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As previously stated, Lijiang was a big favorite. Laid back, not too many must sees, nice hotels and restaurants, the Naxi Orchestra with its very old members and little streets.
From Lijiang, we flew back to Kunming and home. Since this trip, Yunnan has become almost inundated with tourists - both Westerners and Chinese tour groups (the Chinese almost always travel as a big group) - and some say Lijiang is now spoiled. Perhaps, but I'd still visit and spend even a little more time here visiting a few of the other temples and villages around within easy bicycle range. I've read about the Puji Si Monastery that was destroyed on the inside only during the Cultural Revolution and it is supposedly situated in a gorgeous valley.
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The entire Yunnan area is easy for backpackers and budget travelers to visit on their own with local buses. Or, there are quite a few good-to-luxury hotels that have now been built if you choose to proceed this way.
Lijiang scenery
Continue reading "Lijiang and Random Yunnan Thoughts" »
Lijiang is separated into old and new towns. The old town is where you want to spend your time. We would walk out of the Grand Lijiang Hotel (very comfortable with wonderful American breakfasts), continue straight ahead across the busy new town main street and three blocks away was the old town. The old town was very small at the time, filled with mazes of cobbled streets and alleys, houses, courtyards, little bridges over the delightful canals...no cars allowed...another "Venice." Lijiang is considered to have the best preserved ancient town in China and is a UNESCO Heritage Site. We had three days to wander around with a little touring mixed in.
Lijiang is the capital of the Naxi Kingdom and until recently the Naxi were a matriarchal society with its own pictographic language, bright blue clothes and ancient music. We immediately set about buying pictograph weavings for grandchildren...colorful and interesting. One photo not taken is still in my mind to this day...a group of Naxi women dressed in traditional blue, sitting inside a house, playing mah jong... What a photo that would have made!
Naxi musician
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Continue reading "Wonderful Days Discovering Lijiang" »
After breakfast, a drive from Zhongdian to Lijiang via Tiger Leaping Gorge and the First Bend of the Yangtze River. The Yangze runs...no surges...between the Haba Mountains and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain through one of the deepest gorges in the world. It was a dizzy view looking down and through this 16km/9 mile gorge. There are various hikes and treks through the gorge but I wouldn't have wanted to do it. The rushing water and possible landslides would be enough to deter me. There is, or was, a higher route along an old miner's track.
Sigu is on the first bend of the Yangze, China's greatest river. The People's Army crossed the river here in 1936 during their long march to the north. There was also a marble plaque commemorating a 16th Naxi victory over the Tibetans. This is where we changed changed tour guides. Halfway in Shigu, a village on the first bend of the river we met our guide for Lijiang. She took the local bus from Lijiang to meet us and would be our guide for the next few days. Farewell to the Zhongdian guide who took the local bus in the opposite direction, back to Zhongdian.
Tiger Leaping Gorge sign
Continue reading "Tiger Leaping Gorge On The Yangtze and Lijiang" »
The entire region of northwest Yunnan has beautiful mountains, alpine lakes and grass meadows. In order to protect the local natural resources, several nature reserves have been designated in the region including Napa Lake (Napahai), northwest of Zhongdian. There are lots of wildflowers around this "seasonal" lake in June according to the guide, and we did see some beautiful irises...View image.... A short drive from Zhongdian (only about 7 kms/4 miles)...refreshing after all the long days of driving in Xishuangbanna.
Arriving at Napa Lake/Napahai , we took one look at the flat green pasture surrounded by hills and asked..."Where's the lake?" Ah...that's why it is called a "seasonal lake." The entire pasture turns into a lake during the springtime and was already very dried out. Would you know that? There were some boggy areas but by our standards, definitely not a lake. For birders, Napahai is home to many rare birds including the black-necked crane. We settled for taking a walk around part of the lake and watching Tibetans picking up yak poop to dry and use for fuel.
Napa Lake/Napahai
Continue reading "Napa Lake/Napahai, Shuduhu Lake and Songzanlin Temple" »
Zhongdian, known as Gyalthang in Tibetan, recently changed its name to Shangri-La. Our new guide was an English teacher who had the worst English of all the guides. Very nice but his poor speaking ability made it difficult to communicate and get answers to some of our questions. He was knowledgeable about technical facts that we weren't interested in.
Zhongdian had only been opened to tourism by the Chinese Government for about two years, and there was absolutely nothing to see in Zhongdian at that time. The infrastructure was very basic but it was a chance to visit an area before the huge influx of tourists and discover some untouched Tibetan culture. The outskirts of Zhongdian was filled with picturesque Tibetan villages that still kept unique customs and traditions. We'd spend three nights in the Diqing Hotel (that looked a lot better on the outside than inside) before traveling on to Lijiang.
Tomorrow we'd start sightseeing but for right now, it was time to relax after the long day's drive and get used to the high altitude. Zhongdian is set on a plateau at 3,300 meters/10,826 feet. Very high. Years later, we came back to Yunnan for a trek in the breathtakingly beautiful Mt. Khawarkarpo area.
Zhongdian Tibetan homes and fields
Continue reading "Touring Zhongdian/Gyalthang/"Shangri-La"" »
Our Dali guide would ride with us to Shaping/Shapin Market and then as far as Zhongdian where we'd meet our new guide and spend three nights. Shaping Market is only held on Mondays...today... The Bai people from the surrounding villages of Lake Erhai, including Dali, come to buy and sell fruits, vegetables, poultry, animals, hardware, so-called "antiques" and whatever. If you're traveling through Yunnan on your own, it's easy to get to the market by local bus or mini-bus arranged by travel operators and hotels in Dali. But remember...Mondays only.
The road out of Dali wasn't too bad. An early breakfast and Shaping Market. Now this was interesting with the Bai people and other minorities still dressing in their native costumes. The Shaping Market starts rolling around 10:00 am and ends around 2:30 pm. We were very early and vendors were still arriving. Even in hindsight after many years, the Shaping Market is still one of my favorites out of all we've visited. Extremely colorful. Buyer's remorse on an old opium pipe. Our guide said..."oh...they want too much money...don't buy it...you will see many more..." We NEVER saw another one.
piglets for sale at Shaping
Continue reading "Shaping/Shapin Market and Zhongdian/"Shangri-La"" »
We took a chairlift up to the Zhong He Temple in the Cangshan Mountains for great views of Dali. You can walk up but it's not easy to find the proper trail if you are alone. Ask someone. I found it interesting that the stock for most azealas grown in Europe was sourced from wild azealas on Mount Cangshan. The mountains are also a Nature Reserve and home to wild camelias, orchids, rhodedendrons and bird life. A die-hard hiker/trekker could easily spend days in Dali and arrange for hikes in the Cangshan area.
Xizhou town is about 20kms/12 miles north of Dali with almost 200 national heritage listed private houses dating from the Qing Dynasty. The builders were famous throughout SE Asia and the remaining houses are some of the best examples of traditional Qing architecture in China.. From there to Zhoucheng...
Dali-area villages
Continue reading "The Mt. Canshan Area Of Dali" »
It was time to leave Banna and fly to Dali. Goodbyes to Sam (we'll never forget the great food he ordered for us) and we were on the way. New guide, new driver, new hotel...The Dali Hotel in the old town. No link to this one and hopefully they are out of business. What a dump...dirty and decrepid with dead bug spots all over the walls. I've since found out that is usually a sign of bedbugs! Ugh, and it's really a surprise neither of us had bedbug bites from the two nights in this dump. The only thing The Dali Hotel had going for itself was...location....location...in the middle of the old town close to "Foreigner Street" with a few western-style restaurants and lots of people selling embroidered cloth, old hats and other curios on the street. In 1999, we never saw any Westerners other than ourselves until Lijiang but, the times...they are a changin... Now, Dali is one of Yunnan's most popular tourist destinations. One of the major draws (for some) is the ability to freely smoke marijuana that grows in the surrounding hills.
Dali was the ancient capital of the Bai Kingdom during the 8th and 9th centuries. Old Dali City (current pop: 40,000) was rebuilt in the 1400's by the Ming Dynasty and many buildings were still standing when we visited.
Dali area map
Continue reading "Hanging Out In Dali" »
Back in our "nice" Jinglong Hotel, there was time for one more day trip to Menglong (about 70 kms/40+ miles south of Jinghong), only a few miles from the Myanmar border. Now 70 kms/40 miles doesn't sound like much unless you've ever ridden on one of these "roads." It takes hours to get anywhere. On one of our recent trips through India, it took close to 8 hours to drive 120 kms/80 miles. Filled with generic Dramamine, we managed to withstand all the bouncing and jostling without upchucking. Every time we got out of the car for a breather, it took minutes to adjust our "car legs" without weaving around.
It's possible that a good road and crossing point will link Thailand, Myanmar and China. I'm not sure if it ever opened and even if it did, what the current status is. As rough as this road was, the scenery compensated with jungles, rice terraces and small villages on the way...
Banna rice paddies
Continue reading "A Day Trip to Menglong/Damenglong" »
Xishuangbanna is extremely tropical and consists of rainforests, plantations and rice paddies. The 13 ethnic groups make up a sizable majority of the over 500,000 population in Banna. The Aini/Hani people are the most common minority group in Xishuangbanna after the Dai. The Bulang, Jinuo, Wa, Lahu and Aini were the main tribes in the townships of Jinghong, Mengla and Menghai and the focus of most travel around Xishuangbanna.
The Aini (Hani) people are related to the Yi, part of the Tibeto-Burman group and are famed for their river valley rice terraces. We stopped to visit two villages, one much more interesting than the other...View image...and spent some time with a husband and wife. FYI: You must have a guide because very few minority people speak English. She dressed up in a very intricate minority outfit to show me...and I promptly offered to buy the old minority hat laden with semi-silver decorations, coins and beads...no deal...boo-hoo. We've seen older hats like this for sale in Chiang Rai for hundreds of dollars. In the meantime, her husband sat around ignoring us and smoking his very large bamboo pipe.
entrance to Aini village
Continue reading "Visiting Aini Villages On The Way Back To Jinghong" »
A late plane arrival in Jinghong, met by "Sam" our new guide and driver at the airport and taken to the Crown Hotel*** on the Lancang River/Mekong River. The Crown Hotel (the first *** hotel is Xishuangbanna) was very comfortable. Too bad the nice hotels seems to always be the one-nighters. Tomorrow, an all day drive would take us by private car via villages of the Aini minority and Octagonal Pavilion down to Menglian, returning back to Jinghong the following day to see some of the over 13 minority groups in this area.
The next morning, it was in the car heading south to Menglian on one of the worst roads we've ever been privileged to experience. Rutted, and bumpy for the entire day. A stop in Jingzhen for the Octagonal Pavilion, originally built in 1701. The pavilion was damaged during the Cultural Revolution but has been renovated. It was really nothing special and could easily be a "miss." By the way, I hope the roads are better now. With China's record-building pace of new roads, they have to be.
Xishuangbanna lunch order
Continue reading "Jinghong and Menglian in Xishuangbanna (Banna)" »
The Yunnan Nationalities Village (located on the shore of Dianchi Lake) will consist of 25 villages when finished. Each village represents the 25 ethnic minorities in Yunnan. Thirteen villages were completed at the time we visited and there were song and dance performances. However, my focus was on the gift shops located in each of these villages. Some really wonderful arts and crafts at cheap - cheap - cheap prices.
We were also taken to the obligatory tea shops to taste the high quality green and black teas that Yunnan is known for. Neither one of us are really tea drinkers but patiently sampling cup after cup, we did find something that we loved. A peanut-brittle type of candy made with sesame seeds. From that point on, we bought candy instead of tea and munched our way through Yunnan. (Around $1.00 for a huge package.) Kunming is also noted for "Across The Bridge Noodles" (a long story about the origin of that name). This is a noodle dish like any other noodle dish varying just by what ingredients are added in, but an interesting name. I think it's the oil slick usually floating over the noodles that turns me off. Restaurants in China have other "unique" food if you are really adventurous...fried grasshoppers...dog...elephant trunk...to name a few....none of them tried by us!
guide and ex-Marine
Continue reading "Kunming and Minority Villages" »
Kunming (pop: 5,000,000+) is the capital of Yunnan Province and set at an elevation of 1,900 meters/6,200 feet. With mild weather all year, Kunming is often called the "City of Eternal Spring." It is surrounded by gorgeous snowcapped and tropical mountains and home to many ethnic minorities (tribes). Kunming is also a university city. A very clean, flowery city.
We arrived without any problems from Hong Kong (except the omni-present jet lag) and were promptly transferred to the Pinnacle Hotel***, our home for two nights. The Pinnacle Hotel was adequate at this time but now there are many 3*** to 5***** hotels to chooose from. Then.....no other choice. To sleep in preparation for the next day's intense sightseeing...
energetic Kunming fan exercisers
Continue reading "The Stone Forest of Shilin Outside Kunming" »
The final itinerary consisted of 15 days: beginning and ending in Kunming, And then, you always have to add the 2 days spent actually getting to China and one day returning home!
Air? We used Hong Kong as our gateway into China and flew United non-stop to Hong Kong and then Dragon Air to Kunming the following day. Dragon Air was a subsidiary of Cathay Pacific at that time (may still be) and is a very nice airline. There were many other options flying to China and onward to Kunming but this was the easiest for us. Farecompare lists every airline currently flying to Kunming including: China Eastern, China Southern, Thai Airways, Dragonair, Malaysia, etc.
Health? Malaria pills again. Our drug of choice is Lariam, (Mefloquine is the generic). We prefer the once-a-week Lariam to the once-a-day Malarone - but it's your decision. All other innoculations are always kept up-to-date. Check the Centers for Disease Control updates to see what they suggest.
detailed Yunnan map
Continue reading "Planning A Trip Through Yunnan" »
It is impossible to cover all of China's highlights (let alone the more remote locales) in two weeks, two months or even two years. If you've already done a "beginner" highlights of China trip (usually a two-week trip visiting Beijing, Shanghai, Guilin, and Xian), it's time to get a little off-the-beaten trail that is rapidly becoming more "beaten" by the day. That is what ex-Marine (husband, Steve) and I try to do. With a little research, you'll find many different tour operators organizing trips to Yunnan for 2008. Keep in mind that the Summer Olympics take place 8/8/08 in Beijing and will produce a mob scene through China. Not only will the Chinese be traveling but millions of tourists from all around the world.
The most-sees in Yunnan are: Kunming, Dali, Lijiang, Xishuangbanna (pronounced "Shish-E-Banna"), and Zhongdian (now labeled Shangri-La by the Chinese Government). But when we visited in 1999, Yunnan was still a relatively unvisited area in China for Western tourists. The Chinese tourists consider Yunnan their own version of Thailand.
Once again, my great Chinese tour operator, Shi Ming (Cindy) of Shanghai Far East Expeditions (e-mail her at: fareast@shfareast.com) had responded to our request for someplace "different" to visit in China and concocted a complete Yunnan experience, starting in Kunming and exploring the South of Yunnan to begin with. The majority of Yunnan is very tropical (the South especially so) and would be hot and humid when we visited in June. However, the Northern Tibetan areas of Yunnan would be higher in altitude and cooler. Never cold but cool.
Yunnan map
Continue reading "Visiting Yunnan - South to North" »
In the morning, we hiked down (for a change) through the fields and mountains, to where our Land Rover was waiting. View image
Cellular phones rank right up there as one of the great inventions of the modern world when traveling. Not for us...but them! Everyone in China carries a cell phone, and they work in the mountains. A good thing because on the way back to to "Shangri-La", Khampa called us to say that our flight was cancelled on the following day and we would have to fly to Kunming that night.
They arranged for a guide to meet us at Kunming airport , a hotel room for the night, and transfers back to the airport. You really need a guide (unless you speak Chinese) in these areas. Few airline personnel spoke English, in Kunming, and it turned out to be complicated reissuing the tickets for an earlier flight.
Continue reading "Back to "Shangri-La", Yunnan, China" »
The Monastery school was founded to teach cultural and communal education to disadvantaged children along the Mekong Valley. This is where our Head Monk lived and taught.
Another long hike...up a narrow, steep ridge...we were there...last stop on our trek. The monastery had built a new building just for guests which turned out to be us that night. Our room had many windows looking out on the prayer flags, fields, gardens, beautiful mountains around us....
Continue reading "Staying at the Monastery, Yunnan" »
In Nyithang, Lobsang found a "hotel" built around a large "U"-shaped courtyard with individual rooms on the second floor - little stores at ground level. The Chinese woman who ran the "hotel" wouldn't let us stay until she ran upstairs to reclean a room, and then sat down at her sewing machine to whip up some new sheets for us. View image
We stayed at a variety of Tibetan guesthouses/homes. Some were quite beautiful and others just adequate. But the one thing they all had in common was cleanliness and warm hospitality.
At this home, our host had been a "big deal" in the Chinese Government (they're wearing their Mao caps!) and the inside was huge. The main room was panelled in carved wood with a large pot-bellied stove in the middle. He, and his entire family (including married children) lived in this house, and during the winter everyone slept in this room, by the stove....the only heat in the house. There were corn cobs hanging from the ceiling to dry, and more spread out on the roof.
Continue reading "Tibetan Home Stays in Yunnan" »
Then came Day 4 - THE GORGE! We hiked up from our overnite, over the ridge, and there was a trail, winding alongside a beautiful gorge, very "Grand Canyon" looking. Terror struck.. along with the cold "flop sweats" and I couldn't even think of looking down or taking a picture. Exposure? there was a 1,000-2,000' sheer drop on my right all along the trail. I serously considered having hysterics, but the mountain, with a little river channel, was on my left for the entire distance. (I planned to throw myself in that direction if I slipped. ) You have never seen two people haul through that gorge as fast as we did. Ex-Marine is not fond of exposure either, and was shouting curses at me for getting us "into another fine mess".
It was very hot during the day, probably in the 60's, with high-altitude sun, and the terrain changed from forest paths to dry, sandy, scree-type trails. (For you non-hikers, scree is little bits of gravelly rocks that are constantly sliding out from under your feet.)
The gorge just wound on-and-on for hours, with the river way below us, and unchanged exposure.
Continue reading "The GORGE!!" »
Many of the other Chinese tourists stayed at the same guesthouse we did. They were highly educated, spoke English...most worked/lived in Beijing or Shanghai. They too, were going to day hike the same area as we, but while we looked like two "street people", they were clad in the "height of mountain fashion." Coordinating "Goretex"...new boots, and the carrying the latest digital cameras.
The guesthouse was very clean, and Lobsang immediately went to work, cooking all our meals. The major problem was going to the toilet. Their "facilities" seemed to be about a block away from the guesthouse, and you literally had to "walk a plank" to get to it. A major challenge....especially at night, by flashlight.
The Chinese were very interested in us: why we decided to come to this area, where we lived, family questions, etc.
Continue reading "Day Hiking around Upper Legbam, China" »
We drove to the trailhead at Sharthang Hot springs to begin the trek, and were surprised to see other Land Rovers besides ours loaded with Chinese tourists. There were also horsemen assembling with their mounts. They were going to ride up to the top of the Pass and walk down. We were going to trek for approximately 6 hours, climbing 3,000 feet. It didn't take brain surgery to decide who the smart ones were!
What was I thinking setting up the itinerary - trek 6 hours, climb 3,000 feet to 12,000 feet with only one day of acclimitizing?
Continue reading "Our "Holy Trek" Begins, Yunnan" »
Only spent one night in Gyalthang because we had visited before. In hindsight, that wasn't enough to acclimitize. It was our decision, not Khampa's. There is much to see around Gyalthang - huge drying racks for the wheat, a beautiful monastery, lakes, the town itself, but we did that last time.
The trip consisted of: a 7-day trek (with Tibetan home stays); visiting monasteries along the way; stopping at local craft villages (each village has their speciality - potters, wood carvers, etc.); and even a vineyard. Starting and ending in Gyalthang/Shangri-La.
Our Khampa Caravan guides were Lobsang, accompanied by two assistants: the Head Monk/Teacher of the Tashi Dhoephel Monastery School (located deep in the Mekong Valley that we were going to visit and stay at on Day 7), and his teenage monk-in-training.
Continue reading "Gyalthang - Up and Over the Pass" »
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