Shuhe Old Town of Lijiang, Yunnan

  Pick you up from hotel, visit the exciting local morning vege market, walk around the old town through the back lanes to the main squares, we can even climb 100 steps higher to get an overal view of the town. Then walk 10 minutes from the northern entry to Black Dragon Pool, enjoy walking around the water pond, and take the best photo from Lijiang. About 1 hour there, then drive 10-15 minutes to Shuhe Old Town, where is also part of the world heritage, but with a sweet and romantic leisure in the air, young couples love spending honey moons and taking wedding photos in this beautiful country town. Then drive 10 minutes to Baisha. where used to be a popular cycling destination, now famous for their antiques and embroidery shools. Lunch in Baisha, as western food and local Chinese dishes are both available here.
  After lunch, we drive 30 minutes directly to Jade Dragon Snow Mt., where we can take green bus to visit the Blue Moon Valley, where the water from the mountain is naturally blue, really beautiful and nice to take a walk around. Also, there are 3 cable cars in the mountain. First one is called the Big Cable car, which takes you up to 4500 meters obove sea level, from where you could see glacier by the side, and cld see far around, if it's very sunny;if it's cloudy, it's cloudy and you can't see much at all. Many people go there, just to see how it feels on that hight. But if people have heart or breathing issue, i don't reccommand it. And since you travel early today, i don't reccomand you to do this actually.
  Second cable car is gentler, taking you to Spruce Meadow, which is 3300 meters above sea level, where you can walk through the spruce path, almost on flat path, really nice around the meadow, peaceful, fresh and natural. Can be a really nice break after Xi'an. Also from this point, there's very nice snow mountain peak view, if it's sunny.
  Third one is Yak Meadow, which is the furthest and least taken.  But it has got very nice forest along the cable car ride, and it takes you up to 3800 meters. When you arrive on the top, you can walk around a meadow for 10-70 minutes, where it's very quiet, away from modern noise, just some bells from the yaks on the grassland. Also when it's sunny, some peaks of the snow mt. will show up, very grand and beautiful. Only thing is if we do this cable car, it may take 5-6 hours for snow mountain trip, first and second cable car may take 3-4 hrs.
  Also when people com eup to Snow Mt., mostly people like to enjoy the amazing show called Impression Lijiang, made by the famous movie director called Zhangyimou. It is a very primitive and touching show, naturally set at the foot of the snow mt., outdoor, with the main peak as natural back ground; 400 actors and actresses are all selected among the mountain villagers who are gifted in dancing and singing. It is very premitive, no modern facilities, yet a very powerful soothing show,, lasts 70 minutes. You may not want to skip it. Common tickets at 190 rmb per person, VIP tickets at 260 rmb with the best seats, need to book before hand.