MORE PHOTOS FROM LIJIANG

Silk embroidered butterflies, Baisha village

Ce relaxes in Baisha village

Ann, Grandma, and son in Baisha village

Jade Dragon Snow Mt. peeks out from clouds, Lijiang

Tibetan prayer flags near Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

Temple in Baisha Village

Bride and Groom photo shoot, Black Dragon Pool, Lijiang

Lijiang has been one of our favourite places on the tour.  Here are a few more photos from that wonderful day with Janice around Lijiang.

BAISHA VILLAGE, MT., LIJIANG Mon. Oct. 24

Janice explains Naxi script, Baisha village

Dawn and Ce examine fine silk embroidery, Baisha

PLEASE PASS THE YAK MEAT!

Our day began with a Western breakfast - 2 eggs sunny-side up, bacon, toast, and coffee.  The first time since we arrived in China that we can say that.  It tasted great, and blessed with clear blue skies and perfect temperatures, we left the Lijiang old town in our bus for the nearby Baisha village, the "capital" of the Naxi settlement in this part of Yunnan province.  When Bryant and I were here in 2003 it was a poor village of farmhouses and barns.  Today it still has farmhouses, but vendor stalls line many streets, and knockoffs are being touted all along the way by Han Chinese who have moved here.

We visited the 400 year old Baisha frescoes depicting Tibetan, Han and Indian Buddhism, all linked with Daoist symbols.  Our guide led us to an embroidery workshop where we were blown away by the work done there.  Absolutely incredible embroidery pieces done by hand with the finest of silk thread made in a Yunnan village about 4 hours' drive away in small home-based workshops, not large factories.  We were shown other pieces made over the years by family members, and came away with lighter wallets thanks to the amazing craftsmanship there.  Our guide took us to a jewelry shop as well as a stall selling embroidery and tie-dyed fabrics, some of which found their way into shopping bags and later into our increasingly bulging suitcases.

Our visit to the village continued with lunch in a family run Naxi restaurant where we ate in a courtyard decorated with ears of corn and piles of pumpkins.  Our guide then stopped by a farmhouse owned by an 89 year old Naxi woman and her 67 year old son.  She is like a grandma to our guide, and when we entered her courtyard, she immediately went into her house and came right out with a plate of sunflower seeds and candy.  Luckily Elaine still had a few of her Canada pins, so we were able to return her gift.  She was very agreeable to having her photo taken, and even posed with us for a group picture. (See below).  Meeting her was definitely a high spot in our day, and made our visit to the village so much more personal.

Then it was on to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, whose peaks played peek-a-boo with clouds all afternoon.  We boarded another bus and then most of us rode a gondola  up an opposite mountain to Spruce Meadow where we got a wonderful view of the 6000 m mountain.  We were well above 3000 m at the top of the gondola, and we felt the effects of the thin air on our breathing.  Everyone got lots of photos of the peaks and we were fortunate to have the viewing platform to ourselves for 10-15 minutes before another group came along.

Upon our return to Lijiang Old Town, we had dinner, and 5 of us headed to the blind masseurs/masseuses for full-body massages.  We all left very relaxed and refreshed, and ready for a good night's sleep after a superb day.

Our group with Grandma and her son in Baisha

LIJIANG Oct. 23 - Sunday

Old town street near hotel, Lijiang

Oct 23, Lijiang


Just made the plane out of Chengdu this morning, and arrived on time in Lijiang to meet our guide Janice, who is fantastic!  Strolled around a beautiful garden, the Black Dragon Pool, where you can get the best view of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain when it is out of the clouds. A bride and groom to be were having their wedding photos taken. Unfortunately, it was drizzly this afternoon, but cleared later.  We had lunch and wandered the old town, watching some Naxi women in costume dancing in the square.  Our hotel, which is very picturesque, is located in the old town, a car-free zone. Went to tea tasting to soothe tired hips, knees, and feet before dinner.   Attended an authentic Naxi concert tonight, but doubt that anyone will be rushing out to buy the CD.

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Entrance to Sanhe Hotel, Lijiang

Restaurant courtyard

The group at Black Dragon Pool

Black Dragon Pool with arched bridge

Wendy finds an interesting tree

Naxi women dance in Lijiang square

Tea tasting in Lijiang

Ancient Naxi musical group

PANDAS AT BIFENGXIA Oct. 22 Saturday

Big panda at Bifengxia

Volunteers wash toddlers at Bifengxia

Rebel with a carrot

Jinli Street, Chengdu

Today was the day many of us had been waiting for - Pandas!  We drove for about 2 hours out of Chengdu into the mountains, and entered Bifeng Gorge Panda Preserve, where several of the pandas from the Wolong Preserve had been moved after the May, 2008 earthquake.  It is a wild area, with the panda habitations quite large and spread out over the preserve.  Of course there were vendors hawking all manner of panda goods.  We spent about 3 hours looking at the pandas, had lunch, then headed back to the city in a drizzle.  By the time we'd returned to Chengdu, the drizzle had stopped, and we went to stroll along Jinli street, a shopper's paradise in a newly restored area of the city.  Because it was Saturday it was very crowded.  Off tomorrow to Lijiang!

CHENGDU Friday 21 October

River flows past Dujiangyan Dam, outside Chengdu

Painted trim at reconstructed lookout, Dujiangyan

Negotiating the rocky footbridge, Dujiangyan Dam

Ancient dam construction techniques, Dujiangyan

Arrived in Chengdu mid-day after an uneventful flight from Shanghai.  Our guide, Sophia, and our driver picked us up, and we headed straight for the ancient dam at Dujiangyan outside the city.  Traffic jams were terrible, and the air was thick with smog.  A light drizzle fell as we walked from one end of the dam to another, and over 2 footbridges that rocked a lot when encouraged by many of the Chinese tourists.  The weather put somewhat of a damper on the day, but the bridge was interesting.

SHANGHAI Thurs. 20 October

Shanghai city planning hall model of inner city

Lighthouse group at site of first Party Congress, Shanghai

Looking down on the Jin Mao Tower, Shanghai

100 stories up in Shanghai

Barbers use special dyeing comb to dye hair near Yuyuan Garden, Shanghai

Dragon's head, Yuyuan Garden

Crowds near Yuyuan Garden

Dawn and Adele on the Bund, Shanghai

Looking toward Pudong, Shanghai New City

Shanghai Acrobats

Shanghai Acrobats

Glad to hear that we have so many faithful followers!  Please understand that we will do our best to post daily, but due to technical problems, exhaustion, too many photos to edit, etc., we may not be able to do so.  Everyone sends their best to  Grand Manan and elsewhere in the world where folks are reading this.  We are having a great time.   
Take care,

The Lighthouse Group


SHANGHAIED
Oct. 20, Thursday

This is one incredible city!  We began the day with our guide, Jenny, whose English is excellent, and is very easy to understand.  First off we went to the Shanghai City Planning Hall Exhibition Center, where on the 3rd floor is a huge model of the 650 sq. kilometer inner city (one tenth of the whole city of Shanghai).  Lighting made the Huangpu River look rippled, with its many barges.  The model is on the scale of 1:500, and is 10 years old, so it included last year's EXPO pavilions as well as residential and commercial buildings.  The elevated walkway around the model's perimeter made it easy to get a grasp of the size and complexity of the area. 

Next stop - Shikumen and the renovated Linong area.  The Linong (similiar to Beijing's hutongs) area has been Yuppified and upscale bars and restaurants line the walking streets.  Shikumen is the site of the first Party Congress in 1949.  Then it was on to the Global Financial Center Tower, the tallest building in China, financed by a Japanese company.  Ask any tour female about the Japanese toilets there!  We took the elevator to the 95th floor, then two escalators to the 97th, and another elevator to the 100th floor observation area, with glass floor and spectacular views out over the city.  This experience was especially meaningful having already seen the model of the city earlier in the morning.  We ALL went up to the 100th floor!

After lunch it was the Yuyuan Garden, a large classical Chinese garden, with recently added shopping area.  We certainly recognize that China has an active  market economy based on the many renovated shopping streets in every city.  Our guide offered to get tickets for a Shanghai Acrobats performance after dinner, so we took her up on the offer and enjoyed a great performance from balcony seats.  Then it was back to the hotel to try to jam more purchases into our suitcases, which for some meant throwing out some unneeded goods to make room for new.  Off to Chengdu in central/west China tomorrow morning.

"SERVE YOU WITH SMILING"

100 Bed Museum, Wuzhen

Wood carving on building, Wuzhen

Wuzhen street

Indigo cloth

View from canal boat, Wuzhen

Mops hang out along Wuzhen canal

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

"Serve You With Smiling" it said over the toll booth as we drove from Suzhou to the small water village of Wuzhen.  Because this area of China, just west of Shanghai, is near the mouth of the Yangtze River, there are several such "water villages", each claiming to be the Venice of China.  We chose Wuzhen because of its reputation as a center of indigo dyeing and woodcarving.  Near the entrance to this old town (e.g. tourist area) was the best public toilet we've run into (no pun intended) so far on the trip.  As we entered the building, we were physically nudged toward a bank of about 20 Western toilet stalls in a separate section.  Chinese women were sent to the squatter section.  Signage was priceless.

Visits to the "100 Bed Museum" and a collection of old wood carvings impressed us with the workmanship and beauty of the furniture and decorative items.  We saw an abbreviated demonstration of the preparation of indigo for dyeing, dyed fabrics hanging from 15-20 foot high drying racks, blowing in the breeze, and then headed toward the official shop to make some purchases.  The village itself is lovely, with white buildings with dark trim hanging over the narrow canals.  Small wooden boats ferry tourists back and forth through the town.  A market section sold tourist souvenirs and everyday items for the inhabitants.  Interestingly, there is no hotel or inn there, but there are restaurants where we had lunch.

Then it was off on the bus to Shanghai.  We entered the city about 2 hours after leaving Wuzhen, but it took nearly an hour to get to the hotel using elevated highways and ring roads.  Amazing sights (especially compared to Grand Manan!) to be seen, with hundreds of skyscrapers in Pudong (East/New Shanghai - developed from farmland in the last 20 years) and in West (downtown) Shanghai.  The city seems to stretch indefinitely in all directions, (over 20 million residents) although it is much more concentrated than Beijing.  Many, many residentiall buildings are more than 30 stories high.  We arrived at our hotel and were very impressed with both lobby and our rooms.  Beds seem SOFT after what we've been used to so far!  Unfortunately our computer wasn't very useful so thus this late post.