Yubeng sacred waterfall in the south side of kawagebo peak.  it is a pilgrim site : Tibetan consider taking a shower under the sacred waterfall as the practice of  purifying the mind .  they believe god of  Gawagebo took the holy water from the heaven, so the water is not only a blessing to people but also eliminating the disaster.   The closest vilalge near the waterfall  is Yubeng village.

How to get to there:

1) go from Xidan village to Yubeng, you can drive 1 hour from Feilaisi to Xidan village, then hike about 6hours to Upper yubeng village, you can stay over night at local guesthouse in the village.

2) Hike against  Yubeng river from Ninong village near Mekong river,  you need hike long distance uphill on this route.  Suggest taking route no.1 

Scenery in sacred waterfall varies in different seasons,  snow are melting between spring and summer(April to June),  waterfall is full of water, when waterdrop on the groud and splashing into the air.  travellers and pilgrims can see colorful rainbow around them while walking into the waterfall,    waterfall are less in autumn and winter as its dry season.  

Ice lake located on the foot of Meili snow mountain under the glacier, at the elevation of 3864m above sea level . its one of the best 3 trekking destinations near Yubeng village (best 3 trekking destinations near yubneg are Sacred waterfall, Ice lake and Sacred lake )

Its a 9 -10 hours trekking trip from Yubeng village, if you plan to do the trekking to Ice lake, you need to stay over night at Yubeng village at 2 nights.  

Here is a rough itinerary and elevation of the day trip : 

Upper Yubeng village （3228m）——Xiaonong basecamp（3600m）——Ice lake（3864m）

Warm tips: 

1) Bring some snickers and enough mineral water as its a full day trip,  food stop available near Xiaonong basecamp.

2) Better to hire a guide for the trip as its easy to get lost in the forest.  ( Solo tourists  reported get lost and fall to valleys from on top of cliff )

Mingyong glacier is one of the largest glacier under the peak of Kawagebo, Meili snow mountain , is  the highest mountain peak in Yunnan with a elevation of 6740m above sea level.   

the top of mountain is covered by snow and glacier in four season and  the glacier had  a very low latitude.   The lowest part of Minyong glacier is at 2660m above sea level,  The length of Minyong glacier is the 11.7km, it looks like a green dragon wandering in the vergin forest through the valley , which is largest glaciers in Yunnan and the second largest glaciers on Henduan mountain range (Hailuogou glaciers on Gonga mountain is the largest one on Henduan mountain range with a length of 13.6km)  

Mingyong glacier is a pilgrim site in Tibetan Buddhism as Meili mountain(6740m above sea level) is holy mountain for Tibetans around Yunnan, Sichuan and Tibet.    The highest peak of Meili mountain remains as a vergin land,   first exploration on Meili mountain  can be dated back to 1902, A mountain climbing team from Britain was trying to climb the peak but failed.  after that, 4 team of America, Japanese, China tried but all failed again.   a tragedy on mountain climbing history happened at night of  3rd of January, 1991,   17 Team members of China and Japan  United  mountaineering  team was buried by avanlanche on 5300m on Meili mountain , their bodies was not found untill July of 1998 under a huge glacier waterfalls.     Local govenment banned the mountain activities on Meili mountain after the tragedy. 

Now, the trekking near Mingyong glaciers is one of the most popular trekkings around Shangrila! 

Benzilan,   located at the foot of Baima snow mountain at the bank of Golden sand river (Jinsha river ). it was an important stop on the ancient tea horse road to Tibet  and Sichuan province ,  if you go norwest from you, you will reach Tibet.   If you go against the river to north direction , it leads you to Batang, and Derong in Sichuan Province.      if you go south-east from here, it leads you to Lijiang and Dali.  

Tibetan new year is not popular in Benzilan, Tibetan people here also celebrating chinese new year   , what make it different is that local Tibetan will drink barley wine and had Tibetan bonfire dancing in the chinese new year eve!

Different cultures mixed up at Benzilan because of the cultural and economic exchanges,  local people believe Buddhism, dongba religion and worship nature!

Benzilan is hometown of Tibetan wooden handicrafts,  famous for well decorated Zanba box, a Wooden container for storing highland barley powder.

Famous scenery including Baima snow mountain, big bend of Yangtze river and Dongzhulin monastery.  

Baoshan stone village is 110km north-west of Lijiang city,  behind of Jade dragon mountain scenic area.

Located on a huge rock near Yangtze river,   with 3 direction on the steep cliff , only had 2 entry stone gate in westside and east side.

The Naxi ancestors migrated to here in the 5th and 6th century and settled down on the huge rock, they worked very hard  to make terraced land near stone village, the farm production here are mainly crops,   beans and wheat and rice.    

In 1253th,  Mogolian military under the leadership of Kublaikhan crossed the Yangtze river nearby and had their military base in the stone village. 

Naxi people make good use of the landfrom and building the village like a slop on the rock, when you walk into the family, you can still see many old stone oven, stone beds and stone water container.  Autumn is a good season to visit stone village as you can see golden coloer crops and blue Color Yangtze river in the far distance .

WenChang palace in Lijiang was built in 1723AD in Qing dynasty,   it is a Daoism temple but also a mixture of  Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism . 

It is the largest Temple park in Lijiang old town.      Important ceremonies are hosted by local officials in ancient time on the 3rd of February in the lunar calendar.     celebrities, scholars, students will take part in the ceremonies to worship the god of Wisdom,  Sacrifices are offered in the temple,  praying for rain and good harvest,  Good fortunes for Students in the exams and good fortune for wealth.

You can see some old photo of Joseph Rock's advantures around Yunnan and Tibet in 1930th in the exbition room.   there is a old town viewing point outside of the Temple,  you can enjoy a bird eye view of Lijiang old town and roofs from there.

Laobangzhan village is also call banzhang laozhai (班章老寨) ，where is famous for The Pu'er tea brand- "Laobanzhang" , It is  100km from Jinghong city, 60km from Menghai county. 

The land of Laobanzhang belongs to Bulang people Since 300AD,  The vilage was established  by Hani people in 1476AD, The ancestor of Hani people- Aini people migrated here, The oborigines- The Bulan people gave the land and the forst area near LaoBanzhang village and land  to Hani people.  TO express the the gratitude to Bulang people, Hani people give riceseeds and stocksto Bulang people annually since the begining till 1990th. 

The tea in Laobanzhang is the best among Pu'er tea,  Kown as "The king of Puer tea"!   Puer tea and wine are similar,  tea produced in different mountain has different flavour,  Puer tea from Laobanzhang village has unique characteristics :  very good eco-system & very old Puer tea trees made the tea smeels with aroma of Orchid and honey.