{"id":163,"date":"2024-12-01T11:14:53","date_gmt":"2024-12-01T11:14:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ynatcn.com\/?p=163"},"modified":"2025-10-14T12:16:42","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T12:16:42","slug":"163","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ynatcn.com\/?p=163","title":{"rendered":"blue moon valley"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"blue
blue moon valley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Blue Moon Valley\uff08\u84dd\u6708\u8c37\uff09 is one of the most photographed spots in the entire Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Scenic Area, only 25 km\/40 min north of Lijiang Old Town.
\nIts “wow-factor” is the chain of four intensely turquoise lakes \u2013 Y\u00f9-y\u00e8 H\u00fa, J\u00ecng-t\u00e1n H\u00fa, L\u00e1n-yu\u00e8 H\u00fa and T\u012bng-t\u0101o H\u00fa \u2013 linked by the white-water limestone cascades called White-Water Terrace. The colour comes from dissolved copper ions and fine limestone particles suspended in the glacial melt-water; when the sun is high (11 am-2 pm) the lakes glow an almost unreal sapphire blue and perfectly mirror the 5 596 m snow peak behind them.<\/p>\n

### Quick planning sheet<\/p>\n

| Best months | mid-March-May & mid-Oct-Dec (dry, clear) |
\n| Best time of day | 09:00-11:00 or 15:00-17:00 for softer light & fewer tour buses |
\n| Altitude | 2 800-2 900 m \u2013 gentle walking, but bring one small O\u2082 bottle if you are sensitive |
\n| Ticket | no separate fee; covered by the \u00a5100 Jade Dragon Snow Mountain scenic-area ticket |
\n| How long | 1-1\u00bd h for the valley only; half-day if combined with Spruce Meadow cable-car |
\n| Getting there from Lijiang Old Town | \u2460 Bus 101 “Snow-Mountain line” (\u00a515, 50-60 min) \u2461 shared blue taxi \u00a520 pp \u2462 private car\/tour \u00a5150-250 round-trip |<\/p>\n

### Recommended mini-route
\n1. Ride the scenic shuttle to the second stop “Shui-yu\u00e8 Pavilion”.
\n2. Walk the plank path **upstream** (against the flow):
\nWhite-Water Terrace \u2192 T\u012bng-t\u0101o H\u00fa \u2192 L\u00e1n-yu\u00e8 H\u00fa \u2192 J\u00ecng-t\u00e1n H\u00fa \u2192 Y\u00f9-y\u00e8 H\u00fa.
\nGoing this way the backdrop of the snow mountain gets progressively better and you finish at the bluest lake.<\/p>\n

### Photo tips
\n– Y\u00f9-y\u00e8 H\u00fa is the bluest; stand on the small wooden pier for the classic “snow-peak + lake” postcard shot.
\n– Polarising filter cuts glare and deepens the colour; a wide-angle (16-24 mm) lets you include both lake and peak in one frame.
\n– Drones are officially banned inside the valley \u2013 security will confiscate SD cards.<\/p>\n

### Add-ons in the same area
\n– Spruce Meadow cable-car (3 200 m, 30 min round-trip) \u2013 alpine meadow view of the massif; good acclimatisation stop.
\n– Glacier Park cable-car (4 506 m, 90 min round-trip) \u2013 if you want to stand on snow; start early (08:00) to beat queues.
\n– Impression Lijiang outdoor show (daily 12:50 & 14:50) \u2013 300 Naxi performers on a mountain-backed stage, tickets \u00a5190-280.<\/p>\n

### What to bring
\nSun-block (UV is fierce above 2 800 m), sunglasses, light wind-breaker (temp drops 6 \u00b0C if clouds appear), 500 ml water, small change for shuttle bus (\u00a520 each ride).<\/p>\n

In short, Blue Moon Valley is an easy half-day excursion that delivers the colour-of-the-Caribbean right at the foot of a 5 000-metre Himalayan snow-peak \u2013 definitely worth the early start.<\/p>\n

\"pVbjNOP.jpg\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blue Moon Valley\uff08\u84dd\u6708\u8c37\uff09 is one of the most photographed spots in the entire Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Scenic Area, only 25 km\/40 min north of Lijiang Old Town. Its “wow-factor” is the chain of four intensely turquoise lakes \u2013 Y\u00f9-y\u00e8 H\u00fa, J\u00ecng-t\u00e1n H\u00fa, L\u00e1n-yu\u00e8 H\u00fa and T\u012bng-t\u0101o H\u00fa \u2013 linked by the white-water limestone cascades … Continue reading blue moon valley<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ynatcn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ynatcn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ynatcn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ynatcn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ynatcn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=163"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.ynatcn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":400,"href":"http:\/\/www.ynatcn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions\/400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ynatcn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ynatcn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ynatcn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}