The Great Moon Bend of Yangtze River in Deqin County, Diqing

Attraction Overview

Also called the Moon Bay, the bend is 15 km north of Benzilan Township of Deqin County. Jinsha River, the upper reach of the Yangtze River, is blocked by mountains on its way southward, and a hairpin turn has thus been formed as a natural wonder.

Attraction Type: River

Chinese Name: 金沙江大拐弯(Pinyin: Jinshajiang Daguaiwan)

Best Time to Visit: Spring, Autumn

Recommended Visiting Time: 1-2 Hours

Open Hours: All Day

Admission Fee: CNY 30

Altitude: around 2,000 meters

Location: at the junction of Pengzilan town of Deqin(Yunnan Province) and Zigeng Township of Derong County(Sichuan Province)

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Why is The Great Moon Bend of Yangtze River So Special?

Also called the Great Bend of Jinsha River, it is one of the top 40 landscapes in China. Jinsha River, the upper reach of the Yangtze River, is blocked by mountains on its way southward, running around the pyramid-like Rizhui peak and forming a beautiful U turn as a natural wonder. A panoramic view from the observation platform on the hill makes one feel relaxed and happy.

Where is The Great Moon Bend of Yangtze River – Location

The bend is 15 km north of Benzilan Township of Deqin County, between Deqin County in Yunnan and Derong County in Ganzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture, Sichuan.

How to Get There?

At the Shangri-la Passenger Station there is a scheduled bus running to Benzilan Town. While rent a car getting there is the best way. Yunnan Exploration can provide car-rental service for you with the best skilled driver and good vehicle.

Best Positions to View The Great Moon Bend of Yangtze River

The view platform for the Moon-shaped Bend of Jinsha River is the best position to see the whole bend. There are some free view poingt along the roadside while you can only see half of the bend.

The Moon-shaped Bend of Jinsha River in Deqin County, Diqing

Best Time to Go

Spring and Autumn are the best seasons to visit the bend for the clear water. Summer is the rainy season of Yunnan province and the color of the river is yellow which is not recommended.

Attractions Nearby

Dongzhulin Monastery
Built in 1667 and located in Benzilan Town of Deqin, Dongzhulin Monastery is the largest one of the three Gelu Sect monasteries in Deqin County and one of the religious cultural activity centers in Kangnan District. With orderly-distributing architecture complex, the lofty monastery can be mistakenly deemed a town when looked from the distance.

Baima Snow Mountain
Baima Snow Mountain National Nature Reserve is located at the south-eastern part of Deqin County of Diqing Tibetan autonomous prefecture, northwest of Yunnan province. It’s high in the north and low in the south, in the transitional zone between Qinghai-Tibet plateau and Yunnan-Guizhou plateau. It is the largest national nature reserve for protecting Yunnan golden monkey in China. The main objects of protection are alpine coniferous forest, mountain vertical vegetation landscape and Yunnan golden monkey.

Feilaisi Monastery
Feilai temple, the best place to watch goden peaks of Meili mountain at sunrise. So if u plan to watch sunrise, it’s absolutely a good idea to live at Feilai temple the night before. But actually it is unusual to see the goden peaks. The peaks of the mountains are often surrounded with clouds due to the high altitude they are. And this makes more interestings for Meili. There’s a kind of saying that, if any Japanese appears in this area then people can’t see the golden peaks that day. This is because Japanese are not welcomed by Tibetan people. Yes, they hate Japan and Japanese, just like people in notheast of China.

Meili Snow Mountain
Meili Snow Mountain is one of the most sacred mountains of Tibetan Buddhism. In the 1930s, they were praised by American scholars as the most beautiful mountains in the world. Meili Snow Mountain boasts numerous snow-clad ridges and peaks, thirteen of which are more than 6,000 meters above the sea level. The highest peak Kawagebo, which rises to 6,740 metres, has never been summited.