5 Days in Nujiang

Arrive in Liuku at about 800 metres and take the riverside promenade at dusk; in Lunar New Year weeks the Lisu spring bath gathering at Denggeng, 12 km upriver, draws villagers from both banks.

1. nujiang liuku riverfront
2. nujiang dengeng springs

Three hours up the Beautiful Highway past the rapids of Laohutiao, the Lisu village of Laomudeng sits on a shelf above the river; settle in among the stone houses and stay for the church's evening hymns.

1. nujiang laomudeng church

Morning among Zhiluo's abandoned 1970s blocks — the prefecture seat until 1974, now a lookout over the river bend — then continue north through Fugong, where the viewpoint frames the Stone Moon, a marble arch pierced through a ridge at about 3,300 metres; overnight in Gongshan town.

1. nujiang zhiluo
2. nujiang shiyueliang

Forty-five kilometres past Gongshan, Bingzhongluo sits at about 1,500 metres where Nu, Tibetan and Lisu villages share the valley; walk to the First Bend, the lamasery and the Catholic church, and watch the peaks turn gold at dusk.

1. nujiang first bend
2. nujiang bingzhongluo

North of town, the cliff-hung hamlet of Wuli keeps a stretch of the old tea-horse trail, and quiet Qiunatong is the road's last village before the Tibet border; start back early — the full run south to Liuku is about 287 kilometres.

1. nujiang wuli village
2. nujiang qiunatong