Lijiang · Shangri-La
Ancient towns, snow mountains and Tibetan culture — Lijiang, Dali and Shangri-La.
A highland pearl on the Sichuan–Yunnan border — pig-trough boats, Lige Peninsula and the Walking Marriage Bridge, with dreamy lake scenery. It is far from Lijiang, so give it its own day.
The sacred Naxi snow mountain — the big cable car climbs to the 4,680 m glacier platform. Cable-car tickets must be booked in advance; bring oxygen and warm layers, and do not miss Blue Moon Valley below.
A laid-back old town with Renmin Road and Foreigner Street at its heart — free to enter, and at its most atmospheric after dark.
How to sequence Kunming, Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La in five to seven days, which legs are worth a train and which need a car, and where to add a night rather than rush.
Kunming sits at 1,890 metres and Shangri-La at 3,300, with the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain cable car reaching 4,506. How to acclimatise gradually, what the symptoms mean, and when to descend.
Tell us your dates and preferences — we'll craft a trip that doesn't feel rushed.
