Monument" was built. Standing on the abrupt high slope, it is majestic, solemn and solemn, overlooking the "First Bay". It can make you reverence suddenly, and it is a key cultural relic protection unit in Yunnan Province. The archway in front of the monument is the Memorial Room of the Red Army Crossing the River. The relics of the Red Army's Long March displayed in the "showroom" will give you a better understanding of this great army more than half a century ago.


After visiting Shigu Town, Jinsha River and the Memorial Room of the Red Army Crossing the River, we drove back to Banyan Tree, had dinner at the hotel restaurant in the evening, and then had an early rest to prepare for the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain the next day.


fourth day


Sleep until you wake up naturally, check out after breakfast, prepare down jackets, down jackets, water and oxygen tanks, and drive to Yulong Snow Mountain Scenic Area. We booked the "Great Cableway + Impression Lijiang" package the day before. The Impression Lijiang performance time is 11:15 am, and the cableway climbing time is 1 pm, so we just take the big cableway up the mountain after lunch.

Take the cableway up the mountain and first take the bus to the cableway station at the bottom of the mountain. At around 1 pm, the queue time for the cableway up the mountain is about 15 minutes. The whole cableway time is about 20 minutes, and it directly reaches the "Snow Mountain Park" cableway station at an altitude of 4506 meters. After reaching the top of the mountain, the temperature dropped immediately, and the breathing pressure brought by the high altitude also appeared quickly. Every few steps you climbed will be much more difficult than in the plains. It is recommended that you do not rely too much on oxygen tanks, try to ensure smooth breathing, take deep breaths and exhale slowly, and take every breath full, which will reduce altitude sickness. My son is 8 years old this year. When he climbed to the second level of 4576 meters, he said that he could no longer climb up. So, I carried him on my back and continued to climb up for a while. When I reached 4,600 meters, my son said he had a headache and couldn't go up; although the peak of 4,680 meters was close at hand, he could only let his son give up. Finally, we discussed and decided that my son rested at 4600 meters, and my mother and I continued to climb to the summit. Of course, every 1 meter up in the high altitude area is very hard work, but you have to strengthen your confidence, keep breathing deeply, and finally reach the peak of 4680 without any problem. After visiting the Snow Mountain Park for 2 and a half hours, we decided to take the cableway down the mountain. When I came to the entrance of the downhill cableway, the queue was very long, and I had to wait for nearly an hour before I could go down the mountain smoothly.

At about 5:30, we drove to "Snow Mountain · Lijiang Shujia Yulu Designer Resort Hotel" to check in. On the way to the hotel, my son kept complaining about having a headache, and even vomited after arriving at the hotel. Although he used the hotel's oxygen machine to inhale oxygen for 15 minutes, it could only alleviate the altitude sickness. So we had a quick supper and rested.

Recall that the reason why my son had severe altitude sickness was because he stayed too long at the 4,600-meter top of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Therefore, it is recommended that if you have severe altitude sickness or take your children to visit Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, do what you can, do not rush to the summit blindly, and at the same time control the time you stay on it to avoid serious physical discomfort.


fifth day


Back from Jade Dragon Snow Mountain yesterday, we drove to Yuhu Village at the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, and stayed at "Snow Mountain Lijiang Shujia Yulu Designer Resort Hotel" to experience the feeling of going up and down the homestay for 2 days.

In Snow Mountain · Lijiang Shujia Yulu Designer Resort Hotel is located at the foot of Yulong Snow Mountain in the picturesque Yuhu Village. In the past, the chieftain of the Mu family built the summer palace, the Yulong Academy, and the deer farm here, which shows the natural environment. Mr. Locke also fell in love with it. He has lived here for 27 years and collected all his memories as "The Ancient Naxi Kingdom in Southwest China" and presented it to the world. Lijiang Shujia Yulu·Xuesong Courtyard is based on topography and assisted by topography, practicing the concept of harmony between man and nature. Surrounded by mountains and rivers, looking up at the majestic snow-capped mountains all year round, you can have a panoramic view of the whole village when you look down. Large floor-to-ceiling windows replace the darkness of traditional Naxi dwellings. From sunrise to sunset, the warm sunshine caresses every inch of the corner, and fresh air circulates in every space. Melt water from snow-capped mountains murmurs around the house, and flowers and trees are everywhere. The auspicious Naxi hanging fish elements are inlaid, and the old boat wood has a mottled sense of history. Guests staying at the hotel enjoy breakfast and afternoon tea, and the Blue Sky Snow Mountain will accompany you to spend a good time in Lijiang at Yulu Villa.

Climbing the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain yesterday was too hard, so of course I have to sleep until I wake up naturally, to restore my strength and alleviate the altitude sickness. After breakfast, my son started to jump around again. It seems that after falling below 3000 meters, and with enough rest, the altitude sickness basically disappeared. So, we decided to go horseback riding. Through the villagers of Yuhu Village, each person books a horse, 150 yuan per person. The line starts from Yuhu Village, passes through the lawn and groves, and arrives at Longnv Lake (called Yuhu by the locals) to take pictures and take pictures on the flat lakeside Run around the horse on the lawn, and finally return to Yuhu Village. The entire route is well designed, with lawns and woods, fast gallops and uphill climbs, both adults and children are very happy to play.

Near noon, on the way back to the hotel, I went to Locke's former residence to check in, and it was quite pleasant to take a walk in Yuhu Village. From afternoon to evening, I have been resting in the hotel, enjoying the scenery of the hotel, playing with the entertainment facilities provided by the hotel, and preparing to continue driving to the next day to "climb" to Diqing.


sixth day


Check out in the morning, depart from the hotel at 9:00, and drive to Diqing. According to the navigation instructions of Gaode, it is more than 190 kilometers, a total of nearly 4 hours. The whole journey goes north along National Highway 214, sometimes uphill and sometimes downhill, sometimes driving along the river, sometimes passing through the tunnel. After driving for about 2 hours, I feel that the altitude is gradually increasing, and it slowly reaches above 3000 meters. For drivers from the plains, the 4-hour drive was very hard. The high altitude and the non-stop winding mountain road, when approaching the urban area of ​​Shangri-La, began to feel a dull pain in the back of the head. Yes, as the altitude increases To 3300 meters, altitude sickness began to appear.

At about 12:40, we arrived at the Heyue Gadan Boutique Hotel in Dukezong Ancient City, Shangri-La City, Diqing Prefecture, and stayed in a Tibetan-style luxurious duplex parent-child room. The room is really big, with a small jump upstairs and downstairs, a double bed upstairs, and a living room and a single bed downstairs. After cleaning up, it was past 1:00 pm. We used our mobile phones to order a KFC, make do with it, and have a big meal in the evening.

In the afternoon, we visited Guishan Park, Diqing Museum and Diqing Red Army Long March Museum in Dukezong Ancient City.


In the evening, I found Taluo Tibetan Food Bar on my mobile phone, hoping to taste Tibetan food. We are 2 adults and 1 child, and we ordered finger beef, beef pizza, buttered mushrooms, yak yoghurt and buttered tea. After dinner, wander around the ancient city for a while and then go back to the hotel to rest. It may be that the location of the hotel we booked is better. There are two bars opposite the room. From 9:00 p.m. Continuous, a little noisy, sleepy, unable to sleep, altitude sickness, tired and headache, very angry. So I called Ctrip's customer service decisively, changed the original three nights at Heyue Gadan Boutique Hotel into one night, checked out the next morning, and changed hotels. The successful communication has reached 10:30, and I checked the hotel situation on the next day on the Ctrip APP. The previous Songtsam Linka Hotel and Songtsam Green Valley Hotel were full of rooms, which was disappointing. I lived next to Songtsam Forest Temple wish did not come true. Finally, after half a day of comparison and selection, I successfully booked a deluxe mountain-view double room at the Hilton Garden Inn Shangri-La for 2 nights, and the hotel change was confirmed.


seventh day


In the morning, after checking out from Heyue Kadan Boutique Hotel, drive to Pudacuo National Park. Pudacuo National Park is located in the center of the "Three Parallel Rivers" World Natural Heritage in Northwest Yunnan. It consists of two parts: the Bitahai Nature Reserve, an internationally important wetland, and the Duhu Lake Scenic Area, which is part of the "Three Parallel Rivers" World Natural Heritage. With Bita Lake, Shudu Lake and Miritang Subalpine Ranch as the main components, it is also one of the main tourist attractions in Shangri-La.

The altitude is between 3,500 meters and 4,159 meters. It is a provincial nature reserve and an important part of the "Three Parallel Rivers" scenic spot. Pudacuo National Park has geological landforms, lakes and wetlands, forests and meadows, valleys and streams, rare animals and plants, etc., and the original ecological environment is well preserved. It is 22 kilometers away from the urban area of ​​Shangri-La City, with a total area of ​​about 1313 square kilometers.

However, when we went, only Bitahai and the nearby forests were open, so we had to take a boat, walk in the virgin forest on foot, and feel the scenery of the plateau mountains, forests, lakes, and directly on the picture.

At about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, we ended the tour of Pudacuo. It was still early, so we decided to go directly to Gadan Songzanlin Monastery. Kardan Songzanlin Monastery is the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan Province and one of the famous monasteries in Kham. It is also the center of the Yellow Sect in the Sichuan-Yunnan area. Potala Palace". Built on the mountain, the temple looks like an ancient castle. It is a collection of Tibetan plastic arts, and it is also known as the "Tibetan Art Museum". In the same style as Tibetan Buddhist architecture, the Zhacang and Jikang living halls of Songzanlin Temple stand high in the center, surrounded by buildings such as the Eight Great Kangshen and Monk’s Houses. Set off the tall and majestic main building. The main building, Zhacang, means a monastery in Tibetan, and it is a place where monks learn classics and practice teachings. The apse is dedicated to Tsongkhapa, Maitreya Buddha, and the bronze Buddha of the seventh Dalai Lama. It is more than three feet high and leads directly to the upper floor. There are eight Lacan rooms on the middle floor, which are the temple of the gods, the hall of protecting the Dharma, the Khenpo room, the quiet room, and the dining room. The living room on the front floor is used for VIP banquets and watching "Qiangmu" (mask) dance. On the main building on the top floor, there is a jingshe Buddhist hall, which enshrines Buddha statues of the fifth Dalai Lama and the seventh Dalai Lama, as well as Beiye scriptures, thangkas, and handed down magical instruments. To the south of the Buddhist hall is the towering Bell and Drum Tower. The drums are played in the morning, noon and dusk to tell the time, and the sound is heard ten miles away.

From Songzanlin Temple, we went to Shishi Hilton Garden Hotel to check in. I booked a deluxe mountain view king bed room on Ctrip, but when I checked in, I was upgraded to a deluxe suite for free. I was very happy, and I was able to calm down after being so noisy by the bar in the ancient city last night that I couldn’t sleep. bad mood.

In the evening, discuss where to go the next day in the room. According to the original plan, we wanted to go to the Balagezong Grand Canyon, but the family said that the mountain road was too dangerous, and going to high altitude places may cause severe altitude sickness. Therefore, I temporarily decided to go to the Shangri-La Dian Golden Monkey National Park in Weixi County the next day, check the map, and start from Shangri-La City, the distance is 123 kilometers, and it takes 2 hours to drive.


eighth day


In the morning, it started to rain in Shangri-La. Will the Yunnan Golden Monkey National Park be possible? After leaving the hotel, we drove to the northwest of Shangri-La City, drove on National Highway 214, passed the Napahaila Grassland and began to climb the slope; it didn’t take long to drive to the middle of the mountain, and at this time due to the rain, the fog Diffuse, the visibility is less than 100 meters, and besides the road is a cliff, the road condition is not good, it is more dangerous. Therefore, after discussing with my son, I temporarily decided to cancel the trip to Yunnan Golden Monkey National Park, turn around and return, and play while walking, regardless of where I drive. So, we returned to the urban area along the 214 National Highway. When driving to a "Y"-shaped fork, we turned into a small alley, and ended up driving to the Shangri-La Alpine Botanical Garden in a daze. In front of the botanical garden is a viewing platform, which happens to be able to overlook the whole Napa Sea, and the scenery is great. Standing tall and looking far away, we happened to see a lot of people riding horses on the Napa seaside, so we went back to the ancient city of Dukezong along the Huanhu Road for lunch, and at the same time went along the Huanhu Road to have a "Car Tour Napa Sea" "(It turned out that this decision was great, less people and better scenery!).

At noon, we had lunch at the "Quiet Mani Shizang Restaurant" in the ancient city of Dukezong. We can follow the menu recommended on the Internet, and the taste is also very good; but we still recommend "Yak Meat with Hands", which tastes great. I want to go back to Beijing to find a restaurant in Yunnan or Tibet’s Beijing Office to eat again!

In the afternoon, drive back to Napa Sea for horseback riding. There are many horse farms around Napa Lake. I recommend everyone to go to Gongbi Horse Farm. It is in the northwest corner of Napa Lake. The scenery is good and it is close to Haizi. We spent more than 2 hours at the Gongbi Racecourse, taking various photos, and there were very few tourists, so it felt great!


ninth day


In the morning, after check-out, drive to Diqing Shangri-La Airport for flight back to Beijing. First unload the luggage to the airport terminal, then drive the car to the car rental store (Shangri-La Airport store), and return the car with the mobile APP, which is very convenient.

Take Eastern Airlines MU5932 to Kunming, then transfer to Eastern Airlines MU5705 and return to Beijing. The trip to Lijiang, Yunnan and Shangri-La, Diqing is over!


conclusion


The trip to Lijiang, Yunnan and Shangri-La in Diqing is over. It’s very cool. Think about how to summarize it. Let’s give a few key words and introduce them one by one.

1. Accommodation

During this trip, I stayed in a total of 5 hotels, Lijiang Huatai Hotel, Lijiang Banyan Tree, Yulu Designer Resort Hotel in Snow Mountain Lijiang Shujia Yulu, Shangri-La Heyue Gadan Boutique Hotel and Shangri-La Hilton Garden Inn. Among them, Lijiang Huatai Hotel is an express hotel, just a temporary sleep, the conditions are average, there is nothing to comment on, and it is not considered a vacation. Banyan Tree Lijiang and Hilton Garden Inn Shangri-La are hotels, while Snow Mountain Lijiang Shujia Yulu Designer Resort Hotel and Shangri-La Heyuegadan Boutique Hotel are homestays. By comparison, the hotel is more grand in terms of design and service, with relatively complete facilities, larger rooms and public areas, and unlimited activities; the B&B will be more graceful, exquisite and compact. In comparison, we like hotels more, so we give Banyan Tree the best evaluation, and we will stay there again when we have the opportunity to go to Lijiang in the future.

In addition, for family vacation friends, I would like to give you some advice in terms of hotel selection: carefully choose hotels in various ancient towns and ancient cities, and be sure to check the surrounding environment of the hotel, remember not to be next to shopping malls, supermarkets and bars!

2. Altitude sickness

There will be some altitude sickness on the first day when you first arrive in Lijiang. After all, you are quickly coming from the plains to the plateau. Therefore, it is recommended not to arrange too strenuous activities on the first day of arriving at the plateau. Start the journey again.

The average altitude of Lijiang is between 2,200 and 2,800 meters. Whether it is in the urban area or at the foot of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, the altitude sickness is not very obvious; but when visiting the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, especially when it reaches above 4,500 meters, the altitude sickness will be very obvious. It is recommended that everyone Do what you can.

The average altitude of Diqing Shangri-La and its surrounding areas is 3,300 to 3,500 meters. The altitude sickness is obviously stronger than that of Lijiang, so everyone must pay attention to rest, and the journey design should not be too hard.


Finally, let me give you a watch, very complete and practical!