Hu Si Tea House International Youth Hostel

Lijiang Lugu Lake Husi Teahouse International Youth Hostel is located in Luoshui Village, right beside the dock of the lake, on a perfect place to enjoy the lake view. Starting operation in 1998, the hostel has been recommended by Lonely Planet, and has been introduced on numerous travel magazines from both home and abroad.

While staying here you are not only surrounded by magnificent nature, but also by unique culture. The Mosuo people of Lugu Lake are the only existing matriarchal clan society in China. One of their distinguishing features is walking marriage. Our hostel has a typical Mosuo courtyard and Mosuo Grandmothers House which is graved in a gorgeous way.

The hostel is a 3-story wooden building near the lake. Inside the delicately carved "Zumu House" (where normally lives the matriarch of a Mosuo family), you can learn more about the Mosuo culture while sitting beside the fire pit and drinking buttered tea. In the courtyard there is a comfortable glass house. Bathed in the afternoon sunlight, surrounded by wooden bookshelves and chairs, you can have a cup of tea, read a book, chat with others or just stay idle. If you really need to connect with the world, there are also computers. But while the watchful head of the Mosuo goddess - mountain Gemmu is visible on the other side of the lake, you can forget about time and enjoy a spiritual journey. At night, staring at the starry sky through the glass, you can blend yourself into the tranquility of nature. The ever present silent waves of the lake seem to be whispering unknown stories.

The host of the hostel, a straightforward and sincere man who is living his dream, brings the ideas of self-service, environmental protection and communication to the Husi Teahouse, making it a real hostel.

Though renting a car is the simplest and the most convenient way to travel around the lake, it is definitely not the first recommendation from the host. He would suggest you hiking or getting a ride along your way, slowing down your pace and fully adopting into the natural rhythm of the lake. Areas further away from the lake are natural treasures, sometimes very rarely walked on. He can provide advices or guides. The hostel is also connected with a group of volunteers who are helping poor students from the area to go studying. It is possible to arrange traveling with those volunteers, and if you have a kind heart, you can donate something small for their benefit.

Life is full of beauties that can be discovered only through your heart and you can always find your surprise with an observant mind.