Romantic One Meter of Sunshine: A Family of Four in Lijiang

Number of days：5 days
Time: August
Average cost: 3500 yuan
With whom：parents and children
Updated: 2024.09.05

When I was little, I was mesmerized by Sun Li while watching "One Meter of Sunshine." I never imagined that over 20 years later, I'd actually be in Lijiang. While Lijiang is certainly different now, the beauty of the scenery remains.

Before leaving, I booked a car through a certain platform. We picked it up in Lijiang and returned it in Dali. There was no out-of-town return fee, which was very convenient. After landing at the airport, I picked up the car first and then went to the hotel.

We drove for half an hour to the Yu Nian Hotel on the east side of Lijiang Old Town. The fare was 60 yuan. The hotel was small, so we quickly packed up, ordered some takeout, and ate it in the hotel lobby. The food was delicious: beef, mushrooms, and water lilies.

Day 1: The bustle of Lijiang Ancient Town

I got up this morning and took the kids for a stroll around the Old Town. We had breakfast: xiaolongbao (small dumplings) for 10 yuan a tray, with free soy milk. The taste was average, but the price was reasonable. Then we checked out of the hotel and moved to our new hotel, the Gemaier Hotel. It's just outside the Old Town's East Gate, very close to Lijiang No. 1 Middle School, and parking was easy.

After dropping our luggage at the hotel, we entered Lijiang Old Town through the East Gate. We had lunch at "Jungwozi," a restaurant with a wide selection of mushrooms. If you get fungus, you should keep a sample and register it to prevent poisoning. We visited several attractions in the Old Town, which weren't particularly exciting. We went to Sifang Street and Kegongfang, then walked through Kegongfang and up the mountain. There, nestled in the mountains, was the "Shiyun Book Club," a quiet and tranquil place amidst the bustle. We held an online meeting, drank rose tea, and petted cats. It was a very relaxing experience.

During the trip, we continued up the mountain to see the Red Army's headquarters in Lijiang, and felt the touching story of the Lijiang people's support for the Red Army. Around 5:00 PM, we descended the mountain from the bookstore and visited the Xu Xiake Memorial Hall and the Mu Mansion next to it. We then walked back to the hotel, ordered a meal, and ate there. That evening, we ran around the ancient town, but it was crowded, so I couldn't get away. The total distance was 8 kilometers. It rained heavily in Lijiang that night, so it was quite cool.

Day 2: Shuhe Ancient Town

We woke up at 10:00 AM, checked out, and drove to Shuhe Ancient Town, a 40-minute drive. We rented an electric scooter at the entrance and took a tour of the town. The ancient town is not big, and it only sells small commodities. Ancient towns in different places are similar, there is nothing new. We went to Sifang Tingyin Square and had Yunnan cuisine at a restaurant run by a Guangdong owner. The food was quite good and the prices were reasonable. We also tried their homemade plum wine and took some aerial photos of the ancient city. Afterwards, we headed straight to the Lijiang Thousand Years of Love performance. Locals say it's worth seeing, so of course we had to see it. The drive took 20 minutes to the park where the performance took place. Tickets were 230 yuan per person, which wasn't cheap. The park was like Happy Valley, with a number of attractions. We walked around and saw a performance, which was pretty good and worth seeing. Afterward, we spent half a day playing with the kids in the water play area next to the performance venue. Day 3: The Spectacular Tiger Leaping Gorge

We got on the bus at 10 a.m. and headed straight for Tiger Leaping Gorge. The entire journey took over two hours on the highway. Traffic started to get stuck as we neared the scenic area, and the traffic jam lasted for nearly an hour. It was very sunny today, and the temperature in Tiger Leaping Gorge was also very high. There are many parking spots in the scenic area, so we parked our car at Parking Lot No. 6 on the mountain and bought tickets. The entrance fee was 45 yuan, and the escalator was 70 yuan.

We took the scenic area bus from a tourist shed and went directly to the parking lot inside the scenic area. We drove along the Jinsha River all the way and saw the Ancient Tea Horse Road on the opposite mountain. When we arrived at Tiger Leaping Gorge, we took four escalators down to the viewing platform very close to the Jinsha River. Then we walked forward along the viewing platform, and passed a few more viewing platforms to reach the end of the scenic area.

The scenery at Tiger Leaping Gorge is spectacular. It was flood season, and the Jinsha River roared past like a galloping horse. Watching the turbulent water was a kind of fainting fear. After spending over an hour in Tiger Leaping Gorge, we returned the same way, took a bus back to the scenic area ticket office, and after climbing through the mountains to find a car, drove all the way back to Lijiang on the highway. On the way, we passed Lashi Lake, and in the distance, it looked like a pool of azure blue.

In the evening, we went to the Wangu Tower, the tallest building in Lijiang Old Town, for a tour. There weren't many people there. The building was built in 1997, so it's not very crowded. From Lion Rock, you can see the entire city of Lijiang. The night view is average, but there is a light show in Wangu Tower Park, which adds a bit of psychedelic color to the originally dark environment.

Back at the hotel, we ate at Yunxue Li, a well-known restaurant in Lijiang Old Town. It was quite crowded, and I had to wait for a table for half an hour. The food was quite good, and well worth the wait.

Day 4: The Beauty of Dali

After breakfast a little after 10 a.m., I checked out and continued my journey. We drove two hours to Dali, all the way on the highway, and the road was in excellent condition. After arriving in Dali, we passed Shuanglang and arrived at Haidong Town, Dali. The B&Bs here are quite unique, reminiscent of Santorini in Greece.

The hotel is located on a mountain, just across the road from Erhai Lake. The rooms are spacious and the facilities are excellent. You can fly a drone on the fifth-floor rooftop, and the air is cool. The hotel service is excellent.

Afterwards, we drove on to our next attraction, the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple. Haidong Town is located east of Erhai Lake, facing Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake. The Three Pagodas are visible from afar, but it took an hour and a half to reach them. We circled around to the west of Erhai Lake, and it was already past 1:00 PM when we arrived.

We bought our tickets at the scenic area entrance, then the electric car ticket. It was another hot and sunny day, and Dali has plenty of sunshine. It felt like even five minutes outside could give you a tan. After buying the electric car ticket, we were given a tour guide. We were Bai girls, and we called women "Jinhua" and men "Apengge." The guide was very thorough in his explanation, which is excellent for a free tour guide.

I learned about the history of the various temples and the Dali Kingdom, and saw that the Three Pagodas, a 5A scenic area, are the most historic. The other temples are relatively new and built later. The Three Pagodas have withstood centuries of wind and rain, and the weight of history still left a slight impression on me.

After visiting the Three Pagodas, there was a playground on a grassy area nearby where children could play and feed rabbits. I spent quite a while with my children, who were delighted. Perhaps feeding the rabbits was more interesting to them than seeing the Three Pagodas. We drove away from the Three Pagodas around 5:00 AM and then circled halfway around Erhai Lake to reach Shuanglang.

Shuanglang was really congested, starting even before we exited the highway. It took us over 40 minutes of stopping and starting to get to the parking lot. There were no spaces, so we gave our keys to the parking garage owner and followed the hotel staff to the Yuntianhai Inn in Shuanglang Ancient Town. It's small, with simple facilities, but the view is beautiful. You could literally jump down and see Erhai Lake. We rested for a while and then had dinner at a Bai ethnic minority restaurant in the ancient town.