Lijiang in March was supposed to be a time of spring flowers and warm sun, but nature presented an unexpected romance at this moment - snowflakes falling one after another, covering the ancient city with a layer of dreamy silver.
In Yulong Snow Mountain, spring snow sprinkles freely, bringing a different magnificence to this sacred place. The continuous heavy snow made the plank road covered with thick snow, and the original brown plank road disappeared. The thick snow was like soft marshmallows, stacked layer by layer, as if adding thick lines to the mountains. The spruce ping after the snow is like a fairy tale world. The snow-capped mountains in the distance stand towering, covered with white snow. In the dense spruce forest, the straight spruce branches are full of snowflakes, like a crystal clear crystal coat, quiet and dreamy. On the open grass, the snow is deep, and there is a path winding on the edge of the grass. It is quiet and magnificent. It is simply beautiful! The blue moon valley also snowed, and the blue lake and white snowflakes contrasted with each other, one blue and one white, pure and touching.
The streets and alleys of the ancient city are shrouded in spring snow, filled with a quiet and distant atmosphere. The bluestone road was covered with snow, and it made a slight "squeak" sound when stepping on it, as if telling the story of the ancient city. The ancient buildings on the street are covered with snowflakes, like an ink painting, full of poetry. Pedestrians hold umbrellas, walk in the snow, or stop to enjoy the rare scenery. The laughter echoes among the snowflakes, adding some smoke and fire to the cold snowy day.
On March 18, cotton-like snowflakes also floated in Ninglang County, and snowflakes fell one after another, bringing the romance of snow in spring to this small city. The children cheered and played in the snow, while the adults smiled and quietly enjoyed the rare beauty. The snowflakes fell on the cheeks, bringing a trace of coolness, which made people truly feel the magic and gentleness of nature.
I. Recommendation of Lijiang scenic spots:
Natural landscape category
• Yulong Snow Mountain: Located in Yulong Naxi Autonomous County, Lijiang City, it is the nearest mountain range with year-long snow in the northern hemisphere. The mountain peaks are covered with snow all year round, shining silver in the sun, and the momentum is magnificent. There are scenic spots such as Blue Moon Valley and Ganhaizi. The water of Blue Moon Valley Lake is blue, and the valley is crescent-shaped. From a distance, it looks like a blue moon embedded in the foot of a snowy mountain.
Lugu Lake: Located in Ninglang County, Lijiang City, it is one of the highest lakes in Yunnan and is known as the "Pearl of the Plateau". The lake is clear and blue, surrounded by mountains, and there are many islands with their own characteristics in the lake. You can experience the unique folk culture of the Mosuo people, such as marriage customs.
•Lashihai: Located in Yulong Naxi Autonomous County, it is the first nature reserve named "Wetland" in Yunnan Province. The water and grass are abundant here, and a large number of migratory birds live every year. Here you can ride a horse and walk the tea-horse ancient road again, and enjoy the lake, mountains and pastoral scenery.
Humanistic Monuments
• Lijiang Ancient City: Located in the ancient city area, it is one of the two ancient cities in China that have successfully declared the world cultural heritage with the whole ancient city. The streets in the city are built by mountains and rivers, paved with red breccia, and there are Sifang Street, Mufu, Wufeng Tower and other scenic spots. At night, the ancient city is brightly lit, and the bar street is bustling.
• Shuhe Ancient Town: Shuhe Road in the ancient city area is an important well-preserved market town on the tea-horse ancient road. The architectural style of the ancient town is simple, with ancient stone bridges and clear springs. Compared with the ancient city of Lijiang, it is quieter and quiet, suitable for strolling and feeling the slow life.
• Mufu: Located in Guangyi Street, Dayan Town, the ancient city, it is commonly known as the Tusi Yamen of the Mu family in Lijiang. There is a saying that "there is the Forbidden City in the north and Mufu in the south". The buildings in the house are exquisite, and many cultural relics and works of art are collected, showing the history, culture and architectural art of the Naxi people.
Leisure and entertainment
• Lijiang Ancient Scene Area: On Yuxing West Road, Yulong Naxi Autonomous County, there are various theme areas and amusement facilities in the scenic area. Every day, a large-scale song and dance "Lijiang Eternal Love" will be staged every day. With the historical culture and folk customs of Lijiang as the background, it shows the millennium cultural legend of Lijiang through a wonderful stage performance.
• Lishui Jinsha: Located in the Lishui Ethnic Cultural Exchange Center in the ancient city, it is a large-scale cultural performance that comprehensively reflects the national culture of Lijiang. In the form of dance, poetry and painting, it gathers the national culture and atmosphere of the northwestern Yunnan plateau, and shows the unique and broad national culture and national spirit of Lijiang in an all-round way.
• Dayanhua Lane: Located in Jinhong Road, an ancient city, it is a cedar-themed tourist town. There are Naxi ethnic traditional crafts, special food, etc., as well as many Internet celebrity punching points. In the evening, there are also immersive performing arts activities, allowing tourists to deeply experience Naxi culture.
II. Techniques for shooting the spring snow in Lijiang
When shooting the spring snow in Lijiang, we should take into account the snow scenery and local characteristics. I will share skills from equipment preparation, shooting timing, composition methods, etc. to help you shoot beautiful Lijiang spring snow blockbusters.
Equipment Preparation
• Camera selection: Prioritize digital SLR cameras or micro-single cameras, which can provide better picture quality and rich manual setup options. For example, the Canon 5D series, the Nikon D850, etc., high pixels can clearly capture the details of snow. If you shoot with a mobile phone, you should choose models with good imaging quality and adjustable parameters in professional mode, such as Huawei P series, Apple iPhone series, etc.
• Lens matching: Wide-angle lenses (such as 16-35mm) can be used to shoot the magnificent panorama of Yulong Snow Mountain and the grand scene of the snow scenery of the streets and alleys in the ancient urban area to show the environmental atmosphere. The telephoto lens (70-200mm and above) is suitable for capturing snow and close-ups of distant mountain branches, and blurred background highlights the main body. The standard lens (50mm) can present a natural perspective, shoot humanistic scenes, such as pedestrians walking in the snow, and restore the realism.
• Auxiliary equipment: carry a tripod to keep the camera stable when the light is dim, and take a clear slow door snow scene, such as snowflake falling trajectory, flowing water and snow blending pictures. Polarizers can eliminate snow reflection, enhance color saturation, and make the snow whiter and the sky bluer. Snow scenery on the background of Yulong Snow Mountain will be more eye-catching. In addition, when you have a spare battery, low temperature will greatly reduce battery life and ensure continuous power in shooting.
Shooting time
• Early morning and evening: The light is soft and the color temperature is low during these two periods, which can dye the snow scene with warm colors and create a unique atmosphere. In the early morning, Yulong Snow Mountain is magnificent against the golden morning light and snow; in the evening, the afterglow is sprinkled on the ancient city architecture and snow, and the picture is full of poetry.
• When the snow is falling: At this time, snowflakes are flying, and dynamic snowflakes can be captured. Set the shutter speed to more than 1/250 seconds to freeze the moment the snowflakes fall; you can also try the slow shutter below 1/30 seconds to capture the snowflake drawing effect, such as shooting on the streets of the ancient city, to add the beauty of flexibility.
• Early sunny after snow: Under the sunlight, the snow reflects strongly, and the texture and color of the snow are brighter. When shooting the Blue Moon Valley at this time, the blue lake water and white snow reflect each other, and the picture is pure and amazing.
Composition Methodology
• Foreground composition: Use the snow-covered potted plants on the streets of the ancient city, the eaves and corners of ancient buildings as the foreground to increase the sense of layering and space of the picture. For example, take a snow-covered spring flower as the foreground to shoot the snowy mountains in the distance, highlighting the characteristics of spring snow.
•Symmetric composition: There are many symmetrical buildings in Lijiang, such as some traditional courtyards. Taking the central axis as the benchmark, symmetrical shooting of the buildings in the snow scene can show a solemn and stable beauty and reflect the charm of the ancient city architecture.
•Guide line composition: line elements such as bluestone slab road and plank road of Yulong Snow Mountain in the ancient city can guide the audience's sight to the main body of the picture. Shooting along the winding slate road, there is a snow-covered pavilion at the end, attracting the attention of the audience and enhancing the attraction of the picture.
• White composition: As a white area, a large area of white snow is decorated with a small number of subjects, such as a child playing in the snow. The concise picture highlights the main body and creates a ethereal artistic conception.
Parameter setting
• Exposure compensation: The snow is white, and the camera light measurement is easy to make the picture underexposure. Usually, 1-2 gear exposure compensation needs to be added to make the snow present a white and pure effect. However, it should be flexibly adjusted according to the actual light and subject.
• Shutter speed: Take a static snow scene, and the shutter speed can be about 1/125 seconds to ensure that the picture is clear. To shoot dynamic snowflakes, it needs to be increased to more than 1/250 seconds; to shoot slow-door snow scenes, such as flowing streams and snow, the shutter speed can be set to 1-30 seconds, and the water flow is blurred, in contrast to static snow.
•Aperture size: Large aperture (such as f/2.8 - f/4) is suitable for shooting close-ups, blurred background highlighting the subject, such as shooting branch snow. The small aperture (f/8 - f/16) can increase the depth of field and make the picture clear from front to back, which is suitable for shooting large scenes, such as the panorama of Yulong Snow Mountain.
• Sensitivity (ISO): When the light is sufficient, use low ISO (such as ISO 100 - ISO 200) as much as possible to ensure the delicate picture quality. When the light is dark, the ISO can be appropriately raised, but it should not be too high to avoid noise affecting the image quality.
Safety of equipment use
•Battery warmth: Low temperature will cause the battery power of the camera to drop rapidly. The backup battery can be stored close to maintain the battery temperature with the human body temperature. Take the shooting gap, take the camera battery out and put it in your pocket to keep warm, and then replace it if necessary to avoid the shooting due to insufficient battery power.
• Equipment moisture-proof: The air and humidity are high on snowy days. When the camera enters the warm room from a cold outdoor, the lens and fuselage are prone to water vapor condensation. You can prepare a sealed plastic bag. Before entering the room, put the camera in the bag and seal it. When the camera temperature is close to the indoor temperature, it will be removed to prevent water vapor from causing damage to the equipment.
•Prevent the device from dropping: When shooting with a handheld camera, be sure to hold the camera tightly, especially in places where the terrain is fluctuated and the roads are slippery. When using a tripod, make sure that the tripod is stable and placed on flat and solid ground to prevent equipment from falling and damaged by wind blowing or collision.
III. Travel safety
• Road conditions understanding: Spring snow may cause snow and freezing on the road. Before traveling, be sure to know the road conditions going to the shooting location through traffic broadcasts, relevant APPs or information released by the local traffic police department. For high-altitude areas such as going to Yulong Snow Mountain and Ninglang County, roads are prone to slippery and difficult to walk due to snow and ice. Know the road conditions in advance, and reasonably plan the route to avoid delays due to road closure or congestion.
• Vehicle preparation: If you drive by yourself, install an anti-skid chain to the vehicle in advance, enhance the friction between the tires and the ground, and prevent the vehicle from skidding. Check the antifreeze, oil, brake and other systems of the vehicle to ensure the normal operation of the vehicle in a low temperature environment. At the same time, prepare emergency supplies, such as anti-skid mats, shovels, first aid kits, etc., in case of emergency.
• Public transportation choice: priority is given to public transportation. The driver is experienced, familiar with road conditions, and the vehicle is equipped with the necessary anti-skid equipment, which is relatively safe. During the ride, fasten your seat belt and abide by the riding order.
• Anti-skid and anti-fall: The ground is wet and slippery on a snowy day. Whether it is on the bluestone slab road in the ancient city or the plank road of Yulong Snow Mountain, you should slow down when walking and walk forward to avoid running and jumping. It is recommended to wear snow boots with deep lines and good non-slip performance to reduce the risk of slipping.
•Prevent avalanche risk: When shooting in Yulong Snow Mountain and other mountainous areas, be especially wary of the danger of avalanche. Do not enter undeveloped and unsecured areas, and strictly follow the tour routes and shooting areas designated by the scenic spots. Pay attention to the warning signs of the scenic spot. In case of bad weather, such as strong winds and blizzards, you should be evacuated to a safe area in time. Don't be greedy for the snow scene and continue to shoot.
• Cold and warmth: The temperature in Lijiang is low during the spring snow, and it is very important to take cold and warmth measures. Wear thick and warm down jackets, warm trousers, and wear hats, scarves and gloves to avoid prolonged exposure to cold environments to prevent frostbite. At the same time, bring a thermos cup with you, drink hot water in time, and keep your body calories.
• Prevention of drowning hazard: When shooting snow scenes in blue moon valley and other waters, pay attention to the wet and slippery lakeside, which may be icy. Never walk or shoot near the ice to prevent falling into the water. During the shooting process, keep a safe distance from the edge of the water to ensure your own safety.