The Once Popular Mingyong Glacier Beneath the Meili Snow Mountain
The first seven images were captured in May 1998, using negative film; the subsequent four were taken between 2004-2006, using digital photography.
In recent years, the Mingyong Glacier seems to have faded from the collective memory; very few now mention it, and it has been over a decade since my last visit. As Yubeng has experienced a surge in popularity, the Mingyong Glacier has gradually waned in prominence.
More than a decade ago, a visit to the Meili Snow Mountain was invariably coupled with a trip to the Mingyong Glacier. The itinerary usually consisted of spending a night at Feilai Temple, beholding the golden illumination of the mountains at dawn, and then driving (or chartering a ride) down to the Lancang River Valley towards Mingyong Village. Here, one would ride a horse up to the glacier. In the afternoon, travelers would return via Feilai Temple, spending another night if they had not yet seen the mountain peaks, or pressing on, crossing the Baima Snow Mountain at dusk and arriving at Benzilan for the night, a place lower in altitude with abundant dining options and warmer temperatures. Now, Benzilan is no longer a popular stop, as a well-maintained road renders the journey to Shangri-La a mere hour.
The Mingyong Glacier was once renowned. The Meili Snow Mountain is home to numerous glaciers, such as the Mingyong, Sinong, and Yagong glaciers. Of these, the Mingyong Glacier beneath the main peak of Kawagebo is the largest, longest, and descends to the lowest elevation, making it the largest in all of Yunnan province. The glacier was named Mingyong Glacier (or “Mingyong Qia” in Tibetan) after the village below.
The glaciers beneath the Meili Snow Mountain are all low-latitude, tropical, monsoon-influenced, and maritime modern glaciers. They possess a low snow line, with warmer temperatures, and melt quickly, relying on the melting of snow and rainfall. As a result, they move quickly, with the Mingyong Glacier being the prime example. The lowest extent of the Mingyong Glacier is at an altitude of just over 2600 meters. This means that climbing approximately 400 meters above Mingyong Village would allow one to touch the glacier.
In 1998, during my first visit to the Mingyong Glacier, which had just opened as a tourist attraction, visitors were still permitted to walk directly on the glacier's surface. The icy tongues were serrated, with numerous deep, bottomless crevices. Everyone had to tread carefully, as falling into a crevice would make rescue very difficult. The Tibetan guides leading us onto the glacier wore long coils of rope around their bodies. As the sun rose, the temperature increased, causing the glacier to melt. One could hear and even witness “ice avalanches”—enormous masses of ice collapsing and shifting, generating a thunderous roar with ice and snow scattering, a truly awe-inspiring phenomenon.
Later, for reasons of safety and environmental protection, visitors were no longer allowed to tread upon the ice itself. Instead, one could only view the glacier from an observation deck located on a nearby slope.
Until around 2010, visitors would park their cars at a large parking area above the village (at an elevation of 2200 meters), and then choose to ride a horse or hike up the mountain. At the time, a few hundred mules and horses were available to transport tourists, and sometimes a single mule or horse would make three or four trips a day. Consequently, Mingyong Village was the wealthiest village in Deqin County. Now, it is said that electric shuttle buses are used to transport visitors to an altitude of over 2600 meters, where the well-known Prince Temple is located. Tourists may also continue to climb the well-maintained steps to the highest point at 3100 meters, where the Lotus Temple sits.
