Thorn Tree travel forum

Sights near Lijiang - TLG and Yulong Snow Mountain

Hi all,

Thanks so much for all the helpful comments to my last post about Yunnan in general. I know many are saying that Lijiang is too touristy but because my friends and I are really keen on seeing the natural sights like TLG and Yulong Snow Mountain, I'm thinking of still using Lijiang as a base.

After sifting out the information from many travel websites and forums, I still have a few queries that I hope someone can help me with.

Let's say we have 2 full days at Lijiang and we'll probably want to spend at least a few hours in Lijiang Old Town and perhaps nearby sights like Black Dragon Pool, how would you recommend that we do the TLG, First Bend of Yangtze, Yulong Snow Mountain and Baishui River? (Any other sights that are within the vicinity that I missed out?)

I understand that these natural formations are all somewhat connected geographically speaking. But I'm still quite unsure about how far each is away from the other, and thus how can I split these places within 1.5 days? From what I read, people normally do the First Bend and TLG together as a day-trip, and the Snow Mountain with Baishui River on other day. Is this advisable to go back to Lijiang in between or should we stay at some inn nearby? (If so, any recommendations?)

We would like to hike for about 4-5 hours on the TLG. Can anyone recommend a suitable route? Also, I'd really like to see some nice waterfalls along the way.

Lastly (I promise!), can I check the current admission prices to TLG and the Snow Mountain? What I got off the net is 50 RMB for the former and 40 RMB for the latter, which I can't quite believe... The main cable car up the Snow Mountain is 160 RMB return, and to Yun San Ping is 120 RMB return, are these true?

Thanks a lot!