Friday, April 29, 2005
02/04/2005~05/04/2005 My Yunnan Trip- Lijiang part
D1: Hong Kong to Shenzhen, Shenzhen flies to Kunming and Kunming to Lijiang
It took us almost three hours to reach Shenzhen Bao An airport from Tinshuiwai. Since I booked CZ electronic tickets, we went straight forward to the CZ ticket counter to pick them up. The price is quite good (55% discount) and we managed to buy the return ticket for An from Lijiang back to Shenzhen (decent price as well, which gave me a wrong idea and I did a mistake for my return ticket, but it will be mentioned later)...
Good arrival at Kunming and then we transferred to Lijiang. We went directly in the airport shuttle bus, which costs 15 yuan per person. Along the road, the fields are freshly green. Especially when we were landing overlooking from the sky all kinds of green and golden squares of rape flowers. This let me think about Luoping, a place they say is the place with most of rape flowers. Should be really nice to go and see during the right season.
Instead following the usual routine (arrive at the final destination and get a taxi in 6 yuan to reach the main North entrance of the old town), we took off before the final destination and we walked from the south side and entered the old town.
Well informed by all kinds of guesthouse inside the old town, we decided to look around and find a nice one. The 2nd choice was Mulaoye Inn, and it is very nice!!! The room is decent almost like any 3 to 4 stars hotel standard (more over they have really big nice yard). Happily we settled down.
A good meal is definitely needed after almost a whole day travel. Then it came to the funny part. We often lost our direction. Few road names on the highly recommended old town map, and when we asked several locals where we are the answers are always they don't understand the map but the Square Market direction is somehow this or that way. It recalls to me when I was in Venezia. Always lost myself when I was wandering. The more difficult part is An has a good sense of orientation but he can't read Chinese map. And I am really bored of translating everything to him. No more translation!!! I need relaxation, not translation. I tried to lead a little bit but An with his big nose sensed out wrong direction. At the end we found the compromising way: simply ask for the road. Before I starved to death we arrived Mamafu, (so-called first western restaurant in Lijiang). But I had no intention to take western food, we were in Lijiang so we should take local food- Naxi food. :-)
Soon it arrived with five dishes as well as the local rice wine 15 degree - Sulima, which is quite nice. One really good thing about travel ? you always discover the local food costs are really lower than the ones in Shanghai or Hong Kong.
With a full stomach we asked our way back to the Mulaoye Inn.
D2: Natural wakeup with the sun shinning above and birds singing
Immediately we understood the roads. Not so complicated as Venezia. After all, it is much smaller. We went into a bar for our breakfast. The guy is a qingdaonese, has been already operating this bar in Lijiang for 8 years. Firstly was amazed by his way of describing his Northern egg pan cake, but turned out quite disappointing. So we decided to be his once and for all customer.
Then we let our feet to carry us around the town. Exploring and checking randomly is the most relaxing thing. Generally speaking, this town is really commercial. Filled and packed with every kind of stores, mainly little souvenirs, but the nice thing is you can always find things interesting inside.
We have chosen a road to lead us to reach the part of the hill so we can get a whole view of the town. That was really beautiful. All the roofs look like connected with the light and shadow playing hide and seek.
There are several features of Lijiang: Water channels, Yulong snow mountain, and the newly but old style of houses (actually its 90s' earthquake has destoried everything in the town) which combined a unique Lijiang in China. Try to image, a old town, is quite normal. But a town with water is alive. Moreover, a town with a snow mountain is spiritual.
Night we remained at Sakura bar- the most famous bar in the old town. That was really noisy and alive. The bar street is passed through by a water channel, so the bars lie two sides organize to make a singing competition. People will get mad there with lots of drinks and willing to do things they might not dare to do in the normal life.
We waited up to midnight and An said happy birthday to me!!! According to my birthing time I am not yet born. But he is very much welcomed. xixi
D3: xixi, BIRTHDAY!!! Half a day tour to Yulong mountain and yufeng temple with its 10 thousand-flower tree, and then big celebration.
Breakfast in left bank bar, a perfect location to watch people passing by. Likewise, I became one of their views too.
Before I entered into the happy part please allow me once again to complain for a while . I really hated the system of ticketing all over China, mainly some famous spots. At the end we have to pay 120 per person as the entrance fee and 80 yuan more for the cable car. Luckily I have chosen the minor cable line. If choose the main cable car, the costs will be 180 per person. Sometimes I do think it is a kind of robbing. The snow mountain is really normal if compared how much bugs you have paid in order to see it. So strongly recommendation: no need to see Yulong Mountain at all.
This 10 thousand-flower tree is so famous because it's legendary story. It has been saved by a Lama (Tibetan monk) during the period of Culture Revolution. And is said even he is 92 year old, he still takes care the tree by himself everyday. What we can call him in Chinese 花痴.
At 7 yuan we bought a cake in a local bakery and with a nice bottle of Yunan rou hong we started our celebration. Then it followed with per-concert snacks and an indeed impressive Naxi ancient music concert. Actually it is wrong to be named as Naxi ancient music because this music is ancient Han/Chinese music. It has been so well preserved in Lijiang area, however has disappeared in the rest of China. Personally speaking, the most amazing thing is the members of the band, the majority is 70 to 80 years old nonni. When they presented at the beginning of the concert I thought they were there just for showing up. Image dozens of nonni with colorful Chinese traditional clothes, it is already a pretty good marketing method. Upon the music started they suddenly became all alive, energetic and active. All are with a unique ancient instrument. Xuanke, their band leader, a guy has spent his 1/3 life in the prison, is extraordinary. He is at his 70s. And it was my first time in China watching somebody freely said what he thought in the public. Hehe, his current un-replaceable position let nobody can do anything against him. That's pretty funny.
Then we ordered a 6-person-quantity Korean food for 2 of us. After a fight of eating, we went back for a good nanna.
D4: An's departure and my true adventure time
An left back to HK. And I moved from Mulaoye Inn to youth hostel.
I decided to take a noodle for my lunch. There I met Isabelle. She was alone too. It caught my attention that she managed to order her food from the kitchen, as the menu is written only in Chinese. Then we started to talk. She is a French movie producer arrived here for a documentary about Naxi culture. She was inside the mountains near Lijiang- a little village, which is not yet with electricity. We had a pleasant chatting and decided later on to have a Chinese massage and dinner together. So I went straight to left bank for my afternoon reading. It was really enjoying under the companion of nice French songs. Looking out from the window I saw the little water channel full of fishes. That's another fun of here, throwing little pieces of food to feed the fishes. After I took an hour of internet chatting with friends through msn, just to let them be jealous about where I was and what I was doing, I went back to the hostel.
Soon, I got to know my roommates, Daniel and Sonny- two NZ boys has been traveling around world. Sonny is a Chinese but went to NZ when he was 8, so he speaks good Chinese but hardly can read; Hirosawa- from the name is easy to tell he is a Japanese, a kind of nice type, only one among us really is making a local living inside the old town. No sightseeing, just talk with the girls working inside the hostel and tease with mimi ( their cat, a super chanmao谗猫, just few Yak meat let him become a super fan of mine, xixi); A girl - Molly, Cantonese girl but works in Shanghai; V - another weird guy, a Vietnam born Chinese, but with Australian passport and works in Melbourne, speaks cantonese but not Mandarin. Suddenly, I felt I was inside an international troop, with Chinese guys but speak English. Hehe, funny?
I decided to make the 2nd step as I felt I have been spending too long time in Lijiang. Sonny and Daniel went with me to get some info about Tiger leap gorge. The result is quite disappointing; the post everywhere shows out is just a kind of travel agent notice. I want to do with someone but not travel agent.
Rushed back I went to meet Isabelle. It sounds weird but true, I seldom make massage inside China, like an experience you might get here (inside a decent hotel at night there are some anonymous people calling for massage services, often they hang up the phone when they hear a woman's voice) But I do like massage, and I try to have in Thailand and Vietnam. So it was really brand new for me the Chinese type body massage. I was screaming at some certain points and I got sore everywhere!!!
Isabelle is a brave type. She wanted to try the hotpot, which came out very spicy, even for me. She was tearing when she ate. Even without feeling her lips it looked she enjoyed the food. At the end, she also treated me for the dinner. :-) Nice woman!!! 10 years elder than me, she had two babies, living with the babies' father but they are not married. It was something new for me. Excellent part of the travel: I always learn things.
Later comes to the part of Lugu lake...
by gattomatto
11:17 AM
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