Yunnan - Western China - The Wild West

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Where to begin?!

Stats: Yunnan borders Burma to the west, Vietnam to the South, Guangxi to the east and Tibet and Sichuan to the north. Constant elevation - above 9000 feet.

I flew with Karen (the taller) and my best friend in China- Ivy for a 10 day trip to Yunnan Province not knowing really what to expect. But boy oh boy... This is by far my favorite location in China (thus far - I intend on returning within 2 years). The whole duration we were at an elevation of no less that 9000 feet, surrounded by mountains with snow covered peaks (this trip was in June), lakes, rivers, forests and rice paddies.

Our trip was divided into three parts: Lijiang, Shangri-La, and Dali each home to a different ethnic minority (Naxi, Tibetan, and Bai respectively)

We started off in Lijiang which is a magnificent little town (the old town) traditionally built, with cobble stone allies and water canals criss-crossing throughout the town. Lijiang is home to the Naxi minority which traditionally dress in blue. We spent a couple of days in town and then a day out in the country-side where we went to an Alpine meadow and took a boat ride on the lake.

From Lijiang we traveled by bus on a five hour ride to Northern Yunnan to a town called Zhongdian, or alternatively known as Shangri-La (yes, I've been to heaven and can tell you all about it!). Northern Yunnan is home to the Tibetans who live in houses that are trapezoid shaped with huge decorated windows. The town itself is very modern with wide streets. However, we stayed in the old part of town where the houses followed the old model. We walked around and I saw an interesting house. I knocked on the door and a lady came out, I asked her if we could go inside and then had the girls do all the talking. She was a little hesitant but then her mother-in-law came and invited us in. She was very friendly and welcoming and showed us the living room, kitchen, sleeping room and let us take some pictures with her. They were well off and lived in a gorgeous house. From what the mother-in-law explained once women hit their 30's they will start to wear the traditional dress - which encompasses a pink head-dress, and a black dress, covered with a blue apron looking material.

Every night they had traditional Tibetan dancing in the town square and we joined in on it one night and had a great time. Other than that we visited the largest Buddhist temple in Yunnan with over 2000 monks and were fortunate enough to be blessed by the Lama. He gave us a red string for good luck which I wore for one month straight and still keep.

From Shangri-La we took a bus south all the way to Dali which is 5 hours south of Lijiang. In Dali, on the one side, we were surrounded by a 12000 foot tall mountain range and on the other by the 7th largest lake in China (Er Hai lake). Here we walked around the old town, enjoyed delicious food, and admired the art and woodwork of the Bai (minority). I was also walking around aimlessly for hours trying to find 2 Bai girls - until I figured out it was their ethnicity and not orientation. We rented bikes and rode out to the country-side through fields of rice and other grain, and even made it out to the weekly market in a village located 30 k"m out of town.

The 10 days of Yunnan were my highlight of China traveling. It was the cleanest place in China where I could breath fresh air, the skies were pure blue, and the people friendly and dog lovers (not eaters). I would highly recommend this part of China to anyone going!

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Photos

Shangri-La
My favorite picture of the whole trip!!

Comments

[china punk]

Hi
beautiful!!!