A Week in Yunnan

The following article was written by an Italian who spent his holiday in China in October 2008.The tour was organized by Yunnan Chinamultiservice Consulting Co., Ltd. (CMS) , an Italian consulting company registered as a WOFE and based in Kunming, Yunnan Province.CMS specializes in providing services to industrial groups, institutions and both Italian and foreign economic operators interested in doing business in the Chinese market.CMS also specializes in offering discovery trips of the more exotic and fascinating territories of this vast country such as Yunnan, Sichuan, Tibet , Xinjiang and Guizhou province.

Enjoy a trip through breathtaking landscapes with CMS!!

Tel: 0871 3628227.

info@tourismchinamultiservice.com

www.tourismchinamultiservice.com

- by Simone Montagnani

1^{st &} 2^nd Days: Kunming

Finally, after a 3-hour flight we arrive in Kunming, Yunnan Province’s capital. The weather is really nice, much better than in Beijing, where it was raining! Here the sun is high in the sky and the temperature really comfortable, but at the same time the air is fresh and less polluted than in any other part of the PRC. Although it’s October, it feels like spring time: warm sun, blooming flowers and blue sky!

The tour guide picks us up at the airport with a comfortable minivan: enough space for 5 people and all the pieces of our luggage and stuff.

We will stay only two days in Kunming so we can’t waste time. In the afternoon we go to make a visit around Kunming’s downtown: the Cui Hu (Green lake) and Bird Flower Market. The lake is an interesting example of the traditional Chinese passion for this kind of relaxed place. Four artificial lakes linked by traditional architecture bridges, trees, lot of people walking all around, flying kites or playing mahjong. A curious feature of the lake is the sea gulls’ annual migration from Siberia to here. It is really strange to listen to their screams so far from the sea! There’s also a strange story about those sea gulls and an old Chinese man. The story tells that twenty years ago there was an old man who was fond of these birds and used to go to feed them. When the old man died, some people brought a picture of him to the lake, and all the sea gulls started to fly around the picture, as if they understood what had happened and wanted to give their last greetings to their old friend.

We have lunch in a nice Chinese restaurant in the proximity of the lake in front of a peaceful landscape. The food is delicious…very spicy, but delicious! We also try a Kunming specialty, the “Cross the Bridge Rice Noodles”(uh! Chinglish!!!), a delicious bowl of chicken soup bowl with rice noodles and a lot of different stuff, like meat and fish slices, quail eggs, peanuts, vegetables! Really tasty!!!

The second day, after a good breakfast in the absolutely gorgeous restaurant of our hotel, we go to visit Shilin (Stone Forest). Shilin is one hour by car from Kunming city, and is like a scene from a dream, a lunar landscape made of limestone karst formations up to 40 meters high, a maze of pinnacles, caves, towers, stone bridges and underground rivers. A local legend claims that the immortals carved these stone mazes in search of a quieter space where lovers can free their passions, but the presence of many marine fossils suggests that the whole area was covered by the sea millions of years ago, and that the water sculpted the stone. After lunch we go back to Kunming, where we visit the provincial museum, which has an amazing section dedicated to the bronze drums of the two thousand year-old Dian Culture. These drums are a testament to the high cultural level reached by the Dian culture. This culture spread from the area around Dianchi Lake, near Kunming, and was one of the most important bronze period cultures in southern China.

3^rd Day: Dali

After a 45 – minute flight, we arrive in Dali. The landscape along the road is a beautiful mixture of small villages with characteristic architecture, and new buildings that reflect the amazing development of this area.

We arrive so hungry in Dali that we have to stop in a western-style coffee bar; only after can we “explore” the city. Our hotel is one of the most beautiful, silent, and comfortable we’ve ever seen.

After leaving our baggage at the hotel, we take bikes to make a trip through the city and its outskirts. The weather is always so nice that riding a bike is the best way to enjoy it and also discover some of this ancient city’s beautiful scenic spots.

We roam all around the old city walls, walking on them to take a look at the landscape of the city, with its traditional Bai minority houses and small stone paved streets. The flavour of the typical “Bai” snacks that itinerant sellers show us along the street attract us, and we can’t help buying some “rushan”, goat cheese fried in sugar, delicious!!!

But after a while, oh! – the aroma of fresh-baked bread coming from the bars on Foreign Street…The tour guide understands what we are talking about and tells us that we can stop at one of them for lunch. So we have a European-style lunch, with pizza and other delicacies. Chinese food is really good…but sometimes it is not bad to eat something a little bit more familiar!

In the afternoon we go out of the city, exploring the surrounding country. We find a small Bai minority village; it seems it’s the first time that they’ve seen and talked to a foreigner. Children start to run around us, telling us the few English words they know, laughing and doing a lot of strange dances. We meet with the leader of the village, at least I think he is, and he invites us to his house, offers us some tea and some sweet and salty cakes. He speaks some English, and the tour guide speaks Chinese, since he’s been living in Yunnan for a few years, so he can tell us the story of this community, explaining to us their habits and costumes. The head of the village asks us to join him for dinner and to stay for the night, but unluckily we can’t. We are a bit worried about going back to Dali by bike after sunset and furthermore we can’t sleep here, because we have already planned an excursion to the Zhonghe Si temple for tomorrow. We are a little bit upset because this fantastic man is telling us that tomorrow the weekly market will be held in the village, and we regret having to miss this exciting experience. Maybe during the next trip to Yunnan…

^4th Day: Dali

This morning we wake up really early, in order to have time to visit the Zhonghe Si temple before lunch, and at 4 o’clock in the afternoon our van will be waiting for us to depart to Lijiang, so…no time to waste!

When we reach the foot of the mountain where the temple is located, we discover that there’s even a new cable lift to climb it. Our guidebook on Yunnan doesn’t mention it, but the guide already knows, and has bought the ticket in advance. We are so happy, this means more time to visit the temple and less fatigue. The temple is nice, with a wonderful garden, and hidden places where you can relax alone, far away from the daily activities downtown. The view from the Green Jade Mountain(Cangshan) where the temple is located leaves you breathless: Yunnan landscapes are really amazing. We take tons of pictures, so many that, once back in Dali, we need to find an internet café to download them from our digital cameras!!!

5^th Day: Lijiang

Lijiang is just 3 hours by car from Dali. The landscape between the two cities is beautiful. When we arrive in Lijiang we went to the old part of the city. After checking-in at a special Naxi -style hotel we start to walk around the nice narrow streets of the old town. After a few minutes we find a bar on the second floor of a building; from the terrace we can see Lijiang old town in its entirety. It’s no exaggeration to say that, with its traditional roofs and the Snow Dragon Peak in the background, Lijiang offers one of the most beautiful view ever enjoyed! We eat some snacks along a street full of tourists, both Chinese and foreign. It is incredible to see how many foreigners live or travel around this city and Dali. Sometimes it seems like being at home, and it is pleasant to exchange some words in English, or drink a PROPER beer in a PROPER English pub, albeit one in China.

Naxi people, who’ve been living here for centuries, have really interesting habits. They are really different from the Han population in many regards. The Tibetan cultural influence is evident. Naxi are a mix of Chinese and Tibetan, and so proud to be Naxi, to speak their particular language, to practice the Dongba religion, to have their national dishes and passions, such as singing. Music, singing and dancing, are fundamental to their social life, so you often bump into women singing traditional songs outside in little squares, or groups of Naxi dancing in their tradition blue dresses.

When we finish our dinner in a really amazing Naxi restaurant it is already midnight. Really few people walking on the street…the sound of water flowing in the small channel beside the street makes us feel we’re in a little Asian Venice…..really, really romantic!

6^th Day: Lijiang

Today we wake up early; the beautiful mountains surrounding Lijiang are waiting to be climbed and we are so excited to face such a trip. The hotel prepares us lunchboxes; we plan to stay out all day long. We take a comfortable bus to the foot of Haba Mountain and start our trek. The mountain is really impressive, 5396 meters above sea level, clouds surrounding its peak. The chain has thirteen different peaks, but to trek all of them would take too long, and would be too hard for us, so we choose to climb one of the easiest, starting from Yunshanping town. We find beautiful valleys with dozens of yak pastures all around. The mountain woods are beautiful with their golden nuances of autumn leaves. We meet two Naxi shepherds guarding their animals at pasture. It’s really interesting to try to communicate with them, and once again thanks to the help of our Italian guide we learn (and have already forgotten…) the Naxi names for the mountain peaks, plants, and flowers. We share our lunch with them, and they are so curious about the food we have! They tell us that during the spring the entire mountain is covered by blooming flowers and trees. Unfortunately, we can’t stay here long enough to see it!

After lunch we continue our trek, descending the mountain to Tiger Leaping Gorge. Here we decide to split our group into two. Three of us don’t want to keep walking, and take a jeep ahead. The rest of us decide to try the trek, choose a meeting point for the evening and start walking. The tour guide comes with us, of course, while the other three go with the Chinese driver, who can speak some English, to be sure they have no problems travelling with him.

We choose the high-path, harder but more fascinating, and without cars, buses or trucks crossing it. The trek is hard; the altitude makes breathing difficult, and we cover about ten kilometers by the end of the day. But the surroundings are so incredible we don’t even feel tired! Everywhere are wild animals, amazing flowers, and imposing trees.

At the end of the day, on the path to Tiger Leaping Gorge, we reach the small hostel we’ve booked for the night. We find our friends relaxing, drinking beer and discussing their travels with other foreigners.

Tired, time to go to bed!

6^th - 7^th Days: Zhongdian/Shangri-La

We wake up vey early in the morning today in order to take some more pictures of Tiger Leaping Gorge, an incredible 17 kilometer-long gorge, set among two splendid mountains, with the Yangtze River flowing through, having carved it out over millenia. The name of the gorge comes from an ancient legend. A tiger, trying to escape from its hunters, jumped from the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain to Haba Xueshan Mountain. Obviously it is impossible for an animal to jump 30 meters, but a legend is a legend! And, as usual, it was really funny and fascinating listening to the tour guide telling us the whole story.

We arrive in Zhongdian around six o’clock in the afternoon, just in time to leave the luggage at the hotel where we’ve found accommodation for the night and find a nice Tibetan restaurant, where we enjoy dinner with a strange “juicy” alcohol made from different fruits dipped in baijiu, the local rice spirit.

When we were planning our trip to China we frequently discussed whether it was worth visiting Zhongdian. In the last ten years the city has grown quickly, a tourist haven nurtured by John Hilton’s tale of a lost heaven, a Shangri-La the Beijing authorities chose to locate at Zhongdian. By reading the guidebooks and surfing on the web, one’s first impression is that the whole city has become a “Chinese Disneyland”, and that it is not so exciting anymore. But since our trip is only 15 days long, we won’t have time to visit the Tibetan region. Anyway, Chinamultiservice , our tour company, has explained to us that Zhongdian is the closest area to our itinerary with a real connection to Tibetan culture and people, and with the guide’s help we find nice hidden corners of the city, letting us discover a part of China that is difficult to find in other areas. So, in the end we decide to stay for two days. And it surely was the right choice!

Zhongdian is very touristy; dozens of itinerant sellers, tour guides and organized tour groups everywhere. But, thanks to the guide’s familiarity with the place, we go far from the new city center to the old quarter, where we find traditional architecture and authentic sites. The stone-paved streets are quiet and calm; the houses have been built with an ancient technique using wood and stone. There are a lot of small Tibetan artcraft shops and laboratories, and we buy a beautiful “kampa knife” and some small rings and bracelets to bring back home as gifts for our friends and relatives.

We eat in an excellent Tibetan-French restaurant and visit the Ganden Sumtseling Gompa monastery and the Napa Lake. The monastery is only 5 km from the city, and the lake is a little bit further, so we rent some bikes. The Ganden Sumtseling Gompa is a 300 year-old structure and is still active, with more than 500 monks living and studying there. The main hall is really big, with precious Buddhist decorations on the walls and with the typical incense smell. The monks are making a beautiful ceremonial mandala, so we watch and contemplate their artistic ability and spiritual devotion.

After some hours spent visiting the monastery we move on to Napa Lake. We have badly wanted to visit during this period when a lot of beautiful birds build their nests on the lake’s banks, including the Black Neck Crane. Bird-watching is our passion, and here we see a lot of different kinds of birds.

One only word to define the trip so far: amazing!

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