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Published: September 15th 2009
Meeting the Locals
This Naxi woman invited me to her house in the small town of Baisha, outside of Liijang.Before you go to China be prepared for some new smells. Remember that the green “you can walk” light is only a suggestion. Bring toilet paper with you all of the time; think of it as your passport. Forget about the western toilet. When toilets don't have doors its not a mistake. If you think your getting out of sight by taking the one at the end your not because everyone else thinks the same thing. You will not only be seen but also walked in on several times.
On your trip you'll notice that a lot of men regurgitate everything inside their throat and spit it out as loudly as they can. People will ask to take pictures of you with themselves or their children. There are crowds everywhere so get used to it; its possible to get away from them but its not as easy as you may think. Babies don't wear diapers, instead they have an opening in their pants so they can go wherever their parents want them to.
My time in China was well spent. For a while it felt like I was racing across the country but I managed to slow it down
a bit. I did some things by myself but most of the time I was travelling with Tomo. It was a new hostel every night and sometimes impossible to take it all in because we were moving so fast. The positive side of moving so fast was that I saw many different things in a short period of time.
We landed in Beijing and it was a huge shocker for me. There are over 1000 different bus routes in Beijing and a subway system that doesn't make sense for the size of the city. I was literally projected out of a subway one time. When I got into this subway car it was so packed I didn't think I could get in, especially with my backpack on. I was wrong. After I got in, at least two more stops worth of people crammed in. I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT! After three or four stations I was ready to get out but so were other people and I got out of the subway using little of my own power. The hardest thing for me to get used to was the traffic. The driving in China still doesn't make sense to me
Treats!
Naxi lady served us some peanuts and sunflower seeds which are very popular in China. She also gave us some pumpkin seeds and a few other things. and at first glance it seemed like there were no rules. Everyone honks their horn and drives forward. Like I said at the beginning, the walking light is only a suggestion because cars are still going through when you cross! Thousands of people are also riding peddle, electric and gas powered bikes. For the bikers, there are NO RULES. If they want to hop up on the sidewalk they can do it. If they want to run a red light they do it. Later I learned that the honking is actually a defensive honk, warning the other person(s) that you're coming. In my opinion, who cares if its a defensive honk because the person whos honking is usually doing something crazy. Its normal to pass people by driving straight into oncoming traffic, sometimes on a bend, and if your honking its okay!! So just drive and honk your horn and you're in the right! By the way, there are no speed limits. So after a week of feeling like my life was at risk on long bus rides and having headaches from the honking I finally gave in. One day I just didn't care anymore.
Good rules to use
Baisha
Outside Liijang when crossing roads in most of Asia are:
Don't spazz or make sudden movements.
Keep going the same pace.
Just cross the street... because the traffic isn't going to stop.
These rules might not make sense but they really reduce the risk you take when crossing the street. People will see that you're crossing and go around you. If you suddenly change directions or move faster/slower you will throw someone off.
I was most interested in seeing some of the mountains that China had to offer. The first step was to travel to Chengdu, which is in the province of Sichuan. We travelled by train from Beijing and it was supposed to be a 25 hour train ride but at the 24th hour I was informed that we were on a different train and that one was 32 hours. Train rides can be decent if you have a sleeper but these were hard seats. We couldn't get sleepers because they were sold out for over a week. The trains are always full and they also sell standing tickets so the aisles are also full. People are once again crammed into tight spaces. At first I thought “everyone should
take a train ride on a hard seat at least one time” but now I couldn't convince you if you didn't want to. If you're travelling for 8 hours then its okay but pay the extra to get a bed if your on the train any longer. Your comfort is worth it and you end up wasting the next day if you don't get any sleep. I'm going to spare you the details of the train ride. It wasn't that bad but I feel like I take long rides pretty well. Ever since the train ride everything else has been easy.
The province of Sichuan is famous for spicy food. There are many kinds of spicy and this kind of spicy is very peppery. Sometimes it tasted like my mouth was full of peppercorns. I enjoyed all of the food but some things took practice. I ate a variety of food in China and it was all very good. Its usually served “family style” which doesn't really work for me. You need at least three people and then its okay. This is because they serve large plates with one type of food on it. To have a full course
Interesting Building Material
I'm not sure what these bricks are made of; many of the houses in Baisha were made with them. meal you need to order many different dishes and if its just you, even one thing will be too much and too expensive. There are many small restaurants in China that will serve you a one person meal. If you want the full Chinese experience then don't go to restaurants with English on the menus. First of all, these restaurants usually won't have real Chinese food and secondly they are more expensive. My favourite thing to do is to walk into a restaurant that has nothing I can read and point to something on the menu. I haven't been disappointed yet and the food is SO cheap. I think they will eat anything in China but pork and chicken are the most common meats. The vegetables and herbs are ALWAYS fresh and delicious. You can buy your own at the local markets. Noodles are very common and of course rice dishes. A lot of food is very oily in China and that is just their style. I usually don't mind but I've had at least one stomach ache from an extra oily dish.
Back to the mountains! The mountains in China caught my attention because of how big they
are and also because of the amazing forests that grow on them. Many towns in Sichuan and Yunnan have a base elevation of over 3000 metres. These towns are small but some have turned into tourist hot spots. At 3000 metres the forest is huge! These mountains are covered in a thick deciduous forest with gigantic trees. We took a tour to Juizaigou National Park where the mountains are over 5500 metres. The park is filled with sparkling turquoise lakes and amazing rivers. It was worth the trip but there were too many people! I struggled to find myself some peace and quiet. After Juizaigou we went to Mount Siguniang which is over 6500 metres tall. To get there you have to drive down some of the craziest mountain roads I've ever seen. They switchback from nearly sea level to over 3000 metres. The scenery is amazing although I never got to take it all in or get any pictures because I was too busy feeling noxious in the back of the bus. The road and driver combination was too much for my stomach to handle but there is good news. I think I may have overcome my problem with
Baisha
That looks hot! becoming car sick. This is good news for my future coworkers because now I'll be able to navigate with the map without having to make someone stop the vehicle. At Mount Siguniang I finally got what I wanted, peace and solitude. Unfortunately there was too much cloud cover to see any peaks but the hiking was good. For the first time I was out of breath because of the elevation. I began hiking up this steep slope to see a waterfall and then it happened. The first thing that came to my mind was “I should train here.” Still thinking about the races, oh well I don't think thats going away for a while. The village we stayed in was tiny. The houses were built of rock and had mud roofs. Everyone who lived there looked very healthy and they were all so kind. Even the oldest person I saw was outside working by collecting food or drying herbs. This place made me feel like I travelled back into the dark ages and I loved it. At the end of a long day of hiking I ate one of the best bowls of noodles I've ever had!
After Sichuan
Wonton Soup
Some authentic wonton soup. Amazing.. we travelled south to Yunnan Province. Yunnan is home to over 50% of the ethnic minorities in China. Its filled with tiny villages tucked away in places I didn't believe people would live. We travelled to the northwestern part of the province and worked our way back to Kunming which is the capital of Yunnan. We went to a town called Shangri-la which's local population is largely Tibetan. The Naxi (pronounced Na-shee I believe) are native to the area but I don't know much more than that. The next stop was Lijiang which is similar to Shangri-la except that its tourist central. Most tourists stay in “Old Town” which isn't so old. If you're from Sault Ste. Marie, imagine the old stone house renovated with a disco inside. Outside of Old Town is where to go for good and cheap food. After Lijiang I went to Tiger Leaping Gorge which was the part of China I wanted to see the most. The Yangze river flows through the gorge and its the longest river in China. When it passes through the gorge it becomes the definition of a raging river. The mountains on either side of the gorge go well above
5000 metres and I believe the river is at 1000 metres or below. The trip lived up to its expectations. There are two paths you can take to hike the gorge. Most take the low path which is basically a road and few take the high trail. Actually, most people take the bus to the end of the gorge and don't hike. You can't miss this hike if you go to Yunnan. Hike the high trail; if you think it will be too much do it anyway and give yourself an extra day. Even if you're out of shape I'm confident you can make it if you start early enough; if you can't there are guest houses that you can stay at on the way. The high trail passes through these Naxi villages that are hiding on slopes that get as close to 90 degrees as it gets. Just seeing the villages makes the hike worth your time.
I didn't get to the trail head until 11:30 so I ate lunch and got onto the trail as fast as I could. I took pictures without stopping; it felt like I was racing for a while. The map I had
was not to scale and I only had a rough idea how long it would take to get to where I needed to be. The next day I had to catch a bus back to Lijiang so I needed to make sure I was there! At one point I was racing. I had an unofficial race with a Naxi man up the steepest section of trail. I think he may have won if he didn't smoke. I won't get into the story but we both knew we were racing each other. I made good time and stayed at the Halfway guesthouse, which wasn't where I had planned but it had the best view. Since it was cloudy I wanted to wait to see if I could get a better view of the mountains. The guesthouses are managed by local families who definitely cater to the western tourist. The food isn't Chinese except I did manage to eat a Baba which is a famous bread found in Yunnan. In the morning I hiked down in good time and got a seat on the bus. I managed to squeeze in a hike down to the river to see the Tiger Leaping Stone.
All of the trails I hiked were good except for two spots where waterfalls actually fall onto the trail. Other than those parts anyone should feel safe on their trek!
After Tiger Leaping Gorge I went to Hekou which borders Vietnam. I crossed into Vietnam at Lao Cai/Hekou and had no problems at all. The next mission was to get to the beach! Tomo went a separate way at Vietnam and then went back to Japan. Time to travel solo!
The photos are not in order and I realized that I don't take many pictures of the cities. When going from one place to the next you end up spending most of your time in cities. They are a huge part of the adventure! I couldn't include all of my photos but I picked the best. My photography is fairly rushed or sometimes non-existant but I usually take enough to rekindle the memories that I have.
Enjoy!
Mike
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Pig3972E
non-member comment
long time no see
mike hope your trip finds you well , am still waiting for the geisha girls or the concubines . sounds like a whole new experience foryou. i just recently got back from B.C. i hit 3 fires nothing to big anyhow have an awesome time and i will check your travels from time to time