The 7 Best Sacred & Religious Sites in Lijiang, Yunnan

Reviewed By ggm96822 - Honolulu, United States

Yufengsi, approximately 6 kilometers from BaiSha and directly on the #6 bus line that runs from Li Jiang through Shuhe and BaiSha, lies at the foot of Snow Dragon Mountain. It is most famous, of course, for its 500 year old 10,000 blossoms camellia, which is truly magnificent, but the temple area of the hillside has dozens of other very interesting trees, too. Two 250 year old Michelia yunnanesis (10-Mile Fragrance trees) for example, in a courtyard of their own, a huge Magnolia delavayi (Ye He Huan) at the entrance, a beautiful ginkgo, and many other rare trees. Bruce Chatwin was perhaps affected by the altitude, was running a fever or had never seen other lamaseries when he wrote in 1985 "Of all the places we have seen [in Yunnan], the monastery seems the loveliest," but neither do the remarks of Joseph Rock from the 1920s: "It is the home of rats, whose excrements lie inches deep,...the most forlorn and forsaken lamasery I know of" fit the present. The reconstructed buildings aren't that special, but there is a new and very impressive giant prayer wheel. Definitely worth visiting for the trees alone. Others have commented on the cheerful old Naxi women who sing at the entrance, offering 10¥ for a song kept them happy, admission to the temple was only 17¥ in October 2019. Very few visitors when the tree is not in bloom, a very peaceful spot that I recommend highly.