A beautiful flight along the south-eastern ridge of the Tibet plateau! That I missed by forgetting to choose a seat on time … I had to take small peaks on the opposite window, while being frustrated all the time :D
The flight left Chengdu Shuangliu Airport on-time and quickly gained altitude. The flight path takes you along the Eastern Tibet mountain ranges and summit views such as Mount Gongga (7556m) and Mount Siguniangshan (6232m) are common views for those departing from CTU and heading to Tibet and/or Yunnan. Winter time (November-March) is usually the best time to get such views.
Since this is a very short flight (about an hour), no service is offered: a simple bottle of water awaits the passenger in each seat. The views are usually stunning: the high Eastern Tibetan mountains in the north, the deep and dry ravines & valleys of Southern Sichuan under the wings. It gives the traveler a good overview of the challenging geography of the province.
Since I had no window seat, I am unable to provide photos of the above mentioned landscapes. I however got the rare opportunity to take photos of the flight path & local area map, in Tibetan, as Tibet Airlines uses three languages to display information (the crew, when speaking, however only uses two: Chinese and English). The Tibetan alphabet is used among a very (!) few airlines: Bhutanese Airlines & Tibet Airlines. It is thus, with Hebrew writing, one of the least alphabets used in aviation.
The descent is equally interesting: one can see the Jade Snow Mountain (Yulong Snow Mountain) and Haba Snow Mountain, shortly before landing. The airport is located about 30km, south from Lijiang downtown. Shortly after landing, our aircraft reached the gate and we all disembarked fast. Our luggage came within a short time, as it usually is the case in Lijiang Airport.
Passengers can then take a shuttle bus or a taxi to reach Lijiang Old Town.
