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It may sound like a total cliche but every place we go in China is more eye-poppingly beautiful than the last. We thought Dali was about as oldy-worldy Chinese as we would see. Oh my God! Lijiang is so much better. Some of the centuries old cobbled streets are so narrow that you can touch the buildings on both sides as you walk down them. There is no traffic allowed into the old town, even bicycles must be walked. Every little wooden fronted dwelling that lines the maze of alleyways is selling something. Souvenirs carved from jade, wierd medicinal treatments, local Naxi style clothing, it's all on sale. Almost every lane is lined with weeping willows and accompanied by a tiny stream running along side or underneath some rustic stone bridge. These are not ordinary streams, oh no. They are inhabited by goldfish, of all things. We never really thought of it before but goldfish must have come from somewhere before turning up in every murky pond and aquarium in the Western world. Who would have guessed it was China! The water is so clear and inviting that it's tempting to take a few gulps in the midday heat. In fact,
we met a German fellow who had done just that the day before and proved that looks can be deceiving....he was shitting like buggery. Better him than me.
The town, the whole region of which Lijiang is the capital, is dominated by the formidible, snow-capped Jade Dragon Mountain. The view of this lone peak is best from Black Dragon Pool Park (you'd be forgiven for thinking that I was making these names up but I promise that they are genuine) where it frames perfectly the Deyue Pavilion, which is built in the middle of the pool. This is exactly the sort of thing we came to China to see and there is no way Lijiang was ever going to disappoint.
The town, however, is not some undiscovered sancturary of traditional Chinese life. The streets were absolutely chockablock with those baseball cap wearing, flag following Chinese tour groups that we came across in Dali. However, as the town is prettier, the groups are bigger and more numerous. Not that that bothers us. We are, after all, tourists too and would not be in this wonderful place were it not firmly on the beaten track. We all too often hear
Dude
the blue stuff is to cover up the sunburn Westerners chin wagging in cafes about how they hate the over crowding of places like this by all the tourists and how they wish they could find "the real China" (or Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, etc.). Surly, they are themselves exactly what they are complaining about? Maybe I will give the next tie-dyed crusty I hear blahing on a brief discourse on Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. Or maybe not.
We did escape the streets by hiring bikes again. Our arses had barely forgiven us for two days ago but we felt ther need for yet more punishment. Did anzone watch Michael Palins Himilaya show a couple of years ago. Do you remember the single most chinese wise old man you saw...Dr Ho. I kid you not he was great. We ended up cycling to a little village going by the name of Baisha about 10km away. Having been acosted by his Son we were promptly dragged into his clinic in his house where we sat for 45 mins learning about his father and all the papers/articles and television documentaries which tell his tale. Pretty impressive really. Books by amongst others Michael Palin, Bruce someone or other from the NY Times and
loads of others hang in plastic bags from the ceiling. Then in comes the man himself. Small and 83 years old he could not have looked more chinese than if he had dressed as a beijing duck. He correctly diagnosed that Andrew was as strong as an ox and amongst other things that Lara has very weak circulation. Unfortunately despite a dose of Healthy Tea to take on our way (we really ought to drink that soon...not sure Australian customs are going to fall for the old herbal medicine line - it looks and smells like weed) Lara is unwell again. It is frustrating for her because its the fourth time since we left home and frustrating because we have to change all our plans to accommodate this annoying virus eating her up. The clinics aswell in Lijiang are not the best place for help. Like a lot of Asia shop windows feature heavily - as peoples homes.........and also in these more local hospitals. You lie in your bed, attached up to a drip literally in the window for all in sundry to gawp at you as they go past. I swear we even saw people taking pictures. Not nice.
So, having escaped that, we left for a small stroll along a gorge...
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