Departure to Shangri-La, the most beautiful place

Number of days：5 days
Time: August
Average cost: 5200 yuan
With whom: couple
Updated: 2023.09.01

Yunnan has so many places worth visiting. Kunming, Lijiang, Dali, Shangri-La, and so on. I really want to go to every place, but unfortunately I don’t have enough time. Finally, after some discussion, we decided to focus on Shangri-La and Xichang. Note that Xichang is in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province.

We rented a car. Since there are so many places to visit, renting a car is more suitable. We picked up the car from Shangri-La Airport, and after visiting Shangri-La, we drove all the way to Xichang (more than 600 kilometers away), and finally returned the car in Xichang. The car rental platform we chose is ehi-某嗨租車. They don’t charge any handling fees for returning the car to another location, which is simply wonderful.

Day1 The Beauty of Shangri-La

On the way to Shangri-La, everyone was thrilled. It felt like this place, the closest to heaven, seemed so far away, yet we were finally approaching it. The whole way, Pang kept asking me, "Why is Shangri-La called the Lost Horizon?" I couldn't explain, but perhaps this trip would give me the answer.

Entering Shangri-La, just after walking along Yingbin Avenue, you'll see a towering white pagoda called the Pagoda of Harmony. It's said to be the largest Tibetan Buddhist white pagoda in the world. Admission is free, but hats and sunglasses are prohibited. Please respect local customs.

In the afternoon, while it was still light, we took a walk around Napahai. The Napahai scenic area is free to enter.

Many tourists dressed in Tibetan costumes took photos at various scenic spots. Since Napa Lake is truly vast, the crowds were smaller and traffic was less congested after spreading out. The weather was also beautiful today, with blue skies, white clouds, lakes, grasslands, cattle and sheep. It was picturesque, with some areas even displaying rapeseed flowers.

In the evening, we wandered around Dukezong Ancient Town. During our visit, it began to rain heavily. The weather here is typically sunny and rainy, and when it rains, it gets very cold. I guess the wind and rain at this time gave three-fifths of the people a cold, and later developed altitude sickness. Dukezong Ancient Town was much larger than I had imagined, and the walk took a long time.

The ancient city is full of Tibetan costume photo shops. Costume rental and makeup are available for 50 yuan. I picked out an outfit while strolling around, planning to transform into a Tibetan girl tomorrow. There are also many yak beef hotpot restaurants and cultural and creative souvenir shops, including the Tibetan Embroidery Culture and Art Institute, which is free to visit.

Another worthwhile visit in the ancient city is Guishan Park. It's incredibly crowded at night, and I spent a long time circling the square taking photos before queuing up. The stairs are particularly strenuous at high altitude, so take your time.

Day 2: Pudacuo, Shangri-La

Pudacuo is only a half-hour drive from the city center, so we went there again. The entrance fee is 138 yuan (includes the scenic area entrance fee and the required bus ride).

Since I suffered from altitude sickness on my first trips to Seda and Yading, I focused on taking it easy this time. I inched forward with the gait of a pregnant woman, barely daring to breathe. As it turns out, being safe is safe, and I didn't experience any symptoms the entire hike. Along the way, I saw wild boars, yaks, squirrels, horses, and other animals, as well as various familiar and unfamiliar mushrooms.

Then we took a bus to Shudu Lake, where you can choose to hike, bike, or take a boat ride. The boat ride cost about 50 yuan per person (we didn't take it, so I can't remember exactly). The hike along the lake was about 3.3 kilometers, but the path was smooth and easy, along a plank road.

The walking part wasn't the hardest part. The most annoying part was the long bus ride to the end, where we saw people circling the winding path ahead of us. We had only just entered the scenic area in the afternoon, and after walking nearly 6 kilometers and waiting in line for the bus for a long time, we didn't go to Bitahai.

Note: After visiting Shudu Lake, the bus will take you back to the scenic area gate. Those who want to go to Bitahai need to transfer to another bus at the gate and depart.

Day 3 Lugu Lake

In Shangri-La, we didn't spend much time in the ancient city; we mainly enjoyed the natural scenery. So, we drove directly to Lugu Lake.

I woke up this morning to a brilliant sun, a stark contrast to the chilly, rainy evening of the previous day. This is the perfect time to see the water lilies on Lugu Lake. I asked the B&B owner for help booking tickets for a pig trough boat. Note that only a few docks offer views of the sea of flowers.

We departed from the Wuzhiluo dock near the Walking Marriage Bridge. Each boat holds nine people, so be careful not to overload. The boat ride takes about 1.5 hours. Water lilies can also be fried. Just look at the beauty of Lugu Lake—isn't this the most beautiful natural spectacle? For me, the value of travel lies in seeing the scenery, the clouds, and the water. After leaving Lugu Lake, we headed straight ahead, heading towards Xichang. We basically spent the day on the road anyway. We passed a beautiful farm along the way.

Where there's strong sunshine, there's an abundance of fruit. Along the way, we bought fresh walnuts, watermelons, plums, apples, and Sunshine Roses, all very sweet. We passed Yanyuan, where every household planted apples along the roadside. Whether in Yunnan or Sichuan, there were so many flowers. Many of them I'd never seen before. We were thrilled to see them. Look at all those red, pink, and white blossoms—how beautiful!

August 10th is the Torch Festival of the Yi ethnic group. There have been pre-festival activities for a while now, and there was a concert taking place there the day we went, so it was incredibly crowded. Shortly after we entered the park, it started raining again, causing quite a few people to leave, but it soon stopped. Reservations are required for the Torch Festival, but since there were so many people booked, we couldn't get one that day, so we were stopped at the entrance and couldn't get in. The event took place in an open space, with a barrier at the entrance. We decided to just watch and experience it from the entrance, but we eventually got a chance to go in. We bought three torches (20 each), lit them, and danced. The atmosphere was truly wonderful. After dinner, we went to Jianchang Ancient City. The night view of the main building is quite beautiful, and there is also a plus version of the commercial street. We drove for a long time that day and looked at the scenery for a long time. For me, it was a very successful trip.

Day 4 Xichang Trip

After breakfast, we braved the rain to head to the Golden Scale Beach at Qionghai Park, as we were already there. After all, the children's enthusiasm for sand digging couldn't be extinguished by heavy rain. There's no entrance fee to Qionghai Park; you can simply download the app "Ai Xichang" and make a reservation. There are plenty of spots available daily, so you can usually make a reservation at the time. The reservation code allows multiple entries, so you don't need to make new reservations. It's very convenient. If you want to go to the Golden Scale Beach, park your car at the parking lot near Walnut Village. There's a large lotus field on the left after entering the gate, but it's not in full bloom. Despite the rain, I still managed to take some photos of my first trip.