Relaxing in Lijiang and Baisha

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After deciding to stay on the bus at Tiger Leaping Gorge we continued to drive through to Lijiang which added another two hours onto our day. We had visited Lijiang in 2005 so was familiar with the general layout of the city. It was however, like all Chinese cities we had previously visited, so much larger than we remembered. Lijiang has as it's backdrop the impressive slopes of Yulong Xue Shan, usually totally capped in ice and snow, but looking devoid of both when we arrived in the city. We had seen it's icy slopes on the opposite side of the mountain though on the bus trip earlier in the day.
Lijiang's old town is the original capital of the Naxi people, a group of Tibetans who moved to this region of Yunnan in the thirteenth century. Today it is has become the model for the redevelopment of 'old' towns right across China. It is a very busy, though also very pretty, town now totally dependent on tourism.

We caught a taxi (7 yuan) from the bus station to the entrance square of the old town (Dayan) where I left Jerry with the luggage in Grass Market Square (close to the entrance)and began to search for a hotel room. Over an hour later I arrived back nearly in tears - I had been treated so rudely by most hotel reception staff - in fact at one hotel I was yelled at and nearly forcibly removed from the foyer. Other hotels wanted outrageous prices for rooms - far more than they were worth even in Lijiang. A couple of hotels had rooms they were prepared to offer me but I suddenly realised I probably wouldn't find my way back to them easily with Jerry. The old town is pedestrianised and is a mess of tiny interweaving lanes and canals. There are also over 700 hotels in these streets - most are within courtyards and all have entrance gates which nearly look identical. When I met up again with Jerry I told him I'd had enough and he could find a room - just then I looked up and saw a row of chandeliers going up a corridor opposite us and realised it was a small inn. Jerry went in and soon came out with a grin - he had found us a room at the Water Town Inn on Grass Market Square (so easy to find if you want a good hotel). A really big room (with hot water, great bed, lounge area, intermittent wifi and lovely staff) for 180 yuan a night. The day suddenly improved immensely. The staff were really lovely there as the next day they did all our washing for us and wouldn't take any money for doing it. When we handed them another load later in our stay we had a lot of trouble getting them to accefor any money for doing that load as well. You have days when you travel that sometimes you would like to rewind and start again - that day was one of them!

That evening we wandered the streets of the old town - it was absolutely crazy with Chinese tourists, coloured strip LED lights (what happened to the lovely red lanterns that used to glow there every evening?) and row upon row of souvenir shops selling scarves and African drums! Why every second shop was selling drums I have no idea.... We had an enormous burger at the cafe across the square (N's Kitchen), a glass of wine and headed back to our room, thankful that it was far enough away from the main bar area around the main canals that we couldn't hear all the bands and drums playing. We were both in a better frame of mind next morning so set out to explore the quieter backstreets until we eventually stumbled onto the large local market by chance. They are always fun and it was obvious that everybody was starting to stock up on the red and gold New Year banners, lanterns and fireworks as those stalls were the busiest. We saw flattened dried and salted pigs heads interest into seen them before) and a wonderful baker who sold us sweet bread rolls with a crisp coating of toffee on them as a base. I bought a hand beaten copper ladle from one of the metal workers stalls and Jerry was very tempted by a fish shaped brass lock but didn't buy it as it was very heavy. The rooflines on houses here are trimmed with wooden fish - they are a Naxi symbol of good luck. From there we found ourselves in an amazing food hall where rows of stalls were selling freshly prepared very cheap cooked meals. You wandered up and down choosing whatever you wanted to eat, waited for it to be cooked and then took it to the tables in the centre to eat. It was crowded but very clean. We had a great meal for a total of 30 yuan before going to watch the Chinese people at play from the confines of the Prague Cafe (fabulous position on the main canal) over a glass of wine - or two.. Many of the tourists were dressing up in traditional costume and having their photographs taken just outside the cafe. The photographers were being very bossy when it came to telling them how to pose so we enjoyed the entertainment..

Though Lijiang was full on tourism we actually enjoyed it a lot more than Dali. Even though a large part of the old town is actually new (most of the original old town was severely damaged in an earthquake in 1996 and rebuilt afterwards) and many parts very new (new town built in the 'old' style very recently for tourism) it was fun to wander the crooked cobblestoned back streets and wander what you would discover around the next bend. Lijiang is actually on the UNESCO list and all the new 'old' parts have been added simply to accommadate the influx of tourism numbers which increase with each passing year. We decided to visit the village of Baisha and see if we could book some accommodation there for a couple of days. We caught a taxi there and were charged more then originally quoted (first time this has ever happened to us!) when we arrived. Baisha is still a very quiet village 10 kilometres from Lijiang but is on the cusp of a major tourism boom. The main street was lined with stalls selling souvenirs but at the moment it only sees a few day trippers who mainly ride there from Lijiang on bicycles. We booked into a small guesthouse (small, contemporarily decorated rooms, great bed and shower, good wifi) at 200 yuan a night for a couple of nights before we left the Lijiang area. The hotel was set back behind the Chine Chine wine bar but only had a Chinese name. We spent the remainder of the day wandering the fields around Baisha - you can walk into them from the main street in a matter of minutes. They were very dry but pretty and we had a clear view of the mountain, covered in a fine layer of snow from the previous night. It was cold and we were wearing a few layers of clothes. No where as cold as Shangri La but we were still enjoying seating in front of the heater every evening. It may yet be the best six dollars we spend in China....

We spent the morning wandering they fields outside Baisha - again they were very dry but we did have fabulous views of the mountain . The tiny town is in the middle of a building boom - there were many large houses being built - all in the solid traditional style with poles and heavy wooden frames. The lady who owned our guesthouse told us that in the next month (before the start of the official tourist season) at least another fifteen guesthouses shall be opening in the village. Unfortunately we did see a lot of litter lying on the edges of the pathways in the area - the cities have really cleaned up their streets but the smaller places have a long way to go. When we visited Baisha in 2005 we walked back to Lijiang and literally got bogged in muddy roadworks being built in the direction of Lijiang. The road was straight through the centre of farmland - today the whole way is now low level modern housing apartments. We caught the local bus (number 6) back to the square in the old town for 1 yuan each - always easier to find the bus stop in a smaller place but at least we knew where to catch it in Lijiang now for our return trip in a day or so! Next morning we explored the local markets again before climbing Lion Hill behind the old town to revisit Wangu Tower (30 yuan entrance fee) which topped it. From there you had a fabulous view of the city in all directions - the sea of grey tiled roofs which shows the size of the old town was certainly much larger than it was in 2005! Supposedly the tower has ver ten thousand dragon heads carved into it - we didn't count them! Jerry wasn't feeling well by then so he rested in our room during the afternoon whilst I wandered the shops and spent sometime in the Prague Cafe - they make a very tasty banana and chocolate cake.

At sunset we decided to walk to the Black Dragon Pool Park, a large park and lake complex which features on half the postcards you see for sale in Lijiang. The lake acts as a reflection pool for the mountain behind the city. However as we couldn't produce our receipt for the Old Town Maintenance Fee (80 yuan each which we decided not to pay when we arrived) we weren't allowed through the gates. We had an amusing fifteen minutes watching the staff police the gates - everybody was allowed in without paying or showing the receipt except the few western tourists and any Chinese tourist holding a long lens camera - interestingly they all refused to pay the fee as well. We had heard that it wasn't worth the money and from peering over the fence it didn't look very interesting. We did manage to take a couple of photos though and left without any regrets re not seeing it properly. The fee is supposed to cover most of the sights around Lijiang though many places don't check at all and others actually have the audacity to request a second add on fee to get in as well. We had planned on purchasing one as we knew we would need it if we wished to use the chairlift to get up Jade Snow Mountain but the lack of snow on top and the extra $80 or so each we would also have had to pay soon made us change our plans.

Chinese authorities are making a real killing out of entrance fees to many of the sites - they are so much more expensive then we have experienced elsewhere - including Australia. We find it interesting that many local people are getting upset at the prices as well. They are certainly far out of reach financially for the majority of middle class Chinese who may be much wealthier than they used to be but still have a way to go to afford entrance fees in the tens of US dollars. We are being selective about what we pay for - thankfully we saw most of the main sites in this region seven years ago for free virtually and without hundreds of other tourists for company. Still we have no regrets we spent the few days in Lijiang - it is very pretty, there is an endless choice of good restaurants and it was fun to watch the Chinese at play. I loved seeing the men being led around the narrow streets on prettily decorated horses, jangling little brass bells and all the children carrying balloons etc. At night candle lanterns are purchased and let float along the canals, during the day you can buy a goldfish and set it free in the canals. Every second shop seemed to be selling handwoven scarves (and making them onsite) at very reasonable prices - brightly coloured thick but soft scarves made from cotton were selling for $2.50 each, really good value. 'Pashmina' style scarves were under a dollar each. We were a bit over the constant beat of the djembe drums before we left the town though..

In the evening, in both the main squares in the old town, the traditionally dressed (I'm sure they are paid to be) Naxi ladies would encourage everybody to join them in circle dances around a fire . Fun to watch though the whole experience was slightly spoiled by the flashing LED lights and loud music from the bars that surrounded the squares. Our last two nights were spent in Baisha where we spent most of the time walking between villages and around the small country lanes. It was very relaxed and thoroughly enjoyable. The long main street was busy during the day with cyclists from Lijiang (it seemed to be the main place everybody cycled to) but by four in the afternoon they had all returned to Lijiang - by six o'clock we had already eaten as absolutely nothing was open by 6.30pm - the town was totally deserted by then. I guess that will have to change as more tourists begin to stay in the village overnight. In Baisha traditional dress is still worn widely by the elderly Naxi ladies every day. Many of the old men still dress in the navy Mao tunic, trousers and peaked cap. The women wear black trousers, with black or navy tunics. The sleeves are usually a aqua colour, and on their backs they have a white padded piece of fabric, trimmed with seven circular embroidered discs representing seven stars. These are tied around their waists with embroidered tie belts. Over the white padding the women used to wear a sheepskin cape which prevented chafing when carrying baskets on their backs. We saw a lot of sheepskins being worn around the lanes in Baisha but of course none on the women in Lijiang. The difference being of course the women in Baisha were actually working the fields not the tourists...Back baskets though are still widely used everywhere we have visited in China. Very practical, they come in a multitude of sizes, are mainly today made from plastic stripping in bright colours, woven over wire or bamboo frames. Every market you visit usually has at least one person actually weaving them there.

Last time we were in Baisha Jerry played music with some of the old Naxi musicians and he loved it. This time we heard them practising together in an old building as we arrived in the town to stay. By the time Jerry had deposited our luggage at the guest house and taken his flute back they had packed up and gone. Unfortunately we didn't see them again during our stay. The hall they played in was a meeting area for all the old people of the town as we heard the women singing together there and watched the men play croquet and boule every afternoon. Mahjong was also played there every day - though that game (or a card game using long thin cards) seemed to be played on footpaths everywhere in China by all age groups at any time of the day. We left Baisha by taxi to go to the airport (120 yuan) - a trip which took 50 minutes. The road most of the way was an eight lane highway with virtually no other traffic on it. These new roads are pretty amazing - they are always lined with half grown trees surrounded by shrubs, and every 50 meters is a street light, each one separately powered by a solar panel. The Chinese government is certainly trying to lower the impact of pollution with all the tree growth along their new highways and it must be law to power all new street light with solar power as we have seen thousands of such poles everywhere so far this trip. As I've previously mentioned the cities are really clean now, lots of rubbish bins (including bins for recycling) though the lesson still has to reach the smaller places. Unfortunately what rubbish is collected in the smaller places is burnt everyday so they have really replaced one type of pollution with another.

We had booked a flight to Kunming in Dali and though we had tried to check whether it had rescheduled nobody could help us. When we arrived at the airport all seemed to be ok - however just before it was due to leave we were advised it was an hour behind schedule. As we had originally asked in Dali to be put on a different airline but been sold the wrong ticket we were feeling a little worried as we feared we may now miss our connecting flight onwards that afternoon from Kunming to Guilin. However somebody was looking after us as the flight we had originally wanted was totally cancelled a few minutes later and we would never have made it to Kunming at all that day had we been actually given that flight....

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Comments

[Jane Brown]

great blogs
Hi Linese and Jerry. Reading your blog regularly and enjoying both your accounts of your trips and the amazing photos. Great experiences. Look forward to more. My son, Kevin ,wife Ivy and granddaughter Alice have been staying with us for past 3 weeks, from Taiwan. It has been wonderful having them. We went to Caloundra last week - not quite as daring as your travels! - but we thoroughly checked out most of the children's playgrounds and toddler friendly beaches. Celebrated Alice's 2nd birthday a few weeks early with a bbq at picnic point, complete with train rides! Sadly they leave on Saturday but lots of happy memories to keep. Happy Chinese New Year and very happy travelling. Jane

[Rosemary Shanks]

Delicious
love these but yes how do you open them? They do it in their mouth between their teeth and amke it look so easy