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Published: October 6th 2007
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Waterwheel - Lijiang
Marg makes an impression amid the party atmosphere. Left Dali about 9am on the 1st Oct heading for Lijiang, 160km north. The road was quite good, but not the freeway & tunnels involved in our trip from Kunming to Dali, although it won't be too long before this is the case as we could see the support structures already in place for an elevated road through the higher ground paralleling much of our trip. This trip took us higher into mountainous regions affording spectacular views at times (except when driving through clouds). But still much area under crops & it did seem there may be more birds in this region judging by the numbers of stick figure scarecrows to be seen - unless, of course, it was just laundry day. Lijiang is at an elevation of around 2600m and is the stronghold of the ethnic group known as the Naxi, but some Yi and Bai people also live in this area. The Naxi number about 280,000. Lijiang is comprised of the new town and the old town with any traveller coming here to visit the old town. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 1998. An earthquake (Richter 7.2) struck this region in 1996 & levelled much of
Naxi women - Lijiang
The old town has very many Naxi people in their traditional costume. the new city and damaged sections of the old. Since then the Chinese have poured money into restoring the old city to 'authentic' status as well as developing the new city (with an airport for instance) all in the interest of promoting the level of domestic tourism.This week 1st-7th October was the National holiday week and this area, and I imagine very many others, have been chocker block with tourists in a Royal Melbourne Show type atmosphere. This meant accom a little harder to find & a little more expensive to pay, but we did find a place within the old city in a women's household (not an official hotel) but it's so small. marg & I are tripping over each when one of us just wants to scratch! The bathroom/toilet is in proportion with us having to shower whilst standing in the squat toilet - still my feet are looking cleaner. Lijiang is quite charming, with its functional gushing canals that line the narrow winding alleys all displaying many hundreds of years of Chinese architecture. The Naxi people are numerous and very noticable in their costume. They are reputedly 'matriarchal' and 'matrilineal', insofar as property is traditionally inherited down
A Naxi Minstrel
This bloke was a sort of 'pied piper' with a brood of Naxi women dancing & singing whenever he did his stuff. the female line, and men move into their wife's family home after marriage. Lijiang was not as big a city as, say, Dali, it was more of a minor regional town but seems to have been more successful in terms of attracting tourists. This holiday week has made Lijiang very crowded and a Peach Festival seems to be in full swing as well, with much promotional signage and the odd tasting of this local produce. We have wandered around this old place and gone a little further afield to visit Black Dragon Pool and Elephant Hill which are delightful & picturesque locations. At the pond level there are many great little bridges and gardens & there is the obligatory photograph of pagoda, bridge & mountain all reflected in the pond to be taken. Alas, the mountain was not all that visible at this time. Climbing up Elephant Hill was quite a trial, and preparation for later events, on our calves as it was mostly steps to a high point to overview Lijiang, old & new, and the areas beyond.The food continues to delight us with even more options for yak meat and various kinds of animal entrails on offer cooked
Our Bathroom - Lijiang
No room to swing a kitten. in the traditional Naxi way. One tragedy worth noting is that I don't think there is any local beer left that I haven't tried.
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