My First Impulsive Trip: A Trip to Lijiang Old Town, Lugu Lake, and Blue Moon Valley in Yunnan, February 2023

Number of days：5 days
Time: February
Average cost: 5500 yuan
With whom：parents and children
Tour kinds：Free travel
Updated: 2023.02.28

Seduced by a colleague's photos of Lugu Lake, I'd been dreaming of visiting Lijiang for a long time, though several attempts to make the trip had been unsuccessful for various reasons. But during this completely unplanned winter break, all the reasons for not traveling suddenly seemed to have been overcome. Mother and daughter decided to go without a hitch, requesting leave, booking flights, packing, and leaving in less than 48 hours. Yunnan has abundant tourism resources. You could spend a week in Lijiang alone, with Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Dayan Old Town, Shuhe Old Town, Lashi Lake, Lugu Lake, Tiger Leaping Gorge, Shangri-La, and so on. But with only five days of vacation, I could only choose my favorite and most representative places in Lijiang, and skip all the similar attractions. A bit worried about the winding, four-hour mountain road to Lugu Lake, I debated for a while between Lugu Lake and Erhai Lake in Dali. Ultimately, my yearning for Lugu Lake won out, and we settled on Dayan Ancient Town, Lijiang Eternal Love, Lugu Lake, Blue Moon Valley, Mufu Mansion, and Shuhe Ancient Town. (Image:

*******Saturday, February 11, 2023, Sunny) We arrived in Lijiang at noon after a layover in Beijing. Lijiang is about 2,400 meters above sea level. After getting off the plane, I felt a bit short of breath, whether it was from wearing a mask too long, the rush, or just a psychological effect, or perhaps a slight bout of altitude sickness. But it was over quickly.

Lijiang has three famous ancient towns: Dayan, Shuhe, and Baisha. Dayan and Shuhe are the most popular choices for tourists. When people talk about Lijiang Old Town, they're mainly referring to Dayan, the busiest of the towns. Shuhe, about seven or eight kilometers away, is relatively quiet.

Our first stop was Dayan. As soon as we stepped onto the turquoise stone pavement, the ancient charm of Lijiang Old Town washed away all our fatigue, and I felt a surge of excitement.

The courtyard of the B&B we stayed at, Yueting, was small, but the highlight was the small balcony. The view from there was very pleasant both day and night.

The owner was very kind and patiently answered many of my travel questions. There was also a shuttle service in and out of the ancient city, which was very important because there was no car access inside the ancient city, and the roads were all cobblestone, making it difficult to carry a suitcase in and out. Most B&Bs here offer shuttle service, so be sure to confirm before checking in.

I had local chicken rice noodles for lunch and took a quick stroll around the ancient city.

We chose the Lijiang Eternal Love Scenic Area that afternoon. The park opens at 2:00 PM and offers a variety of small shows, three of which are must-sees: Lijiang Love Song (3:30-3:50 PM), Lijiang Eternal Love (first show 4:30-5:30 PM, second show 7:30-8:30 PM), and The Great Earthquake (6:10-6:45 PM). The Eternal Love Scenic Area is truly breathtaking and well worth seeing. There's a dedicated tourist bus that runs every half hour, or you can take a taxi. It's about eight or nine kilometers from the Old Town.

It was almost 8 o'clock when we got back to the ancient city. The ancient city was packed at this time, and restaurants with reviews above 4.5 points almost had queues.

After finally finding a place to eat, it was already very late when we got back to the inn.

******Sunday, February 12, 2023, Sunny

To get to Lugu Lake, you can book a tourist bus or ask the inn owner to help you share a business car. The drive takes about 4 hours. When we went there, we took a van that picked us up near the inn and took us to the Lugu Lake inn. The van driver was very nice, but he drove too fast, and the winding mountain road was a bit stressful, so we opted for a bus back home.

We passed the Jinsha River on the way. This season, the river looked like a jade belt wrapped around the towering mountains. Unfortunately, the van was going too fast, so we couldn't capture its magnificence in photos.

The inn I liked best on this trip was the Pu Shu B&B at Lugu Lake. The room was comfortable, the view was great, and the lake was right downstairs.
I could see the Two-Color Lake from my room.

The inn is in Daluoshui, the busiest area of Lugu Lake. There are many restaurants nearby with reviews of 4.5 or above. After eating Mosuo stone pot fish, we started our lake tour.

It takes about an afternoon to circle the lake. The price for a tour around the lake is similar, generally 200 yuan in the off-season and 300 yuan in the peak season. The driver recommended by the inn owner was very nice. He didn't set a time limit for each attraction, so we could enjoy it as we pleased.

Online reviews of Lugu Lake are mixed. I think the weather has a significant impact on the scenery: on sunny days, the lake view is stunning, while on cloudy days, it's just average. Our visit was blessed with clear skies, and both the lake and sky were a brilliant, intoxicating blue.

We visited Lover's Beach (Yunnan), Lige Peninsula, Luyuanya, Lover's Beach (Sichuan), Goddess Bay, Caohai, the Walking Marriage Bridge, and several smaller scenic spots. Yunnan Lover's Beach and Goddess Bay were our favorites. The water was crystal clear, and there were few people. It was exactly what I imagined Lugu Lake would be like.

Goddess Bay is a bit of a detour, and some buses may not go there, so make sure to confirm with the driver in advance that it's a must-see.

Yunnan Lover's Beach

Observation Deck

Goddess Bay

Caohai, Walking Marriage Bridge

******Sunny, Monday, February 13, 2023

The driver of the lake tour recommended the pier for the Lugu Lake pig trough boat. At the flower sea pier, you can normally watch the sunrise and visit the grass sea reed marsh. However, the boatman of our boat did not enter the reed marsh, and there were no water lilies in this season. The scenery was not that outstanding, and it was quite cold in the morning. I was a little disappointed with this boat trip.

It was recommended online that the boat ride at Wuzhiluo Pier was more beautiful, so I regretted not going there.

The boat ride takes about an hour. After returning to the inn, you can listen to music, drink tea, and eat snacks on the balcony...

Everywhere you look, you can see clouds rolling, green mountains and clear waters, and occasional birds flying by. You will feel completely relaxed.

The bus back to Lijiang in the afternoon was booked at 14:30, which gave us plenty of time. We reluctantly checked out at 12:00 and went to have lunch.

Walking slowly along the plank road by the lake was also refreshing. The water is like the horizontal eye waves, the mountains are like the gathered brows. If I ask the traveler where he is going, I will look at his eyes and brows.

I loved the inn's courtyard, but unfortunately, I returned late both days, leaving me no time to relax and unwind. I heard there's a balcony, but I didn't use it. The ancient city is fine during the day, but it is especially lively at night, with bright lights and flowers everywhere, and it is bustling with people. Although Lijiang Ancient Town is too commercialized and the decorations are a bit gaudy, I still like it very much.

******Tuesday, February 14, 2023, Sunny

After breakfast at a rice noodle shop near Mufu Palace, I arrived at the bus stop near Zhongyi Market around 9:30 AM and took Bus 101 to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. The 101 runs every 20 minutes or half an hour, and the ride takes about an hour. You can check the departure times and walk to the bus stop accordingly. Try to sit on the left side of the bus for better views. The Yulong Snow Mountain Scenic Area includes Yulong Snow Mountain, Blue Moon Valley, Yunshanping, Yaoniuping and other attractions. You need to take the scenic area tour bus to reach each attraction. We don’t like climbing snow mountains, and the grasslands in this season are probably not beautiful, so we only chose the Blue Moon Valley. The Blue Moon Valley alone is beautiful enough to make this trip worthwhile. On the shuttle bus, you'll be told to buy your entrance ticket. Then, at the visitor center, you can purchase your tickets for the scenic area shuttle bus based on your destination. The visitor center itself is quite chaotic, so be sure to greet the bus after getting off and make sure you're in the right spot to board. The bus will stop at Parking Lot 3 on the way back, and you can take the 101 shuttle bus directly back to the city. The shuttle bus to Blue Moon Valley has two stops: the first seems to be where the electric bus starts, and the second is Shuiyue Pavilion. I personally think getting off at the first stop is preferable, as it's at the very top of Blue Moon Valley, with Shuiyun Pavilion roughly halfway down. There's also a scenic plank road below Shuiyue Pavilion. Getting off at the first stop allows you to explore the valley from top to bottom, passing Shuiyue Pavilion before walking down again and then returning to Shuiyue Pavilion to catch the bus back to the Visitor Center, thus only walking halfway back. We followed online information and got off at the second stop, Shuiyue Pavilion. We walked down, then back to Shuiyue Pavilion, and then up to the electric bus starting point. Since we couldn't find the exit to catch the tour bus, we returned to Shuiyue Pavilion to catch the bus, completing each section twice. We walked and stopped throughout the entire circuit, enjoying the area so much that we didn't feel tired at all. We could have easily skipped the electric bus.

Whether the water is blue or green, the bright and pure color is so pleasing to the eye, and the mobile phone cannot capture its beauty.

In fact, there is almost no feeling of lack of oxygen in Blue Moon Valley. I bought an oxygen tank just out of curiosity.

It was around 4 o'clock when we came back from Blue Moon Valley. We temporarily added the Mu Mansion as an attraction.

I was particularly glad for this decision. There are free guided tours every once in a while. The children found it very interesting and learned a lot from following the tours to listen to the stories of the Mu Mansion. In the evening, we took a taxi to Shuhe Ancient Town. It was indeed much quieter here, and we finally had delicious stone pot fish without having to queue.

If I were to come again, I would choose to stay in Shuhe Ancient Town for one night, but one night is enough.

After dinner, I walked around Feihua Touching Water and went to a small pub to listen to music. It was around 9 o'clock when I walked back.

Unlike Dayan Ancient Town, Shuhe Ancient Town was a little less crowded around 9 o'clock, and some roads were already very dark. It is not recommended to walk around the ancient town at this time.