Lijiang/丽江 Day 2

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The next day I slept in, handwashed some clothes, and got a western-style breakfast and coffee combo made by Mama who cooked wearing a tall Chef's hat. I thought it would be best to rest my feet for a day, so I rented quite a nice bike from Baba . The going rate in Lijiang was 15 kuai for the whole day. I rode out of the Old Town by way of some areas that actually didn't have tourist shops! I rode a few miles out to the Suhe Ancient Town which was just a giant gift shop, though it did have a lovely Tibetan building.

I still had daylight, so I continued down the road that runs from Lijiang to the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. it was quiet and there were foothills, crop fields, and an occasional billboard for a Jade Dragon Snow Mountain resort. Apparently they even have a golf course. It would seem that yuppies around the world like to vacation in the same way - golf, thousand-dollar camera lenses, tripods, and having rugged nature experiences in the comfort of thousands of dollars of brand-name gear. Yunnan seems like a big destination for this kind of Chinese upper-middle class traveler and also Western young gap year/older permanent traveler/exchange students.

Finally I saw a sign for 白沙农村/Baisha Nongcun/White Sand Village and since I had not yet toured a real village before (only fake ones!), I rode in. The village had many lovely simple houses, cows, and farmers in Naxi clothing carrying things in baskets on their backs. Near the village are some ancient Dongba frescos, but the attraction was closed by the time I got there. It didn't seem like they had a system for trash disposal, so they dumped it everywhere. Also many nice cars were parked at the houses. Maybe the farming there was reasonably profitable (the fields were lush and expansive) or maybe relatives from the cities were home for the holidays. Finally, the sun was setting and I had to get back. I felt kind of terrible by then because I had gotten an upper respiratory infection that made it hurt to breathe. Also had a headache, maybe from exerting myself at 8,000 feet when I live at sea level. Back in the Old Town I got some tea and ice cream at KFC which I swear made me feel better, then called it an early night.

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Photos

Suhe Ancient Town
A big gift shop.

Where The Real Naxis Are
Sweeping the road.

Comments

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Yunnan China Tours
Very very interesting. Nice trip... Thank you for your sharing!