We started the day today driving a twisty, turning road to
go to the Dongba Water Village. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post the Chinese
Government is making an effort to support and record the character and
pictographs of this ancient religion. One of the ways that they have done this
is to set aside some land for a park and temple. What a beautiful and serene
place (partially because we got there ahead of the tour buses). You hike a
series of waterfalls and stocked fish ponds to a great golden statue of a
nature goddess. Higher up the paths were adorned with red Chinese prayer flags
and a temple that was so colorful and picturesque against a mountain backdrop
and bright blue skies. We continued our hike to a Yak photo op. China is fairly
new to domestic tourism but they have the “touristy” opportunities down to a
science. For 20 Yuen (about $2.50) you will get a beautifully laminated
5x7 color photo of the event in one or
two minutes.
Down the road a way we stopped in a little village and did the kind of shopping that we like best… bargaining. Coco is just ruthless and made some great bargains! We bought some jewelry, gifts for Coco’s friends, a dragon door knocker like the ones on the Emperors doors in the Forbidden City. Our guide called these Chinese “24 hour antiques” and a bronze bell with a Yak bone ringer. Carolyn haggled for some handsome jewelry. We tried some street foods, fresh fruit and walked on to lunch at an open air shed that it known for its Yak, a local delicacy. These restaurants are simple but charming with mix matched wooden tables and chairs with brightly colored table cloths. Drink offerings are either beer or soft drinks. Coco has drunk more soda in the last two weeks than she ever had in her life. The food as we have found is tasty and abundant. The vegetables have been so fresh and beautifully cooked even Coco is a fan.
As we ascended the mountain the snow cap came more fully in
to view. The roads certainly had gotten better since the last time that we were
here. This is where we saw the biggest changes in this city in the eleven years
since we had been there. It was less a native culture village and more a real
estate investment. The chair lift had been replaced by cable cars, the dancing
celebrations moved down mountain. There was even a talk of a golf course.
Lijiang in the high tourist season sees 35 million domestic tourists. It is the
most popular place for young newlyweds in the country. We saw wedding photos
being taken everywhere. The dresses must be rented as the brides seem to care
very little about getting them dirty. Apparently they have the wedding album
made three months ahead of the wedding for the guests to enjoy at the main
event. In contrast we witnessed a wedding earlier in the day in the small
village we were visiting. The bride was practicing the old ritual of pushing a
car (even though it was new) up a hill with her Maid of Honor. This apparently
is the way and tradition of the ethnic minority families.
What a day of contrasts. Which is very China.
When traveling it is also close to mind how similar we are
as human kind. When we got to the gorge area of Snow Mountain there was an area
where you could dress like a variety ethnic minorities in their native costumes
and be photographed. Coco of course was on to it and ponied up her own cash to
get her photo taken in a furry hat with feathers and a satin dress and aprons.
Not to be outdone Erich went in and had the staff dress him in his own fancy
attire. Turns out a man dressing in women’s clothing transcends language and
culture and is just plain hilarious. Of course Erich was playing it up and the
tourists just swarmed him. Like paparazzi…
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