Jiuxiang: Another Side of Yunnan

-by Ernie Diaz

There are two kinds of tourists: those who want to see nature untrammeled, and those who want to see what man has done with it. The latter must heavily outweigh the former, otherwise why would Yunnan’s Jiuxiang Park get so little PR? To be sure, Dali and Lijiang rate “must-see” status, their sidewalk rivers and cobblestone quaintness testament to what a town devoid of real estate developers can aspire to.

Yet just 90km out of Kunming is a land where water and time have carved miracles a million stone masons could never rival, were they to work a thousand years with an unlimited supply of modafinil. To mention it’s a National Level AAAA Scenic Spot Area does Jiuxiang little justice, since the national tourism administration is more prone to boasting than a frat house after a panty raid. Instead, we’ll give you the visual evidence, to see if it’s not worth including in your next Yunnan itinerary.

Grand Lion Hall

How’s this for a Carlsbad-worthy cavern? So called for the leonine stalagmites that guard its entrance, the Grand Lion Hall is over 200 meters wide, and covers 15,000 square meters. You can imagine how many living creatures great and small the massive cave has housed in its 600 million year history. The local song-happy Yi tribesmen certainly appreciate its acoustic qualities, as do the local authorities, who have arranged symphonic concerts inside.

Marvelous Terraces

Another example of why the Yi find it so hard to believe the universe is simply random chaos. Scientists attribute the terraces to a phenomenon called flowstone, and the eery luminescence to minerals in said stone. Nonetheless, the effect is as breathtaking as anything built by mortals in the fullness of their logic.

Male and Female Falls

OK, so there’re two of them. Why not call them the “Good Buddy” falls? Because if there’s one constant in Chinese romance stories, it’s a tragic end necessitating suicide by one or both parties. Preferred method – a long plunge into water. See Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as Exhibit A.

Fairy Palace

More karst craziness – such a phantasmagoric array of sparkling stalactite that the Yi had no recourse but to conclude that here was the entrance to the mythical fairy palace. This Chinese one was mythically revealed to an old woman in a vision, who reproduced it in a brocade so fine the sprites came and snatched it away. But all cultures have a fairy palace in their tales, acknowledging forces of nature more sublime than any we could ever hope to acquire.

Three Feet Cave

Three feet? Those girls must be tiny! Actually, the feet would have been better-termed “pillars”, in reference to the slender columns of stalagmite supporting a vast stone roof. Whatever the name, the light and space are enough to make you wonder why we ever traded cave for condo.

Dark Green Gorge

Cool, quiet amethyst waters with massive cliffs looming close on either side, the gorge nonetheless feels more inviting than foreboding. The Yi have long called it Lover’s Canyon; amorous youngsters traditionally met under moonlight on its infrequent banks to sing their antiphonal love songs.Practical, since they hadn’t far to wander once the romance turned tragic and they needed a watery death to leap to.

Heart-Frighten Canyon

Poor humans, higher cliffs and faster water turn an otherwise picturesque spot into a death trap. No boating allowed in this stretch of Jiuxiang’s gorge network; the ten-meter drop and swirling whitewater would quickly churn the bravest kayaker into slurry. It’s pretty safe from above, though.

Folded Rainbow Bridge

This is as close as a sane person wants to get to the whitewater, trying to see how long you can resist throwing a wrapper into the water to see how quickly it is swept out of sight.

Horseshoe River

A little further down the river, and it’s as though cave and canyon were a thousand miles away, so open and bright does the countryside glisten. The fact that you’re in central Yunnan means you’ll see flowers blooming on the banks in any season.

A Lu Long

A pity no one’s come up with an English translation for the name yet, but the place speaks for itself. The Nanpan and Horseshoe rivers merge at a gorge of granite carved into myriad abstract-art looking slabs, with quiet pools between. Little wonder that the village nearby is famed for its sculpting, or that you can still find Qing and Ming names etched into the stone.

Related posts:

1. Yunnan’s Redlands
2. A Week in Yunnan
3. Kanas Lake, Another Side of Xinjiang

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