Yunnan | 7-Day Leisurely Tour of Lijiang, Lugu Lake, and Dali
In July 2017, I had a brief one-day stopover in Kunming for a business trip. With only half a day free, I visited the Ethnic Village in Kunming. Unfortunately, it rained, so all outdoor performances were cancelled. I just walked around and listened to explanations about ethnic customs. After returning, I've always wanted to visit Lijiang and Dali; I heard they're spring-like all year round and the scenery is picturesque. It wasn't until this August that I finally made the trip. Now, more than ten days after returning from Dali, it feels like it happened ages ago. So I thought I'd write it down—at least to help with my poor memory.
Before going, I had only roughly planned the route: stay three nights in Lijiang to visit Lashihai, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Lijiang Eternal Love, Mu's Residence, Lijiang Old Town, Shuhe Ancient Town, and Black Dragon Pool Park; spend one night at Lugu Lake, then head to Dali to see Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake. In the end, only the following was accomplished:
8/25: Horseback riding at Lashihai, evening stroll in the old town;
8/26: Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Blue Moon Valley, evening stroll in the old town;
8/27: Mu's Residence, Lijiang Eternal Love, evening continued wandering in the old town;
8/28: Lugu Lake;
8/29: Lugu Lake, Dali Old Town;
8/30: Chongsheng Temple Three Pagodas, cycling around Erhai Lake, Xizhou
On the night of 8/24, I flew from Shanghai to Lijiang. I'd only booked a guesthouse in Lijiang Old Town for three days in advance, planning to decide the rest as things went. I figured since it's an independent trip, just go with the flow. After arriving at the accommodation, I rested, sipped some tea brewed by the host. It happened that a few other guests were organizing a group trip to ride horses at Lashihai. Ha, we simply signed up and went along.
8/25 Horseback Riding at Lashihai. It's said that every local family owns horses, probably because of the ancient horse caravans. Later, with tourism development, the whole village consolidated to create a horse ranch on the Tea Horse Road. Watching the horses carry us up and down the mountains, it was truly tough for them.
The weather that day was fantastic, with blue skies and white clouds. But because it was so bright, the sun was scorching. While riding, my legs felt burning hot. So when we got to Lashihai, no one in our group wanted to do the included boat ride. We just sat in the tea pavilion for afternoon tea and chatted, waiting for our companions who were queuing to take photos at the Instagram-famous spot.
8/26 Jade Dragon Snow Mountain + Blue Moon Valley. Jade Dragon Snow Mountain has three cableways: large, medium, and small. Because the large cableway was closed for maintenance, we couldn't go to Glacier Park or the 4680-meter high point. In the end, following the guesthouse owner's advice, we took the small cableway to Yunshanping to enjoy the scenery. At the time, I thought, if there were a horse, galloping would be so cool~
After descending, we took a battery cart to check in at Blue Moon Valley. The water was super clear~~
8/27 Lijiang Old Town + Mu's Residence. During the three nights in Lijiang from the 25th to the 27th, every evening I'd wander through the streets and alleys of the old town. Each time I'd take a different path back to the guesthouse, and trying to retrace my steps from memory never worked out~~
The old town is filled with guesthouses, restaurants, and bars. A big golden retriever seems to be a standard feature at nearly every guesthouse. In the mornings, the streets are basically empty. By evening, there are people everywhere: in restaurants, bars, alleys, and at the bonfire party on Sifang Street, there are several circles of people.
On the plane back, I saw a magazine that described it this way: "What should be associated with youth and vitality is Lijiang, a place that gathers wandering artists and folk singers, constantly staging tales of freedom, romance, madness, and restlessness of youth. Countless people come here, seeking answers about being young." Thinking of what I actually felt in the old town, this description couldn't be more fitting.
Mu's Residence has a light show every night. It seems to play every four or five minutes, each lasting a little over six minutes.
I actually went inside Mu's Residence on the morning of the 27th. After ticket check, there's a free guided tour explaining the sights.
Standing on the upper floor of what seemed to be the WanJuan Pavilion, you can see the distant Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.
8/27 Lijiang Eternal Love. After visiting Mu's Residence, we found a small eatery near the entrance and tried Lijiang baba (a kind of flatbread) and chickpea jelly. In the afternoon, we headed for the Eternal Love performance.
There's a free shuttle bus from the old town to the Lijiang Eternal Love scenic area, running about every 10 minutes. If you board at Bailong Square, it's only a ten-something-minute ride, quite close. This time we had great seats; during the performance, we could even feel the water spray.
The combo ticket included all shows. 'Love Song of Lijiang' only has one performance a day. From around 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., we went through all the programs in the scenic area. Then we returned to the old town, near Mu's Residence, and finally had the long-planned cured pork rib hot pot.
One of the outdoor shows: Guozhuang Carnival.
8/29 Lugu Lake. Lugu Lake isn’t actually far from the old town, but because the roads are all winding mountain roads, it took about half a day. We set off in the morning and arrived at noon. I'd read online that Daluoshui has the most convenient transport, so I booked a lake-view room there. Right outside the door was the lakeside. After checking in, I hurried out for a walk by the lake and took a couple of photos, then rested up for an afternoon lake circuit. Unfortunately, by 2 p.m. the weather changed. The blue sky and white clouds were gone, and even pictures of Lige Island came out dark. Then it started raining, and we couldn’t even leave the car. We went straight to the dining place, tasted the 'women's wine' that only women can drink, visited a local family’s home to learn about walking marriage culture, and after dinner joined a bonfire party~~
8/29 Lugu Lake. I set an alarm to wake up early for the sunrise over Lugu Lake, but unfortunately heavy rain prevented it. Fortunately, by a little past 9 a.m. it finally stopped, so we could continue our lake circuit.
We took a boat past Princess Island. Apparently the last princess lived there, but we couldn't go ashore due to maintenance.
We visited the filming location of 'Dear Inn'. It was still in operation, so we couldn't enter, only peeked through the fence from outside.
Passing through the flower sea, the boatman told us that because of the weather and lack of sunshine, the water-lily-like blossoms (水性杨花) weren't blooming much; otherwise, this whole area would be full of them, and it would be very beautiful.
By the time we reached the Walking Marriage Bridge at the Grass Sea, the blue sky and white clouds came out again. If only it had been this sunny earlier, we might have seen the lake covered in flowers.
8/30 Dali. On the 29th at noon, we returned from Lugu Lake to Lijiang, then took a bus to Dali. When checking in, I chatted with the host about the itinerary. Due to weather and time constraints, we directly gave up on Cangshan Mountain and asked the host to rent an electric scooter for us to cycle around Erhai Lake on the 30th. In the evening, we also strolled around Dali Old Town. Maybe because we'd been through the bustle of Lijiang Old Town, by contrast, I didn't feel much!
This cool little yellow duck sat on the front of our scooter, accompanying us from the old town to Chongsheng Temple Three Pagodas, along Erhai Lake to Xizhou, from Xizhou to Caicun Pier, then back to the old town, and we took a detour to Dali University, wandering around for a whole day.
At Chongsheng Temple Three Pagodas, gazing at Erhai Lake in the distance.
Xizhou Ancient Town was highly recommended by the guesthouse owner as a must-visit. It preserves Bai ethnic residences very well, and tie-dye products can be seen everywhere on the streets, all very beautiful. Along the way, we ate and strolled. Xizhou baba and jelly noodles were both delicious. My traveling companion also bought quite a few clothes, and we forgot to take pictures. We spent way more time than planned, so in the end we didn't have enough time to go to the famous Shuanglang. By a little past five, we headed back.
The sky was very overcast, with an occasional drizzle. On our way back from Xizhou to the old town, we detoured to Caicun Pier. Standing on the pier, the wind howled; it was so cold you could wear a down jacket.
During breakfast in the morning, I met an aunt who brought her grandson along while her daughter-in-law was attending graduate school. She said Dali University is especially nice, with Cangshan Mountain at its back and facing Erhai Lake. Very curious, we rode in the rain to the gate of Dali University to look around. Indeed, it was very impressive, with mist swirling around the mountains like fairyland~~
By then the rain had gotten quite heavy. We held umbrellas as we slowly rode back to the guesthouse. On the way, we passed the old town wet market and stopped to buy some pomegranates and grapes. It was a rare occasion to be back before 8 p.m., so we could make tea, eat fruit, and watch TV. The heavy rain continued nonstop until we left Dali on the 31st. Fortunately, it hadn't rained before; otherwise we would have been stuck in the hotel doing nothing. What good luck!
The host told us that every May is the most beautiful time on Cangshan Mountain, with flowers blooming in abundance. Perhaps next time we could go in May, straight to Dali, to see the flower sea on Cangshan, Erhai Lake near Shuanglang, and the sunrise and sunset over Erhai Lake~~
PS: 1. The UV radiation there is super strong. The backs of my hands, which were exposed, got tanned. More than ten days after returning, they're still obviously dark, with slight peeling. So sun protection is a must: sunscreen with the highest SPF, sun-protective clothing, sunglasses, hats, and face masks are all essential. 2. Tourism in Lijiang is really thoughtfully organized. Basically, as long as you've booked your first night's accommodation, you don't have to worry about the rest of your trip. There are shuttle services around the old town that pick you up and drop you off.
