With the travel season upon us, now is a good time to look to getaway destinations around Yunnan. Today's post is the second in a two-part series by writer and photographer Megan Melissa True about her experiences in northwest Yunnan's Shangri-la.

On our second day in Shangri-la, we headed for the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery. The monastery was built in 1679 and was home to the Fifth Dalai Lama in 1681. Today it is the biggest monastery in Yunnan and houses over 700 monks that live and study there. After a 15 minute bus ride we arrived at the entrance. After we bought our tickets we were herded onto a bus that took us to the monastery.

As soon as we got off the bus, rain began to pour down. We took shelter in one of the closest temples. The smell of fresh rain and burning incense permeated the air. After about fifteen minutes it cleared up and we started exploring the temples and labyrinthine alleys that lead to the monk residences.

We started down one of the alleys and soon ran into some monks in their mid-twenties. We greeted them with big smiles and "ni hao"s. They shyly smiled but ignored us, which we found strange at first as most Tibetans we had met were very friendly. We later found out it was because they are not allowed to talk to women.

We were curious and wanted to know about their life there. So we spent a good part of the afternoon trying to talk to the monks. We were successful with some monk kids and a monk in his late 70s. We discovered most of the monks come to the monastery between five and eight years of age - they have the choice to leave the monastery when they are eighteen. Many monks choose to stay - who could blame them when they are surrounded by such tranquil beauty?

After several hours at the monastery, we headed back into to town and looked for a place for dinner. Old Town is full of great traveler-oriented restaurants but a five-minute walk down Changzheng Lu (长征路) will lead you to an area filled with local restaurants. Their food is just as good and very inexpensive. If you are looking for good foreign food The Compass or Yak Bar are both recommended.

After dinner we walked around Old Town, which has a history that dates back over 1200 years. Every night around seven o'clock people young and old join in the main square and dance. The dances are all traditional dances. They dance around in two large concentric circles. The inner circle seemed to be the more experienced dancers and the outer circle was full of tourists or young kids trying to copy the experts.

After several minutes of watching the dancers, we jumped in and tried our best to keep up. The old men and women seemed amused as we mimicked their dances. After nine o'clock the dancing broke up and everybody retreated home for the night. We also headed home to get some rest.

Our last destination in Shangri-la was Bitahai Lake, the highest lake in Yunnan at 3500 meters above sea level. The lake is pretty far outside of town so it's best to rent a car or van for half a day. The lake is well worth the journey as it is surrounded by some of the most beautiful forests in Shangri-la. A peaceful hike down to the shores of the lake was a perfect end to our Tibetan adventure in Yunnan.

From Kunming, Shangri-la can be reached by plane or bus (there are daily buses from Xizhan Bus Station). From Lijiang, it is a three or four hour bus or car ride away. The best times to visit are during the late spring/early summer when the ubiquitous wild flowers are in bloom, or in autumn when the green leaves of the trees change to every color imaginable.

GoKunming thanks Megan Melissa True for her contribution. If you have a travel story or other contribution you would like to submit to GoKunming, please contact us via our contact form.

With the travel season upon us, now is a good time to look to getaway destinations around Yunnan. Today and tomorrow, writer and photographer Megan Melissa True will share her experiences in northwest Yunnan's Shangri-la.

Shangri-la, previously known as Zhongdian, is located high up in the mountains near the Yunnan-Tibet border. The city claims to be the inspiration for the setting of James Hilton's book, "Lost Horizon." Regardless, it is an enchanting land filled with Tibetan villages and monasteries embedded in its mountains.

Shangri-la has been described as an earthly paradise because of the land's majestic beauty. It's also rumored that people there live well beyond the normal life span and age much slower. Several friends and I headed there to find out the secrets of this age-defying paradise.

After a twelve-hour night bus from Kunming we dropped our belongings off at Kevin's Trekker Inn and set out to roam and explore Tibetan villages on the outskirts of town. From the road, one village looked like it would be an easy 45 minute walk but we soon realized it was much farther.

We headed down the path and decided to cut through the field between the villages and the road. The road wound all the way around the bottom edge of the mountain and would easily add an hour to our hike.

We began tromping through the field but discovered it was pretty wet and marsh-like. Then, one of my friends noticed the field was getting wetter and deeper. She then pointed to a cow out in the middle of the field that was neck deep in water. Just as she said this, my next step dropped me a foot into the ground.

The water and marshy grasses were almost up to my knees. So, with squishy wet sneakers we headed back to the dirt road. Later we read in our guidebook that in the summer the field is actually a lake. An hour and half later we finally reached the first village.

We had heard that Tibetans may invite you into their homes for yak butter tea and baba, a traditional flat bread. We wandered around but only came across a few Tibetans, who were busy chopping wood or hanging up the year's harvest.

We eventually found a woman that was selling snacks to some village kids. We asked her if she knew where we could get yak butter tea. She happily invited us into her home to sample her family's recipe.

The Tibetan homes in Shangri-la are two stories of thick timber that are hand-chopped and constructed by each family. This woman's home was no exception. We climbed the thick-wooden staircase to the second floor.

As we walked into the large open room, our eyes had to adjust to the darkness. Once they did, we were amazed by the beautiful intricate hand-carved patterns in the wooden doors, walls and cabinets. In one corner of the room there was a wood-burning stove where the woman began warming up our yak butter tea. As it heated, the woman scurried into the kitchen to make baba.

After several minutes the tea kettle whistled and our hostess scampered back in to fill our bowls with simmering yak butter tea. She told us we could add several spoonfuls of sugar if we wanted because of the strong flavor. After the first sip of the thick buttery broth, I was ready to dump a bowl of sugar into my tea. It was like drinking thick liquid butter.

Unfortunately for me, being the good hostess that she was, she made sure our cups never went below the rim. Next she brought out steaming Baba. Tibetans like to dip it into their tea or eat it with sugar. When it's dipped in sugar it tastes just like a warm sugary donut. Delicious.

After snacking and sipping our tea, we were shown how to make a dish that eaten every morning by many Tibetans. She poured a little yak butter tea into her bowl and began mixing in a grain powder called tsampa plus some sugar. She skillfully molded it with her hands until it reached a doughy texture.

Once finished, she offered us all a piece and it was surprisingly good. It had a peanut buttery taste. She encouraged us to try to make our own. Who can refuse the chance to play with their food? So, we all tried and failed to recreate the same texture and taste that she had just made. After chatting and snacking for over an hour, we thanked the woman and gave her some money for her kindness. It's common to give 8-10 yuan per person.

We thanked her, waved goodbye and headed down the road back to town. After about 45 minutes of walking we realized we still had much further to go and it was getting dark. We flagged down a truck that was on its way to town. We hopped in the back and enjoyed the sunset and our bumpy free ride home.

Kunming resident Colin Flahive (pictured above, right) just finished traveling by motorcycle across northwestern Yunnan and southwestern Sichuan with travel companion Josh Pollock, sending dispatches to GoKunming from the road. In today's final post from their trip, Flahive and Pollock fail to reach their intended destination, making an unexpected discovery in the process.

After the long ride from Lijiang, Lugu Lake was the perfect place to rest up and put back a few beers; but the Litang River beckoned, so it was time to get back on the bikes and set off to tackle Sichuan's high-mountain passes.

We started by ascending a long, winding valley to the north, passing through the Mongolian settlement of Wujiao (屋脚), a remnant of the 13th Century Mongol invasion, until we came to the foot of the first of many challenging passes in our quest to Litang (理塘).

The dirt road wound up the mountainside through fragrant pine forests laced with enormous rhododendron flowers—some exceeding the size of soccer balls. Halfway up we stopped for lunch where some Yi shepherds emerged from the forest to check us out. We shared some walnut bread and aged gouda cheese, which they seemed to enjoy. The mountain perch provided stunning views of the surrounding snow-covered, craggy peaks as the four of us munched away happily.

We descended the pass to join the Litang River and stopped over at the Wuerzhen Tibetan Monestary (午尔真大寺)—ancient seat of the Muli Kingdom. Only ten monks currently reside there, and they were kind enough to take a break from routine to show us around and treat us to some fresh yak butter tea (酥油茶).

From there, we broke from the main road to follow a broken and muddy trail down along the river bank. We'd only gone about 30 kilometers when the looming clouds above unleashed their fury. Luckily, we were within reach of a little family shelter whose owners shared their home and hearth while a few centimeters of hail blanketed the valley. As the road was no longer optimal for riding, the family considerately offered us a space on their dirt roof to pitch our tent for the night.

While they cooked us home-grown veggies and dried pork, they told us that they were preparing to vacate their home in three days as demolition crews made their way up the valley to construct a series of 10 hydroelectric dams. He pointed up the steep slope to his other property high above and told us that if we came back in three years, it would be well under water.

It was disappointing for us to think that one of southwest China's last unmolested rivers would be torn up so soon and swiftly, but over a bowl freshly-ground roasted barley flour called tsampa (藏巴) and yak butter tea, the kind man shook off our pity and said that the government had compensated him adequately. Moreover, he said, Sichuan really needs the electricity. With that, he packed us a large bag of tsampa for the trip, accepted no money and sent us on our way.

Our original plans to follow the Litang River for nearly 250 kilometers to the town of Litang were thwarted as the road we assumed existed simply didn't. So after about 45 kilometers, we cut back west and climbed the most difficult pass of the trip. The road was exhausting, stressful, cold, scary, muddy and technical with obstacles around every bend, but I can honestly say it was the most fun I have ever had on a bike. And the day just got better as we entered the town of Donglang (东朗).

I've traveled to a number of places off the beaten path in China, but none took my breath away like this place did. Donglang is set along a forested valley drained by a striking crystalline river. Scattered along the hillsides are Tibetan homes constructed of carved stone that give the appearance of giant castles more than modest homesteads.

As we cruised through the town of Donglang, stopping from time to time to chat with the locals and to watch a local fisherman net a beautiful river trout, we were forced to push each other onward as the desire to stay longer could have captured us indefinitely.

A fierce storm nipped at our heels as we descended another high pass down to Daocheng (稻城) from where we were back on tarmac and able to ride at full-throttle to Xiangcheng (乡城), Deirong (得荣), and on to Benzilan (奔子栏) back along the Jinsha River.

For the last 80 kilometers of our journey, we cruised from Benzilan through the winding Jinsha River Valley down to Zhongdian (中甸), renamed Shangri-La (香格里拉) by the Yunnan State Council in 2001 (see top photo). For us, however, Shangri-La will always be wherever our bikes take us next.

Images: Josh Pollock

GoKunming thanks Colin Flahive and Josh Pollock for their contributions - if you have a story you'd like to share with GoKunming readers, please contact us via our contact form.

The Olympic torch relay is passing through Lijiang today as it continues its path through Yunnan province toward earthquake-ravaged Sichuan.

This morning, 13-year-old Zhang Zilan (张紫兰) of Wenchuan, Sichuan shared her torch relay responsibilities with 12-year-old He Zhensheng (和震生). Zhang is one the many children from the earthquake disaster zone that have been relocated to Lijiang, where they are now attending school.

He, whose name Zhensheng literally means "born from a quake", was born during the deadly 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Lijiang in 1996.

Tomorrow the torch will make its last stop in Yunnan in Shangri-la (Zhongdian). The next day, the ethnically Tibetan area of Shangri-la will hold its annual horse racing festival (赛马节), which was supposed to take place on Sunday but was postponed by the local government – thanks to reader Steph Jensen for notifying us of the postponement.

Editor's note: If you have a story idea or a tip you'd like to share with GoKunming please feel free to contact us via our contact form.

Image: clzg.cn

Northwest Yunnan's Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture – closed to international tourists since the beginning of the recent riots in Lhasa – has reopened to foreign travelers after nearly a month of being off-limits, according to a Xinhua report citing Cering Norbu, the prefecture's deputy secretary general.

Diqing contains popular tourist destinations including Shangri-la (previously known as Zhongdian) and Deqin. More than 3.8 million tourists visited the prefecture in 2007, including 400,000 international travelers.