Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

Interesting facts

The massif is often described as the southernmost mountain in Eurasia to carry snow all year round.

About 19 small glaciers cling to the massif, covering roughly 11.6 square kilometres in all.

For the Naxi the mountain is the embodiment of Sanduo, their protector god, honoured each year with a festival on the eighth day of the second lunar month.

In the Tang era the Nanzhao king Yimouxun proclaimed the mountain the sacred "Northern Peak", and a Northern Peak temple still stands at Baisha.

At its eastern foot two streams run side by side in contrast: one over pale limestone pebbles, the other over dark basalt.

Marie Byles, who led the failed 1938 attempt, was the first woman to practise as a solicitor in New South Wales.

Byles's party sometimes travelled under military escort to guard against bandits, and after the expedition's failure she turned increasingly to Buddhism.

The two Americans who made the only ascent in 1987 rated the hardest rock on their route at a modest 5.7 on the Yosemite scale.

Bruce Chatwin's article about the mountain, first printed in The New York Times, drew later travellers including Michael Palin to the region.

According to Naxi belief, the Yunshanping meadow below the peaks was a gateway to the Third Kingdom of the Jade Dragon, a paradise of plenty.

Why it is worth it

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain rises straight out of the high plateau of north-western Yunnan, a jagged crest that holds snow all year above the old town of Lijiang. Its highest summit, Shanzidou, reaches 5,596 metres, and the massif's prominence of over 3,200 metres ranks it among the ultra-prominent peaks of the world. To the Naxi people who live at its foot it is Mount Satseto; the Chinese name Yulong Xueshan means "jade dragon snow mountain", after the way the white crest seems to coil along the skyline.

The massif is the southern end of the Yulong range and part of the Hengduan Mountains of south-west China. On its north-western side the Jinsha, the upper course of the Yangtze, cuts down between Jade Dragon and Haba Snow Mountain to form the dramatic Tiger Leaping Gorge. The slopes carry a rich mix of plants and animals thanks to their range of altitudes and climates. A cable car lifts visitors to a viewing platform at 4,506 metres, and a second platform at 4,680 metres is among the highest in the world. Below the peaks, the alpine meadow of Yunshanping, Spruce Meadow, opens out among the forest.

The summit itself has been climbed only once. In 1938 the Australian mountaineer Marie Byles led an expedition that was turned back by bad weather; Shanzidou was finally reached on 8 May 1987 by the Americans Phil Peralta-Ramos and Eric Perlman, who worked up snow gullies and limestone walls under high avalanche danger. The botanist Joseph Rock spent years living near the mountain, writing about it and about the Naxi, and his work later drew Bruce Chatwin, whose essay brought a wave of travellers. Lijiang below has more than a thousand years of history as a stop on the Tea Horse Road; its old town of Dayan, with canals, stone bridges and timber Naxi houses, was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1997.

Getting there

The mountain lies about 26 km north of Lijiang in Yulong Naxi Autonomous County, with Baisha town to the south and Jade Water Village at its eastern foot. The nearest airport is Lijiang Sanyi International (LJG), about 47 km away. Lijiang railway station lies on the Dali–Lijiang and Lijiang–Shangri-La lines.

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

Interesting facts

Why it is worth it

Getting there

Plan your visit

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