Lily Lee: Lijiang Shangrila

Saturday, June 13, 2026

Lijiang Shangrila

We went to buy the oxygen kit and the medicine for high altitude.

The golden packaging to be consumed now and blue packaging tonight. The green one for tomorrow. Very bitter.

Took a photo with our guide cum driver Ah Jia 阿甲

Awesome river at the tiger leap Gorge. Learned so much from the in-house guide who came with the escalator ride. He told us not to take pictures when we go down as the money will flow out. So we took pictures when we are going back to the top. The river is between the two holy mountains, Yilong Xue Shan of the Naxi in Lijiang and Haba snow mountain of the Tobetians. The tea traders used to wait till the river water is low in Nov then use a bridge to cross over for the tea trade route.

Luckily we paid extra for the escalator with the service of in-house guide. The walking from the bus bay to the escalator already tired us up.

Our first Tibetan meal yak meat hot pot with vegetables with rice. Don't think I like Tibetan food. The yak meat and soup tasted too much like mutton which I don't like. The rice with wild mushrooms too sticky though hubby love it a lot. Luckily we ordered fried cabbage with mushroom which is very nice.

Interesting stuff they soak in the wine.

Turned the prayer wheel 3 times for blessings. The climb up the flight of stairs was a challenge and not the turning of the wheel!

The snacks nuts and the milk toffee are so good. Could not resist the temptation to buy them.

Checked into our hotel in Shangri-La the 5th Meteorite Grace Hotel.

Chose this for the proximity to the ancient city. In fact it is in the city next to the north gate!

Very Tibetan deco with sitting area near the window.

Tusi Banquet, an immersive century old Tibetian cultural dining experience.

the food is not too bad though it hot pot again. Love the beef balls.

20RMB for the photo

The performance is good. Showing the costumes of the Tibetan and a short sword performance.

Our driver brought us back to the east gate where the prayer wheel is. We walked back to our hotel at the north gate from there. Lots of food available and we bought coffee, snacks and a fruit platter with honey dew, rock melon, pineapple and mango. The mango is so sweet. The rock melon is very crunchy.

The hotel prepared ginger tea

Day 8

Breakfast spread is really good. The quality is awesome as the youtiao tiao fried sweet potato bun is still crispy. Hubby loves the fried noodle . I love mine too, esp white porridge with nuts. The eggs cooked to perfection at the station. There is a station you can make the tibetan food which is paste like but I didnt try.

So glad I stayed in the Dukezong Ancient town as its so beautiful. Took a walk after breakfast and it is so beautiful with so many artistic craft work.

At Songzanlin Monastery (松赞林寺): A Spiritual Journey into Shangri-La's Heart, Shangrila. No photography inside the temples. Also known as little Potala. We took a bus to the main entrance and was able to get a car up to the top as i have no more energy to climb up the slope. Love the rock wall.