Jade Dragon Snow Mountain- Yak Meadow

Up at the Yak Meadow, there is a Tibetan temple.

Photo taken before we took the cable car, Yak Meadow is about 3500m

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain- Yak Meadow

There are 3 levels you can choose to go, most tour groups visit the first level Spruce Meadow. So if you want to beat the crowd avoid it. We went to the second level Yak Meadow because its summer, it looks better and there are no snow at the top of the mountain so no point going all the way up. The Yak Meadow is lovely, we almost felt that we own the place as we were the only few there. No crowd no problem with pictures.

Probably one reason that it is not popular is because you need to take a mini bus to the cable car and that trip will take approximately 40 mins.

Only their local buses are allow to be driven, after the show everyone rushes to the ticket counter and wait for the correct buses to take them to their correct cable car destination. My Q was so short, unlike the Q to the spruce Meadow. We hop on to the bus and off we go, buses leave at a specified timing.

There is a pathway for you to walk around, the whole walk takes approximately about an hour. I think its advisable to bring some picnic along. It does not matter where you prefer to be having your lunch, but do bring food as you will probably spent half your day at the Jade Dragon Mountain and you are bound to be hungry. Such a lovely place, take your time to enjoy it, don't let hunger make you leave this place earlier. I didn't see any restaurant except at the base, where the show is.

Important tip: Bring your lunch

Oh yes, you come together, you leave together unless you want to wait. We had two groups on the bus, ourselves and another group. The guides were discussing what time they should meet and leave the place. The driver has informed them that they have to leave together. So, do let your guide know how long you wish to stay, don't let them make the decision for you. We stayed approximately 3 hours at the Yak Meadow.

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

Zhang Yimou's- Impression of Lijiang

I don't think anyone who goes to the Jade Dragon Mountain missed this show. How could you? Well, unless you have watch it before.

How much is the ticket? It is 190RMB for normal seats and 290RMB for VIP seats.

What's the diff? Not much if you ask me, VIP seats are situated in the centre and their seats are identified by reds seats and black cap. Once you paid for the tickets, you get a raincoat and a cap. Normal seats get the red cap which you could bring back while the VIP gets the black cap. The raincoat has to be returned.

During the show, which last for approximately an hour we notice that the VIP area is pretty empty and a lot of Chinese tourist tend to try to sneak into the area (it's fence up). But there are 2-3 body guards patrolling in the VIP area and they always catches those sneaking it. Well, wearing a red cap is pretty obvious that you paid the normal price. In my opinion the best seats are right in front of the VIP.

When we were there, it was really cloudy but thank god we got to see the backdrop. They say that its not easy to see the Jade Dragon Mountain clear up but well guess we were a little lucky that day :)

Performers will move around a little during the show. The row that you see in the above pictures are just right in front of the VIP. I think they are the best seats, nobody will be walking around during the show. There is no control, even when the show has started, you see people still streaming in and walking around looking for seats. It is really disruptive, i would enjoy the show more if they stop people from coming in and walking around when the show has started.

Some say its worth it, some say its not. So be prepared. 190RMB its pretty expensive and not forgetting another entrance fee to the park 80RMB. Please do keep the ticket to the entrance fee for the park. Get it back from your guide as it is also the the entrance fee to the Black Dragon Pool Park and some other sites too. For some sites you just pay a nominal fee as you already have the entrance fee ticket.

Lijiang Old Town

Yunnan- Kunming, Lijiang and Shangri la

We are back from our 9 days trip to Yunnan! We spend 4 nights in Lijiang, 1 night in Tiger Leaping Gorge, 2 nights in Shangri La and 1 night in Kunming.

Although, we had a terrible experience with the local guide there (posted in the tripadvisor forum), we still enjoyed ourselves a lot. The scenery is breathtaking and we loved the pictures that we have taken. Now is the time to share our photos.

Our flight, China Eastern Airline was delayed for 3 hours!!! And because of that we missed our internal flight from Kunming to Lijiang. Lucky for us, they put us on the next available flight at no charge. We were suppose to be at Lijiang at 9.50am but it turn out to be around 3pm.

Our very first meal in Lijiang was at "A Ma Yi". Here, we enjoyed traditional Naxi Cuisine and local beer. Their local beers are very low in alcoholic content, not more than 4% but it still taste yummy! If i still remember clearly, i think we spend about 250RMB for dinner of six.

We tried so many things, bamboo rice, beef stew hotpot, pork rib hotpot, bbq fish and etc.

Lake Tekapo

We spend 2 nights in Lake Tekapo. We initially wanted to spend only 1 night here but the aftershocks in Christchurch had changed our plans. But it is easy to spend a few days here even though it is a really small town. The permanent residency here is only 315.

The town is small and consist of a small supermarket at the petrol station, a Chinese restaurant, a fish and chips shop, a char-grill bar, a Japanese restaurant and a pizza and pasta bar and restaurant.

We had chosen to stay at Tailor-made Hostel. It is a very cosy, quiet and clean place and has benches in the garden. We enjoyed just sitting out in the garden during the afternoons for drinks.

Tailor-made Hostel, we stayed in an en suite private room

Another walk, Cowan Hill. An easy walk which took us approximately 1.5hrs.

Look at the views from this walk, it is amazing right?

Notice the turquoise water behind us?

On the second day, we did another trek. The Mount John trek, after the hike, you will be rewarded with a good view and a cup of good strong coffee at Astro Cafe. Amazingly, the coffee at the cafe is reasonably price being the only cafe up there and it offers a 360 degree panoramic view.

At the beginning of our walk, 1 hour trek to the summit

The trek was a little tiring, hence when we reach the top we were really glad that we have completed it. Of course, the easy way was to just drive to the top but well the workout was great!

We had a cup of Latte and Cappuccino for NZD $9, awesome view all around the cafe.

Once at the top, the trail gets easier

The lake is really beautiful with turquoise water. We just can't stop ourselves from snapping the photos. It always look so captivating regardless of the the time of the day.

The most famous church in New Zealand is found here, Church of the Good Shepherd. And thus it is the most photograph as well. There is a wonderful view from inside the church.

And now, we have come to the end of the trip. Oh did we mention, Lake Tekapo is also the best place to see the stars! So packed your bags, and get ready to plan for your trip to New Zealand.

We are sure that you will enjoy this place as much as we do. The natural scenery here is probably one of the best if not the best in the world! And do not forget the New Zealanders, they are the nicest people we have met too :)