Lijiang, China – October 26-28, 2010

We had an early flight from Kunming and arrived in Lijiang around 10 a.m. Our guide met us and, because it was beautiful and sunny, we immediately decided to change our agenda for the day and do our second day’s agenda instead. It turned out to be a wise decision.

The drive from the airport was rather long but we went from the airport, through the city, and then on to a small village closer to the mountains. We walked through the village streets – all two of them – and went to a local open air restaurant where even the dogs were waiting to greet us, although they were probably more interested in the food. All along the streets were small shops with local wares for sale: embroidery, fruit and vegetables, wood carvings, copper and iron work, and many other offerings. The merchandise was nice but some of it was quite crude and simple compared to the bigger cities. However, it seemed to always have been done by the person selling it, which was nice.

We also went to the embroidery school. Unfortunately we got there at their lunch time so the students were not around. However, the pieces they were working on were available to see and the teacher gave us a brief introduction. The one piece being worked on by the master was very fine silk on silk and it was absolutely beautiful. It was also reversible and had a different picture on each side. There were finished products in the classroom and we were impressed with them. Then we went into the main sales area and the pieces were exquisite. If I’d had a few thousand dollars to spare I would love to have purchased several items. Some of the works took over two years to complete and the detailing was incredible. I don’t imagine the artists would ever get rich from selling their work but hopefully they are able to make a good living. It is definitely detailed work and I know I couldn’t do it even for a little while, let alone work on one piece for two years!

After leaving the village we drove for another hour to get to the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain National Park. We then got on a park bus and drove up to the start of the gondola lift – a 30 minute drive. Now this was no ordinary drive as it was continual switchbacks on a not-so-wide road with traffic moving in both directions (but luckily not much) and the occasional cow, sheep or goat herd trying to cross at the most inconvenient times. And I mustn’t forget that there were places where the road was obviously deteriorating at the edge and we were climbing continually so the valley bottom was a long way down. I found that if I concentrated on the view and not the road, I did much better. And the view was spectacular – farmlands, villages, forests, fields, other mountains. And speaking of mountains I bet the one we were heading to was on every side and end of the bus a dozen times over the trip, and a whole lot of the time we couldn’t even see it.

The gondola ride was really just a chair lift with 120 chairs and for 20 minutes we climbed up the hillside and down the next valley and then back up again. It was a beautiful ride with lots of excellent views of neighbouring mountain ranges, valleys and farmland, and the mountains above. The fall colours also added to the scene.

At the end of the gondola ride we were at yak meadow and we certainly hoped to see some yaks. I did spot a couple in the distance but that was it. I guess they are further down the valley at this time of year. We had 40 minutes to walk around the meadow on the walkway so we made use of our time. The views of the mountain were great but the summit was always in a cloud so no great pictures from this vantage point.

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is over 18,000 feet high and is in the south part of the Himalayas. It has a snow cap and glaciers year round but like everywhere else, the glaciers are quickly melting and this is a concern for the people of Lijiang as all their water comes from the mountain streams. The Yangtze River even gets its start here. Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is very high in comparison to the other mountains that surround it so it stands out like a beautiful beacon and can be seen from quite a distance. It has several high peaks and a fan effect on the side. The mountain was formed by the clashing of the Eurasian and Indian plates causing an upheaval of the land. The core of the mountain is marble but much of it is sandstone and very unstable. As a result the summit has never been reached. I believe the guide said it was the fourth highest mountain in the world.

The National Park exists to protect the plants and animals of the area. Joseph Rock (?) of the National Geographic made the area famous with his photos and one of these was used as the poster for the moving Shangri-La. The Chinese town of Shangri-La is not far from this location. The base of the mountain and yak meadow is basically the same altitude as Tibet but there are no health or oxygen concerns as the air in this area has more oxygen because of all the vegetation, according to our local guide. Although I knew vegetation produced oxygen, I personally did not know that extra vegetation would make that much of a difference.

The ride back down the gondola was great and provided even more wonderful views. And the bus ride down the rest of the way wasn’t as bad as I had expected, mainly because it was the end of the day so there were no buses going up to meet us along the way. However, I think the cows and goats crossing the road may have made up for the lack of buses. Near the end of our bus ride we stopped by the lake and it was another beautiful sight. From the one side of the road there is a waterfall and then a lake, then another waterfall and another lake, and so on for quite a while but I’m not sure how many lakes. The colour of the water was a gorgeous green in the first lake so we were all out snapping pictures.

When we got back on the bus to continue our journey we had to cross over the bridge and waterfall, and on the other side of the road there were layered pools of water that looked like they were separated by calcium barriers. There were people in some of the pools and animals in some of the others – even some yaks. I don’t know what the area was called but it was a wonderful area with lots of beautiful sights. And from there we continued our journey on our own tour bus back into town and to our hotel.

Our hotel is not the fanciest we’ve had but the location is fantastic. It is right at the edge of the old town of Lijiang and we spent a lot of our time there. We had dinner the first night at one of the local restaurants. The second day we had lunch at another local restaurant and then took a tour around the back streets and alleys. Later on we had dinner at another of the many restaurants. Breakfasts were at our hotel.

The old town is not a walled city. They didn’t feel they needed the wall since they had mountains all around and were protected that way. 30,000 people live in the old town and 2-4 generations all live in one house. There were many gates off the side streets and these led to their homes. Most had a courtyard in the middle and rooms around the courtyard for living quarters. They were not large but they were certainly acceptable. The residential alleys did not look like much as they were mainly white walls on both sides and just a gate every so often. However, the commercial part of town made up for it.

In front of our hotel is a garden and waterfall, then a high wall with wonderful designs on it obviously telling the story of the people of the area. At the end of the wall was the notation from UNESCO declaring the old city of Lijiang a world heritage site and I can certainly understand why. Two water wheels are positioned right at this point as well and all the water for the old city flows from this area and through various channels in the old city and beyond. All along the channels are stone walkways and off the walkways are continual shops, restaurants and bars. One could walk the streets for hours and never see it all. And there were flowers everywhere along the walkways and water channels and in the squares. And all the buildings are the old Chinese pagoda style buildings, which are lit up at night. There are also decorative lanterns and street lights throughout the area. It was absolutely beautiful wherever you looked and we were all continually snapping pictures.

But somehow I have my day out of order. We started our second day by visiting the Black Dragon Pool and the beautiful park around it. The Black Dragon Pool had bridges across it, pagodas around and in it, beautiful flowers and gardens and stone work, and is renowned for being the best place to get a perfect reflection of Jade Dragon snow Mountain. Well, this morning it was cloudy and there was no reflection of the mountain in the water but the water and the park were still wonderful. We probably spent 1.5 hours just walking around the park at a leisurely pace enjoying the scenery and relaxing atmosphere.

At one point as I walked down the path along the lake with a couple of other people from the group, I saw someone who looked familiar. I took a second look and then said “Moe?”, and sure enough he turned around. Moe was the President of the CGA’s in BC and I think he is now the Executive Director so I know him through work at the College. He and his wife are on a private tour in China for four weeks. I ran into them again later in the old town as we were heading in opposite directions down the shopping street. The meeting was just proof once again that it’s a small world.

At the end of the park is the Museum of Naxi Dongba Culture. The Naxi (pronounced Na-she) are the local ethnic group. There are over 20 ethnic groups in the area with a total population of 330,000 with more than 60% being Naxi. The museum talked about the history of the Naxi, their language and culture. It was all very interesting but I need more time to get through everything. Their art work is fantastic with everything from calligraphy hangings to jade sculptures to jewelry to paintings. They have a spoken and written language. Many of the ethnic groups only have a spoken language but not a written one. The Naxi written language is very much like pictures that tell a story. For example a man is simply a stick figure and a woman is a stick figure with long hair. Hieroglyphics show that the written language has been around for a long time. The Naxi have shaman or priests who are always males and they are the ones who carry on the written language. The ordinary people cannot read or write the language. Their religion is nature based and they also use totems and have totem poles, much like the North American Indians.

The Naxi society was matriarchal with the women making the money for the family and making the decisions. According to our local guide the men did not work but were considered artists who did basically five things: think, smoke, drink, play games, and some form of art (carving, music, etc.). At 16 a girl got her own room and could entertain male guests at night if she wished. Any babies born to the girl were raised by the women. The men were considered uncles only. There were no marriages as we know them. These arrangements were considered walking or visiting marriages where the couple came together at night but went their separate ways during the day.

Their clothing varies by where the people live. The mountain people wear layers of heavier cotton clothing and goat leather capes, all of which is not necessarily colourful. Those in the valley wear lighter fabrics and brighter colours. If a female wears a headdress with flowers on it she is available. If there is jade on the headdress she is not available. The ladies in the old town were always beautifully dressed. The younger ones generally wore the brighter colours while the older ladies were more reserved in their choice of colour. One group of people was doing a dance presentation in one of the squares this afternoon. The ladies seemed to have lighter fabrics on while the men were in darker colours. There were also some men on horseback dressed in traditional costumes and theirs looked darker and heavier. Our guide told us this was the wild west of China and the horsemen certainly looked the part.

Lijiang and the surrounding area borders Tibet, Vietnam and Laos. The area is a highland of 8,000 feet or higher surrounded by mountains. Lijiang is on the old Silk Road and on the South Silk Road or Tea Horse Road. The history of the area goes back over 800 years and is centered in the old town. Their main diet was yak meat, butter and cheese with few vegetables. Tea was the main drink and it cleaned the fat from their systems and provided vitamins. Now the diet is much more balanced with fruits and vegetables as well as meat and dairy products. They grow tobacco, canola, corn and other products. Rice is grown in the southern part of the valley and they can harvest three crops a year. They grow flowers year round and 80% of China’s flowers come from this area. They have mild winters and cool summers so can grow flowers year round, which probably accounts for the fact that there are so many beautiful flowers around right now at the end of October. The streets in the new part of the city are all tree lined and often with beautifully trimmed weeping willows on each side of the street. Their streets are definitely narrower than some of the larger cities so the willows and other trees make the streets seem even greener.

The countryside is very fertile and green. There are often small fields of crops scattered across the landscape. And there are trees and shrubs and flowers anywhere where there isn’t farmland. The changing colours added even more colour to the overall picture. There is lots of fresh water and many waterfalls. The valleys are beautiful with small villages and fields everywhere. The soil is red and that also adds to the colour of the landscape. The homes are made from stone and from bricks, often mud bricks, as the bricks gather heat from the sun to heat the buildings.

This area is definitely one that should be explored in more detail. Everything we saw was wonderful and I would have loved more time to experience all of it. And there is so much we didn’t see that one really should spend at least a week here, not just a couple of days.