Brief information on Lugu Lake and Mosuo People  

Located in the mountain ranges between Yunnan and Sichuan Province, 280 km from Lijiang City, Lugu Lake is one of the deepest fresh water lakes in China. The lake is borders these two provinces. Lugu Lake covers an area of more than 50 square kilometers, 2690 meters above the sea level, making it the highest lake in Yunnan Province.

The lake is encircled by mountains and woods. The water in the lake is clear enough that the lake bed can be seen 11 meters deep. There are moreover many jade-green islands of various sizes situated throughout the lake. Looking from a distance, these islands are just like green boats floating on the water. There is an island called Heiwanwu Island in the center of the lake; a perch for birds and wild ducks, distributed with dense woods. A famous American scholar known as Rock Joseph once settled there for a period of time.

People living along the Lugu Lake are mostly minorities, such as the Mosuo, Yi, and Han, Naxi, Zang, Pumi, Bai, and Zhuang people, with a population of about 13,000 in total. Amongst these, Mosuo people are noteworthy for their matriarchal society. These Mosuo people have lived along the Lugu Lake for generations after generations, and still hold a matriarchal system which empowers the women to be the chief of their groups, and be entitled to choose their husbands.

*You can download the bilingual note to show it to a taxi driver or someone else to find your way to Lugu Lake and Mosuo People if you plan to visit Lugu Lake and Mosuo People and have language problems.

   

Address: Ningliang, Lijiang
Transportation: Take the bus to Lugu Lake at Hongtaiyang (Red Sun) square. The bus starts at 09:00am, once a day.  The journey will be 8-10hours.