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Published: March 18th 2008
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Day two in Lijiang and the sun was shining once again, it's a good day to be me!
Lijiang is famous for it's monumental Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (Yulong Xueshan) I hadn't seen it yesterday but was told it is easily viewable from all parts of Lijiang. Where was it then I was asking myself? A short walk into town and a turn around a corner and there it was it all it's glory, very impressive!
The Irish guy had also told me it was possible to go up the mountain via a series of chairlifts to a staggeringly high 4506m. However getting there seemed to be a problem. Small mini vans were more than willing to take us there but only if we would part with a small fortune. We'd also heard that ticket prices to the mountain (why anyone should have to pay is beyond me) had been subject to some rather large price hikes and the cheapest was around 280rmb! No amount of haggling it seemed was going to change anyone's mind. The guide book stated it was 80 rmb to get in and where was the mysterious number 7 bus to take us there? Another example of Chinese tourism cashing in.
A little frustrated but not deterred we surveyed the landscape and decided it surely couldn't be that far to the base of the mountain. I guess that's one of the things about mountains though, they look close when you are miles away and they don't seem to get any closer the nearer to get to them.
We hired a couple of bikes and headed directly for it. Having cycled through barren almost desert like terrain against vicious head winds for what seem like ages we didn't seem to be getting any closer. An hour or so later and totally exhausted we reached what seemed to be the foot of the mountain, yet there was no sign of any chairlifts. The chances of going further or for that matter higher didn't enter our minds and we decided to follow the road around as I'd read about a couple of small villages nearby. Even though we didn't make it up the mountain the views from the bottom were awesome.
I've always admired people who climb mountains and yet at the same time looked at them as if they are slightly crazy. I'm talking about climbing here too not just walking up but scaling these things. I can see what drives people to do it. It's almost like the the mountain is saying "come on, have a go if you think you can!"
After a disastrous lunch where we were served "mountain chicken" apparently the only variety of chicken to be made entirely of bones and completely void of any meat it was time to get back in the saddle and head for Baisha.
Before hitting Baisha I passed through another small village which has been untouched by tourism and you could get a real sense of how local people lived. Baisha itself is a smaller less crowded version of Lijiang. Located on the plain north just north of the city it's how I imagined Lijiang to be many many years ago. It was here that I encountered an all familiar problem. How to deal with the situation of taking pictures of people? It's a tricky subject but you meet so many interesting people that sometimes you do just want to stop and take a quick snap. I've always believed you should ask and that's what I did when I stumbled across an interesting group of old men sitting in front of a shop. I asked and they gladly agreed, but not content with that they picked up their traditional Chinese instruments and started to play while one of the men turned around a sign to reveal an English introduction. I dropped my donation in the basket but before I could leave one of them beckoned me into the shop and presented me with an instrument and a stool to sit on. It now seemed I too was part of the band! I played on whilst some other people passed and took photos, then it was handshakes all around and I was off on my way again.
The last stop on a very very long bike ride was the old town of Shude He, or also known as the "Land of Springs" It's a terrific little place but it most certainly hasn't escaped the ongoing development of the area and construction was everywhere. Nevertheless the 30rmb entrance was definitely worth it as it gives you a real chance to see the Naxi culture without the crowds of Lijiang. So as the tour buses flocked in I made my escape and headed back to Lijiang.
I booked an early morning bus journey to Shangri-la so it was another early night for me and the end of Lijiang for now. As I said I will be back sometime next week for one final look around but that's all for now.
Next stop for me the nearest and best thing if you can't get to Tibet, Shangri-la.
Some Lijiang photos can be seen at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=43567&l=7eacc&id=665850931
But it's still slow uploading!
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