Songtsam Lodge Cizhong is the Songtsam group's only winery lodge, at the top of Cizhong village in the Lancang (Upper Mekong) valley of Deqin, 2,200m up, looking across the vines to the village's French mission church. Rebuilt from 10 to 26 rooms and reopened in August 2025, every room with a balcony over the gorge, it has its own winery with a cellar and tasting room, two restaurants, a lobby bar, a book lounge and a terrace.
Songtsam Lodge Cizhong (松赞茨中山居) is the Songtsam group's only winery lodge — four stone-and-timber buildings at the top of Cizhong village, 2,200m up in the Lancang (Upper Mekong) valley and warm enough for vines and walnuts. The French mission that brought the grapes rebuilt its church across the vineyard after 1905, Gothic outside with Chinese eaves, and most of the village is still Catholic. Rebuilt from 10 to 26 balconied rooms and reopened in August 2025, the lodge has its own winery with a cellar and tasting room, two restaurants, a lobby bar, a book lounge and a terrace over the gorge.
Highlights
- The only winery lodge in the Songtsam group — a fermentation hall, cellar and tasting room beside the lobby, and its own Chardonnay
- Cizhong's French mission church across the vineyard, Gothic outside with Chinese eaves, rebuilt after 1905 and a national heritage site since 2006
- Rose Honey (玫瑰蜜), the grape the missionaries brought, still grown and made into wine in the village
- Rebuilt from 10 to 26 rooms and reopened in August 2025, in grape purple and earth yellow by Qi Shanshan of Studio Qi
- Every room has a balcony over the Lancang gorge — Deluxe rooms of 44–52m², family rooms of 90–114m² and a 67m² suite
- A warm valley at 2,200m, vines and walnut trees along the river, and the Nanjiluo lakes in the Biluo range above
Inside Songtsam Lodge Cizhong
Staying at Songtsam Lodge Cizhong
01 Where is Songtsam Lodge Cizhong and how do I get there?
It's at the top of Cizhong village in Yanmen township, Deqin county, on the west bank of the Lancang (Upper Mekong) at about 2,200m — low and warm by Deqin standards, which is why vines and walnuts grow here where the plateau grows barley. The road in follows the gorge: about three hours down the Lancang from Feilai Si and Meili Snow Mountain, or about four hours over the ridges from Tacheng to the south. The church is a short walk downhill from the lodge.
02 What are the rooms like?
There are 26, in two main types — Deluxe rooms and suites — and every one has an open balcony over the valley. Most are Deluxe rooms of 44–52m² with a king bed or twins; the others are family rooms of 90–114m² and a 67m² Deluxe king suite. The palette is the winery's — purple walls, gold velvet curtains, leather and dark timber — with black-and-white photographs taken by Western explorers in the Republican era on the walls, and heating, a minibar, robes and a bath or shower in every room.
03 Who is this stay best for?
Travellers who want the Lancang valley's wine story from the inside — a cellar tour and tasting at the lodge, its home-made wine and the village's Rose Honey, and at harvest the chance to pick grapes with the villagers — and anyone drawn to Cizhong itself, a Tibetan, Naxi and Lisu village that still goes to Mass at weekends. Walkers use it as the base for the Nanjiluo lakes in the Biluo range above the village. It is the natural night between Feilai Si and Tacheng on the Lancang road.
