Lìjiāng, China 11-13 October 2008

We were in Kūnmíng for a night before getting on a bus bound for Lìjiāng, some 500 plus kms northwards towards the Tibetan border.

We thought Lìjiāng was lovely but think that our taking this view was helped by the fact that we caught it at a quieter time of year as we reckon it could be less than pleasant if there were loads of people crowding the streets. Its almost like the little Venice of China with little bricked lanes, loads of waterways and bridges all through the old town and it was all kind of miniature and easily lost in crowds. Interestingly though, the people of Lìjiāng didn’t spit and this made a very pleasant change from the other places we’d visited.

Some of the houses had suffered earthquake damage but were being rebuilt from with bricks made from mud and mixed with what looked like rice straw

The lanes were just so pretty



and while the usual tat was for sale, carving wood seemed to be one of the main skills here and some of the work was very impressive. This particular chap was on the outskirts of the old town and was just as skilled with a paintbrush as he was with a chisel. We ended up buying this carving once we saw it finished.



The carvers were interesting to watch, were really skilled





and the end results were stunning and incredibly detailed



Lìjiāng is the base of the 286,00 strong Naxi people, descendants of one of the Tibetan tribes

but I'm more comfortable taking photos of animals and my eye is automatically drawn to any animal, including the 1000s of bright orange fish that swam the waterways and seemed to congregate around bridges



and we had to have a few photos of dogs in here! Dogs elsewhere we’d been in China had been strays but the dogs here seemed to be treated somewhat differently



We came across this guy who was very excitable and when I went in to talk to him, his owner handed me the lead. When I handed it back, he handed me back the lead, plus his mobile phone and two 100 yuan notes! The dog was like a huge muppet, all shaggy, floppy and very ditzy



The owner was quite a funny chap too but the dog had a lot character and was (as are most Afghans) very elegant but barely stayed still long enough to take his photo!



We didn’t count the bridges but they were around every corner and if you didn’t get lost in this place you were doing something wrong



All canals seemed to lead to one of the old streets surrounding the market square



and this is the main street in the old town



It was this scene that made me think of the Cotswolds in England.



We really enjoyed looking round the old town but did get out on the bikes one day we were there and road to the tiny village Báishā that sits at the foot of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. I was enjoying being pushed and it meant I could snap away!



While we were a bit under whelmed by Báishā itself, it was interesting to look around and see how the rural folk in these parts live. Much of labour in the fields was manual from what we could see and the houses were all within a walled compound with big double doors. Many of the doors were open and looked onto pretty courtyards surrounded by the house, barns and other buildings. The animals lived in there with their owners and all the preparation of food for storing was clearly done in there as well judging from the piles of corn husks lying round and the corn that was either stacked or hung to dry







This is the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain which is only a few kms from Báishā. Lìjiāng was 2,340m high and the mountain is around 5000m high. We’d definitely noticed a drop in the temperature coming from Kūnmíng to Lìjiāng.




Báishā is probably now most famous for a physician called Dr Ho who we’d never heard of but we now know is now featured in every travel guide and is the subject of many documentaries, including Michael Palins Himalaya series. We wandered into his ‘surgery’ to say hi. This is his office – it is a complete mess of papers, business cards, articles and letters from patients all over the world



Dr Ho has apparently cured patients from leukaemia and other various serious illnesses. He has letters and medical testimonials to prove it and yes, we read all that were given to us by his very proud son (who is also a doctor).



An Israeli couple were also visiting, getting treatment and when they had finished and left, Dr Ho asked what was wrong with us. We told him absolutely nothing was wrong and that we had just come to say hi! He almost seemed bemused by this but we chatted for a while and then he gave us some ‘healthy tea’ anyway. All his medicines are made from local herbs and plants that he and his family collects, dries, then ginds by hand to make up various potions and teas for his patients



He was quite a daggy looking man but deadly serious and there was clear evidence that people travel from all over the world to see him for treatment



Euan was a bit sceptical (I could tell) but I’m with Dr Ho on this one. He had some great letters from patients and various medical documents from the Mayo Clinic in the US that treats cancer patients.

On the way back we went past Black Dragon pool on the outskirts of town and, as it was a clear day, there was a great view of the mountain



We opted for the nightbus back to Kūnmíng, our first trip on a Chinese sleeper bus. We’d done the sleeper trains but not the bus. The beds were like hospital beds but built for very tiny narrow people about 5’5” long so it was a cramped sleep but the tiny mattresses were the softest we’d slept on since we have been in China. I don’t think I’ve mentioned that the Chinese seem to prefer beds like boards (and I’m not exaggerating or joking). The bus beds were tiny but our preference is now sleeper train, then bus then day bus or day train. With the distances that need to be travelled in China and the high likelihood of any scenery being distorted by haze or pollution, our preference is definitely to sleep during as much travel as possible!


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