Baishuitai is a series of limestone travertines around 108km southeast of Shangri-la, with some breathtaking scenery and Tibetan villages en route. For good reason it has become the most popular back-door route between Lijiang and Shangri-la. The terraces – think of those in Pamukkale in Turkey or Huanglong in Sichuan – are lovely, but keep in mind it's a long trip for a small site.
A couple of guesthouses in the village have rooms from ?50. From Shangri-la there is one daily bus to Baishuitai at 9.40am (?24, three hours), or several buses per week from Lijiang (?60, four hours) which also pick up from Tiger Leaping Gorge and Haba guesthouses along the way.