The Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (Yulong Xueshan) is a massif of thirteen peaks rising to 5,596 metres about 15 kilometres north of Lijiang. It is permanently snow-covered, sacred to the Naxi people as the home of the god Sanduo, and visible from the old town on any clear day. The mountain is accessible by three cable cars that cover different sections of the massif — the main gondola climbs to a glacial plateau at 4,506 metres, which is genuinely cold (bring a layer) and genuinely spectacular when the clouds part.
The mountain entry fee is ¥130, with cable cars costing extra (the upper gondola is around ¥180 return). At 4,506 metres, altitude sickness is a real concern for visitors coming from low elevations — acclimatise for a day in Lijiang first and ascend slowly. The lower cable cars serve the Spruce Meadow (Yunshan Ping) area and the Blue Moon Valley, both worth the trip for alpine scenery without the extreme altitude.