At the foot of the Haba Snow Mountain is the mysterious White Field, also called Baishui Terrace, birthplace of the Naxi ethnic minority Dongba Culture. Amid the mountains is a stretch of crystal terrace -- the largest area of sinter terrace in China. Spring water flows down from the mountain, leaving crystallized sodium carbonate along its slopes, giving the impression of a marble sculpture. Among the green mountains it forms a startling white contrast. A spring gushes down from the mountain summit, and flows downward, and local people call it "a field left by fairies." On the eighth day of the second lunar month, when the mountains surrounding Baishui Terrace are festooned with flower blossoms, the Naxi people come to worship this sacred site. Dressed in their holiday best, they sing and dance to celebrate this ethnic festival.

The Lancang River, flanked by the Yunling and Nushan Mountains, flows torrentially from north to south. Most people know this river from Xishuangbanna, where its course is wide and the current flows gently enough for the Dai people to cross or transport goods by boat. After entering Myanmar, the Lancang becomes known as the Mekong River, which also flows through Vietnam, Laos and Thailand before emptying into the Indian Ocean. River rafting in this "Three Rivers Flowing Side by Side" area, with its high mountains, deep gullies, great drops and torrential currents, is impossible. The Baimang Snow Mountain -- a transitional area between the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Hengduan Mountains separating the Jinsha and Lancang rivers -- has more than 20 snow-capped peaks, all more than 5,000 meters above sea level. The distance from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the valley is more than 3,500 meters, and its vertical distribution of vegetation coverage has given it the name "kingdom of alpine plants." The state has designated the area a national nature reserve. It is a sanctuary for 80 endangered species, such as the lesser panda, cinereous vulture, snow leopard, blood pheasant, Tibetan-eared pheasant, sunbird and Yunnan golden monkey.

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