Shangri-La "the Eden in Dream" - Journal Day 4 of 8 - Lijiang, First Bend of Yangtze River, Stone Drum town, Tiger Leaping Gorge, Shangri-la

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Since it first appeared in British novelist James Hilton's Lost Horizon in the 1939, it has been associated with a mystique place which could not possibly exist here on Earth. In Tibetan, Shangri-La means the "sun and moon in heart", an ideal home only found in heaven.

We departed from Lijiang at 08:00 in the morning by renting a car with driver to Shangrila, and we booked her for 2 days trip at Shangri-La from Lijiang (yes...the driver is a lady, and she was super nice!! I would recommend her to anyone). 

It's about 175 kilometers (108.74 miles) from Lijiang to Shangri-La. At an average altitude of more than 3,000 meters (about 9,843 feet), this city is quite difficult to be reached. There are no railways leading there at this moment, the only transportation is by car or taking long distance bus.

On the way, our driver offered us to buy some apple which we saw some people selling on the side road, we stopped and the seller took us to his farm house to choose from there and we experience the most fresh apples that we ever taste, it was so juicy and sweet without any additional chemical which we can found at supermarket at the big cities.

The First Bend of the Yangtze River & Stone Drum town

After 1 and half hour drive from Lijiang, we stopped for a while at the photo spot of the first bend of Yangtze river, it is just next to the main road. Yangtze River, considers the mother river of China, flows majestically through the center of China and is the third longest river in the world.

We continue exploring the village near by from this first bend of Yangtze river, Stone Drum town, which is only few minutes away from the photo spot. Stone Drum Town is beside the First Bend of the Yangtze River. The reason for the name of the town is that there is a white marble monument in the shape of a drum in the town.

There is a famous iron chain bridge called Tiehong Bridge, it resembles the shape of a rainbow arching over the waves below, spanning across the river that flows along from the left side of Stone Drum Town. 

The iron chain bridge was built during the Qing Dynasty with wooden boards held onto the iron chains on the bottom as the flooring and on the both sides as fence to protect the walkers. 17 meters in length, people would be feeling a bit wiggling while on it, but it does send them back to the snapshots of history.

Stone Drum town was a significant and vitally strategic military area where many famous historical events have been taken place. It was here that Zhuge Liang, the famous and highly military strategist of the Three Kingdoms Period, chose to cross the Yangtze River and gain "battle advantage" over his opponents. 

The first emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan, used this place for his expeditionary forces to ferry across the river. 

In April 1936, the Second Route of the Red Army, led by General He Long and Ren bishi, crossed the river here and continued to march north. There are memorials here honoring the people whose histories are entwined with the Stone Drum Town.

The road sign of some attractions around Shangri-La, we found on the way between first bend of Yangtze to Tiger Leaping Gorge.

Tiger Leaping Gorge (Hǔtiào Xiá)

We continued our journey around 1 hour drive to Tiger Leaping Gorge, we paid the entrance ticket for RMB65/person. When we arrived at the parking area, you already have a splendid view on the wild part of the river and the huge mountains that together form the Gorge.

A stair leads you down to the river, but keep in mind that it are in total 440 steps down and up again. 

In the middle of the smallest section of the river there is a big rock. It is told that at this point a chased tiger escaped a hunter by jumping over the river.

At a maximum depth of approximately 3790 meters (12434 feet) from river to mountain peak, Tiger Leaping Gorge is one of the deepest and most spectacular river canyons in the world.

it's easy taking stairs down to see the main area of tiger gorge, but it hard and need some effort to go up by stairs to exit which is the only way to the parking area, so you will need to consider to take more time  to exit when you are with elderly people.

Journey to Shangri-La

After 2 hour drive from Tiger Gorge with amazing views of hills, tibetan villages, horses and yak on the meadow which you will see on the way to Shangri-La.

For some people might fell uncomfortable due to high altitude sickness. So, it's advisable to bring oxygen canister with you while you are in Shangri-La (can be bought in many supermarket/hotel around this area).

We stayed at the old town village, Dukezong (独克宗), and luckily car can get it to the old town, so it is more convenient for us to go to our hotel. 

Some of the old town now is under renovation due to big fire in early January in 2014, About half of the old town was destroyed by the fire, half was spared.

There were not much things to do at night in Shangri-La, so we decided to join Tibetan dinner house with singing show and dancing performance. It started at 19:30 and its a thoroughly engaging show, just that it's all in Chinese.  The food is cooked in a hot pot in front of you with vegetables and many kind of meat, served with drinks such as butter milk, traditional wine (very strong!!)

We learnt one word that night; "Zha-xi-de-le", then....drank a cup of local wine...bottoms up! and again!

Proposing a Toast and Tea :

Before you drink a toast proposed by Tibetans, you should moisten your index fingers with the liquor, flick this finger three times, and then say "Zha-xi-de-le". ("Zha-xi-de-le" means "as lucky as one's wishes" in Tibetan.) According to the Tibetan customs, you should sip three times and the host will refill your cup three times. After that, you ought to drink up. If you really can not stand much liquor, you can tell the host politely.

To be continue : Day 5...