Lijiang - outskirts

After visiting the Baisha frescoes, I told my lady taxi driver to take me to see the villages outside of Lijiang. One can also drive to the mountains, there is a Tibetan monastery there and is very picturesque. Some visitors go to the villages to ride horses and to see village life which was what I did. I didn't ride the horses. There are opportunities of going for longer treks into the mountains and camp. The possibilities are endless in Lijiang. One needs a lot of time. Travel in China takes more time than travel anywhere else. There are many beautiful lakes that supply water for irrigating the crops and I suspect for the home. I did read a report in some part of China where people got sick from contaminated water. That's China. We continue to hear of these things plus those in the past of contaminated toys, milk, pet food, drywall and a host of other things. One still need to be careful but still need to see the absolutely magnificent country call China.

These are new apartments springing up outside Lijiang. I was told that the owners of the old buildings in the ancient city have rented out their houses and are now housed in these new apartments.

These are old farm houses with the old tiled roofs and the mud walls.

Here's an old man with a huge load of hay.

The hay is used to line the floors of houses when winter comes, the animals are brought inside during this time.

The young and the old.

It's kind of early for apples, mid June but there they are, apples ready for harvest.

Here's a tourist on a horse. He's just part of a big group.

I spotted a young woman and an older woman bringing in the harvest of rice. They had it stacked up on this hand driven tricycle. They were really friendly, they smiled as I took their picture. Then the younger woman picked up the handles of the tricycle and started running off with the older lady running behind. I raced after them, trying to get a picture of them sideways but I couldn't catch up. I was panting so hard. They ran so fast.

I'm trying hard to keep up but to no avail.

taxis and tourist buses, they're everywhere.

It was another incredible day, the sun was shining, people were friendly. Mind you, they work hard, only the old are hanging out but then they're looking after the grand kids. I've been so inspired with this little trip to South China. I've worked harder since I came back.