Luoyang 5-Day Tour: Lugu Lake

The midday flight lands at Lijiang Sanyi, and the direction of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is visible from the exit, the sky a hard blue. Forty minutes into town to a guesthouse on the outer ring of the old town, quieter than inside and easier on a suitcase than cobbles. Walk over to Shuhe, where the flagstones of Qinglong Bridge are polished smooth and someone is washing vegetables in the water below. Dinner back in Lijiang: a copper pot of cured pork ribs with yam and potato simmering in the broth.

Attraction introduction: Lijiang old town lies below Lion Hill, formed in the late Song and early Yuan, with no wall, its lanes following the water that the Black Dragon Pool sends through the town in several channels. Shuhe, seven kilometres north, was a stop on the tea and horse road; its Qinglong Bridge dates from the Ming, the stones hollowed by hooves.

Tips: Lijiang sits at 2,400 metres, so no climbing and no drinking on day one. Guests generally find the bar street noisy until two in the morning. In practice we stay on the outer ring, ten minutes on foot and quiet at night.

Leave at half past seven heading north, climbing the switchbacks above the Jinsha River, the road narrowing where vehicles have to stop to pass. Lunch at Ninglang, then another stretch, and after the final bend the lake appears all at once, a deep blue held in by mountains on every side. Reach Lige at three, the guesthouse on the peninsula, the window facing the bay. Walk to the viewpoint on the road above the village and look down: the peninsula pushes into the water in the shape of a heart.

Attraction introduction: Lugu is a high plateau rift lake at 2,690 metres, averaging around forty metres deep and reaching over ninety at its deepest. It straddles Ninglang in Yunnan and Yanyuan in Sichuan, with seventy-six kilometres of shoreline road. Lige sits on the Yunnan side, its Mosuo houses built of logs stacked horizontally.

Tips: Four hours of mountain road, so take motion sickness tablets half an hour ahead. Guests generally find the afternoon glare washes out photographs. In practice we rest on arrival and go out once the sun drops.

Up at six to wait by the shore. The sun comes out from behind Goddess Mountain, edging the far ridge in gold before sliding down to the water, and a thin mist lifts off the lake. Breakfast at eight, then the pier at half past nine for a pig trough canoe: a single log hollowed out, narrow, four passengers, the boatman poling from the stern, the bottom visible through the water. Lunch back in the village, then Daluoshui in the afternoon, where rows of prayer wheels line the entrance and old people sit against a sunny wall.

Attraction introduction: The pig trough canoe is the traditional Mosuo craft, hollowed from one thick log with both ends tapered, named for its resemblance to a feeding trough. Goddess Mountain stands east of the lake at over 3,700 metres; in Mosuo story she guards the water, and a cave shrine sits on her flank.

Tips: Ultraviolet light is fierce on the water and the boat has no shade. Guests generally find the canoe rocks in the middle of the lake, so nervous passengers sit amidships. In practice the ride is in the morning while the water is calm.

Circle the lake eastward in the morning, crossing the provincial line where the road signs change colour. Caohai by ten: reeds in one continuous sheet, the wedding bridge laid across them, its planks worn bright, the crossing taking a quarter of an hour with reed heads leaning all one way in the wind. Lunch at Lugu town, then Goddess Bay in the afternoon, a sheltered curve where the sun drops behind the far hills and the water turns orange as boats head home. Board at half past four for Lijiang, arriving after dark.

Attraction introduction: Caohai lies on the Sichuan side, shallow wetland left as the lake retreated, reeds growing straight out of the water, green in summer and yellow by autumn. The wedding bridge, also called the lovers bridge, runs over three hundred metres across the reeds, once the route Mosuo partners took between villages and now a footpath.

Tips: The bridge is timber and narrow, so step aside to pass. Guests generally find the reeds at their best when yellow, which is roughly November. In practice Caohai is a morning stop, when the low light gives the reeds depth.

No hurry this morning. Walk Black Dragon Pool, the water clear, the Moon Pavilion reflected in it, and on a fine day Jade Dragon Snow Mountain lying across the surface. South of the park is the old town; the Mu Mansion charges admission and can be skipped, and Wuyi Street eastward has shops selling Dongba paper and brass. Lunch is a bowl of chickpea jelly, sour and hot, to cut the richness. Check out at two for the airport and the afternoon flight to Zhengzhou.

Attraction introduction: Black Dragon Pool sits at the foot of Elephant Hill, fed by springs rising through fissures in the rock; a shrine to the dragon king was built here in the Qing and the pavilion came later. The Mu Mansion was the seat of the Lijiang tusi in the Ming, laid out on the model of the imperial palace, its scale noted by the traveller Xu Xiake.

Tips: The reflection needs still water, best early. Guests generally find the silver shops in the old town vary widely in price, so buy only if you know the goods. In practice the last day holds two stops and leaves ninety minutes for the airport.