Jade Dragon Snow Mountain ("Yulong Xue Shan")dominates Lijiang. The 13 peaks of the massif resemble jade pillars holding up the sky. The highest of these pillars is the 5,596m Shanzidon ("Fan Peak"). It is also billed as the snow-capped mountain nearest to the equator in the northern hemisphere. (There are a few mountains nearer to the equator such as Kilimanjaro but they are in the southern hemisphere).
There are three ways for tourist to go up the mountain, all by cable cars. One is by cable car up to near the top of the mountain at 4,506m. This will bring you to the glaciers, very much like Junfraujoch or Matterhorn Glacier Paradise in Switzerland. This is billed as the highest cable car in the world. The second cable car is up to the Yak Meadow, at 3,700m. The third way, the lowest altitude and cheapest is up to the Yunshanping ("Spruce Meadow") at 3,240m. Legend has it that Yunshanping is where young Naxi couples come to commit suicide when they are unable to get parental approval for their marriage. Since weather is not good, we chose to go up Yunshanping. Anyway it was cloudy and we didn't get to see anything.
The road between the main visitor center and Yunshanping cable car station also passes by the Baishui River (White Water River), which got the name from its unpolluted water, and the white riverbed and terraced terrain which are made up of marble and limestone. The series of terraced steps are unique but I am not too sure whether they are man-made or naturally form.
View Larger Map1. Yunshanping
2. White water river
No comments:
Post a Comment