Chinese New Year and the Tibetan New Year fall a day apart in 2027 — one ten-day circle of northwest Yunnan crosses both: monkey forests on the Lancang, first light on Meili, two nights in Yubeng and Losar week in Shangri-La.
Once in a great while the calendars agree. In 2027 the Chinese New Year falls on 6 February and Losar — the Tibetan New Year — on 7 February, a single day apart. For ten days in between, all of northwest Yunnan is in festival: lantern light in the old towns, juniper smoke on the hillsides, closed doors and family tables in the villages, and monastery courtyards at their fullest. This journey is built around that window. It exists once a year; in 2027, it exists twice.
The road makes a full circle with no repeated ground. Out of Lijiang it climbs the Lancang river line: the First Bend of the Yangtze at Shigu, the cliff shrine of Damo where pilgrims walk a rock-cut kora, the Tacheng valley where the last troops of the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey live in snowy fir forest, and the Lisu village of Tongle, where the fire pit is still the kitchen and the dance called Achiemugua is still danced. Then Cizhong — a Catholic church among Tibetan farmhouses and vineyards since the 1860s — before the road breaks out of the canyon at Feilai Si, where the whole Meili snow range waits for first light. The new valley road carries you straight into Yubeng for two nights under the peaks, and the way home runs the Jinsha line: the Moon Bend, Nixi's black-pottery kilns and a Nixi-chicken table, the cranes of Napa Lake, and Losar week in Shangri-La.
February is the driest, clearest month of the year on the Meili range — the best odds there are for sunrise on Kawagarbo — and the quietest time in the old towns. The route is also built as a staircase: four nights below 2,500 m before the climb, one night at 3,400 m, two in Yubeng at 3,200 m and two in Shangri-La at 3,300 m. You go up in steps, and you come down the same way.
New Year's Eve dinner in Lijiang's lantern-lit old town on 5 February; Losar, the Tibetan New Year, among the villages of the Lancang on the 7th. In 2027 the two festivals sit one day apart — one journey crosses both.
The Yunnan snub-nosed monkey — the "man of the snow forest" — lives only in these fir valleys. February is quiet season: small viewing windows, no crowds, black-and-white faces in the winter trees.
From the terrace at Feilai Si, the thirteen peaks of Meili catch sunrise — Kawagarbo, 6,740 m, held sacred and never summited, going from indigo to rose to blinding white. February's dry skies give the year's best odds.
The village under the sacred range, reached by the new valley road — no long approach on foot. A winter walk to the Sacred Waterfall, juniper smoke and prayer flags on the third day of Losar, and fireside evenings at 3,200 m.
“One journey, two New Years: the Year of the Goat begins in Lijiang's lantern light and continues in the juniper smoke of the Lancang valleys.”
New Year's Eve in lantern light
Day 1 · 5 Feb · New Year's EveArrive in Lijiang and settle into the old town. As dusk falls the lanterns come on — New Year's Eve here is family night, streets bright but unhurried. At dinner, a Naxi New Year's Eve table: the famous pork-ribs hotpot and the year's last easy evening before the road. Eat well, sleep early — the journey starts with the first light of the new year.
First light of the Year of the Goat
Day 2 · 6 Feb · Chinese New YearThe new year's first morning on the road north, to Shigu — where the Yangtze makes its dramatic First Bend from north to east. After lunch the road climbs into the Tacheng valley, stopping at the cliff shrine of Damo Zushi, where pilgrims walk a narrow rock-cut kora above the valley — on New Year's Day, with fresh prayer flags everywhere. Down in the valley, a quiet first night in the fir forests where the monkeys live.
Losar begins in the fir forests
Days 3–4Losar, the Tibetan New Year, opens on the morning of Day 3 — spent where no household doors need opening: with the monkeys, in the forest, and at a Lisu fire pit. Over the pass to Cizhong that evening; New Year calls and church wine the next day, then the canyon opens and the Meili range appears.
Early into the national park, where ranger-led viewing windows put you under the fir canopy as the troops come down to feed — the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey, found almost nowhere else on earth. Then to Tongle, a Lisu village of log houses stacked up the hillside: lunch at the fire pit, potatoes roasted in the embers or a hand-eaten feast, and — with a little notice, the village brings out Achiemugua, the whirlwind Lisu dance. Over the pass and down the Lancang canyon to Cizhong for the night.
Losar Day 2 is calling-on day, and Cizhong does it its own way: a Catholic church among Tibetan farmhouses and vineyards since the 1860s, mass still said in Tibetan, and New Year calls with the village's own wine after a winery tasting. Then the canyon road down the Lancang, past the thirteen white stupas of Wunongding, to Feilai Si — arriving as the whole Meili snow range lines the horizon. Tonight you sleep facing it, at 3,400 m.
Sunrise, prayer flags and the village under the peaks
Days 5–6The journey's crown: sunrise on the sacred range on the third day of Losar — the very day Tibetan families climb to raise new prayer flags — then the valley road into Yubeng itself, and a slow winter day beneath the peaks.
Before eight, on the terrace: the thirteen peaks catch first light long before the sun arrives — Kawagarbo, highest at 6,740 m, held sacred and never summited, goes from indigo to rose to blinding white within minutes. On Losar's third day, Tibetan families climb the hills to burn juniper and raise new prayer flags — the terrace you stand on is one of their pilgrimage points, and you watch the year's most important ritual with them, not at them. Then the new valley road takes you into Yubeng, the village ringed by the range, for the first of two nights.
A winter morning's walk through the glacier-fed forest to the Sacred Waterfall — the falls Yubeng's pilgrims circle, half-frozen into blue ice in February; crampons are carried for the icy last stretch. Feeling strong? The Ice Lake trail runs on through old-growth forest and the Xiaonong pastures to a wider, wilder snowfield — about seven hours, for good legs and proper gear. Prefer to keep it slow? The morning is yours instead: village lanes, butter tea by the stove, the mountains doing what they do. The afternoon belongs to the fire — a Tibetan family's hearth, tea refilled without asking, a second night under the peaks.
Moon Bend, a Nixi table and the old town
Day 7 · 11 FebOut of Yubeng with one last look back at the range, then down the Jinsha line: the Moon Bend, where the river draws a great horseshoe around a mountain of rock. Lunch in Nixi — the chicken the television food programmes made famous, served in a black-clay pot thrown in the village kilns, with a hands-on pottery visit after. Then into Dukezong old town as its lamps come on — Losar week in Shangri-La begins.
The wheel, the craft and Losar week at Songzanlin
Day 8 · 12 FebAn unhurried day in Shangri-La, Losar week at its fullest. Morning at the great prayer wheel and a craft hour — paint a thangka or roll incense by hand, your choice, with the artisans. After lunch, Songzanlin Monastery — the "little Potala" — during Losar prayers, when its courtyards are at their most alive: butter sculptures, new year visitors in their best coats, pilgrims circling the kora. The journey's closing dinner tonight, and a toast to a year begun twice.
The road home, taken slowly
Day 9 · 13 FebDown the stairs today, the way you came up — but not empty-handed. First, the Napa Lake wetland in morning light, black-necked cranes wintering on the water; then over Xiaozhongdian's meadows and down to the Yangtze at Tiger Leaping Gorge, where a short walk brings you to the tiger rock with the river at its most thunderous. By late afternoon, Lijiang's old town again — a different town from the one you left on New Year's Eve, now in full festival dress.
The loop closes
Day 10 · 14 FebA relaxed breakfast in the old town, then a smooth transfer to Lijiang airport or rail station, timed to your onward plan. Ten days, roughly 900 kilometres, no repeated ground — and two New Years seen the way they are actually kept: at the table, in the smoke, and on the mountains.
Distances and drive times are approximate. We shorten any day that feels long — your comfort sets the pace. The order of sights may adjust for weather and road conditions; winter roads in the Yubeng valley can close after heavy snow, and a prepared alternative day (Mingyong glacier or a Feilai Si deep day) is always ready. Safety always outranks the schedule.
Altitude is the first question everyone asks, and this route answers it in its shape: the climb comes in steps — four nights below 2,500 m first, then the range line at Feilai Si — so the altitude arrives gradually. Your highest night is Feilai Si at 3,400 m, and it comes a third of the way in, not at the end. February is cold on the plateau; the route keeps you in the valleys as much as it can.
Bar positions are nightly sleeping altitudes; the red line marks the journey's highest night. You climb in steps — four low nights, then the range line — so the altitude arrives gradually. Mild breathlessness is normal, and it passes.
A private journey for two — your party only — running 5 to 14 February 2027 and timed to the Chinese New Year and Losar, with dates and days tailored to you. It is a winter journey: dry, bright and quiet, with cold nights on the plateau and the year's clearest skies on the Meili range. Holiday-window rates are confirmed once hotels are locked; ask us for the current quotation.
Nine nights' stays, daily breakfast plus most lunches and dinners — the New Year's Eve feast, a Lisu fire-pit lunch and a farewell dinner among them — a private minibus with driver, a bilingual English-speaking guide with a Tibetan co-guide for the Losar days, and every experience and entry in the itinerary are part of the price — the full list is below.
Northwest Yunnan needs no special permit for foreign travellers — unlike Tibet proper. Every experience, entry ticket and night's bed is arranged for you before you arrive.
Please make sure your passport has at least six months' validity remaining. If you need a visa to enter China as a tourist, we'll ask for a copy of your Chinese tourist (L) visa and provide supporting documents for the application; if you're eligible for visa-free entry, a copy of your passport information page and a few supporting details is enough.
This is a holiday-window journey: the Chinese New Year and Losar together are one of the busiest weeks of the year in northwest Yunnan. The Meili-view rooms at Feilai Si, the Yubeng guesthouses and the monkey-park lodge are finite — rooms for this journey should be locked by November of the year before.
Long-distance flights and trains are not included; we are glad to arrange your travel to Lijiang and your onward flight or train, timed to your plan — both leave from Lijiang.
February is the driest month of the year on the Meili range — the best odds there are for a clear sunrise on Kawagarbo — and the quietest time in the old towns. It is also the festival month: lanterns, family tables and Losar, all at once.
You climb in steps — four nights below 2,500 m, then the range line — so the altitude arrives gradually. Your highest night is 3,400 m at Feilai Si, and it comes a third of the way through the journey, not at the end. Mild breathlessness is normal, and it passes.
Small things, done early, make the plateau easy. Your guide checks in with you every day, and the itinerary already builds in unhurried afternoons at each new altitude.
A warm, windproof down outer layer and a serious layering system: February days are bright and can feel mild in the sun, but nights on the range line run well below freezing. Hat, gloves and a buff are not optional.
Broken-in waterproof boots with good grip for the Sacred Waterfall walk — crampons are carried for the icy stretch, so a firm boot matters more than a heavy one.
Your personal essentials plus wet wipes for the drives between valleys. Pack lip balm, moisturising cream and sunscreen — the winter plateau air is dry and kind to no one's skin.
Motion sickness pills, gastrointestinal medicine, anti-inflammatories, cold medicine, adhesive bandages and eye drops. Consult your doctor and follow their guidance.
Phone, camera and power bank — cold nights drain batteries fast; keep them close to your body overnight. Planning a drone? Check with your travel consultant in advance. China runs on 220 V.
Alipay and WeChat Pay work in Lijiang and Shangri-La; cards in larger hotels. In the villages — Tongle, Cizhong, Nixi, Yubeng — cash is essential: carry some yuan and at least one bank card.
Four-star hotels in Lijiang and Shangri-La, boutique lodges in Tacheng and Cizhong, a four-star Meili-view room at Feilai Si and the best village guesthouses in Yubeng — nine nights, twin share. Yubeng is a mountain village: simple, warm and worth it.
Skip alcoholic drinks for the first days on the plateau — your body will thank you above 3,000 meters.
Ten festival days through the valleys of northwest Yunnan, 5–14 February 2027.
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