Ten miles from Lijiang is Jade Dragon Snow Mountain; its landscape includes one of the southernmost glaciers in the modern world. Shanzidou, the main peak of the mountain at 18,000 feet above sea level, looks like a gigantic dragon clad in white snow all year round. Access to the mountain is provided by a cable lift to Dragon Spruce Meadow, halfway to the glacier peak.

About half of China's plant species originated in Yunnan province, and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is home to about half of these, including trees, flowers, and medicinal herbs and plants. The mountain's many ravines, creeks, cliffs, and meadows all have Naxi names and provide settings for the myths and legends of the people who have made the plain their homeland for 1,000 years.

Still heavily forested, the mountain bursts into bloom every spring with camellias, rhododendrons, and azaleas. Herders take their cattle, goats, sheep, and yaks to graze on its slopes. In autumn, some of the pine trees turn amber yellow, while the deciduous trees transmute their green leaves into patches of bright yellow, orange, and scarlet.