Dali-Lijiang-Shangri-La Travel Record

Departing from Changsha, I bought a student ticket for the high-speed train 🥹 Also, off-season homestays are really cheap. In Dali and Lijiang, a room usually costs just over a hundred yuan, while in Shangri-La, at this price, there might be no oxygen supply or air conditioning, only an electric blanket (some have air conditioning). It was mostly cloudy in Dali for several days, so no sunrise was visible, and I only caught the tail end of a sunset. Day: Arrived near Shuanglang Ancient Town in Dali, checked into a homestay. Day: Mainly played around Haidong. It didn’t feel necessary to rent an electric bike here; the main attractions are Shuanglang Ancient Town and Nanzhao Style Island (this island alone is enough for great photos). My friend and I rented electric bikes, but Dali is cold in winter, and riding made me feel like I was about to catch a cold. Went to Wenbi Village, which felt average; maybe it could be photogenic with some post-processing? If you want to go to Lixiangbang, I can’t imagine how far you’d have to ride. [But renting electric bikes is so cheap, so it’s worth considering, hmm hmm hmm.] Day: Took the bus to Dali Ancient City, 15 yuan per person, very convenient. On the bus, you can see Erhai Lake and possibly pass by small villages (?). Then toured Dali Ancient City, took a three-wheeled vehicle to Caicun, and with friends wandered to Longkan Pier (you can rent electric bikes here, but after the cold ride the day before, we didn’t want to ride). From Caicun to Longkan Pier, you can’t ride rented electric bikes, only shared electric bikes (it seems) or bicycles on that road. If you’re not in a hurry and have enough energy, you can stroll. There’s a bonfire party at Dali Ancient City at night, but it seems to be an electronic bonfire, and only the innermost circle is fun. Outside, it wasn’t as interesting as when we met five or six guys who held hands and ran around the area shouting—it was fun. Day: Took a Didi station bus from Dali Ancient City to Lijiang Ancient City (both ancient cities are far from the high-speed train station)—actually, you could visit Dali Ancient City first and then Shuanglang Ancient Town because the station bus seems to go from Dali Ancient City to Shuanglang Ancient Town, but I’m not sure. I vaguely remember this as a passenger who slept on the bus. Wandered around Lijiang Ancient City and checked into a homestay. Day: Went to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. We joined a small group tour, apparently a 15-person business van (I forgot to check), costing 70 yuan per person. [If you don’t join a group, round-trip transportation costs at most 40 yuan, and you can buy three bottles of oxygen yourself. I don’t know how much is enough; I actually thought I’d need four bottles, but three bottles with a good rhythm were enough for me. Just bring a down jacket and buy instant noodles. I bought the oxygen from a small Tmall shop called Naqin; the guide told me to keep inhaling, but I felt that inhaling too frequently early on made me run out of oxygen in the Glacier Park, and I only prepared two bottles. I spent 20 yuan buying one bottle at the foot of the mountain because I really didn’t want to buy more on the mountain.] Booked the Glacier Park cable car ticket seven days in advance. I climbed slowly and took two hours to reach 4680 meters. Then went down to Blue Moon Valley (you can take a small path from Yak Meadow, no need to walk the entire way, there’s a route above), then took a sightseeing bus to the visitor center to eat, and returned to the homestay. Day: Took the station bus from Lijiang Ancient City to Dukezong Ancient Town. After arriving at Dukezong Ancient Town, I first wandered around before doing a travel photoshoot [a mistake—I should have done the photoshoot earlier; later when it got dark and the prayer wheels lit up, I didn’t like it much]. Super cheap: 138 yuan including makeup, outfit, 20 negatives, and 4 retouched photos. The rest is in the comments.