Shiboa Shan Pictures

Jackie With Elephant Hide Rock




Temple And Flowers In Field




Temple Scribe




Jackie & Large Buddha




Large Buddhas Close Up




Octopus Beard Statue




Monkey Warning Sign




Monkeys




Rubber Tire Tools




Unprotected Carving On Cliff Side




White Dragon Pool




White Dragon Temple In Field

Shiboa Shan and more Shaxi photos

Shaxi Old Village Farming Valley



Shaxi Old Village Narrow Pathway




 Village Woman




Shaxi Ornate Archway




Shiboa Shan Friendly Budda




Shiboa Shan Jackie and Andy




White Dragon Pool  400yr Old Bridge

Sept.24

Saturday Sept 24

Wow, 5 days since my last post - I knew it had been a while.... During that time I've changed accommodations 3 times and cities twice. My original intention had been to stay in the Old Town of Lijiang for 3 days but I left after 2, which gives me an extra day here in Shangri La.  The Old Town of Lijiang has been around for 800 years, and is very pretty and quaint,with rivers and streams running through it, stone roads and bridges. So pretty that it attracts masses of tourists to it's baffling maze of narrow streets that have little English signage. After wandering lost for some time, I was surprised how much better I felt after finding an oasis above the crowds in a 2nd storey cafe that sold coffee and western food - N's Kitchen. I went back for supper and breakfast. Although I left Lijiang early I'm glad I was there to see the town, the Black Dragon Pool, and Mu's Residence - a massive walled complex where the Mu Clan of the Naxi people ruled for over 400 years. Although the complex was destroyed in a war it has been impressively rebuilt.

 

On a clear day a visit to the Black Dragon Pool includes a beautiful view of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain - although there was some sun while I was in Lijiang it wasn't clear enough to see the mountain but I've included a stock photo. There was also pouring rain which I only got caught in once. The Pool is actually a park that is lovely to walk around and also offers Naxi music demonstrations.  And it was here that I found out that the colourful equipment I'd seen in this and other parks was not for kids to play on, but for people to take exercise breaks on - I took some photos of that too.

Another high point of Lijiang was Lucy, the English-speaking daughter of the owners of the Shanghai Family No. 68 Hostel where I stayed, who was very pleasant and helpful even after I let her know I was changing my booking., and didn't apply a penalty even though I offered to leave my deposit.

 

So on Thursday Sept 22 I was on the 4 hour bus ride to Shangri La. As my booked hotel didn't have a room available for the extra night I went on Trip Advisor and  booked a room at the Shangri La Lamtin Youth Hostel. After crossing a pass in the Three Parallel Rivers area the terrain, housing, and agriculture change drastically.  The surrounding hills are higher, although the peaks are still below the tree-line until Shangri La. Farm animals, including long-haired, long-horned yaks, roam the plains and tall drying racks for mostly hay dot the countryside. The houses are spacious and imposing 2 storey boxes with ornate doors, windows and pillars. I get a sense of wide-open spaces and I was excited to see more.

 

The hostel was nice, in the Old Town of Shangri La (every place I've gone to has an Old Town except Kunming). My only complaint is that the mattress felt like a board (I put the 2nd twin bed's quilt over it which helped). Before checking out the next day at the civilized time of noon I visited the world's largest prayer wheel (incredibly large and gold coloured), had a yak hot pot, and visited the Shangri La Women's Craft Centre. Thanks to a miraculous chance encounter with a shaggy-looking white guy speeding by on his little motorbike I was able to find the rendezvous place for the Songtsam Lodge driver.  This is how I described the lodge to Ian.....

 

"I think I'm in Paradise (it's funny how one's concept of what Paradise is after 2 weeks on the road).  To me it now has:
 

• computer wifi that works on my computer so I can e-mail, Skype and download movies for the 12 hour trip back to Kunming (legally through MoviesCapital.com)

• a beautiful hotel with a beautiful view
• a library of English books so I can trade mine when i'm done, which will be soon.
• people that speak English and are able to answer all my questions and booked me a sleeper bus seat to Kunming
• the ability to take a  Western credit card so I can use it for my meals, tours, and laundry 
• a kettle and a cup so I can have a cup of UVA tea (with some sort of milk)
• a restaurant with an English menu so i know what i'm ordering with the optionof a set supper so i don't have to think!
• an amazing, multi-level, gold-roofed monastery next door
• faceclothes
• 2 apples and a knife iin the room"

I haven't made it to the monastery yet because there's a lot of climbing involved and I'm feeling the effects of the altitude, but will attempt tomorrow.  Today's horseback ride was full of surprises - I was led by a woman from the village on a little horse for 1.5 hours in the area behind the village, through fields where cattle and yaks were grazing. Then she invited me into her traditional home for lunch - yak butter tea, yak cheese, yak yogurt and flat bread. The water was boiled over an open firepit that vented through a smoking rack up through the roof.  It was amazing - her young daughter and I helped each other with our languages - she pulled out her English workbook.  After lunch I went to the Tianshenqiao Hot Springs which are beside a river and a cliff overhang. The womens' sauna is actually a blocked off area of the overhang, laid out with a long wooden platform with a headrest for people to lie on and buckets of cold and warm water to cool and wash off with afterwards. Clothing optional! If I went back I'd be a little bolder now I have a better idea of how it all works.....

Shaxi Photos

View From Room




150 Year Old Bridge




River Vista From Bridge




Alley



Horse Pen 49 Room

Monday, Sept.19

A successful day visiting Shiboa Shan - a park reserve with 7th Century rock carvings, temples, monkeys and beautiful, forested hills.  Many steps were involved in reaching the mountainside temples and I'm not sure I'll be able to do that 5 years from now. 

 

 Andy and Jackie were great travelling companions, and our driver handled the hair-pin turns, oncoming traffic, and farmer and farm animals like a professional rally driver.  I have many more photos to edit now, although only one of the ancient rock carvings as most are in video-monitored areas where photography of these "national relics" is forbidden. However, we did see a lone carving on a cliff in a non-temple area.  Other highpoints of this terrific day were having tea with the staff at one of the temples, getting to know Jackie and Andy, and seeing a 400 year old arched bridge and a relatively unrestored nunnery high up one of the trails (where there were Chinese delphiniums).  Hiring the driver for the day (9:30 am - 6 pm) was only 200 CNY and there was admission to the park of 50 CNY.   

 

Right now I'm sitting at Meizi's again, using the internet, listening to the music in the square where adults and children are again dancing.  Tomorrow I'll be pulling up stakes again to go to Lijiang, but Shaxi holds a special place in my heart with it's peaceful, relaxing pace and beauty.  I can understand how Lily ended up staying here to write her 2nd book.....

Sunday, Sept.18

Today was my first full day in Shaxi which I spent puttering around and renting a bike (that had almost no brakes). I crossed the highway, rode along a road made of little stones to an even smaller village on a hillside, then through the village out to the farming area behind.  I finally broke down and asked a tiny elderly woman who was carrying a very heavy load of wood if I could take her picture - although I actually felt I should be offering to carry the basket for her. She didn't mind and I gave her a little money afterwards, but I wished that I had thought to show her the photo as well. When I thought of it later I rode back to find her but she was gone. Leaving the village I went back into Shaxi on a different route and then cycled on the roads beside the river which were gravelled and flat. There was time for reading before supper so I took my book down to the river. 3 young men showed up with tubs of noodles which were tossed into the river when they were done (I had to bite my tongue). As they were leaving one (who wore an earring) came over and sat very close beside me with his face up to mine, ostensibly to look at my book - several younger boys had also showed up and were directing comments at me too - it was the first time I'd felt at all fearful since I arrived - somewhat like I was being swarmed. But I showed him my book, resisted the urge to stand up, and they left shortly after.

 

A happier encounter at the river was with a young couple whom I'd met earlier in the day. I'd mentioned that I was hiring a car to see the stone carvings and asked if they wanted to join me and share the cost of 150 CNY - at the river they let me know that they've decided to come. So at 9:30 am we're off to visit various sites on a mountain where temples and statues have been carved into the mountain sides.  They're from the UK, have been in China for 2 months of the 10 they plan to stay for, and he's a photographer. I'd like to ask him how he manages photographing people, although he has a large zoom lense so perhaps his subjects don't even know they're being photographed.

 

At 7 pm the hostel had a "family dinner" cooked by the owner, Shirley. No other guests were there - it was Shirley, Sleeper (a young Chinese employee), and Lily Hyde who is an author (Dreamland) from the UK, and lightly employed at the hostel.  Lily's been in China for 10 months and is writing her 2nd book while she's at the hostel. The dinner was delicious and the conversation good as both as both Shirley and Sleeper speak English.  Shirley shared her plans to start a kindergarten with some friends in Dali that will focus more on play than academics - she talked about the common stereo-type of Chinese people being studious, academically accomplished and no fun.  Her friends have children who are about to go to kindergarten and who don't agreee with the current emphasis on academics for young children and believe in the need for play and creativity at this age. 

 

I'm looking forward to having company on my trip tomorrow and being able to speak more English

Goodbye Dali, Hello Shaxi

On Friday the 16th I spent the day wandering around Dali and taking pictures with no particular plan in mind. I found a little park area and some peace and quiet by the South Gate.  Because there is a 1000 CNY daily limit to withdrawing funds I took some money out to prepare for going to Shaxi and planned to take more out and cash my traveller's cheques the next day.  I went back to the Garden Restaurant for another hot pot - unfortunately this time I got a fish bone stuck in my gum and couldn't fully enjoy the spicy lobster I'd ordered (which I thought would be a few in the hotpot but ended up being about 20 on a plate - very messy and tasty).

 

On Saturday I visited a dentist early in the morning to help remove the fishbone and bought some hydrogen peroxide. To communicate my needs I Google translated the phrases I wanted to convey, copied and pasted them onto a doc and showed them to the dentist and health goods store.  Eventually the bone came out. However, even though it was a minor ailment, I realized how isolated a solo traveller can feel in a foreign country where there is a language barrier. Luckily Ian was at hand on Skype for support and advice. Not all banks deal with traveller's cheques but Bank of China did.  I had to fill out a couple of forms and line-up - luckily it wasn't as crowded as I have seen it at times. I wouldn't want to rely on traveller's cheques but I suppose they'd be a good back-up if I couldn't get an ATM to work. 

 

My errands done I paid up at the Moonshine Inn (750  CNY for 4 nights which included 30 CNY for laundry) and went with the driver the innkeeper had called to the bus station - the ride cost 40 CNY.  As with Kunming there is more than one bus station -  however, this Dali station was nowhere near as large or chaotic as Kunming, and right away I approached a woman with a shoulder purse and cell phone who seemed to be my Kunming angel's counterpart.  Sure enough she pointed me to the right ticket window where I asked the agent to write down the cost for a ticket to Jianchuan (35 CNY) and departure time (20 mins), and other people helped me find the right gate. 

 

The bus was quite small, but not as small as the bus that took me 3 hours later from Jianchuan to Shaxi for 10 CNY which had seats for 8 and carried 11, plus large plastic bags of something.  Forty-five crushing minutes later we were at the Shaxi bus station - basically a collection of mini-vans on the street.  (Someone in Shaxi told me that 11 people is not unusual - it can be as high as 13-14 - any limit is not enforced, and she thinks won't be until there's a serious accident as there has been elsewhere).  I followed the directions down to the Horse Pen 46 Hostel, through a very ancient looking section of the town. The Horse Pen 46 Hostel is off an old courtyard where it's not hard to imagine people gathering in olden times. Also there is the original old temple which houses a lot of information about the restorations efforts that have taken place since 2004. The village began in 1400 but fell into disrepair and until recently the "unstable political climate" did not value saving it.  It is the last village remaining on the Tea and Horse Caravan Trail and was short-listed on the World Heritage Site list and amazing work has been done to restore it. Shaxi is a quiet little place that is surrounded by hills and farms and the hostel backs onto a river that provides peaceful places to sit. The view from my 3rd floor room balcony is of the hostel's courtyard and over the rooftop to the hills. The pace is very relaxing and peaceful here. Every year students from a well-known Chinese art school come here, and the hostel owner laughingly told me that Shaxi is popular because the people around town the students use as models don't move for long periods of time.

 

Dali Photos

3 Temple Statues




Dragon Cave



Dragon Cave Climbing Boots




Cormorant With Big Fish

Random Tidbits

Random tidbits

 

- Always carry a pack of tissues with you for the bathrooms when you're out and about, it's rarely supplied. You can buy little packs for about 1 yuan. Also, some bathrooms charge .50 yuan to use.

 

- These are the common crops I've identified so far: rice, corn, sunflowers, lotus root, sweet potatoes, chilies, watermelon, pumpkin, Plus many other green vegetables I've seen on display at restaurants, watermelon, and green beans.

 

- Chinese people seems to be refreshingly practical, more worried about whether something works than how it looks.

 

- There is a vast variety of clothing styles: traditional minority, very modern,"party" green and blue, school uniforms, casual modern, lots of women in pants, some in short skirts, Chinese slippers, very high heels.

 

- It's helpful to have paper and pen on hand for people to write down prices, times, dates if needed. Also, to jot down notes for the diary.

-

 Many houses have solar panels that are attached to water tanks.  However, I haven't been able to have a hot shower in either of the guest houses I've stayed in so far.

 

- In Dali I saw toddlers being suspended over the earthy area beside the sidewalk to poop.

 

- I've seen tai chi and mahjong in the parks.

 

- I've seen women driving buses and taxis,  rowing fish boats, and on road crews.

 

- Being a passenger is not for the faint of heart - it often feels like the vehicles are playing chicken with each other.

 

- There are huge walls of webs spanning between trees that can contain 50 or more fierce looking spiders.  The wasps here are also fierce looking - larger and thinner than ours with black and orange stripes.

 

- There is a beautiful aquarium that takes up an entire wall in the Vancouver International Departures area that is topped by a First Nations design and contains salmon, red snapper, a wolf eel, starfish, sea anemones and other varieties of fish.

 

- On the China Eastern Airline flight the meals were good (I had fish and noodles for lunch, omelette with sausage and hashbrowns, yogurt and fruit for breakfast), we were handed warm damp faceclothes at the start of the trip, and at the end there was a video that took us through some exercises to invigorate us after the long journey.

 

- The Moonshine Inn had several Chinese TV stations with very western looking newscasters and commercials for such things as electronics, make-up, clothing, cars (including Chinese manufacturers), food. Chinese drama series seemed to be popular.

 

- In the Shanghai Airport there are hot water dispensers for people to make tea, noodles and just drink plain.

 

- My $4.00 international plug adaptors from the Dollar Store worked fine.

 

- School kids start their day at 7:45 am with approx 1/2 hour of singing and exercises together.  Kindergartens are very academic; however, some kindergartens are trying to take a different approach.

 

- Gluten is tasty. In Shaxi I had a dish of pea jelly cut in strips with chilis and cabbage and it was tasty too.

 

- Sign at construction development site in Kunming: "Urban renewal, Life more beautiful".

 

- There is a lot of trust involved when neither of us know the other's language - I'm putting myself in the hands of strangers who give directions and offer assistance, take money for payment and make change.  It has worked out very well so far.

 

- There are many Muslim Chinese women wearing headscarves, and I've noticed that bull clips can be used to secure the scarves under the chin.

 

- I haven't seen many Chinese people with tattoes or men with earrings, but have seen some.

 

- There are many long above-ground viaducts and cement irrigation channels carrying water to farmed areas.

 

- At a farmhouse outside Dali I saw many rods with noodles hanging over them drying outside.

 

- There are lots of tiny mosquitos here - I stopped counting at 39 bites on my left ankle and foot. Luckily they're not very itchy, and this isn't jungle area so I'm not worried about malaria.

 

Photos From The Hotsprings

One Of Many Cliff Shrines

Caroline's Good Luck
                                                                                     



3 In The Pool



Nibbling Fish

Liu and Daughter

Sweetie

Milk Pool



Green Pool

Lemon Pool

Rose Pool

Sun And Luo