Anything with Jade and Dragon in China must be good in China....
So we have discovered the Yulongxue Shan... which means in direct translation Yu- Dragon, Long- Dragon, Xue- Snow and Shan- Mountain.
It is a short enjoyable 30 minutes ride from Lijiang city to the Yulongxue Shan Park.
I think that one can get so confused in Lijiang on how to get to places (if one is not travelling with a tour like I did) and also confused about how much ticket costs because there are so many types of them. So here i will also share on what i know.
Upon arrival in Lijiang, we were asked to pay 80RMB each person for Environmental Protection of Lijiang Fee. This ticket is white with green fonts. Remember that you have to KEEP this ticket all your stay in Lijiang- because if you don't pay it or if you lose it, you can't enter the Old City (gucheng) or you have to buy one again when you want to enter the Yulongxueshan.
This ticket also guarantees you a free entry to the Black Dragon Pool Park (just above the "old city"- gucheng).
Anyway, my family and I asked the hotel to arrange our transport which worked out to be quite reasonable at 35RMB per person return with a nice van and a free tour guide (whom without our request brought for us a light lunch of sandwiches and boiled eggs as well in case we were hungry!). There were taxis as well that offered to take us there for 150RMB return.
There are three options for trails: we chose A: which supposed to bring us the highest we can go, that is to 4680m (the height of the mountain is 5000m something) and no one has ever gone there. So the first part was to pay entrance fee which is 80RMB per person at the gate, when the car stopped, and then next when you get down at the locket, pay the cable car fee which was 150RMB return, plus 20RMB bus fee and 2RMB insurance if you should wish to pay. If you haven't got the 80RMB Environmental Protection Ticket, you have to buy one here.
Phew! What a mathematic confusion and a hole in the pocket! (The only consolation is that the park keeps the place real clean and protected so I feel good still)
Anyway after that, get into the internal bus service that brings you to the entrance of the cable car station. Not far maybe about 10 minutes ride up a hill. When you get down, it is already the cable car station, and just jump into one of them. The cable car ride is long! Imagine 3 km , up and slow.... my Dad who has height phobia dare not looked down!
The view is nice... the pine trees and the spring pink and purple flowers can be seen sprouting up and also the glacier covering the mountain top. However I should say that is quite sad that I think there is much less now than before due to the global-warming.
Once you get down from the cable car, all white!!! Snow! Glacier!
From here, there is a man-made wooden staircase that will take you to the 4680m level. Which is not far but because the air is so thin... is hard to go very fast and absolutely not recommended to go fast!
I was okay going up because i took a lot of breaks and synchronised my breathing at the different heights but when I went down, I took it a little fast and I suffered quite badly from it. the whole night of headache and neck pain... so actually I would recommend buying an oxygen tank 60ml at 60RMB and if you haven't got a jacket to keep you warm at zero degrees, you can rent them for 30RMB.
BUT please do not be discouraged from going up because the view is fantastic and moreover the sense of achievement that you feel- like on top of the world!
So we have discovered the Yulongxue Shan... which means in direct translation Yu- Dragon, Long- Dragon, Xue- Snow and Shan- Mountain.
It is a short enjoyable 30 minutes ride from Lijiang city to the Yulongxue Shan Park.
I think that one can get so confused in Lijiang on how to get to places (if one is not travelling with a tour like I did) and also confused about how much ticket costs because there are so many types of them. So here i will also share on what i know.
Upon arrival in Lijiang, we were asked to pay 80RMB each person for Environmental Protection of Lijiang Fee. This ticket is white with green fonts. Remember that you have to KEEP this ticket all your stay in Lijiang- because if you don't pay it or if you lose it, you can't enter the Old City (gucheng) or you have to buy one again when you want to enter the Yulongxueshan.
This ticket also guarantees you a free entry to the Black Dragon Pool Park (just above the "old city"- gucheng).
Anyway, my family and I asked the hotel to arrange our transport which worked out to be quite reasonable at 35RMB per person return with a nice van and a free tour guide (whom without our request brought for us a light lunch of sandwiches and boiled eggs as well in case we were hungry!). There were taxis as well that offered to take us there for 150RMB return.
There are three options for trails: we chose A: which supposed to bring us the highest we can go, that is to 4680m (the height of the mountain is 5000m something) and no one has ever gone there. So the first part was to pay entrance fee which is 80RMB per person at the gate, when the car stopped, and then next when you get down at the locket, pay the cable car fee which was 150RMB return, plus 20RMB bus fee and 2RMB insurance if you should wish to pay. If you haven't got the 80RMB Environmental Protection Ticket, you have to buy one here.
Phew! What a mathematic confusion and a hole in the pocket! (The only consolation is that the park keeps the place real clean and protected so I feel good still)
Anyway after that, get into the internal bus service that brings you to the entrance of the cable car station. Not far maybe about 10 minutes ride up a hill. When you get down, it is already the cable car station, and just jump into one of them. The cable car ride is long! Imagine 3 km , up and slow.... my Dad who has height phobia dare not looked down!
The view is nice... the pine trees and the spring pink and purple flowers can be seen sprouting up and also the glacier covering the mountain top. However I should say that is quite sad that I think there is much less now than before due to the global-warming.
Once you get down from the cable car, all white!!! Snow! Glacier!
From here, there is a man-made wooden staircase that will take you to the 4680m level. Which is not far but because the air is so thin... is hard to go very fast and absolutely not recommended to go fast!
I was okay going up because i took a lot of breaks and synchronised my breathing at the different heights but when I went down, I took it a little fast and I suffered quite badly from it. the whole night of headache and neck pain... so actually I would recommend buying an oxygen tank 60ml at 60RMB and if you haven't got a jacket to keep you warm at zero degrees, you can rent them for 30RMB.
BUT please do not be discouraged from going up because the view is fantastic and moreover the sense of achievement that you feel- like on top of the world!
1 comment:
The 80RMB Environmental Protection of Lijiang Fee is currently optional, but you do need it to view some other attractions or buy tickets to view these. You CAN go in and out of the old town without a ticket.
There is more info on Lijiang at www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/happysheep/shangri-la-la/tpod.html
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