Refreshments

It was an incredibly lovely day, the day I landed in Lijiang. The sun was shining and it was fairly warm. It is such a beautiful city and the walk around the lake was so pretty and pleasant. I carried a few bottles of drinking water with me but needed other refreshments. On the path were a few groups of fruit sellers. So I bought these delicious greengages from one. They were really good.

So very lovely....

These was a very delicious peach. I was munching on fruits as I walked around the lake. I came in on the same flight as a group of Americans who were on a Globus tour. We chatted at Kunming airport as we waited. I lost sight of them after we landed in Lijiang, we stayed in different hotels.

More Youtube videos

There are some great stuff on Youtube. The economic crisis in the US should be of great concern to all of us. While the popular media paints a rather rosy picture, the reality is very insidous and very different. Inflation can and will wipe away any gains that we might make in our financial lives.I like the video...

Inflation nation

This is an excellent Youtube video about hyperinflation.

Inside Lijiang

It is a pretty big city, though some has suspected that they added on to the ancient city which means parts of it is actually new. One can trust the Chinese to cheat. Nevertheless it is still beautiful and quite like an amusement park, a Disneyland of sorts. One can wander around aimlessly, coming to areas one has been before and still finding new corners not been to at all. The Chinese tourists love it.

There are tea shops everywhere. I bought a round of 'Puer' tea and it is still sitting on my kitchen counter, untouched, only the ants are more curious about it. I don't know when I'm going to drink some 'Puer' cha. I only drink 'Tetley' tea, red tea the Chinese call it. 'Puer' cha is black tea.

It is pretty and quaint even with its carnival atmosphere.

What's this? Yak jerky! These shops are everywhere too. I couldn't bring myself to try some.

Besides visiting 'ku cheng' or ancient city, there's lots of other things to do in Lijiang. It is well worth a visit.

The Naxi and the Dongba culture

'Lijiang was a sea of matching hats. Tour buses gathered at the entrance of Old Town, dumping their cargo of day-trippers...' It is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Making it into this list means tourism and money. The Naxi people have inhabited the Lijiang region for two thousand years, cultivating their own shamanistic religion and pictographic writing system, both of which are called Dongba. The Dongba script comprises two thousand symbols used as memory aides for recitation during religious rituals. This is according to the book, 'Invisible China' by Colin Legerton and Jacob Rawson.

A Dongba dictionary? The museum was free and I could take pictures without any restrictions. It saw a lot of visitors, some of them were learning how to write their names in Dongba.

I don't know what's in here. I think it is ink.

A notice board of rules written in three languages, English, Chinese and Dongba. English? Are you sure? It's more like gibberish.

This is the entrance to an old monastery now converted into a museum to showcase the Dongba culture. During the Cultural Revolution these things were forbidden but now that these things attract tourists and money, the Chinese Government is actively promoting it. They would like all their minorities to be draw for tourism then they'll be off the hook for doing anything for them. In some areas like Lijiang they have been successful. They have yet to get people to go see the Uighurs in Xinjiang province. They have a small measure of success in getting tourists to go to the Mongolian grasslands and see their Mongolian minority. It's hard, how do you raise the standard of living for 1.2 billion people living in a country the size of the USA or more.

While in some aspect Lijiang looks more like an amusement park, in other aspect, there is the serious promotion of the Naxi people and the Dongba culture. I heard my lady taxi driver chatting away in Naxi on the phone to a family member.

A Mosuo lady

In China, one has to be an official minority in order to get the advantages of being a 'minority'. The official number of 'minorities' is said to be 56. Every year, the few not identified as minority applies to be classified as one. The 'Mosuo' are not officially an ethnic group even though they have very distinct features that say they are an ethnic group. They live mainly around Lugu Lake which is in the North Eastern tip of Yunnan province. Some of them can be found in Lijiang where they sit at the loom and makes shawls and scarves to sell to the tourists. Others are found farming back in Lugu Lake. A little of money is now trickling into their community from tourism though not much Lugu Lake is not easily accessible. For the intrepid, who do venture there, they stay with the Mosuo people in their homes and enjoy a very authentic experience. I didn't go to Lugu Lake, maybe one day.
Most of the information about them can be found in a book called, "Invisible China" by Colin Legerton and Jacob Rawson which documents some of the ethnic groups of China, those that the 2 authors had opportunities of visiting. The Mosuo and Lugu Lake is one of them.
Another book I read said, the Mosuo young women would prefer to be in Beijing, a big city, rather than entertaining the tourists in Lijiang. I can understand that. Back in Lugu Lake, the men has all but gone to the big cities to work for hard currency leaving the women in charge of the homes and the farms. Farm work and animal husbandry are all done by the women. As the book, 'Invisible China' said, Lugu Lake is a country of daughters, of the Mosuo people.

I think the Chinese writing on top of her loom says, 'no pictures'. I can't read Chinese.

People of Lijiang

It is absolutely fun to watch the regular residents go about their business everyday. Outside of the ancient city of Lijiang, there's another life going on, the residents live a very regular life. To me, it is fascinating. They bring their stuff to market to sell and folks come to buy for their day's needs. Restaurants do a brisk business throughout the day, there's breakfast to serve, there's lunch and then there's dinner. I happened upon this noodle shop. There was a bunch of people in the kitchen and several of them were pulling noodles. It is amazing to watch that from a bunch of dough they can make strands of noodles, all without a pasta making machine. There was this kid and he was twisting and pulling on his dough and he was bouncing to the beat of disco music being played on a radio. I went in and started snapping a few pictures. Another guy asked me what I was doing. I said I wanted to take a few pictures for remembrance. He left me alone and everyone else was amused. They can't believe that what they do everyday would be so interesting to tourists. But it is so very interesting. Then as the strands of noodles begin to form, another cook takes them from him and put them into the vat of boiling soup. Someone is waiting for their morning noodles.

Outside the ancient city, the locals live out their very humdrum and normal lives.

Inside the ancient city, the locals dress up for the tourists.

A beautiful Naxi family. He has 3 kids.

It's show time! It must be 3 in the afternoon.

They are the reason why hordes of tourists flock to this little sleepy village of Lijiang. The Naxi speaks their own language and has their own writing which is fascinating. They go back and forth from speaking their language to their own people to speaking Chinese with their Han counterparts.

alternative media

I just discovered this guy on Youtube, his name is George something. Most of what he is saying resonates deeply with me about the economic crisis in the USA. His advice, though simple, is pretty profound. He said, 'don't watch TV'. I've cut my TV viewing time, the news is pretty useless. I've also stopped my Wall Street Journal subscription and wouldn't renew my BusinessWeek subscription when it runs out. I'm just going to hunker down. I've not been to a mall since Christmas. When I go out to eat with family, I fight for the leftovers (with another old lady) and I could eat a week on those leftovers. Times are tough and we haven't seen the worse yet. Tough times require tough and merciless measures.

Descent into homelessness

I love watching youtube videos. Every Sunday afternoon I spend a few hours watching, just about anything, like travel videos, old fashion English Hymns and financial news. I happened upon a few great ones today, produced by Hyperinflation Nation. This guy, George, is really good. He has a website also, http://inflation.us that offers free subscriptions. Here is a sample,

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.