China’s Forgotten Himalaya

‘Hot pot’ is the quintessential Sichuanese dining experience. It basically involves sitting around a bubbling pan of broth into which you dip sliced meat or seafood while, drinking copious quantities of local Snow beer! Lao Ma Tou is the best place in the city to try this, and the smartest: waiters in immaculate white shirts whip up the dipping sauces and the placer is as popular with locals and visitors.

Qingcheng Shan can be ascended with the help of a cable car, or on foot via a series of stepped paths. Either way, culture shock is guaranteed as you enter the beautiful old temples and monasteries lining the route. Auspicious scarlet ribbons dangle from the fruit trees and monks in blue tunics and white spats tend giant bronze juniper braziers. Enjoy a traditional lunch at one of the temple restaurants, the return to the city to visit the Jinshe Ruins Museum, with its horde 4,000-year-old Bronze-Age artefacts and fascinating pit burials. After supper, check out a performance of traditional Chinese Opera in the lively ‘Wide Lanes, Narrow Lanes’ district.

Located at the foot of the Songzanlin monastery, your lodge enjoys a superb location facing a shimmering lake surrounded by Tibetan chortens and strings of prayer flags. Photographers should make the most of the beautiful light before sunset to follow waterside boardwalk, from where the views of Songzanlin are exquisite.

Dropping down more than a vertical kilometre to a lush, subtropical area of rice terraces and fruit orchards, today’s drive involves a dramatic change of climate and vegetation. Recover from the journey with a leisurely stroll around the Naxi village next to your lodge. The best views in the area extend from the lodge’s own balconies, from where you can enjoy the spectacle of changing light and shadows in the valley before making your way to the dining room for a delicious hot supper of Sichuanese and Tibetan cuisine.

Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys rank among the world’s most endangered primates, and the species that lives at the highest altitudes. Only around 1,700 survive, at the snow-line in Yunnan’s mountains, among confier and evergreen broadleaf forests, and the reserve near Tacheng, where the monkeys are fed, offers almost guaranteed sightings. On arrival, wardens will guide you through the forest to a feeding station where you’ll be able to observe a troupe at close quarters.

As you ascend the Lacang Valley, notice the contrast between the traditional, wood and stone Tibetan villages terracing the valley flanks and the modern hydel projects recently installed by the Chinese government at the river level to harness the power of the meltwater crashing south. In the evening, you’ll be offered a bottle of local wine with your meal – a legacy of the French missionary presence in Cizhong a century ago. If you can, pay a visit to the church when Mass is being sung in the local Tibetan dialect – an unforgettable experience.

The route snakes along the bottom of a vast canyon, overshadowed by the towering peaks of Kawakarpo, the sacred mountain marking the Tibetan border. You’ll have gained around two vertical kilometres by the time you reach Songtsam Meili, from where the views of the nearby snow peaks are magnificent.

Return to the lodge for breakfast, when you’ll discuss walking options with your guide. Routes range from gentle forest ambles to day-long hikes to the snow line. Or you can simply relax on the sunny terrace of Songtsam Meili lodge, sipping Italian coffee and watching the cloud shadows drift across the east face of Kawakarpo.

An enjoyable stop on the journey between Benzilan and Shangi-La is the village of Nixi, where you will be invited to try your hand at making traditional Tibetan black-ware pottery – a local speciality.