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Drive from Shangri-la to Daocheng

Tuesday, September 28th, 2021

Last night we wandered Shangri-la’s old town – Dukezong (独克宗), having an authentic glimpse into the cobbled lanes and looking for a place to grab our dinner. The old lanes were flanked by two-storey wooden buildings used as restaurants, shops, cafes and hostels. We felt a bit disappointed that many of the buildings and lanes were still under reconstruction due to the fire that broke out on January of 2014, lasting over ten hours and destroying most of the town.

We saw original wood used to rebuild the houses in the old town instead of concrete, keeping the old lanes and houses in an old-fashioned way. It was still a laid back, peaceful town, but we sensed that something had disappeared from the over-thirteen-hundred–years-old-town and the old town’s spirit and charisma would never come back.

We tried to forget the fire, not to be distracted by the new wooden structures and construction sites here and there. Fortunately there were still some houses that had survived the fire, making you feel time had stood still here, at least momentarily. There were not many tourists milling in the old town, partly due to the devastating fire and partly the tourist shoulder season.

Some hostels, shops and restaurants, for various reasons, were closed with no lights on, making the nearby lanes very dim and lifeless. We kept on walking on the cobble-paved lanes, trying to find a place for a sit-down dinner. Before we lost our patience, on our right side we saw a restaurant brightly lit and most importantly it was packed with dinners inside.

Without hesitation, we entered the Tibetan-style restaurant and it was a yak hot-pot restaurant, clean, warm and cozy. Luckily there was a small table available for three of us and a man came up to us, waving us to sit down. Later we knew that the man was the owner of the restaurant. He was tall and thin, talkative with a sense of humor. After he bragged about his hot-pot, we ordered a medium-sized yak meat hot-pot, and a big barley cake as our staple food.

Before the hot-pot was ready, I stood up and walked around the restaurant. It was a fascinating restaurant with some of wall areas and pillars posted with small pieces of paper by diners who had written down their hopes, work, love and futures for life.

The diners inside the house were all travelers who had came far away from their home towns like us, drinking like fish and talking loudly. It was raucous, but a feel like home. It was a wonderful experience leaving your residential place and traveling around the world periodically.

The yak hot-pot was a bonus. The yak meat was soft, delicious and a little spicy; the soup was rich, and very flavourful; the barley cake was tender and fluffy, very tasteful. We discussed the travel plan for the next day – drive from Shangri-la to Daocheng over the hot-pot.

The yak hot pot Dukezong — The yak hot pot was a bonus

Today we will start our last leg of our loop trip which has a total length of 1272 km from Daocheng and back to Daocheng: October 11, Daocheng to Litang ( 148 km 理塘) ; Litang to Batang ( 177 km 巴塘), to Zhubalong (35 km 竹巴笼), to Mangkang in Tibet (75 km 芒康), to Feilaisi at Deqin (216 km 德钦飞来寺); October 12, Feilaisi (Deqin ) to Shangri-la (200 km ).

So today, 14 October, 2015, we will return to Daocheng ( 421 km 稻城) via Xiangcheng (乡城). While we talked about the drive from Shangri-la to Daocheng over the dinner last night, we overheard the people at our next table and learned that some of them had just came from Daocheng to Shangri-la. Mr. Chen started up a small talk with them and got some practical information on the drive route and road conditions involved. It would be a very tough journey with some bad road conditions and possible landslides.

We leave our lodging hotel in Shangri-la around 8:30am, and drive up the National Highway G214 north. We are supposed to drive across Jinsha River, getting to Xiangcheng (乡城县), and Sangdui Town (桑堆镇), finally Daocheng (稻城县), totally 421 km.

At Fulongqiao Town (伏龙桥镇), we branch off the National Highway G214, crossing the bridge over Jinshan River and entering the Derong County in Sichuan Province. It is a county-level mountain road, dusty, bumpy, potholes and narrow with deteriorated road surface. We pass by one section of the road under reconstruction with pickup trucks, a mobile crane and workers busy working on the road.

Half hour later, the vehicles ahead of us aren’t moving, and we come to a halt. Soon a word comes that there is a big landslide ahead not far from us. It seems the possibility of reopening the road is very slim. After discussing with the drivers from other vehicles, we decide to have an alternative road – Shangri-la – Derong – Xiangcheng – Sangdui – Daocheng which is one third longer than the original road.

It is really a workout to drive over the narrow, steep, zigzag mountain road at the sea level of 2000m – 3000m. Road conditions in some areas are fairly good – asphalt road; some are not good, or very bad – just dirty roads especially at a higher sea level. When we arrive at Daocheng, it is almost 10:00pm! That means we drive on the mountain road in some areas just in almost complete dark.

Shangri-la - Daocheng road — Drive from Shangri-la to Daocheng

It is also a rewarding drive trip. En route, we take in the spectacular views through the side windows while driving – deep valleys, alpine meadows, snow mountains, fall foliage and dense forests. Some of the pictures below shot with my iPhone camera staying inside our vehicle.

Daocheng — Alpine meadow, snow mountain and coniferous forests.

Xiangcheng — A wide and open valley dotted with white Tibetan houses

Barley Fields with barley racks and straw stacks

Any questions on the drive from Shangri-la to Daocheng, just drop a line.

Add-on

Drive from Hanzhong to Ya’an
Ya’an Night View
Most Beautiful Sky Road in China
Moxi Old Town ( Tips, Photos & Map)
Hailuogou Glacier Camp No.04 (Tips,Photos & Map)
Hailuogou Glacier Camp No.03 (Tips, Photos & Map)
Kangding (Tips, Photos & Map)
Drive from Kangding to Xinduqiao
Drive from Xinduqiao to Danba
Jiarong Tibetan Blockhouses
Jiarong Tibetan Ancient Watchtowers
Drive from Xinduqiao to Yajiang
Drive from Yajiang to Litang
Drive from Litang to Daocheng
Drive from Litang to Batang
Drive from Batang to Mangkang
Drive from Mangkang to Deqin
Kawagarbo Viewed from Feilaisi
Drive from Deqin to Shangri-la (Zhongdian)
Ganden Sumtseling Monastery Dwells Your Soul
Pudacuo is an earthly paradise
Drive from Shangri-la to Daocheng
Drive from Daocheng to Yading
Yading Brings You Inner Peace

Hassle-free Chengdu & Sichuan Guided Tours

If you don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route and prefer the hassle-free escorted tours, here are some options for Chengdu and Sichuan guided tours:

Chengdu tour
Chengdu Car Rental with Driver
Create My Chengdu Trip
Jiuzhaigou Tour
Sichuan Tour

Further Readings

Top 10 Attractions in Chengdu
Best Time to Visit Chengdu
Chengdu Airport
Railway stations in Chengdu
Chengdu Taxi
How to visit Wuhou Shrine
How to visit Du Fu Thatched Cottage
How to visit Jinsha Site Museum
How to Visit Tomb of Wangjian
How to Visit Wangjiang Tower Park
How to Visit Qingyang Taoist Temple
How to Visit Jinli Street
How to visit Kuan Alley and Zhai Alley
How to visit Qintai Road, Qintai Street Chengdu
How to visit Shaoling Road Bar Street
How to Visit Jiuyanqiao Bar Street
The Old Teahouse in Pengzhen Town, Chengdu

Bipenggou is a fairyland in Autumn
When is the best time to visit Jiuzhaigou?
Best Places to Visit Autumn Leaves in Sichuan
Top 10 Places to Visit in Sichuan
Ruoergai Grassland, my first trip to Ruoergai Grassland

Tags: How to get from Shangri-la to Daocheng, Self-drive from Shangri-la to Daocheng
Posted in Daocheng, Shangri-la, Xiangcheng, Yunnan Travel | No Comments »

Pudacuo is an earthly paradise

Tuesday, September 28th, 2021

Pudacuo ( or Potatso 普达措 ), officially known as Pudacuo National Park, is a surreal unpolluted Tibetan tableland with beautiful woodlands and forests, limpid lakes, lush meadows, and grazing yaks, gnus and all its thriving plants and vegetation and living beings against the backdrop of majestic peaks. It is a soul-recharging place with the great enjoyment of its serenity.

Pudacuo National Park lies about 22 km in the east of the downtown Shangri-la City, Yunnan Province. Shangri-la City is formerly known as Zhongdian which was renamed in 2001 as “Shangri-la” aimed at attracting more tourists, grabbing the tourists visiting its neighbour – Lijiang.

Shangri-la is a mythical Himalayan utopia, a permanently happy land described by James Hilton in his novel Lost Horizon. He probably based his writing on the articles published by National Geographic’s first resident explorer Joseph Rock, who visited Yunnan in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

The Utopia Shangri-la is coherent with Tibetans’ concept of Shambhala that describes a realm of harmony between man and nature that is also linked to the Kalachakra (“wheel of time”时轮).

Pudacuo is an earthly paradise that has been preserved and protected by the local Tibetans generations by generations. It is a crystallization of the harmony between man and nature, a small piece of Shangri-la or Shambhala (香巴拉).

So, the temptation to see Pudacuo is great! Follow us to have a glimpse of the pure land.

Around 9:00 am, 13 October, we get to the tourist service center of Pudacuo National Park, about 22 km in the east of the downtown Shangri-la. Mrs. Chen Ya, in our 3-people team, is formally assigned the job that mainly includes entrance tickets purchasing as well as the searching of the local travel information online or offline.

Not a tourist high season, soon she comes back with three tickets by the side of our white horse in the parking lot. I take a picture of the ticket using my iPhone camera. Wow, it is not cheap: entrance fee 138 yuan + shuttle bus fee 120 yuan (Note: The half of the ticket can be used as a post card ).

Pudacuo National Park Entrance Fee — Entrance fee 138 yuan + shuttle bus fee 120 yuan

We enter the tourist service center and line up in front of the entry gate, waiting in turn for swiping the tickets and getting on a shuttle bus parking by the gate. There are still many tourists – some are individual tourists like us and there are more tourists traveling in groups with their tour guides holding guide flags, making the entrance area a bit crowded. The shuttle buses are operated based on free seating, filled up and go.

The Pudacuo National Park mainly comprises three parts – Shudu Lake (属都湖), Militang Alpine Pasture (弥里塘) and Bita Lake (碧塔海). The eco shuttle buses are scheduled to take us to these three places. At Militang Alpine Pasture, people are only given 10 minutes for picture taking and viewing the grandeur grassland while bused on route from Shudu Lake to Bita Lake.

So you will spend most of your half day trip to Pudacuo on the two scenic spots – Shudu Lake and Bita Lake. It is a 13 km shuttle bus drive from the tourist service center to Shudu Lake.

At Shudu Lake, you can either walk on board walks around the lake ( 3.3 km walk ) or you may take a boat cruising on the lake (50 yuan); same with Bita Lake, you can either stroll on well maintained timber walkway around Bita Lake ( 4.4 km ) or take a boat (50 yuan) if you don’t have strong legs or you just want to cruise on the lake. We choose to walk on the both occasions, a total 7.7 km walk.

Pudacuo Shuttle Bus — It is a 13 km shuttle bus ride from the tourist service center to Shudu Lake

The 13 km bus ride is not dull at all. It is an exciting warm-up exercise before we are bused to Shudu Lake. Lush meadows, grazing yaks, clear streams and undulating hills flash past, unphotographable though I have taken out my camera for several times, trying to catch the roadside scenery.

Scenic Walk around Shudu Lake 属都湖
Soon a full busload of us arrives at the first stop known as Shudu Lake. “Shudu” literally means “cheese as sturdy as a stone” in Tibetan. It is a tectonic lake (构造湖) of geological fault (地质断层) with a high evelation of 3959 meters. Shudu Lake covers an area of 120 hectares with an average depth of 20 meters.

The overall ecological system of Shudu Lake comprises plateau lakes, swamped meadows, primitive dark coniferous forests with varied rare animals and plants resources. Autumn is the best time to view the lake scenery with inverted reflection in water and motley-colors. Walking a few steps and we see a well-maintained boardwalk winding above the swamped lake, easy for walk and good for the environmental protection of the lake.

Shudu lake boardwalk — A well-maintained boardwalk winds above the swamped lake

Late September and October, the whole lake is hemmed in by a palette of mixed colors like a fairyland on earth. It is the best time to view the multi-colored fall foliage on the surrounding forests with stunning inverted reflections in water.

Shudu Lake has great inverted reflections in water, a scene for soul-recharging moments. Every step allows you to have a different angle of enjoying the stunning inverted reflections. Just watch your step while enjoying the views or taking photos.

It is a mirage and very often it is difficult to tell the white clouds and the mountains upside down reflected in water. This is the primitive beauty of our nature, pure and unpolluted. Human beings should not be just content with a full stomach, we need clean and fresh air, and unpolluted environment.

Shudu Lake Inverted Reflection — It is a mirage!

Soon we face two choices – walking further along the wooden walkway or taking a boat cruising on the lake. We definitely choose to stroll on the plank road around the lake, a scenic 3.3 km walk. The Shudu Lake boating costs you 50 yuan.

People are on the north edge of Shudu Lake standing on the suspended timber walk, turning left for the dock for lake cruising and right for the board walk along the lake. The high wooden walkway provides a good vantage of have a panoramic view of the lake and its surrounding meadows, trees and hills.

North of Shudu Lake — Wooden walkway provides a good vangtage

Shudu Lake is dotted with swamped yellow meadows given this time of the year. The golden-colored meadows look like large connected thick mattress and cushions, soft and warm.

We are walking on the wooden walkway with our eyes busy in catching views and sights Shudu Lake has to offer. It is an amazing experience walking in the primitive forests by the lake.

Shudu Lake walk — Amazing experience walking in the primitive forests by the lake

The water edge provides spectacular views – fall foliage and inverted reflections in water. My long-range camera does a very good job making copious pictures of these soul-refreshing moments.

Shudu Lake Fall Foliage — Fall foliage and inverted reflections in water

The water on the edge is dabbled with golden colors by the yellow coniferous forests in autumn. People enjoying the view also become part of it.

Beautiful Shudu Lake — The water on the edge is dabbled with golden colors

Fiery leaves with Spanish moss draped on the branches are a common sight here around the lake. It is said that only in unpolluted areas can such mosses like Spanish moss grow.

Shudu Lake Spanish moss — Fiery Leaves with Spanish moss draped on the branches

Motley-colored alpine trees, white Spanish moss, swamped meadows and the water edge dabbled with mixed colors like a palette, or an oil painting.

On the other side of the river bank is an expansive pasture dotted with Tibetan summer houses. The local Tibetans are grazing their yaks, sheep and horses, a bucolic and picturesque view!

Tibetans are grazing their yaks, sheep and horses

It is said that if you come here in May and June, you will be flooded with the sea of Rhododendrons blooming with bluish violet, yellow and pink colors. They grow around Shudu Lake and Bita Lake as well. Nothing is perfect and we have to enjoy the autumn hues while leaving the amazing Rhododendrons in our minds. Maybe we’ll return here someday in May or June.

The Shudu Lake scenic walk takes about 2 hours. We feel time is flying quickly especially if you are indulged in doing something. At the end of the 3.3 km Shudu Lake boardwalk is a simple service stop where we are supposed to wait for the eco shuttle bus going to the next sight – Militang Alpine Pasture.

Before going to the next stop, we sit down for lunch on the bench in a corridor of the service building. The service stop offers little choice of food. Fortunately, we have bought something to eat the night before, a good job done by Mrs. Chen Ya. Simply fed and then a short break, we go to the shuttle bus stop waiting in line for the next bus ride to Militang Alpine Pasture.

A Glimpse of Militang Alpine Pasture 弥里塘
Soon we are on a green shuttle bus bringing us to the next stop known as Militang Alpine Pasture. Militang literally means “a long and slim eye-like meadow” which resembles a narrow eye of Buddha. Militang is located midway between Shudu Lake and Bita Lake, 4500 meters long from north to south, and 500 meters wide from east to west with an evelation of 3700 meters.

Miltang has varied landscapes – lush pasture, swamped meadows, meandering brooks. When spring and summer come ( May – September ), Militang looks like a huge green piece of smooth silk dotted with grazing yaks and sheep like pearls falling from the sky. The pasture is peppered with colourful wildflowers from May through September, an amazing spectacle in Pudacuo National Park.

In 15 minutes, we arrive at the viewing platform high above the pasture. Here we are only allowed to stay up to 10 minutes to take a few pictures and a glimpse of the expansive meadow below. We get off the bus, walk onto the viewing platform and quickly scan the legendary grassland below – Grazing yaks and horses, green and yellow mixed pasture surrounded by dark coniferous forests.

Militang Alpine Pasture — Grazing yaks and horses, green and yellow mixed pasture

Walk around Bita Lake 碧塔海
We are bused to the last stop known as Bita Lake. “Bita” literally means “tufted oak tree leaves” (栎叶成毡). Bita Lake is well known for its ancient evergreen broad-leaves forests. Some of the oak trees (Quercus) along the plank road around Bita Lake boast over hundreds of years with average height over 20 meters. The Bita Lake timber walk is oft-lauded as “Corridor of Oak Trees”.

Again you have two choices 0f either walking around Bita Lake a (4.4km) or paying 50 yuan for a boat ride on the lake. We choose to walk on the plank road skirting the lake. The flora and fauna here are slightly different from those around Shudu Lake.

Some visitors choose to cruise across the lake over enjoying the surrounding views. Boat ride per person costs 50 yuan.

Bita Lake Cruising — Some visitors choose to cruise across the lake

The Bita Lake wetland is listed as Ramsar Wetland (拉姆萨尔湿地) of international importance. There are three ecological systems on earth – wetlands, lands and seas. Wetlands are known as kidneys of the earth.

Walking on the plank road meandering the ancient forests by the lake, you are often welcomed by hospitable squirrels jumping in front of you requesting for food, spoiled? They are not afraid of visitors at all.

Even ultramarine flycatchers or the white-browed blue flycatchers (白眉蓝姬鹟) will fly to a trash bin looking for food showing little fear if someone is passing by.

You will also see a kind of small and active bird known as northern Lapwing ( Vanellus vanellus 凤头麦鸡). Of course, Pudacuo is most famous for its black-necked cranes, but today we see none of them.

Ancient forests and golden meadows dotted with grazing horses, tranquil and serene, the harmony of nature.

Bita Lake Meadow — Ancient forests and golden meadows dotted with grazing horses

At 3:00 pm we find ourselves at the end of the Bita Lake plank road close to the north gate where our vehicle is parked. So the visit to Pudacuo National Park takes us 6 hours. Before we leave the park, we turn around and again have a look at the magical lake.

Any questions on Pudacuo National Park or how to get to Pudacuo Park by public bus, just drop a line.

Add-on

Hassle-free Chengdu & Sichuan Guided Tours

If you don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route and prefer the hassle-free escorted tours, here are some options for Chengdu and Sichuan guided tours:

Chengdu tour
Chengdu Car Rental with Driver
Create My Chengdu Trip
Jiuzhaigou Tour
Sichuan Tour

Further Readings

Tags: How to Visit Pudacuo, How to Visit Pudacuo National Partk, How to Visit Shangri-la, How to Visit Zhongdian, Paradise on earth, Shambhala on earth, Shangri-la on earth
Posted in Shangri-La Travel | No Comments »

Drive from Deqin to Shangri-la (Zhongdian)

Tuesday, September 28th, 2021

Walking down the rugged hill, tired, but we feel exhilarated with our lucky encounter with Kawagebo Peak. Back to our lodging hotel in Feilaisi around 11:15 am, 12 October,2015, we check out and upload our large pieces of luggage, handbags, tripods up to our Toyota Highlander SUV, ready to go to Shangri-la ( formerly Zhongdian ) along the National Highway G214 (Yunnan-Tibet Highway).

Feilaisi Hotel — We are ready to leave our lodging hotel in Feilaisi

Feilaisi is a temple-turned “town”, dusty and scruffy with a few unpaved lanes swarm with inn and hotels cascading the hillside. Mrs Chen Ya proposes that we should visit Feilai Temple before we start our road trip along G214 to Shangri-la ( formerly Zhongdian ).

Mr.Chen drives his white horse down to the only paved main road and stops by the roadside above the temple.

The monastery is perched on the flat land by the hillside down below the main road facing Kawagebo Peak.

feilaisi — Feilai Temple perched on the hillside facing Kawagebo Peak

We walk down the stone steps and soon see Feilai Temple just vividly standing in front of us. Originally built in 1614, the monastery is now devoted to the flying Buddha – Juewu Nanka Tashi and Kawagebo Peak.

Inside the temple, there is a monument titled “Sino-Japanese Joint Expedition Martyrdom” to remember the 17 warriors who were killed in the accident of avalanche on 04 Jan, 1991.

Flying temple — The temple is devoted to the flying Buddha – Juewu Nanka Tashi and Kawagebo Peak

We don’t go inside the temple, just have a look at its exterior and pray siliently in hearts and minds. Retracing the steps up to the roadside where our vehicle is parking, we get on the vehicle and Mr. Chen starts the engine and slowly drives through the two-horse town.

Very soon we find our white horse running fast down south for our destination today – Shangri-la ( formerly Zhongdian ) along the National Highway G214.

Drive from Deqen to Shangri-la ( Zhongdian ) — Drive from Deqin to Shangri-la ( Zhongdian )

The G214 (Yunnan-Tibet Highway ) from Deqin to Shangri-la is de facto a sightseeing avenue, which cuts through the intoxicating Baimang Snow Mountain ( also known as Baima Snow Mountain 白马雪山 ). Lying in the mid-section of Hengduan Mountain, Baima Snow Mountain runs from north to south with 20 peaks over 5000 meters and its highest peak at 5430 meters.

With a relative height of over 3000 meters, Baima Snow Mountai has varied landscapes and rich flora and fauna. Over 10 species of plants under State Protection such as Circaeasteraceae (星叶草) and Pseudotsuga forrestii (澜沧黄杉) ; Over 30 species of animals under state protction include Dian Golden Moneys, Clouded Leopard and Red Panda. In 1988, Baima Snow Mountain National Nature Reserve was set up.

The G214 Highway runs almost parallel along the permanent snow-capped Baima Snow Mountain for about 100 km and ends at Benzilan Town (奔子栏镇). Located almost midway between Deqin and Shangri-la, Benzilan Town breaks the road trip up nicely where most travelers would stop for lunch and relaxation. The undulating snow line resembles a galloping horse, hence Baima Snow Mountain ( literally White Hore Snow Mountain ).

Autumn garnishes Baima Snow Mountain with a palette of colors on its relatively low elevation areas – red, yellow and green and as if you were immersed in multi-colored fairyland. Just imagine you are driving along a galloping white snow horse and a long fluttering palette!

Now follow us to drive through the magical and stupendous National Highway G214 from Deqin to Shangri-la!

Wow the autumn sky is so blue and high! Under the canopy of the clear autumn sky, we feel we are driving to the edge of the world, touching the white clouds and flying in the heaven.

The National Highway G214 — We feel we are driving to the edge of the world.

The Highway G214 quietly snakes around the forested mountain slopes with colorful autumn hues and a backdrop of the undulating Baima Snow Mountain.

Yunan Tibet Highway — The Highway G214 quietly snakes around the forested mountain slopes

Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve is characteristic of the spatial structure of alpine trees with spectacular horizontal distribution patterns. Subalpine coniferous forests are distributed at the altitude of 2300 – 3000m meters.

Autumn has turned the forests into a sea of colors, a token of the warm hospitality of the high mountains.

We stop for several times on the way to view the multi-colored alpine trees as if the sky had accidentally kicked a huge bucket of paint into the forests.

Baima Snow Mountain Autumn Hues — The multi-colored alpine trees

The 20 snow peaks on Baima Snow Mountain Range escort us through the journey like a galloping horse in relay. We don’t know how many times we stop our vehicle to get a glimpse of the massive and sublime snow peaks.

Baimang Snow Mountain — The massive and sublime snow peak

I use my long-range camera to zoom in the distant summit of the high snow peaks over 5000-meter altitude, scree above the treeline, a sublime scene of rocky, barren and snowcapped mountain peaks.

Baima Snow Peak — A sublime scene of rocky, barren and snowcapped mountain peaks.

Baima Snow Mountain is characteristic of the spatial structure of alpine trees with spectacular horizontal distribution patterns – Subalpine fir, conifers and broadleaves, alpine coniferous forests, meadows, treeline and scree.

Baima Mountain — Baima Snow Mountain is characteristic of the spatial structure of Plants

Around 4:00 pm, we drive through Benzilan Town lying on the west bank of Jinsha River, a border dividing line river with the east side of the river being Derong County in Sichuan. The town looks very basic and not different from the small Chinese towns. Many travelers would stop at Benzilan Town, a rest stop for lunch and relaxation. We don’t stop at the town for lunch since we eat some snacks we have bought in advance to save the time on route.

But seeing the valley of Jinsha River, bleak, imposing, amazing natural grandeur, Mrs Chen Ya requests her husband to stop for a while to enjoy the panorama of Jinsha River, a major headwater of the Yangtze River.

Not far further down south, we spot a hamlet on the flat high land circled by the high mountains with a spectacular view. It should be a small Tibetan village.

a hamlet on the G214 — A hamlet on the flat high land circled by the high mountains

The drive from Benzilan Town towards Shangri-la is a bit monotonous with Baima Snow Mountain leaving us. The mountains flanking the National Highway looks rocky and bleak. But this doesn’t last long.

While Mr. Chen is steadily driving his white horse, I see through the windshield using my long-rang camera, a sublime view of a glistering lake surrounded by the grassland. Mr. says this is Napa Lake Nature Reserve (纳帕海自然保护区), about 8 km northwest of Shangri-la city center.

Napa Lake Nature Reserve (纳帕海自然保护区), about 8 km northwest of Shangri-la city center.

Napa Lake Natural Reserve is the sort of wetland reserve, a tableland seasonal marsh lake. It has the largest grassland in Shangri-la. It is most well-known for its black-necked cranes coming here for winter.

It is a bucolic view – golden barley haystacks hanging on the drying racks with the expansive grassland and the lake.

Barley drying racks — Golden haystacks hanging on the drying racks with the expansive marsh grassland.

Through my side window, I spot some Tibetan farmers plowing a field using manual trucks with horses and sheeps grazing by the side of golden barley drying racks.

Before we enter the city of Shangri-la, we stop for a while at the viewing platform of Napa Lake on the roadside of the National Highway G214. The sun is setting with reddish reflection on the marsh lake.

Now back to our vehicle and we are ready to enter the city of Shangri-la, formerly known as Zhongdian. The name change is largely due to the local government’s desire to attract more mass tourists in the same manner of its nearby city of Lijiang. Shangri-la is a fictional land described in his novel Lost Horizon by James Hilton in 1933.

Under the sun glow, we slowly drive into the legendary city now officially named Shangri-la, a paradise on earth.

Any questions on the drive from Deqin to Shangri-la ( formerly Zhongdian), just drop a line.

Add-on

Hassle-free Chengdu & Sichuan Guided Tours

If you don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route and prefer the hassle-free escorted tours, here are some options for Chengdu and Sichuan guided tours:

Chengdu tour
Chengdu Car Rental with Driver
Create My Chengdu Trip
Jiuzhaigou Tour
Sichuan Tour

Archive for the ‘Yunnan Travel’ Category

Drive from Shangri-la to Daocheng

Add-on

Hassle-free Chengdu & Sichuan Guided Tours

Further Readings

Pudacuo is an earthly paradise

Add-on

Hassle-free Chengdu & Sichuan Guided Tours

Further Readings

Drive from Deqin to Shangri-la (Zhongdian)

Add-on

Hassle-free Chengdu & Sichuan Guided Tours

Further Readings

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