Fan Fan asked me,"Last year, you resigned from the bank and went to travel around the mountains and rivers. What was the first stop you wanted to go to most?"
I said, I want to go to Lijiang and Shangri-La.
"Then, why didn't you go then?"
"Because I have been waiting for you who will still be the 'future' then."

Lijiang Eye Observation Deck

Since I first set foot in Lijiang in 2010, nine years later, I have once again set foot in Lijiang, a city founded by foreigners. It houses hearts that have been crushed by life. They may be looking here for them temporarily or permanently. Dream when they were young.
There were no grand official celebrations in this trip, no ethnic minority festivals celebrated in costumes, and no rich evening performances. In the eyes of only the purest tourists, the most unpretentious daily Lijiang and Shangri-La are the most unpretentious daily life.

Dayan flower Lane

Lijiang Chapter

Put down your bags, where to live?

Dayan Ancient City, as the representative of the core of Lijiang, carries the entrepreneurial dreams of many foreigners, and this carrier is the various inns, B & Bs, and hotels distributed in the ancient city as many stars. If you stay in Lijiang, you don't have to worry about not having a place to live even during the tourist season. From inns costing tens of yuan to boutique B & Bs costing hundreds of yuan, to luxury hotels costing thousands of yuan, you can choose from anything here.
If you want to push the window and overlook the ancient city of Lijiang and overlook the noisy night view and tranquil morning light, you can choose to live on the halfway slope of Lion Mountain, or choose an inn hotel around Dayanhua Lane. These two places are on high terrain and you can see the ancient city of Lijiang. Panorama.

If you want to experience small bridges and flowing water, you can live deep in the ancient city. Any inn along the stream can make you intoxicated by holding windows and listening to the stream.
Most inns are clean and sanitary, so you can choose with confidence.

Meet Lijiang

Lijiang has been given an intoxicating name by young people for many years-"The City of Affinity". Strolling between small bridges and flowing water, or wandering in antique cafes, you may meet your spiritual companion of this life. It is no wonder that many single men and women come to Lijiang for the purpose of healing.
Lijiang's well-known Internet celebrity check-in shrines include Dayan Ancient City, Wuhe Ancient Town, Yulong Snow Mountain, Lanyue Valley, Lugu Lake, etc. However, there are many newly promoted holy places that are still not well known to the public. This time, I decided to take a non-public route and give you a different perspective.

Dayan flower Lane

(1) Eye of Lijiang

Dayanhua Lane, also known as Dayan Ancient City Cedar Tourist Town, is located at the north gate of the ancient city of Lijiang. It is an ancient alley that integrates "Yunnan characteristics, intangible cultural heritage, cultural and creative brands, and in-depth experience". The famous new Internet celebrity check-in landmark "Eye of Lijiang" is here.

Lijiang Eye Observation Deck

This place can overlook the entire ancient city of Lijiang and is also the best place to shoot the night view, because from this angle, you can see the ancient city with lights on from low to high.

Lijiang Eye Observation Deck

I was in a daze at the cafe next to the "Eye of Lijiang" for a long time. I heard that I could see the rainbow after the rain across the ancient city. So I looked straight at the clouds on the ancient city and refused to leave for a long time. But unfortunately, it rained and the sun didn't come out, so I couldn't wait for this dreamy rainbow.

(2) Encounter the young couple chasing their dreams

The weather on the plateau is changing rapidly. When I was wandering deep in the flower alley, it suddenly rained heavily. It was useless to hold an umbrella, so I had to hide from the rain under the eaves of a shop. The young couple who opened the store may have taken pity on me, a miserable passer-by, and invited me to go in to escape the rain and drink tea. Even in midsummer, Lijiang turns cold whenever it rains, and the hot water kettle burns loudly, but perhaps the water will boil at around 90℃. We carry Yunnan black tea water that is not hot and start chatting.
It turned out that the young couple drove all the way from Beijing and drove thousands of kilometers to Lijiang. After arriving in Lijiang in May this year, they decided not to leave. They settled here and opened this handmade lipstick and soap shop, changing from "Beipiao" to "Lipiao" and living a small life.

As common strangers, we talked about various experiences and experiences in Lijiang until the rain stopped. At this point, I met two friends on the road.

(3) About food
When it comes to Lijiang's food, there are wild mountain mushrooms and traditional Naxi pork ribs. Here is a list of delicacies summarized by local people:
1 Yunnan cuisine: Grandma's flavor, Yun Xueli, Meet the Horse Gang cuisine
2 Eat wild mushroom chicken pot: marble dish, mushroom treasure banquet, Lijiang flavor, Dian-Tibetan stone pot banquet
3 Lijiang local specialty stir-fried snacks: No. 88 snacks, Ama Yinaxi snacks, small pot rice delicacies
4 New dishes: Lao Wang next door, The Disappeared Light Year, A Zhang Stewed Pork, Liang Chef
5 The two most authentic pork ribs in Lijiang: Ama's pork ribs and Apo's pork ribs
Here, we will focus on meeting the horse gang dishes and Lao Wang's restaurant next door

Meet. Mabang cuisine

The horse caravan was the main means of transportation in modern Yunnan. Before the opening of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway in 1910 and the Yunnan-Myanmar Highway in 1938, there were no major transportation trunk lines in Yunnan. It was precisely because there was a strong Yunnan horse caravan team that was not afraid of hardships that promoted the Yunnan Pu 'er tea market to further prosperity. When the caravan traveled through the mountains and mountains, they created their own recipes.

Meet the Horse Gang Cuisine is located in Dayanhua Lane. It is an authentic Horse Gang themed cultural restaurant. It uses the most original local Yunnan ingredients and the most authentic Horse Gang dishes cooking methods. While enjoying the taste buds, you can feel the bitterness and hardship of the Horse Gang. Tears.

The horseband cuisine here is unique in the ancient city of Dayan, and its environment and taste are impeccable.

Lao Wang Restaurant next door

The online celebrity Xinpai Cuisine Restaurant mainly serves new Yunnan cuisine and has several branches. This time I went to Dayanhua Lane Store, which is located at the entrance of the Damenlou in Dayanhua Lane. The key reminder is that you must book a table before going, otherwise the peak meal period will basically be queue numbers, etc.
While we were having a meal and couldn't find a partner to praise, a chef wearing a white hat came out of the kitchen and came over to inquire about the taste of the dishes. I guessed from the accent that he was Taiwanese and should be the chef of the shop. After chatting a few words, I found that this foreigner also came to Lijiang to pursue his dream with his story.

Lao Wang's restaurant next door

He had worked as a chef in a star-rated hotel in Guangdong for more than ten years. A few years ago, he came to Lijiang for a trip and fell in love with the ancient city of Lijiang. Through various coincidences, he decided to come to Lijiang to participate in a joint venture and start a business, so he had This Lao Wang restaurant next door. After the meal, he politely sent us a plate of fruit. If you want to hear his story, come here in person.

(4) Folk Song Square

I would like to ask, how many people are here for Lijiang's colorful lights? If you like the lively and noisy bar atmosphere, the Ancient City Bar Street is your best choice. If you like the slow atmosphere, drink some wine and listen to folk songs, you can't miss the folk song square.

Folk Song Square--Meet Lijiang Beer, fruity, refreshing

lashihai

Lashihai is actually a plateau lake wetland. In the early days, it was a seasonal lake. The lake surface changed significantly seasonally. The water level in the rainy season was high, with a maximum water storage capacity of 180 million cubic meters. The water surface was 9 square kilometers, and the water depth could reach 9 meters. In the dry season, the water level dropped and even dried up. But now, due to the construction of a dam, Lashihai has changed from a seasonal lake to a plateau lake that maintains a certain water level.

Lashihai Wetland Park

The Lashi Sea has beautiful mountains and clear waters, with beautiful scenery of different styles in different seasons.
The most prominent label of Lashihai in the eyes of tourists should be "horse riding". Many people don't know that since it is a wetland park, its rich natural ecological environment is the highlight here that is most proud of. There are 57 species of birds in the Lashihai Wetland, and about 30,000 birds come here to winter every year.

Migratory birds are attached to their old places year after year. The large number of winter migratory birds traveling through thousands of mountains and rivers have gradually made the Lashihai, which lives in a corner, known to outsiders. Lashihai has also built a special bird watching corridor. Unfortunately, I came at a wrong time and migratory birds have not returned here to winter.

Liming Laojun Mountain National Geopark

"As far as time is, as far as the dream that Laojun Mountain can be banished will be; as soft as time is, as soft as the sky that Laojun Mountain can touch will be."
Leaving Lijiang, you can drive northwest for two and a half hours to reach the Laojun Mountain Scenic Area in Liming Township. It takes a long way to drive upstream along the Jinsha River, with beautiful scenery along the way.

(1) Mountaineering
Laojun Mountain is the largest Danxia landform group in southwest China. It has been inhabited by our country's Lisu ethnic minority for generations. The Lisu ethnic group originated from the ancient Di and Qiang ethnic group and has a genetic relationship with the Yi people. Although the Lisu people at the foot of Laojun Mountain have lived a Hanized life due to tourists 'visits, they still retain many of their own traditional culture.

Tobacco leaf and corn are the two main crops here. Snow peaches, apples, and pears are also planted on the roadside, but for some reason, they are all ripe and dropped without being picked.

Qiangui Mountain

In Qiangui Mountain on the far left, due to the cracking of the red sandstone surface, weathering and erosion occur in the cracked cracks, resulting in a series of convex terrains with gaps, shaped like turtles. When viewed up close, it is like thousands of turtles climbing on top of the mountain.

Layered shale can be seen everywhere on the mountains. As the saying goes, it is easier to go up the mountain than to go down the mountain. Moreover, there is a cable car that goes directly to the mountain peak when going up the mountain. When going down the mountain, you have to walk halfway down the mountain before you can take the cable car down. For me who lacks exercise, it is still a test for my knees and thighs.

(2) Tent hotel

The trip to Laojun Mountain can be completed in one day, but arranging two days will make it easier to relax. In addition to climbing Qiangui Mountain, it is most famous for its Feilada rock climbing, and it even attracts foreign tourists to organize groups here to participate in rock climbing activities. But due to physical reasons, I didn't go to rock climbing.
I chose to spend the night in a tent hotel at the foot of the mountain

Aerial photography of the Anqini Tent Hotel in the early morning. In the Liming Laojun Mountain Scenic Area, there are battery trucks to pick up and drop off the street where residents gather.

The hotel lives next to the water and starts straight to the point. At night, you can see the stars in the sky and the morning glow over the mountains in the morning. The restaurant is built with full-scale floor-to-ceiling glass along the river. The completely natural environment makes the fatigue of the journey disappear.

(3) Matsutake interlude
I heard that there would be a bonfire party in the local residents 'gathering area that night. I wanted to join in the fun and find out, but I had no choice but to miss the time and only rushed to the bonfire party where the song ended and everyone dispersed. So I wandered around in the quiet street and accidentally ran into a matsutake buyer trading matsutake with local people. I stopped to chat with them for a long time, and didn't mind that I disturbed their transaction. I also enthusiastically introduced to me how to distinguish between good and bad matsutake mushrooms, and picked out better quality matsutake from the bottom of the basket for me to take photos.

Matsutake is a wild fungus that is abundant in Yunnan. It became popular all over the south of the Yangtze River due to the first season of "A Bite of China". The price has also risen accordingly. The umbrella-shaped mushroom is about 200 yuan per kilogram, and the unumbrella-shaped mushroom is about 300 yuan per kilogram. However, when Matsutake leaves this mountain and reaches tables in large cities at home and abroad, the price may reach more than 2000 yuan per catty.
I can't help but sigh that the mushroom pickers who really work the hardest to climb the mountain in the dark in the early morning get the lowest income.

Shangri-La Chapter

From Lijiang to Shangri-La, the altitude rises from 2400 meters to 3200 meters. The two plateau cities are the pearls of Yunnan's tourism. The book "The Disappearing Horizon" makes Shangri-La a yearning for the world. Shangri-la means "sun and moon in the heart" in Tibetan, and another meaning is "beautiful place."

The fifth meteor-Light Year Hotel

After 4 hours of bus bumps,

This is where the name of the fifth meteorite hotel comes from. There is a real iron meteorite in the lobby. The design takes Tibetan culture as the theme style and combines elements such as Tibetan space design, Tibetan decorations, Thangka painting, Tibetan rhyme furniture, etc., but the design is new and has sufficient lighting.

The room uses a dispersed support system to deliver oxygen with a purity of more than 90% to the room around the clock, and can also adjust the oxygen content of the room. It solves the problem of poor sleep for tourists with altitude sickness. Even for someone like me who is resistant to blows and falls without any altitude reaction, it adds a sense of comfort in the plateau.

The hotel's meteor restaurant provides breakfast, lunch and dinner services. The most popular dish in the restaurant is small hot pot around the table. Each person has a small pot to rinse fresh yak meat and various local vegetables. It is cost-effective and has become a fashionable choice for locals other than residents.
The fifth meteorite, the Guangnian Hotel, is located in Dukezonghua Lane.

napahai

Napa Sea, half Mirror Lake, half grassland. Its lakes are formed by the gathering of snowy mountains and snow water in the distance, and the lake area only accounts for one-thousandth of the grassland area. In September, the Napa Sea is still green. Flocks of yaks stroll by the lake, and horses bow their heads to graze leisurely. Is this what heaven looks like?

Napahaiyila Grassland

Blue sky, white clouds, gentle breeze, and sparkling lake water, it is such a pleasant thing to take a walk along the shores of the Napa Sea.

Many tourists choose to ride on horseback by the lake of the Napa Sea, but in fact, the best way to visit the Napa Sea is to ride around the lake by bike or charter a car. The cost of a car is about 180 yuan, which is enough for half a day. The advantage compared to just entering a certain lakeside attraction is that you can see the beautiful scenery from every angle. It is precisely the so-called "I don't know the true face of Lushan Mountain, but only because I am in this mountain."

Perhaps many people will be curious about the function of these pointed shelves. The lake of Napa Sea is full of highland barley. These shelves are used to dry harvested highland barley. With the deep sky, blue lake water, and golden farm, I seemed to have the illusion of being in a European farm at this time.
Napa Sea is 8 kilometers away from the county seat, and a taxi is about 20 yuan one way.

Gadan Songzanlin Temple

On the way from Napa Sea to Songzanlin Temple, I met a Tibetan driver. He took me to take a shortcut and arrived at the entrance of Songzanlin Temple in just 10 minutes. He told me that this is the privilege of local villagers. Foreign vehicles cannot pass through this shortcut. They can only go to the tourist center and change to shuttle buses between scenic spots.

Gadan Songzanlin Temple is the largest Tibetan Buddhist temple in Yunnan Province. It plays a pivotal position in the entire Tibetan area and is known as the "Little Potala Palace."

The temple is built against a mountain and looks like an ancient castle. It is a collection of Tibetan plastic arts.

To pray at Songzanlin Temple, you don't need incense, you don't need to repay your wishes, just your inner piety. Praying for Buddha is just a spiritual sustenance. What you worship is actually yourself.

Dukezong Flower Lane Cultural Journey

"Dukezong", a Tibetan pronunciation contains two meanings, one is "castle built on stone" and the other is "moonlight city". Different from Lijiang Dayan Ancient City, the ancient city of Dukezong was built along the mountains. A fire here in 2014 touched the hearts of countless people. Although no traces of fire have been found so far, many ancient buildings have disappeared into thin air.

ancient city of dukezong

The road surface is uneven. It is paved with some age-old stones along the natural terrain. To this day, there are still deep horseshoe marks left on the stone road. They are a token of time left by the caravan of horses back then.

The center of the ancient city is Guishan Park.

Today, Dukezonghua Lane has become a new landmark in the ancient city of Dukezonghua. Dukezonghua Lane is located at the north gate of the ancient city. It integrates Tibetan intangible cultural heritage experience, Tibetan cultural style street, the fifth meteorite series hotel, and the "Meet Shangri-La" show, etc., to provide tourists with a Tibetan cultural experience.

Duke zonghua Lane

In order to provide tourists with a window to understand Shangri-La culture, Cedar Cultural Tourism Group goes deep into the countryside, door-to-door to find inheritors of intangible cultural heritage, and brings the most traditional handicrafts and intangible cultural heritage to tourists. So today, we can have access to Shangri-La's relatively complete intangible cultural heritage projects in Dukezonghua Lane. Such as Nisi black pottery, Dongba papermaking, Mani stone carving, pine forest Tibetan incense, Kasa Tibetan sword, etc.

With a preference for tea sets, I chose to experience the making process of Nixi black soil pottery. Nistangdui Village is a Tibetan village in Shangri-La County, Yunnan Province. It is the only way on the ancient tea-horse ancient road. It has a long history of pottery making here, and folk pottery making craftsmanship has been passed down for more than 2,000 years. So far, its production process has become a national-level intangible cultural heritage.

The production of black pottery is mainly divided into three steps, namely: material selection, processing, and sintering. To experience in the experience hall, you can only experience the processing steps, which will be personally guided by the inheritor of intangible cultural heritage. This master Roni is already the seventh generation inheritor of earthen pottery making in his family, and the eighth generation inheritor, that is, his nephew, has been engaged in earthen pottery making full-time after graduating from college.
After several steps of kneading, patting, cutting and splicing, a prototype of a male cup for making tea came out. It takes 15 days to dry in the shade before going to the factory for firing. After a month, it can be mailed to your home.

end

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