Day 5 - Lijiang 丽江
Early morning, I got out from south gate of old town and took a bus to Red Sun Square
红太阳广场.
Many buses and taxis pass South Gate (near South Gate Car Park) of
Lijiang Old Town
古城南门停车场附近有不少公交车/巴士/计程车经过
I knew that I needed to go early in order for me to reach the peak of Jade Dragon Snow
mountain and other scenic spots before late afternoon. From there, I took a private
van to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. The 50-minute trip costed me about RMB25.
Place (near Red Sun Square/HongTaiYang GuangChang bus stop) to take a van
to Yulong Snow Mountain Scenic Area/Jade Dragon Snow Mountain
可到红太阳广场车站附近乘搭面包车到玉龙雪山风景区
Upon entering the tourist area of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, the driver asked the passengers to pay RMB105 for Yulong Snow Mountain Scenic Area tour voucher 玉龙雪山风景区券.
What I paid for the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain trip are as follows:
Old Town Preservation Fee 丽江古城维护费 RMB80 (Paying this fee for once entitles you to enter LiJian Old Town 丽江古城, Black Dragon Pool/HeiLongTan Gong Yuan黑 龙潭公园 and Jade Dragon/Yulong Snow Mountain Scenic Area 玉龙雪山风景名胜区. So keep the ticket well after paying for it.)
Yulong Snow Mountain Scenic Area tour voucher 玉龙雪山风景名胜区游览卷 RMB105
Bus ticket at RMB20 Yulong Snow Mountain Scenic Area 玉龙雪山旅游观光专线车票(including bus tickets to different cable car stations)
Battery Car tickets 电瓶车观光游览套票RMB60 (including 5-6 tickets for vehicles from the Cable car stations to scenic areas. You will need this if you wish (most people do) to go to Langyue gu lake/Blue Moon valley/蓝月谷)
Cable car ticket to Jade Dragon/Yulong Snow Mountain玉龙冰川公园大索道票 (4506m sea altitude) RMB180
Cable car ticket to Cloud Fir Meadow/Yunshanping/Spruce Meadow 云杉坪索道票 RMB55(3208m sea altitude) (Some may not want to go but I went. Some tourists take a private vehicle to get there. )
Jacket rental RMB50 (if you need it. I did not go for this)
Oxygen bottle RMB68 (if you need it. I did not go for this. Most people are fine at 4506m sea altitude. Just relax and do not run when you get to 4506 sea altitude. But if you want to scare yourself, no one could help. :>)
White Water River/白水湖 and Langyue gu lake/Blue Moon valley/蓝月谷 are nearby. You just need one Battery Car tickets for Yuye Lake/玉液湖 and White Water River/白水湖 and nearby scenic spots.
To go back to Old Town, you need to go to No. 1 car park/甘海子一号停车场. You may take
a bus to get there. If you have paid for Bus ticket RMB20 for Yulong Snow Mountain Scenic
Area bus fare 玉龙雪山旅游观光专线车票 earlier, then you can just hop in the bus at bus stop nearby Yuye Lake/玉液湖 or other bus stops to get there.
No. 3 car park/ 甘海子三号停车场 has no cars to Lijiang Old Town. It is the car park nearby Snow Mountain Tourist Center/雪山游客中心.
Snow Mountain Tourist Center/雪山游客中心is the place where you can buy souvenirs,
enquire information and buy tickets. This is the place where the driver dropped me when arriving Jade Dragon/Yulong Snow Mountain Scenic Area 玉龙雪山风景名胜区.
At Snow Mountain Tourist Center – On the right is the place to buy the cable car ticket to
Jade Dragon/Yulong Snow Mountain
于玉龙雪山风景区 - 右方便是玉龙冰川公园大索道售票处.
There was a tradeoff in exploring the scenic spots given the time constraint. I had to forego watching the grand performance Impression of Lijiang 印象丽江 in order to
go to Cloud Fir Meadow/Yunshanping/Spruce Meadow 云杉坪 and all the lakes nearby
Langyue gu lake/Blue Moon valley/蓝月谷.
If I had more time, I would go to watch the performance. The grand performance Impression of Lijiang starts at 9a.m., 11.30a.m. and 2p.m. Check the time of performance and plan your trip at Jade Dragon/Yulong Snow Mountain Scenic Area 龙雪山风景名胜区 if you wish to watch the performance.
On 3356m altitude – The place to board a cable car to Jade Dragon/Yulong
Snow Mountain. Tourists arrive here by taking a short-distance bus in Snow
Mountain scenic area.
于3356米海拔- 玉龙冰川公园大索道缆车乘坐处。玉龙雪山旅游观光专线车在载游客至此。
On 3356m altitude – The place to board a cable car to Jade Dragon/Yulong
Snow Mountain
于3356米海拔- 玉龙冰川公园大索道缆车乘坐处.
Cable car elevating to 4506m altitude 缆车升至4506米海拔
On 4506m altitude, tourists are able to rent jacket (RMB50 rental & RMB500 deposit per jacket),
thick pants (RMB40 rental & RMB200 deposit per pant), hiking boots (RMB40 rental & RMB200
deposit per pair), oxygen bottle (RMB68 per bottle).
于3356米海拔，游客可租用羽绒服（RMB50 租金 RMB500 押金)，
防寒裤 （RMB40租金, RMB200 押金），登山鞋（RMB40 租金 RMB200 押金），活力氧（RMB68/瓶 ）.
On 4506m altitude 于3356米海拔
On 4506m altitude于4506米海拔
One of the cable car stations 其中一个缆车站
One of the cable car stations 其中一个缆车站
From the cable car station, battery car drives the visitors to the entrance of Cloud
Fir Meadow/Yunshanping
电瓶车把游客从缆车站載到云 杉坪人口处
Cloud Fir Meadow/Yunshanping 云 杉坪
Cloud Fir Meadow/Yunshanping 云杉坪
Wishes are hung on various locations at Cloud Fir Meadow/Yunshanping
云杉坪到处可见游客悬挂的愿望
White Water River 白水湖
White Water River and Langyue gu lake/Blue Moon valley 白水湖 及 蓝月谷
Waterfall at Yuye Lake 瀑布于玉液湖
Yuye Lake 玉液湖
To board the bus within Yulong Snow Mountain Scenic Area, we need to pay RMB20
for Yulong Snow Mountain Scenic Area bus ticket
玉龙雪山旅游观光专线车票(票价RMB20)可让我们乘车于玉龙雪山旅游观区
To go back to Lijiang Old Town, I took a private van from No. 1 car park at Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Scenic Area to
Red Sun Square bus stop 红太阳广场. It costed me about RMB25.
I took a van at No. 1 car park at Yulong Snow Mountain Scenic Area to get back
to Lijiang Old town
我乘面包车从玉龙雪山旅游观区一号停车场回到丽江古城
You may take a tour to go to Jade Dragon/Yulong Snow Mountain scenic area from Lijiang
Old Town or your hotel/guest house. The benefit of taking a tour is that you do not need to think much and the main spots will be covered. The down side is that you may miss some scenic places such as Yuye Lake/玉液湖 and Cloud Fir Meadow/Yunshanping/Spruce Meadow 牦牛坪. Also, you may not have the freedom of taking your own pace walking around to
explore things. After all, it all depends on what you want
From Red Sun Square bus stop红太阳广场车站, I take a bus back to south gate of old town
and walked to the guest house. If you stay near Gu Cheng Squar/四方街, you may just walk back. I preferred to take a bus as the walking distance to where I stayed (near south gate)
is about 50 minutes to 1 hour.
Red Sun Square bus stop 红太阳广场车站
After showering, I packed and went to railway station by taking a bus. I can say that taking bus in Lijiang is pretty convenient. Bus No. 16 /No. 18 can be taken to railway station. I was told to take bus no. 18 from 白龙广场 bus stop to Lijiang railway station. To go to Lijiang
Train Station, you may take bus no. 4, bus no. 16 or bus no. 18.
丽江火车站距丽江城区约10余公里。乘客可从丽江古城口(水平广场)乘坐4路公交车直达火车站,或
从古城南门白龙广场乘坐18路公交车直达火车站,也可从古城口坐11路公交车到福慧市场(丽客隆超市对面)
坐16路公交车直达火车站。 I had my instant noodles at railway station. Hot water is easily available at railway station and airport in Yunnan. The noodles with hot spicy soup
麻辣汤 is so yummy and it compensated myself well for all the rush.
Lijiang Railway Station 丽江火车站
Lijiang Railway Station 丽江火车站
I ended my day in a night train with triple-decker bed. Luckily I managed to get the lowest bed which was comparatively easier to access. In the bed, I could not help recalling the experience that I had just had from the highest sea altitude before drifting off to sleep in the vibration of the night train.