Lijiang... is a mecca for domestic Chinese tourists and again, very very few westerners.
Said farewell to Nick and Rach in the centre of town - 7 am.  Made my way to the guest house I had booked (eventually) and it was kind of surreal - a beautiful place but no one there. I had the place to myself - a huge room in a beautiful big wooden traditional guest house.

I was kind of beyond tired and feeling very 'off'. Too many days and nights on trains and buses and no rest between. I was glad I had 4 days ahead to just chill out and get my laundry done, upload some pictures and just hang out, hopefully with someone new. Long story shorter...if that is possible for me - no other travelers for the first couple of days and I wandered around town on the Thursday and it was delightful, yet impossible for me to find my way back. The narrow lane ways wound in circles and all the signs looked the same. I asked and asked - showed my map to the uninterested and apathetic locals - thank goodness they have so much natural beauty in Yunnan because their hospitality sure wouldn't have too many westerners returning. Not that many have come in the first place! I actually think a few of them sent me in the opposite way more than once. Eventually, tired and very crabby, I came upon a policeman arriving at a square in his car. He got out and started talking on his cell phone. Everyone talks nonstop on cell phones here - even more than at home. I stood in front of him and he just went to the other side of the car, still talking. I went with him. He tried to ignore me but I insisted we dance around the car - circling it twice. Finally he ended the call and I showed him on the map where I wanted to go. He said "let's go" in English - apparently the only two words he knew, and we started walking. I knew I was in the right part of town but just couldn't find the right lane. There are over 700 - yes 700, guest houses in the old town so not to know their names is not a big deal. He tried to figure out the map - nada, he asked - nada, he asked again and after about 30 minutes of walking around like I had for the previous 90 minutes - we found my place. He really did seem nice and I think he enjoyed his macho, save the damsel thing, but without any way to talk to each other it was difficult. He insisted in bringing me right into the guest house and finding the young owner to deposit me forthwith. She seemed truly frightened by the whole experience and I was just damn tired.



The next day I took a taxi and bus to the next town - Shuhe, a little smaller, also fake ancient town, where I rented a bicycle which, on the friggin cobblestones, nearly shook my teeth out which would have caused me to....yup, but no. I also got lost in this smaller town and had to sit and wait for western tourist who could speak Chinese so as to help me find where to return my bicycle. I get lost everywhere but usually can read a map or mime for help - here - nope, nobody cares.

Lijiang is physically beautiful - set at the base of a massive famous mountain - the mountain scene you see on all Chinese tourist materials. It looks a lot like Banff on steroids. The streets are wider, the flowers are more plentiful, the mountain at the end of the street, far bigger and grander, the tourists, more pac- like, and shops, waay cuter and numerous. Add the smell of Yaks R Us stores every third stall. and you get the picture....sortof. Here small towns mean less than 500,000!



The real ancient town was destroyed in a 8.0 earthquake in 1996 - the whole area was devastated with extensive loss of life. China, being China, recreated the whole thing - a brand new ancient village - well not a small village - the size of Disney world in Florida - massive - with ancient narrow cobblestone streets and waterways and ancient new buildings. Most people have no idea this is a new build - they make no mention of it and you would be hard pressed to find any way to tell. Quite amazing. Over the weekend - one of only two holidays in China, the town filled to the brim with Chinese tour groups and the Disney character of the place was magnified to the bizarre. The cobble stones are the massive, irregular blocks, making walking difficult. The village is on the side of a hill and I had a hard time getting around in my sensible sandals. The Chinese woman, coming on a huge holiday, were in 3 inch stilettos and fancy outfits and even fancier hats - like the ones you might see at Ascot or at the Kentucky Derby. The really cute couples, wore matching clothing......

The real town - old town/ new town is filled with minority people - tribes, mostly three, who have lived in these parts since the 1500's. They still wear their colorful garb making for a really surreal place. The largest group are the Naxi people - an interesting matriarchal culture where the women run everything - often mate with men without marriage and they own the kids and the wealth.  In the town you see them everywhere - all ages but you see few men.....hmmm.....

















I did see women doing all types of work - many of them in the construction industry as laborers - hauling gravel and concrete in baskets held onto their heads. Back breaking work, creating more fake ancient buildings.



I took lots of pictures - the market was quite something.   This is Yak world, everything Yak - In the old town, loads of Yak Meat stores offered Yak, any way you could possibly want it, to the adoring tourists. They were quaffing Yak milk, wolfing down Yak on a stick and enjoying Yak souvenirs. In the market, Yaks were being sliced, diced and skinned beside the pools of fish and the ducks who were waiting to be deep fried, whole.









On the street ( in the real part of town where real people live) the regular street sellers were promoting their wares - the unusual ones here being massive tiger paws - massive - and lots of them - some about 8-10 inches across - the paw still furry, attached to the bone with the ligaments intact. The medicine men had them and paws of baby tigers and every other possible animal for sale to be used for traditional medicine. The tiger paws are sliced thinly when they are needed - I couldn't get them to tell me how much it would cost but it must be expensive...aren't tigers rare??? This treatment helps with arthritis - again - learned thru mime. Full armadillos and snake skins and porcupines and bones and claws of you name it, available.





I have often come across sidewalk dentists in other countries - just a chair on the sidewalk - quite common in Cambodia and Laos and rural Vietnam. This is the first place I have come across sidewalk dentists selling used teeth - and very used. Some of them had full cavities and one would have to be in pretty bad shape if this was a trade up. One of the guys showed me the pins he had to attach the tooth to and then drill it into your missing space. Yikes! I didn't see anyone getting any new teeth but did see many getting treated with oils and stuff on other body parts - right on the sidewalk.




Eventually a group of girls showed up at the guest house and, lo and behold, they were from BC - 5 teachers and one brother who are all teaching in northern China. They teach a BC curriculum in a Canadian owned High School. Maple Leaf School - I guess there are a few throughout China - they recruit out of UBC and this was these girls first teaching job and they were loving it. They had one week off for Mayday and had been hiking.



The next day - the girls left and another couple arrived - also from BC!!! From Vancouver Island and they had been traveling around China after visiting their son who was living and working in Beijing. Really nice couple, Ron and Jo, and you know my experiences with ...what are the chances/small world stories? As we got talking - Ron is also a mediator and is friends with my friend Josie and then I happened to mention the only two people I know from the Gulf Islands and yup - they know them and in fact, Ron had waiting emails from Murray!!!! OK, we have a small country but still......

The four days went fast but I was ready to see something new - not fake ancient new, but just new to me.