Rugged Tours Blog

Lugu Lake (map) is a high mountain plateau lake located in north-east of Yunnan province and South-west of Sichuan province. This 50sqkm deep-blue lake has a latitude of 2,685 meters and an average depth of 45 meters. The deepest point of the lake reaches down to 93.5 meters, which makes Lugu lake one of the deepest fresh water lakes in the country. It has eight islands and many bays and beaches, most of them are romanticised with love stories. Just as what “lu gu” means in Mosuo language, the lake is sitting “within the valley” and mirroring the blue sky and surrounding mountains. As seasons change, the lake side mountains change their colour, and the whole place changes into different “world” in different seasons. Therefore, the place definitely worth more than just one visit for the sake of its natural beauty.

Lugu lake at night

As usual, beautiful places tend to be bound with beautiful stories. Lugu lake has too many of them to be all included. This one is my favourite:

Gemu is a beaultiful goddess, who is admired by a lot gods from nearby or far away places. Once she met a mountain god from a far away place and they both hopelessly fall in love. However, (not every fairy tale story ends with “happily ever after”) the mountain god had to go back to his tribe and lead his people. Found it hard to say goodbye,  he jumped on his horse and rode away while Gemu was out in the woods. Gemu heard the horse whinny and chased after him, but all there left was a giant horse hoof print left in the ground. Gemu started to cry sitting next to the hoof print and her tears filled up the hoof print and turned it into a lake, which became the Lugu lake. The mountain god heard the sad crying sound of his loved one, but he couldn’t abandon his own tribe to live with her. All he could do was leaving his treasures to accompany his most precious treasure. He turned around and threw pearls and magic flower seeds towards where Gemu lives. The pearls became the islands in the lake and the flower seeds grew into different kinds of beaultiful flowers around the lake.

The inhabitants around the lake are the Mosuo people, a small tribe that is considered a sub clan of Naxi people. They are the only matriarchal society in China and seek to maintain that heritage. And they don’t get married instead they practice Walking Marriages. The primitive and unique social structure and culture kept by the local inhabitants are drawing more and more travellers and visitors to the place in the recent years. On one hand, it helps the improvement of local economy and tourism facilities development, on the other hand, we fear that commercialisation will corrupt local culture’s authenticity.

Lugu lake has an annual average temperature of 12C°-14C°. The average temperature in January is around 5C°-6C° and in July it is around 19C°-20C°. The raining season is between June – August.

Get to Lugu Lake:

You can get to Lugu lake from either Sichuan or Yunnan province.

From Sichuan: Chengdu – Xichang (map) – Lugu lake. Setting off from Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province, you can get to Xichang via a 40 minute flight journey or a 12 hour train journey. Then from Xichang, another 7 hour coach journey will bring you to the breathtaking lake.

From Yunan: You have to go to Ninglang (map) first to get to Lugu lake in Yunnan. There are trains and coaches from Kunming, Dali, Lijiang go to Ninglang everyday, and mini-vans fron Ninglang to Lugu lake sets off as soon as it is filled up. The journey is only 3 hours and around 20rmb per person.

Another more convenient option is renting a car with a local driver from Lijiang.  (can email us for car renting service ruggedtours@gmail.com)

Accommodations at lugu lake:

You can either choose to stay in one of the star rated hotels in Ninglang or stay in one of the local village house renovated hostel.

local food and drinks:

Cured pork (zhu biao rou 猪膘肉): This famous local special is not only a local dish but also symbolised one families wealth by the amount of such pork stored at home. It is made by de-boning and guttering one whole pig, then salt and spices are placed inside and sewed up from its belly. It then will be left hanging and air-dried. It is also used during the “coming of age” ceremony for the girl to stand on, symbolising a prosperous life for her in the future.

cured pork

Pickled pears (pao li 泡梨):  A local’s favourite pickle made by pickling a special locally grown pear.

Guang dang jiu (咣当酒): the famous local brewed spirit with a fragrant taste but a rather strong “after effect” with 40 percent of alcohol. “guang dang” refers to the noise of something heavy hitting the floor, take the hint, the drink tastes delicious, but make sure you don’t make a Guangdang yourself.

Sulima jiu (苏里玛酒): another local brew with a slight sweet and sour taste, also known as the Mosuo beer because of its low alcohol percentage.

What to do at Lugu lake:

• Hiking around the lake to visit different villages and enjoy the lake side sceneries. There are also local Jeep for rent to drive around the lake. And horse back riding is another option for the round-lake journey.
• Sailing on the lake in the local special Zhu cao chuan, which means pig’s trough boat. (It is a kind of canoe specific to the Mosuo and has been an important transportation tool throughout their history). visiting the little islands located in the middle of the lake.
• Visit local families and learn about how they maintaining their unique social structure and culture.
• Visit their local temple and learn about the local religion.
• Attend the Guozhuang party at night, experience local’s night life. It is a traditional bonfire dance parties that are usually held every night in the villages around Lugu Lake. They are called Guozhuang parties in Chinese (guozhuang meaning the fire in the cooking stove), and groups of people dance together holding one another’s hands, forming a circle around the bonfire. This form of dance is one of the most important social activities for the Mosuo girls in finding and picking their partners.

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