21.6.13 Day 1. Happiness is taking a vacation.
We had gathered at LCCT at about 11.00 am. Katherina had already checked in online for all of us a day earlier and all we had to do was to check in our baggage. Once that was done, we went in to the waiting lounge and had a good time catching up with one another. The plane took off at about 1.00 pm and within 4 hours, we were already at Kunming Changshui International Airport. This is a brand new airport having open exactly one year ago. The design is modern with good facilities and very spacious. We were met upon arrival by our guide, Palo and he facilitate our transfer to the Fairyland Hotel. By the time we reached the city, it was heavy with traffic and only managed to checked in the Hotel at 7.30 pm. We wasted no time and after leaving our luggage in the rooms, we head out straight for dinner. Palo took us to a quaint restaurant called Kunming Old Room which is an old building. It was nice and the food we ate lives up to our satisfaction.
After lunch, we headed straight back to our resort. This is a boutique hotel, with a Tibetan structure located near the old town. It's name Kunlun Resort refers to the Kunlun Mountains west of Tibet. Because it is within the old town, the roads are narrow and inaccessible to to big vehicles. Our bus had to stop outside the main road and we had to lug our luggage all the way in. When we finally reached the hotel, everyone wanted at least a two hours rest. Having to wake up early in the morning for our early flight, we could do with a cat nap.
The resort with Tibetan designed structure.
The name refers to the the 3,000 km mountain range that stretched from the Tibetan plateau to the North China plains. It had inspired James Hilton's fiction that situates Shangrila at the Kunlun Mountains.
Simple and nice decor.
Chatting with Tina Wang, our guide.
The bar area at the resort.
After our two hours rest, everyone gathered at the lobby totally refreshed. It rained again, but was slight. Tina took us through a narrow passage at the back of the hotel and within a minute or two, we were at old town, Dukezong. Its' narrow streets with cobbled pavements and tibetan dwellings are all authentic and reputed to be 1,300 years old. This used to be an important tea horse road where ancient tea traders stopped to give their horses and themselves some rest. The rain had restricted our movements as we were kept in the shops more, than walking about. Some of us were at Sifang Street Square happily eating all the grilled food, grilled maize, grilled yak meat, grilled lamb etc. We soon walk down the road to Turtle Hill and situated on top is a buddhist temple with the biggest prayer wheel you've ever seen. Some of us climbed up the steps eager to explore the temple and have a go at spinning the huge prayer wheel.
Bee Bee and Alicia shopping for fake furs.
Sifang Street Square. Every night, the local Naxi's gather here to sing and dance.
Sampling the grilled fares.
Old tea horse street.
Bosom buddies.
1,300 year old town.
Loving it here.
We left our footprint here.
Relaxing and soaking in the environment.
Dukezong old town.
Turtle Hill temple. Note the giant prayer wheel on the right.
Climbing the stairs again.
Fantastic view of the old town.
All the old streets radiate from this hill.
Good to be on top.
Eddie and Billy heaving and huffing...
Shirley, Ronnie, Chia and Mook turning the giant prayer wheel.
Hitler look but not a Hitler salute.
Alicia with the Tibetan mastiff.
This mastiff was born here. Tibetan mastiff can cost up to USD 1 million and have a lifespan of 14 years !
We planned to see the Tibetan cultural song and dance at their cultural village. As we understood from the guide, Tibetan snacks would be provided. We were welcome at the compound in the traditional Tibetan greeting, which is putting a long white scarf over your neck. Then we proceeded to the building and went upstairs to our designated seats. On our tables were plates of some inedible looking food. Other groups had hot soup, fried chicken, yet another group had the most outlandish menu, they had a whole roasted pig. It was like you have an eating party before the show starts. The row in front of us had more food than they could eat and they were friendly enough to pass some over to us. We were not hungry, but just felt quite out of place with the mostly local audience. The show was basically village culture, lack refinement or finesse and the songs were like haunting voice over hills and mountains. The jokes I think were attune to their own environment. We left early as it was a show more for the locals.
The Tibetan welcome.
All of us were welcomed in similar manner.
The front row had grilled chicken.
This was what we had, Tibetan snack !
Another group actually had this !
Waiting for the show to start.
All looking forward to the show.
Nice and cosy.
The front row ladies were nice to share some food with us.
The show started at 7.30 am.
This guy looks like he is the main performer.
Susan with Effendi and Yu Mei.
A smile, then they went out for a smoke and never come back. We follow suit.
Tina came over to us and was apologetic that the show was not suitable for us, but more for the locals. We did not mind, but agree that it was meant for local audience. Even the food was not what we expected. Who would expect that you can be having a big feast before the show starts. This is local village culture.
We went back to the hotel and called it a day. It was about 10.00 pm and I think most of us hit the sack by midnight. It had been a long day.
23.6.13 Day 3 Shangrila to Lijiang.
Arrival at ChangShui International Airport.
Chia and Mook looking forward to a good vacation.
Tee and Tysern already feels happy to be here.
Bee Bee is certainly excited.
Tan and Alicia are all smiles.
Billy and Effendi pallying one another.
Modern airport structure.
Yes, Effendi, this is the one you should hug.
The Central marketing team.
Welcome sign outside the airport.
Caught in the heavy traffic on the way into the city.
Milling outside Fairyland Hotel just before checking in.
Fairyland Hotel where we only utilised for about 5 hours before checking out the next day at 4.30 am.
Fruit seller in front of the hotel.
The peaches are juicy.
The quaint old restaurant called Kunming Old Room.
Inside the courtyard.
Our dining room.
Wild mushrooms.
Roast pork.
Some dishes we ordered at the restaurant.
22.6.13 Day 2; Flying to Shangrila.
We woke up at an ungodly hour of 4.00 pm, checked out of the hotel by 4.30 pm. Our coach transferred us to the airport where we board the domestic Lucky Airline at 7.00 am. It is a short one hour flight to Diqing Airport. Tina Wang our guide was at the Diqing airport to receive us. We requested her to take us to town at one of the local eatery for our breakfast. This is Shangrila and we had to sample some local food. Our first impression of Shangrila is the unique Tibetan building which have broad base and rectangular. It is an agricultural town surrounded by mountains. From airport to town, you could see farms with yak and horses. We were soon at Shangrila new town which is fairly neat and organised. Aside from the normal shops, most of the administrative buildings are Tibetan in design. The eatery we stopped by have only noodles and could not accommodate 24 of us. So a few of us went to the neighbouring shops and sample the dumplings, noodles, meatballs, all peasant food.
Diqing Airport
The air is thin here at altitude 3,300 meters above sea level.
Enjoying the cool air.
Boarding our coach.
Passing by farmland on the way to to town.
It's spring and flowers starts to bloom.
at Shangrila new township.
Naxi women and child.
Gathering of Naxis.
Town center.
Modern local ladies in the streets.
Hot steam buns.
No, I'm not sharing with anyone.
Three ladies and a gentleman.
Three gentlemen and a lady.
Ronnie waiting for his noodles.
Mee Sua soup with minced pork.
Streets of Shangrila.
Neat and tidy.
Shop can only accommodate about a dozen people.
After breakfast, we head towards the Songzanlin Monastery. This is reputed to be the third largest Tibetan monastery in the world and at it's peak would have 1,500 Tibetan monks residing there. We had to check this out. Upon arrival, we were transferred to a shuttle that took us straight to the monastery which is a mere 2 to 3 minutes ride. At first sight, it certainly look impressive and resembles the Potala Palace in Tibet. As we enter the main door and proceeded up the steps, it started to rain. The rain is nothing like what we have back home. It is light shower and last less than half an hour. We strolled through all the prayer halls and all the giant buddhas in gold and took photographs outside the hall area. I'm just dumbfounded, for all it's hype as the biggest monastery in Yunnan with impressive designs, where are the 1,500 monks? All we saw were tourists and an odd monk in saffron robes here and there but none at the prayer hall. After spending an hour there, we descended the steps to the entrance where the shuttle took us back o the main gate. To exit the building you have to go through a hall passing rows of stalls selling anything from herbs, mushrooms to tourist trinkets. This is just another made for tourists destination.
One for the album, the entire Central Region team that came for the holiday.
The entrance; black and red is photography play with colours.
The right wing of the monastery.
Intricate and elaborate ceiling design.
View from inside the front entrance.
Tsi Ming beaming from ear to ear; this place is good for him.
The main prayer hall.
Another hall at the left wing.
View from the top towards the countryside.
With Tina Wang.
Peace loving people.
The countryside is surrounded by mountains. Kublai Khan battled the rebels at that flat plane.
At the main upper deck.
Eddie enjoying the cool air and peaceful environment.
Billy at the prayer wheel.
Ronnie too must have a go at the wheel.
So does Tysern. Mah Wah Chye eager to go in.
Mook hopes the prayer wheel will bring her good fortune.
Chia and Cheah.
You can find inner peace here, Cheah.
Happy to be here; Bee Bee, Lih Gin and Tysern.
After more than an hour at the monastery, we headed back to town. Tina had arrange lunch for us at a Tibetan restaurant called La Pu Garden Restaurant.
La Pu Tasty Garden, Tibetan restaurant. Note the spelling error.
Sign at the stair case !
Mook and Chia sharing a light moment.
Tsi Ming doing what he does best, serving beer.
Tibetan dining set up.
Seremban mali, Mah and Cheah.
That's the most smiling pose you ever see of Alan; with Shirley.
Ronnie and I after a hearty meal; well, yakky meal ! Oily yak meat.
After lunch, we headed straight back to our resort. This is a boutique hotel, with a Tibetan structure located near the old town. It's name Kunlun Resort refers to the Kunlun Mountains west of Tibet. Because it is within the old town, the roads are narrow and inaccessible to to big vehicles. Our bus had to stop outside the main road and we had to lug our luggage all the way in. When we finally reached the hotel, everyone wanted at least a two hours rest. Having to wake up early in the morning for our early flight, we could do with a cat nap.
After our two hours rest, everyone gathered at the lobby totally refreshed. It rained again, but was slight. Tina took us through a narrow passage at the back of the hotel and within a minute or two, we were at old town, Dukezong. Its' narrow streets with cobbled pavements and tibetan dwellings are all authentic and reputed to be 1,300 years old. This used to be an important tea horse road where ancient tea traders stopped to give their horses and themselves some rest. The rain had restricted our movements as we were kept in the shops more, than walking about. Some of us were at Sifang Street Square happily eating all the grilled food, grilled maize, grilled yak meat, grilled lamb etc. We soon walk down the road to Turtle Hill and situated on top is a buddhist temple with the biggest prayer wheel you've ever seen. Some of us climbed up the steps eager to explore the temple and have a go at spinning the huge prayer wheel.
We planned to see the Tibetan cultural song and dance at their cultural village. As we understood from the guide, Tibetan snacks would be provided. We were welcome at the compound in the traditional Tibetan greeting, which is putting a long white scarf over your neck. Then we proceeded to the building and went upstairs to our designated seats. On our tables were plates of some inedible looking food. Other groups had hot soup, fried chicken, yet another group had the most outlandish menu, they had a whole roasted pig. It was like you have an eating party before the show starts. The row in front of us had more food than they could eat and they were friendly enough to pass some over to us. We were not hungry, but just felt quite out of place with the mostly local audience. The show was basically village culture, lack refinement or finesse and the songs were like haunting voice over hills and mountains. The jokes I think were attune to their own environment. We left early as it was a show more for the locals.
Tina came over to us and was apologetic that the show was not suitable for us, but more for the locals. We did not mind, but agree that it was meant for local audience. Even the food was not what we expected. Who would expect that you can be having a big feast before the show starts. This is local village culture.
We went back to the hotel and called it a day. It was about 10.00 pm and I think most of us hit the sack by midnight. It had been a long day.
23.6.13 Day 3 Shangrila to Lijiang.
Our planned itinerary was to take a road trip from Shangrila to Lijiang to enjoy the scenery of mountains and valleys as we descend from 3,300 metres to 2,400 metres above sea level. So along the way, we would stop if we come across beautiful villages, valleys, spring flowers, terraced farming and Yaks grazing the field.
Don't we all love the rustic countryside scene.
Clicking away; we don't often enjoy such beautiful village scene.
Cheah and Ronnie, both like photography.
Unobstructed view of the village in the valley.
Picture is complete with a local.
The terraced farming landscape.
Ronnie likes the village background.
Vales and hills...
and yellow flowers
Yak grazing in the meadows.
You can take the man out of the country, but you can never take the country out of the man.
After several pit stop, the road wound down the mountains with deep gorges and down below flows the mighty Yangtze Kiang. This is the longest river in Asia and it flows from the Qinghai Tibet plateau through the Yunnan and empty's into the eastern seaboard. Along the way, it splits into the Mekong and ended up at the pearl river delta. The river at this part flows through the deep gorges and is claimed to be one of the longest, deepest and narrowest gorge in the world. At the narrowest section, it is called the Tiger Leaping Gorge, which is about 30 metres wide. How the name came about was not so well explained. Legend has it that a tiger was chased into the gorge by hunters when it took a leap of faith over the rapids and escaped. This is one of the hiker's haven but here is where we stopped and took a 3 kilometer walk from the bridge to the gorge and another 3 kilometer walk back to the bridge. The walk itself is awe inspiring being so close to the Yangtze, walking from the deepest to the narrowest part of the gorge they called the Tiger Leaping Gorge. There are 3 tunnels on the walk path on the way in that adds a different feel to the walk.. The total of 6 km walk in cool clime is refreshing and satisfying with many scenic spots for photo opportunity.
Tiger Leaping Gorge; cast in stone.
Walking across the bridge to Lijiang side.
Lih Gin at the bridge.
Need to have a group photo here.
Photographer being caught.
Alicia and Tina have a lot in common.
Tina with Kat.
Every section seems to be good for background scene.
I thought the gorge looks deep here.
Cheah and Ronnie in one of the three tunnels.
Eddie, Ronnie and Jacus with Khoo and Tan.
Eddie, Ronnie and Jacus with others.
The deepest section,
and the narrowest section
we're at the Tiger Leaping Gorge.
Good section for white water rafting.
This is as close as you can get to the raging river.
Three's company.
The 3 km walk back to the bridge is faster as we did not stop for pictures. It took us less than half an hour to reach the bus. As it was noontime, we had our lunch in one of the restaurants at the area because it was convenient. However, the food and cooking left much to be desired. It was oily and mostly vegetables and totally village cooking. Most of us did not eat very much but left immediately after lunch.
Our bus soon take us to another stop, the Lashi Lake. As the bus wound it's way down the mountains, we could see in the valley a large lake and a village. We are stopping at the village to have a close up look. As we pulled to a stop at the village, we were greeted by the chieftain. He is a funny guy, jovial and like all of China, this place is not spared from tourism. To the eco tourist, there are lots to to see, the 265 square metre lake is a watershed nature reserve, 70 species of migratory birds from about 30,000 birds pass by this lake at various time of the year. The village itself is home to about 20,000 residents of Naxi, Yi, Han and some Tibetans. To us, the fun is riding the horses which is small in build, but strong and sturdy and gets the job done. Except for a handful that prefer the safety of the ground, all the rest took to horse riding. We wish we could gallop, but these are not meant to be. After an hour of riding around the village, we went punting at the large lake. The water is shallow, and the boatman basically use the pole and push into the water bed to get the boat moving. We stopped on the island and just enjoy the cool air amidst the beautiful scene surrounding the valley. A few of us tried their grilled fish, fried quails egg and beer. As we headed back to the village, I swore I've seen this entire vista in National Geographic.
The chieftain is a funny guy.
Everyone of us yearns to be a cowboy riding on a horse. We get to experience that at this village.
Cowboy Eddie
Cowgirl Bee Bee.
Cowboy Tee.
Cowboy Tysern and Tan.
Cowgirl Lih Gin.
Cowgirl Alicia.
Cowgirl Yu Mei.
Cowgirl Shirley.
Cowboy Khoo.
Cowboy Effendi.
Cowgirl Susan.
Cowgirl Chia.
"Lau" Cowboy.
Most cowboy of all ! Yeeee Haaa !
After horsing around, we strolled over to Lashi Lake.
I swore I've seen this entire place in National Geographic.
Time stands still here.
Slow boat in Lashi.
Jacus looks good when he is happy.
Off we go.
First out on the water.
Punting on the Lashi.
See who's ahead.
That's a fantastic shot.
On the island.
Wow, that's Khoo, expression of happiness.
We had grilled fish and fried quails eggs with beer.
The guys having fun
The gals follow suit.
On the way back, we saw villagers hard at work.
We left the village after about 3 hours there. Lijiang is only half an hour away. Our bus wound down the mountain road and we could see the overview of a section of Lijiang city. Our chosen hotel is located on a hilltop within the vicinity of the old town and is not accessible by public transportation. The bus had to stop at a commercial area at the foothill, and two tricycles peddled by a couple of fifty something looking old man appeared to transfer our big luggage to the hotel. They had to make two trips while we walked with just our back pack. But the walk up the hill from this side is steep and most of us paused a few times for air. After struggling to the top, it was a short walk to Merry Inn, our hotel. It is an old villa perched on the hill top overlooking the old town. Once inside, we all knew it was worth the walk, this is the kind of boutique hotel we all liked, and when we got into our rooms, it was totally modern and tastefully done up. Not all rooms are standard, but mine had a back yard and a retractable sunlit roof. All of us are happy with this unique hotel.
Bags unloaded from our bus.
only in China do you see this.
View of old town from the top of the hill
Entrance to Merry Inn
Inside Merry Inn, everybody enjoying the cool air at the hotel courtyard.
Some of the rooms downstairs.
Tea pavilion overlooking old town.
Rooms at the top of the stairs.
The room belies the exterior.
It has all the modern trappings blended nicely with Chinese decor.
We all agreed to meet at the lobby and walk down the steps through the alley to the old town for dinner. Tina had warned us that the maze of narrow streets and many alleys can be befuddling. She will lead and show us the main street area, and the way from our hotel and back. This old town, also known as Dayan Old Town is a Unesco Heritage Site.It is certainly impressive, especially the old buildings that were restored to it's original state after partially being destroyed by the earthquake in 1996. The original old tea horse road is so popular with tourist that the Chinese government extended the old town area with more replicas of old building and had it all fitted for tourist shops selling Chinese trinkets, tribal souvenirs and snacks. If there is any downside, it smacks of commercialisation that primarily targets the tourist dollars. We had dinner at one of the restaurants offering Naxi dishes. The restaurant is has a nice decor and food is good. After dinner, everyone took the leisure time shopping, or just strolling along the streets just to enjoy the beauty of old town. It is certainly a photographer's delight as the entire area is good old China. Ronnie Lee, an avid photographer certainly was lost for choice of subjects to shoot that he literally got lost in the streets of old town. A handful of us, Billy, Kan, Tee, Alicia, Tysern and I went to one of the bar at Bar Street to have a drink there. By the time we got back to our hotel at almost midnight, we were surprised to see most of the rest still at the lobby drinking tea. They were waiting for Ronnie Lee who had yet to come back after he separated from the group to venture into some alley to take photographs. That was about 10.00 pm and it had been almost 2 hours since. The old town too had closed. Ronnie, Jacus and I decided to walk down the old town again and see if we could find him. Most of the streets were deserted with minimal lights by now. We could see some youngsters drinking and making a din at a few spots along the main street. We retraced some of the streets that we went earlier and could tell that it was like looking for a needle in the haystack. After drawing blank at every street, we struggled up the steps of about 600 meters to our hotel feeling bad. Ronnie is not a small boy, he couldn't be lost. But yet he was still not back. At the hotel, we made the decision to request the hotel to make a police report. Just as we were doing that, the main door open and in came Ronnie, face flustered and very short of breath. He had came back this way up the hill three times but just could not recognise the hotel in the night. After showing the photo he took to some kind samaritan at other hotel, one of them led him back to Merry Inn at about 12.30 am. All in, Ronnie had been missing in action for more than 2 hours! We were all happy and soon hit the sack for our much needed sleep.
The alley from Merry Inn to old town, about 600 metres of steps.
I like this old door.
First sight of old town at street level.
Another section of old town.
Even the alley is a good place for a photograph.
At the restaurant.
Waiting for food to be served.
Some of the local dishes.
Look like local, but not local.
Strolling around old town after dinner.
Cobbled streets.
Sometime after taking this group photo, Ronnie got himself lost in a maze of alleys.
Guess where we went ?
You have to negotiate for your drinks here.
Yes, this upstairs pub at Bar Street is a good spot to do people watching.
Stopping by at a 24 hour mini mart along the alley for some can drinks on the way back.
After MIA for more than 2 hours, Ronnie found his way back to the hotel.
Nobody understand English.....
But we're glad you're back safe and sound.
I actually walk up the hill and pass the hotel 3 times, but cannot recognise it ! Sudah tua lah !
24.6.13 ; Day 4 Impressions of Lijiang.
Our itinerary for the day was first to visit the remaining 2 Unesco Heritage Site at Lijiang in the morning, ie Shuhe Old Village and Baisha Village, both centre pieces of Naxi lifestyle in the days of yore. The plan for the afternoon was to see the stage performance of "Impressions of Lijiang" produced by one of China's famous son, Zhang Yimou. Thereafter, we will stay around the foothills of Snow Jade Mountain to soak in the environment before coming back to Dayan old town to spend our final evening there.
In the morning after breakfast at Merry Inn, we took our coach to the Shuhe. It wasn't as popular as Dayan, but as you wander deeper into the village, it certainly exudes it's own charm. The good thing is, it is not crowded and one can have a good feel of the Naxi's village life. We spend a good 2 1/2 hours there.
In the morning at Merry Inn courtyard.
After breakfast, ready to start the day.
At Shuhe Old Village
We all like the water that flows through the village.
So is Effendi.
It's the river of life to the village folks.
You can get married and stroll around here too.
Villager washing the vegetables.
It's a living village,
It's not just for tourist.
Village produce for all and sundry.
It's that same river that wound around the whole sprawling village.
Into the more touristy part
This guy wants money just to take his photograph
After Shuhe Village, it was just a short coach ride to Baisha Village, the oldest village in Lijiang. The main attraction at this village is The Mu mansion that was once occupied by the Naxi Chieftain, Tusi. The mansion houses some of the oldest wall murals that somehow survives over 400 years. It depicts the various passages of Sutra and also the different interpretation of Buddhism and Taoism. From a laymen point of view, it is one hell of a confused belief painted on the wall in a mansion.
The entrance to the Mu mansion.
Nice picture writing on the wall.
Kilroy was here.
Mac was here too
Two black stocking girls.
Three black stocking girls.
One want's to be a monkey.
Murals depicting different passages of Sutra.
I told you it was a confused mind that had this painted.
The Baisha village at the back of the mansion.
Alan and Mah trying to accost the local beauties.
We had lunch at the village before leaving, and yes, you guess it right, local Naxi meal.
We had booked our show at 2.00 pm and the place is just a 15 minutes bus ride from the village. It was high noon and the sun was right on top your head but as we entered the open arena, it started to drizzle. Out came the umbrellas and as the show starts, the light rain came on and off. It must have been a frequent thing as we were all each given a raincoat at the entrance. It was wet throughout, but the stage performance stole the thunder. The show was impressive with huge cast of at least 500 Naxi residents. Zhang Yimou did not waste time in bringing out the entire cast of 500 in his first few depiction of Naxi folk lore to make an impact. The stadium design is unique. It had red cement stone, looking like a cliff on a mountain as the stage and the Jade Snow Dragon Mountain beyond the arena form the majestic backdrop. In all the plays, stage actors were running up and down the cleverly designed slope, and the entire top circle of the arena is also the stage. All in all, there must have been a dozen Naxi tales being depicted in the one hour show. Everyone came away thoroughly impressed and the feeling of wanting to come back sometime again. "Impressions of Lijiang" must be seen live to appreciate it. To have an idea, you may have a glimpse from one of youtube postings via the below link;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myauZJAQT5Y
The stage with the Snow Jade Dragon mountain forming the majestic backdrop.
The show starts at the right hand corner of the stage where there is a big screen that narrates the story.
The show starts with a big bang.
Almost the entire cast are out
It is meant to impressed.
Ronnie's camera trick. He change it to black and white with red for impact.
Here's the original colour.
Horses are very integral to Naxi life. The are small bodied.
It is very impressive.
Naxi tribe has many tales.
Riding horses in the play
Horse riding skills; Standing on top of the horses on top of the arena !
Guts and skills on display.
Showcasing all the Naxi cultural costumes
Show stopper
Finale.
Happy to have witness the spectacle.
After the spectacular performance, we headed towards the foothill of the snow jade mountain. In China, snow mountain is not a common sight and mountain this high will have the name of dragon or tiger on it. This mountain is part of the Himalayas and has a mythical lore to it. What we see is a mountain capped with snow at it's peak. Nobody has scaled that peak before, therefore one could only view it from where we are. There is a cable car that can takes you another 600 metres higher for a closer look, and the cable car charge is something like 120 yuan! It would be worthwhile during the winter months as one could be treading on snow at that height. But the interesting thing at the foothill is the blue river. This water came down from the mountain from thawing snow and has a very distinct green/blue colour. The place is called Blue Moon Valley after the color of the water. It is not clear blue water, it is blue looking water from the snow mountain. This must be one of the place referred to by James Hilton when he mentioned snow capped mountains and blue lakes. Yes, the area we had traveled the last few days certainly has all the description of Shangrila, The Lost Horizon.
Blue Moon Valley
The water is not clear water, but it's blue
It's water from thawed snow flowing down from the mountain
one of the terraced pond
View from our bus.
Snow Jade Dragon Mountain
It's part of the Himalayas.
The cloudy weather obscure the view of the peak.
Looking good. Alan and his 3 escorts !
A view of the valley.
View of the lake and mountain.
After spending an hour at the valley, we headed back to town. The plan was to have early dinner and spend our final evening roaming around the old town. Our dinner choice this time was to sample the popular Hot Pot, Yunnan style. To us, it is steamboat. We reached the restaurant early and notice that some of the local residents were already having their dinner. In true Yunnan style, you could see one or two patrons eating with their shirt off, was it that hot ?
We left the restaurant satisfied. It was not the greatest, but good. Moreover, it's nice to have a change from the oily food we've been having since arrival. It was still bright when we left the restaurant and the walk to back to our hotel was leisurely anticipating the 600 metre steps up to our hotel. It's a free night, but we arranged to go out together. After that, everyone is free to do their own thing. But we make sure Ronnie Lee stays close to the group and we guess he too had enough of taking photos of the old buildings. A few still have something to buy, others are just contend to walk around and soak in the atmosphere. For me, I'm just keen to go back to Bar Street. And together with the same "kaki" with the addition of Tan, Lih Gin and Bee Bee, we went to a bar which had a solo singer crooning Chinese songs with his guitar and a synthesizer. They say we could sing and no charge, and so we took turns to sing and had such a good time and in no time, all the other patrons at the bar were good friends with us, toasting back and forth. But China will always be China. When it's closing time they handed us a bill of RMB 750 as singing charges ! We refused to pay and just walk off. Be warned if you go to Bar Street, you have to negotiate for drink price and after agreeing, they still try to haggle you for more ! It's sad as Bar Street is a popular place for tourist and this practice makes customer leave with a bad memory.
Back to old town of our final fling
Bar Street.
Negotiating for the price of our drinks.
The non negotiator just wait at the entrance and look pretty.
All agreed, you can sing. No charge.
Billy satisfied with the deal.
Like a Virgin.....Alicia.
That's just the first round of drinks.
Bee Bee is a fun loving character who knows how to enjoy herself.
Lih Gin too knows how to have a good time.
Happily singing away.
Now you know the true LG, right hand holing beer, left hand holding mike ! That's a party girl !
View from outside.
Petite dynamic duo.
He he he ha ha ha ha , it's out of tune.
Playful Tysern inserting the blinkers under his shirt.
Cheeeeers !
Fantastic! Banana Tysern singing chinese songs with the aid of hanyu pinyin from his i-phone.
Very well sung.
Billy too have a go using the i phone as well.
Well sung, Billy.
They have to do one song together, two bananas crooning Chinese song.
It is a normal looking shop on the outside.
The signage is unmistakable
The interior belies the exterior.
We thought it is going to be an expensive affair.
We go ahead anyway for the much needed massage.
Cupping is to extract excess "wind" from our body
After the reflex and massage.
We were told we could sleep here if we like. Towels can be provided in the morning for your shower.
The pricing; very reasonable.
What a gem this place is.
We went back happy and I kept the name card of this Reflexology Centre. This is one place worth recommending to people. Tonight is our last night in Yunnan. We have to leave by 9.00 am tomorrow morning and had one more place to visit before our flight home.
26.6.13 ; Day 6 : The Stone Forest, another Unesco Heritage Site.
Our holiday ends today. Our flight departs in the evening, and we had more than adequate time to visit the Stone forest which is about 1 1/2 hours outside Kunming. The hotel provides breakfast, by 7.00 am, the food was still not fully ready. It's not only us, but quite a number local tourist are early as well and by 7.30 am, the restaurant is full with hotel guests. We left straight for the Shilin stone forest after breakfast. At arrival, it was still early and therefore less crowd. The entrance is a big area and while we waited for the necessary tickets purchase, it was photography time again.
The ladies want a group photo
After that, they want individual photo.
I take for you, you take for me, ya .
I want one too.
Who are you taking Tee ?
Take one with me.
One with the other Tan as well.
They love photo shoot, don't they ?
The flower patch is a good place for a photo.
Ronnie's objective is clear, it's the Stone Forest we came for, not flowers.
On the way in.
This entrance remind me of a portrait of Mao Tse Tong I had seen when young. He was standing tall in front of this stone forest with his trade mark cap and communist attire.
Alicia just loves to be photograph.
One of the many stone formation.
These limestone outcrop was once a shallow sea some 270 million years ago.
an uplift in this region has produced this limestone area.
The wind and erosion has created interesting shapes of these outcrop.
It stretched over 300 square kilometers
Ronnie must have his picture of this area.
So do we !
Only the Hulk can split the rocks !
Chinaman with Italian mafia look.
One more mafia making phone call.
Alicia's modelling pose. LG seems to love the trees !
Three's company
Alicia again !
This meatball soup is tasty.
You know it's good just by looking at it.
Can't rmember what dish is this, but we finish it !
This is their signature duck, we ordered another round.
Can you classify this as village restaurant ?
Luxury looking interior .
And the price is the cheapest in all 6 days !
Everyone of us yearns to be a cowboy riding on a horse. We get to experience that at this village.
Cowboy Ronnie.
We left the village after about 3 hours there. Lijiang is only half an hour away. Our bus wound down the mountain road and we could see the overview of a section of Lijiang city. Our chosen hotel is located on a hilltop within the vicinity of the old town and is not accessible by public transportation. The bus had to stop at a commercial area at the foothill, and two tricycles peddled by a couple of fifty something looking old man appeared to transfer our big luggage to the hotel. They had to make two trips while we walked with just our back pack. But the walk up the hill from this side is steep and most of us paused a few times for air. After struggling to the top, it was a short walk to Merry Inn, our hotel. It is an old villa perched on the hill top overlooking the old town. Once inside, we all knew it was worth the walk, this is the kind of boutique hotel we all liked, and when we got into our rooms, it was totally modern and tastefully done up. Not all rooms are standard, but mine had a back yard and a retractable sunlit roof. All of us are happy with this unique hotel.
transferring our bags via 3 wheeled cycles.
We all agreed to meet at the lobby and walk down the steps through the alley to the old town for dinner. Tina had warned us that the maze of narrow streets and many alleys can be befuddling. She will lead and show us the main street area, and the way from our hotel and back. This old town, also known as Dayan Old Town is a Unesco Heritage Site.It is certainly impressive, especially the old buildings that were restored to it's original state after partially being destroyed by the earthquake in 1996. The original old tea horse road is so popular with tourist that the Chinese government extended the old town area with more replicas of old building and had it all fitted for tourist shops selling Chinese trinkets, tribal souvenirs and snacks. If there is any downside, it smacks of commercialisation that primarily targets the tourist dollars. We had dinner at one of the restaurants offering Naxi dishes. The restaurant is has a nice decor and food is good. After dinner, everyone took the leisure time shopping, or just strolling along the streets just to enjoy the beauty of old town. It is certainly a photographer's delight as the entire area is good old China. Ronnie Lee, an avid photographer certainly was lost for choice of subjects to shoot that he literally got lost in the streets of old town. A handful of us, Billy, Kan, Tee, Alicia, Tysern and I went to one of the bar at Bar Street to have a drink there. By the time we got back to our hotel at almost midnight, we were surprised to see most of the rest still at the lobby drinking tea. They were waiting for Ronnie Lee who had yet to come back after he separated from the group to venture into some alley to take photographs. That was about 10.00 pm and it had been almost 2 hours since. The old town too had closed. Ronnie, Jacus and I decided to walk down the old town again and see if we could find him. Most of the streets were deserted with minimal lights by now. We could see some youngsters drinking and making a din at a few spots along the main street. We retraced some of the streets that we went earlier and could tell that it was like looking for a needle in the haystack. After drawing blank at every street, we struggled up the steps of about 600 meters to our hotel feeling bad. Ronnie is not a small boy, he couldn't be lost. But yet he was still not back. At the hotel, we made the decision to request the hotel to make a police report. Just as we were doing that, the main door open and in came Ronnie, face flustered and very short of breath. He had came back this way up the hill three times but just could not recognise the hotel in the night. After showing the photo he took to some kind samaritan at other hotel, one of them led him back to Merry Inn at about 12.30 am. All in, Ronnie had been missing in action for more than 2 hours! We were all happy and soon hit the sack for our much needed sleep.
Guess who have to take a leak by the alley.
I understand no mandarin !
24.6.13 ; Day 4 Impressions of Lijiang.
Our itinerary for the day was first to visit the remaining 2 Unesco Heritage Site at Lijiang in the morning, ie Shuhe Old Village and Baisha Village, both centre pieces of Naxi lifestyle in the days of yore. The plan for the afternoon was to see the stage performance of "Impressions of Lijiang" produced by one of China's famous son, Zhang Yimou. Thereafter, we will stay around the foothills of Snow Jade Mountain to soak in the environment before coming back to Dayan old town to spend our final evening there.
In the morning after breakfast at Merry Inn, we took our coach to the Shuhe. It wasn't as popular as Dayan, but as you wander deeper into the village, it certainly exudes it's own charm. The good thing is, it is not crowded and one can have a good feel of the Naxi's village life. We spend a good 2 1/2 hours there.
After breakfast, must have a puff.
Outside Merry Inn.
The cameraman must sometimes be in front of the camera too.
Nearer the entrance, the shops are designed more for the tourist.
Village people.
( i'm gonna get killed for this caption )
We had lunch at the village before leaving, and yes, you guess it right, local Naxi meal.
We had booked our show at 2.00 pm and the place is just a 15 minutes bus ride from the village. It was high noon and the sun was right on top your head but as we entered the open arena, it started to drizzle. Out came the umbrellas and as the show starts, the light rain came on and off. It must have been a frequent thing as we were all each given a raincoat at the entrance. It was wet throughout, but the stage performance stole the thunder. The show was impressive with huge cast of at least 500 Naxi residents. Zhang Yimou did not waste time in bringing out the entire cast of 500 in his first few depiction of Naxi folk lore to make an impact. The stadium design is unique. It had red cement stone, looking like a cliff on a mountain as the stage and the Jade Snow Dragon Mountain beyond the arena form the majestic backdrop. In all the plays, stage actors were running up and down the cleverly designed slope, and the entire top circle of the arena is also the stage. All in all, there must have been a dozen Naxi tales being depicted in the one hour show. Everyone came away thoroughly impressed and the feeling of wanting to come back sometime again. "Impressions of Lijiang" must be seen live to appreciate it. To have an idea, you may have a glimpse from one of youtube postings via the below link;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myauZJAQT5Y
After the spectacular performance, we headed towards the foothill of the snow jade mountain. In China, snow mountain is not a common sight and mountain this high will have the name of dragon or tiger on it. This mountain is part of the Himalayas and has a mythical lore to it. What we see is a mountain capped with snow at it's peak. Nobody has scaled that peak before, therefore one could only view it from where we are. There is a cable car that can takes you another 600 metres higher for a closer look, and the cable car charge is something like 120 yuan! It would be worthwhile during the winter months as one could be treading on snow at that height. But the interesting thing at the foothill is the blue river. This water came down from the mountain from thawing snow and has a very distinct green/blue colour. The place is called Blue Moon Valley after the color of the water. It is not clear blue water, it is blue looking water from the snow mountain. This must be one of the place referred to by James Hilton when he mentioned snow capped mountains and blue lakes. Yes, the area we had traveled the last few days certainly has all the description of Shangrila, The Lost Horizon.
another view as we passed by from the bus.
After spending an hour at the valley, we headed back to town. The plan was to have early dinner and spend our final evening roaming around the old town. Our dinner choice this time was to sample the popular Hot Pot, Yunnan style. To us, it is steamboat. We reached the restaurant early and notice that some of the local residents were already having their dinner. In true Yunnan style, you could see one or two patrons eating with their shirt off, was it that hot ?
Have to bend over, i-phone too small for 4 eyes.
By the time we got back to Merry Inn, it was midnight. This time there was no missing person and we all hit the sack immediately.
25.6.13 ; Day 5 The Long long road.
We left Lijiang after breakfast at Merry Inn. The first leg of the journey to Dali is a winding road. The road had to wound around the mountains as it descend to lower altitude. Dali is is about three hours from Lijiang and scenery along the way is beautiful. Because it is mountainous, certain stretch we could see wind turbines on the mountain top to harness wind energy and convert to electrical power. There is even an army training camp along there. But the most beautiful sight are the mountains sloping down to valley with farm houses dotting the entire landscape. It is almost Swiss like scenery and we couldn't help but keep on looking out the window of our coach. As we neared Dali, we stopped there for lunch as plan. Dali is the main town on the huge Erhai Lake. Erhai lake is popular for the fish catching ducks, but we have to give it a miss as the journey ahead is long.
After Dali, it was another 4 hours before we reached Kunming, but it was rush hour by the time we reached the city limit, we found ourselves hitting right into the traffic jam. About an hour later, we reached our hotel. This being a free evening, everyone of us just move in different groups near our hotel to look for our dinner. I had a simple dinner with Billy and Tsi Ming at one of the Muslim eatery and took a quick stroll at the shopping street. However, shopping is not our cup of tea and we enquired from our hotel for a good Reflexology Centre. It was about 800 metres from the Hotel and we just have to have our tired limbs being attended to. This massage centre turn out to be a real gem. The exterior was like a normal shop, but when we enter the premise, it was clean and shiny, almost classy. The price was reasonable. We asked for an hour relexology and another hour body massage and it cost us only RMB 150.00 At the end of it, we were told that we could actually sleep there without charge if we like ! If we knew earlier, we need not book our hotel!
A little apprehensive if it's going to be a costly affair.
We went back happy and I kept the name card of this Reflexology Centre. This is one place worth recommending to people. Tonight is our last night in Yunnan. We have to leave by 9.00 am tomorrow morning and had one more place to visit before our flight home.
26.6.13 ; Day 6 : The Stone Forest, another Unesco Heritage Site.
Our holiday ends today. Our flight departs in the evening, and we had more than adequate time to visit the Stone forest which is about 1 1/2 hours outside Kunming. The hotel provides breakfast, by 7.00 am, the food was still not fully ready. It's not only us, but quite a number local tourist are early as well and by 7.30 am, the restaurant is full with hotel guests. We left straight for the Shilin stone forest after breakfast. At arrival, it was still early and therefore less crowd. The entrance is a big area and while we waited for the necessary tickets purchase, it was photography time again.
These are at the park.
At the highest point, one could have a panoramic view of the entire area, as far as the eye can see.
and again !
The whole chink gang !
We left Shilin Stone Forest after spending about two hours there. It is noon and just in time for lunch. Tina had recommended a restaurant at a village on the way out that is popular for duck. Yes, we want duck and this last restaurant proves to be the best in all the six days we spend in China. Not only it was cheap, it was really tasty and very good. That's how we'll remember Kunming, that last taste that was so good. And the restaurant is big that you cannot classify it as a village restaurant, but we notice it is full of locals.
Vege dish
The entrance is anything but village looking !
We left for the airport and arrive 3 hours ahead of departure time. The timing was just perfect and we did not have to rush at any one time. After unloading all our luggage from the bus, we bade farewell to Tina. She's been one hell of a good guide. Being a Bai minority tribe herself, working hard comes naturally to her. She loves to sing and sang for us in the bus when there's no more beautiful scene to see. It was mostly folk songs she sang for us. For someone who is passionate in her work, her high service standard comes without effort. She is tour guide excellence personify.
It was a quick 6 days. We set out to look for The Lost Horizon, and true to James Hilton's description, Shangrila and Lijiang fit into many of his description. Yunnan is a territory that has a legacy of minority tribes. Most of the minority tribes in China are from this region and they make a total of 40% of the Yunnan population. That is why, Yunnan is different from the coastal cities in the east which are predominantly Han Chinese. Even though it is the hottest time of the year, the high altitude makes the entire place so cooling. It is referred to as the place of eternal spring. The cool weather is what makes Yunnan enjoyable. So are their unique culture of the minority tribes, not to mentioned that the name Shangrila and the novel Lost Horizon has that magical ring to it. The story is fiction, but the place exist ! So what next, I shall certainly be back again, if only to search for the eternal fountain of youth !
