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.