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Published: November 6th 2006
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Lijiang is another 'old' city that has been rebuilt for the multitudes of Chinese tourists that come here. The old city is absolutely gorgeous, with many cobbled streets to explore. The local government has even standardised the lighting that all the houses use, so that at night the town is set alight with an atmospheric glow.
The charm of the place is undisputed. But (and you knew there was a 'But' coming), and I understand the hypocrisy of such a statement given I myself I am tourist, the sheer number of people here and the subsequent artificial hike in prices takes away some of it. One morning in an attempt to get away from the crowds, we set out at 7.30am to catch some photos. But even at that time it seemed every Chinese Man had the same idea and the town was awash with cameras and tripods and it was difficult to snap anything worthwhile. Generally the best wandering in the old town was done in the quiet backstreets where you could enjoy the peacefulness and look over the local merchandise in relative peace.
Luckily the next few days were lovely and will therefore stop me sounding like
a grumpy git! The entrance price for Black Dragon Pool Park has quadrupled to 60RMB since our guidebook had last been there and, since the main reason to go there seemed to be to take the 'classic' Lijiang photo (across the Pool with a bridge and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in the backdrop), we decided to give it a miss. Instead we strolled around the adjacent park and couldn't quite understand why anyone would pay the entrance fee (though we did suspect we'd accidentally strolled into the fee-paying Park through a back entrance). The Park was stunning - lakes reflecting the mountains, tranquil streams and waterfalls gave ample photos opportunities that were as good, if not better (though we can't say that for sure!). It was also an incredibly relaxing environment and I came back a couple of days later to while away the afternoon - an activity all the locals seemed to enjoy as well. Quite out of place with the beauty of the area, we then came across an outside pool table and enjoyed a few frames over a beer.
The next day we hired some more rickety bikes from our guesthouse and went out to explore
Biking in the Mountains
I look a little bit too calm for a lost cyclist. the countryside. Our main ports of call were the villages around Bai Sha, the Jade Peak Monastery and generally to get closer to the mountains. Rather too quickly, after some off-roading and a noisy highway, we got a bit lost. We headed in the direction of what we thought was Bai Sha and ended up cycling through a number of picturesque villages. "Cor, imagine what Bai Sha's going to be like' we speculated. However, it was a bit of a disappointment. Again it seems to have been set up for Chinese Tour Groups who want to feel like they're in the countryside. It looks rural and has that feel, but at the same time your home comforts aren't too far away. We felt rather glad we'd got lost and seen some genuine places.
We then headed up to the Jade Peak Monastery. The ride up there was a good 2km of climbing and with the combination of our crappy bikes and the thinness of the air, I felt like it'd been a long time since I'd done any serious exercise. In the end we never actually made it to the Monastery and I can't tell you much about it.
The Mahjong Hustlers
They don't look like hustlers, but... Halfway along the stalls selling local produce, we stopped to have a gander at some old Naxi (the local minority group in Lijiang) ladies playing Mahjong. Within seconds they'd grabbed us and we were both sat at the table with a couple of Naxi women. Luckily we'd had a crash course in the game at one of our guesthouses in Dali, though we certainly weren't prepared for this. We quickly ascertained we were being hustled as whenever they helped us it invariably was to the benefit of one of their friends at the table. However, after about 5 games I'd somehow won four and Paul the other, though given the 1 RMB betting stake we hadn't won our dinner yet! After this they left us to our own devices and we spent a rather pleasant couple of hours playing, coming out about even in the end. I have to say I can see the attraction of spending my days in the park playing the game (not sure there's much money in it though) and it was certainly the highlight of the travels so far.
A Note About The Language Before starting the
travelling many people said I would struggle to communicate with people because of the various regional language difficulties.
So far, it seems that there have been three main types of language spoken:-
- Chinese Mandarin or PuTongHua as it is called in Chinese. This is the 'standard' language spoken in China and generally the one learned by foreigners.
- The local dialect. This is the local area's take on Mandarin it seems.
- The local language. The local minority group is Naxi, so there is a local Naxi language which varies greatly from Mandarin.
My Chinese is nowhere near fluent but I've been pleasantly surprised by how easy it has been to communicate. I have absolutely no idea with the local languages (my failed attempts at learning some Naxi language during the Mahjong game underlined this), but I've been able to understand at least the meaning of the local dialect. Generally I'll speak to a chinese person in Mandarin and they will reply in the local dialect. It's quite a strange system but seems to work.
Another anomaly is that many local people say they're speaking Mandarin when they blatantly aren't. I had a bit of
Paul in the Park
More stunning scenary. And the lake and mountain aren't too bad either.... a discussion with a local about it, and it ended with another Chinese tourist coming over and ruling in my favour, much to the bemusement of the local. I've since learned not to question anyone's Mandarin! I really don't know too much about the origins of such language differentials but it certainly makes me want to find out more about the issue. I'm sure a lot has been researched about the causes as it seems such a fundamental inefficiency in communication.
Tim's Latest 'Blub' Update
Number of children who start crying after we say 'Hello':-
Tim : 3
Paul : 1
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littleboy's brothers
non-member comment
you r not going to get away with it!
next time, if you come anywhere near Lijiang, you'd better watchout! that little boy is my brother! and we are not going to let you get away with it!