3 Days in Liangshan

Lakeside paths around the roughly 31-square-kilometre Qionghai at about 1,510 metres, then the mid-slope museum on Lushan hill, opened in 1985, which documents the Yi history of Liangshan through the 1956 social reforms; evening at the Ming-era Datong gate of the old town.

1. liangshan qionghai lake
2. liangshan lushan
3. liangshan yi slavery society museum
4. liangshan xichang old town

A cable car lifts you toward the 4,359-metre peak of the ancient glacial massif on the Puge county side — boardwalks link lakes scoured by old ice, and azaleas run May-June; stop at the clay pinnacles of the Huanglian earth forest on the way back, some 30 kilometres from town.

1. liangshan luoji mountain
2. liangshan huanglian earth forest

Reserve ahead for the launch centre about 60 kilometres northwest — operating since 1970 with its first mission in 1984 and the Chang'e-1 lunar probe lifting off here on 24 October 2007 — then the Ming-Qing streets of Lizhou on the old southern trade route.

1. liangshan satellite launch center
2. liangshan lizhou ancient town