We finally arrived at Lijiang after 3hours of bus journey. I first heard of this town when I was watching this variety show on Channel 8 hosted by Kym Ng. She accompanied several Singapore chefs to various remote villages in other parts of the world and the chefs were challenged to perform hard labour and prepared a meal for the villages using their local ingredients. It was one of my favourite tv shows then and was exceptionally entertaining in one episode where one chef went to Lijiang, Yunnan. They said Lijiang is the most beautiful part of Yunnan (also supported by my old neighbour who travels to China pretty often) and that besides its scenery (snow mountains, high altitude overlooking beautiful rivers, lakes and farm land), the local people are friendly and fun-loving. I can agree with the latter as we had a super humorous local guide, Ah Bao, who cracked so many dirty jokes with us and really made up for the terrible weather. As for the scenery part, well, I guess they are spectacular BUT weather really plays a big part in travels. When you constantly have to shield yourself from the merciless sun and preventing yourself from getting heat stroke, somehow you fail to appreciate the beauty of the things surrounding you. That's how I felt during the two days in Lijiang. But honestly, I wouldn't mind visiting the place again, preferably in winter next time.
First stop: Lijiang Ancient Town
The town is well-conserved but most of the houses have been converted to shops, with some converted into pubs. The Chinese can sing ok!
A walk to the ancient town
some restaurant
Love the architecture but of all places, bro decided to make me stand next to their bins!
I am so proud of mum because she has made so much improvement- from the lazy auntie who ordered her children to tabao breakfast for her every morning to one who wakes up early in the morning to exercise so that she has the stamina to walk during tough trips like this. She climbed and walked so much and all these were down under the hot sun! She made it but I have to claim some credits too! All this while, I was supporting her, helping her carry her stuffs while bro just got busy photographing. And mind you, most of the places we visited in China required a lot of walking, some uphill, some on uneven grounds, some hours of wandering with no rest and for youngsters like me, it already was tiring and so I was even more proud of my mum.
With the iconic water wheel of the ancient town
Wishes may come true if you pen them down on those wooden blocks behind us. Some touristy gimmick.
A REAL hawk (I think sis will freak out if she walks past it)
Entering the other part of the town with a whole row of pubs
Looks beautiful isn't it? But imagine us walking with the crowd and there were many small flies (fruit flies lookalike) flying around us and we were trying to dodge from them.
If you want to know how popular a place is in Lijiang, look at how smooth the floor is.
I must admit that the flowers are definitely brighter there.
willows lining the streets...
After exploring the town on our own, the local guide arranged for us to make a wish and release the lotus lamp down the stream.
Initially, I thought he was referring to real lotus lamp like those we see in Thailand but this was what he meant. Oh well, what to expect? The place has already become so commercialised.
still quite meaningful...
and fun...
until we left and I saw the same shopkeeper who prepared the lamps went back to the stream with a huge net! Our lamps didn't move much and they were going to be taken out. :/
That night, we had a late dinner and also celebrated the birthday of our fellow tour member. Then, we went back to the hotel that we were staying for two nights. It was a huge villa which had five rooms, a living room, a kitchen, balcony, internet, a garden and a butler! Will show the pictures of the room in the next post!
To share:
The altitude in Lijiang is around 2000-3000m above sea level. Because of its high altitude, the UV rays are also stronger and so the predominant Naxi people are dark in complexion. The Naxi women are usually stronger and bigger in built because they are the ones working in the fields and handling all the hard chores while the men are slacking. The Naxi women love to be called "Pang Jin Mei" (Fat Golden Sister) because they embrace their size and the men are called "Pang Jin Ge" (Fat Golden Brother) as the fatter the men are, the more favoured they are by the women.
After exploring the town on our own, the local guide arranged for us to make a wish and release the lotus lamp down the stream.
until we left and I saw the same shopkeeper who prepared the lamps went back to the stream with a huge net! Our lamps didn't move much and they were going to be taken out. :/
That night, we had a late dinner and also celebrated the birthday of our fellow tour member. Then, we went back to the hotel that we were staying for two nights. It was a huge villa which had five rooms, a living room, a kitchen, balcony, internet, a garden and a butler! Will show the pictures of the room in the next post!
To share:
The altitude in Lijiang is around 2000-3000m above sea level. Because of its high altitude, the UV rays are also stronger and so the predominant Naxi people are dark in complexion. The Naxi women are usually stronger and bigger in built because they are the ones working in the fields and handling all the hard chores while the men are slacking. The Naxi women love to be called "Pang Jin Mei" (Fat Golden Sister) because they embrace their size and the men are called "Pang Jin Ge" (Fat Golden Brother) as the fatter the men are, the more favoured they are by the women.
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