Lijiang

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Lijiang

I'm SO glad I chose to add on two more weeks to my trip itinerary before booking my flights. Discovering a place like Lijiang is the exact reason for giving myself the extra time. It's surroundings are filled with places to explore and endless hiking opportunites, various minority cultures, and awe inspiring scenery. I will definitely be coming back to visit Lijiang again next time I travel to China.

Lijiang Old Town is characterized by it's confusing labyrinth of cobbled streets, rickety-looking wooden buildings, and open waterways. The only downside to this place it it gets absolutely PACKED with Chinese tourists nearly year round. I read that nearly 12%!o(MISSING)f Yunnan's total tourist population comes to Lijiang. That's HUGE! The town's tiny alleyways are frequently jammed with Chinese visitors and as you walk through the Old Town, many of the shops seem to repeat themselves; jade jewelry shop, drum-along-to-music stall, knives store, T-shirts shop, bootleg CD stand, tourist travel agency, tea shop, more jade jewelry, etc. It gets to be so confusing I now like to carry a compass with me when I go out to visit the Old Town.

In 1996, the Lijiang area was hit hard by a magnitude 7 earthquake. Surprisingly, the traditional wood and adobe brick buildings made by the Naxi people held up. Most of the newer cement buildings (unfortunately, many were schools) collapsed killing hundreds and injuring thousands. The Chinese government took notice of this phenomenon and sent millions of yuan into rebuilding most of Lijiang county in the better functioning traditional Naxi style. When the rebuild was completed in 1999, the UN placed Lijiang county on the World Heritage site list. Interesting turnaround, right?!

To get to Lijiang, I took a 4 hour train out from Dali. The only tickets available were "standing only" which was semi-lame but I was lucky to share the doorway alcove with a pretty, 25-yo girl from Dali. As a proper gentleman, I stacked my bags so she could sit. I'd squat down next to her and ask her things in Mandarin. She spoke NO English. At the end of our 4 hours interaction, she wrote down her name, phone number, and QQ number in my notebook. A phone number! Rats! If only I hadn't lost my cellphone...

So get this. The next day while wandering around the Old Town, I saw the Dali girl again! I went over and said "Ni hao" and we immediately hit things off again, speaking Mandarin only. We spent 25 minutes chatting but once I'd reached the end of my 2nd grade Mandarin ability the language barrier became problematic. Earlier that day, I'd met an English-Mandarin speaking tour guide so I used her phone to call him to come meet us and act as our translator until her girl friend arrived. After Richard the Translator left, the three of us went out to have "Across the Bridge Noodles" together. After dinner, the friend left to go back to their room so it was just the Dali girl and I left alone to wander the Old Town together after dark. The Chinese expresssion, "Bai, fu, mei" describes her perfectly. Smart girl, weathy family, beautiful.

The next day, a couple from Holland and I rented bicycles to ride North to Baisha town. It's springtime and I figured this time of year was the best time to go to the Jade Peak Monastery to visit the famous "Camelia Tree of 10,000 Blossoms". It's actually 2 camellia trees that have become completely intertwined over nearly 600 years. The Cultural Revolution ordered the sacred tree to be removed but it was saved by a lineage of Buddhist monks who risked their lives (and their families lives!) to protect it.

Coming down from the monastery, we met back up with the Dutch couple who had gone to visit the legendary Dr. Ho Shi-xiu, a world renown Taoist herbal medicine man. Dr. Ho's story is quite remarkable. At the time when he was excelling as a top student at Nanjing University, young Dr. Ho came under a terrible ailment rendering him deathly ill and forced him to return to his village of Baisha near Lijiang. Like his father, he began studying botany and herbal medicine from his death bed. After learning about the many plants growing on nearby Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, he not only cured himself but soon began curing other people. Over his career, Dr. Ho has developed over 2,000 herbal remedies and once helped cure an American of leukemia and other of prostate cancer. He never asks for payment - just "donations". I also admire his advocation for living a simple life. "No drinking, no smoking, only simple food. And always walk 10 minutes after meals." But first and foremost he believes that the key to long-life is "optimism". He once told a journalist, "I don't have much money, but I'm happy. And happiness is the best medicine."

Returning back to Lijiang, I took up an offer to stay in the spare guesthouse of the same English-Mandarin tour guide who'd helped me reconnect with the Dali girl the day before. Richard He is a Lijiang local who's family has lived in the area for 17 generations! His family's house is over 300 years old, located in Kaiwen village just outside of Lijiang Old Town.

While Richard works as a self-employed city and moutain hiking guide, his "Kaiwen Village Inn" is managed by a very nice retired American couple from Los Angeles. Ted spent several years in the area doing research during his Fullbright studies and since then his wife, Luanne, has joined him live on the property full-time. Richard acted as Ted's guide and translator during his research so in exchange, Ted and Luanne have agreed to help Richard obtain his life-long dream of developing the property into a fully functional backpacker's guesthouse.

I was thrilled to be allowed to stay in the upstairs loft of one of Richard's family's original Naxi houses. 300 years old! The room came with a traditional Naxi firebowl used to heat the room as well as provide smoke which helps preserve the heavy wood beams from termites and other wood boring insects. The property has both working electricity AND Wi-Fi, but still no running water. It's essentially camping but with a strong wireless internet connection.

In his spare time, Richard enjoys preparing black tea. He collects water from various springs around Lijiang and uses the different water for different purposes; cooking rice, making tea, preparing soups, showering (just kidding, Richard hasn't showered once in the 3 weeks I've been here!). He also enjoys spending time with his two dogs, Oleo and Mighty Dog. On Chinese New Year's Eve, Mighty Dog had a litter of 4 puppies. Two of the puppies look suspiciously similar in color to Oleo, the male dog. Richard thinks that the two are siblings so it's not possible that they would mate. Ted and Luanne have been trying for weeks to explain the concept of genetics but Richard remains unconvinced that Oleo is the father. Baby steps.

After taking bikes with Richard to visit the 10,000 Blossom Camellia Tree, I did a 2-day hike with Richard to the Big Valley just East of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. On our descent down into the valley, we passed through several Naxi villages which seldom see outsiders let alone big, tall Americans. In fact, the grandmother of the family we stayed over night with said that she'd never been to Lijiang (or any medium city for that matter)!. The trek was surprisingly beautiful and we were delighted to have met some "interesting" backwoods characters along the way; a lying-low chicken farmer, a toothless goat herder, and an 82-year-old grandgrandmother who told us stories of raising her two baby sisters after her parents passed away when she was only 11. The best part of the hike was getting to experience what daily life is like for these isolated minority culture groups. The unbelieveably strong sense of community is what has kept these villages and their traditions alive over centuries. We have nothing like this in the U.S.

Tomorrow I leave for Lugu Lake. A beautiful lake that straddles the border between Yunnan and Sichuan provinces. I will be gone for 3 days but will write about it when I return! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy the photos!

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Photos

The Dali Girlfriend
Wang "Yang Yang", Myself, and He "Jian Xian" my Chinese squeeze

A REAL Lama
Having completed his 3 years of meditation, this monk is 1 step away from becoming a Lama. I crouched for this photo to show my respect.

Comments

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G.N.A.R.
50 gnar points for trucking a squaw water bottle on the back of a bike in Lijiang!