Chose to fly from Chengdu to Lijiang, in the Yunnan province because an entire day on the bus didn’t sound appealing and the cost of flying was only marginally higher. When I looked out and saw nothing but mountains through that airplane window, I just about cried tears of joy! Nestled at the foot of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (the southern most glacier in the northern hemisphere, with a 13 different peaks), at an elevation of around 8,000 feet, the old town is still reasonably preserved, though a bit touristy with shop after shop of Tibetan wool garments, crafts, silver and costume jewelry. Home of the Naxi people, I stayed at a hostel run by this wonderful Naxi woman, who’s been nicknamed “Mama” because she takes such good care of all her guests. Every night at 6pm, she gathers everyone for a communal dinner and churns out dish after dish of fantastically delicious food. She doesn’t take no for an answer and insists that you finish every dish! It’s such a wonderful thing, wished more hostels did this! Did I mention that it’s dirt cheap, $2 US pp!!
After 2 days of wandering around the old city, acclimatizing to the altitude and eating myself silly with tons of delicious street food, including yak meat, I decided to get some exercise. Myself, ,along with 2 Aussies and a Brit trekked Tiger Leaping Gorge, a 28km trail over 2 days. We stayed at a guesthouse nestled into the mountainside at the end of the first day, which was primarily uphill. Brutal! The views were astounding and no camera will ever do them justice! Peak after peak, 13 in all, mostly covered in clouds; the elevation of the tallest peak was around 18,000 feet. The highest point of the trek was 9,000 feet. And below all this was the Yangtze river, surrounded by green valleys with small farms, clinging to the mountain sides. Next stop was Shangri-La, higher up at around 10,000 ft. I expected the mystical utopia that we’ve all heard about. The plan was to stay 3-4 days in paradise, unfortunately, great expectations lead to great disappointment! Where are the snow covered mountains and grass green valleys? Shangri-La was a very small old town with a few good cafes, surrounded by a much larger newer city. Bummer! Bailed out after a day and hopped the bus back to Lijiang, just in time for Mama’s dinner !
Susan S. Singh Art 
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