Bug Crunchers
Trip Start
Aug 03, 2010
1
32
42
Trip End
Ongoing
Lijiang & Dali, Yunnan, China
Monday, October 10, 2011
The next morning we flew to Dali, then it was a taxi to the bus station, another taxi to the right bus station, and a four hour bus ride to Lijiang. Despite all the travel time, we were awarded with amazing views from the window of the bus. It is time for rice to be harvested so the fields are bustling with activity. This was the first time for us seeing the rice at this stage, and it is the most beautiful time of the growing period. The stalks are tall, thin, and a bright green color, with yellow tips where the rice hangs heavy. We were able to see the farmers cutting the stalks, beating them against large baskets to knock the rice kernels off, then tying what was left in perfect little cylindrical bundles that stood straight up in the field for drying. Corn and sunflowers are also abundant in this region, and there were rows and rows of them that had just been harvested. All over the villages you could see ears of corn hanging out to dry in brilliant shades of yellow. Whole sunflower blooms, dried from the sun, were for sale at every corner to pick the seeds from. The mountain pass that we drove through was equally beautiful to the fields. Cool, fresh air was such a relief after two months in the humid smog of the city. Goats roamed the hills, herded by Bai women in their traditional white clothing, with brightly colorful embroidered hats and jackets.
Lijiang is a picture-perfect ancient Chinese city, the old town that is. Lijiang itself has grown large and modern, but within the walls of the old town the historical feel remains. We stayed at the Garden Inn hostel, just on the edge of all the hustle and bustle. The swarms of Chinese tourists were astonishing, but it was the national holiday so we were not surprised. In the evening it was hard to even walk down the main streets, and I was amazed that we did not see people falling into the canals that line nearly every alley. Old town is nothing but narrow, cobbled alleys. No cars, thank goodness. It is kind of like China's own little Venice. A few blocks away from the main squares it was possible to escape the madness and get lost in the many streets that twisted along.
Like all regions in China, the cuisine is unique in Lijiang. The Naxi people are the predominant minority group, and they are of Tibetan decent. Lijiang's history dates back to around 400 BC, which is just astonishing to us. The Naxi used a different writing style, called Dongba, that looks more like hieroglyphics than the Chinese characters. Potatoes are a major part of their diet, and you can buy delicious shredded potato cakes, roasted potatoes, and many other styles from vendors all over the area. Baba is a flat bread that resembles a soft naan or pita bread and it is made into breakfast or lunch sandwiches with the traditionally made local goat cheese (that's right, Aaric, they do eat cheese in China!), potato, and/or egg turned into the base of an omelet. You will also see people buying bottles of yak milk to drink at every
Lijiang was the first city that we have come across where bugs were being sold for consumption on the streets and in the restaurants. We had our own bizarre foods experience when Peter ordered up a skewer of grasshoppers, grilled and spiced right in front of us! I was horrified just by looking at the selection in the food stalls, but when he actually appeared to enjoy it, I thought, why not? If you know me well, then you know that this is very brave of me and definitely out of character! Sometimes, you just gotta live a little. Turns out, the thought of eating bugs is waaaaay more disgusting than the taste of them. They actually were kind of good, a little bit like whole, grilled shrimp. Now, the pulsating larva that was plucked live from whatever it was growing on and grilled up in a pan.....I couldn't bring myself to do that. Be sure to watch the video below if you want to see how it all went down. No pun intended.
Anyways, four days of crowds and bugs in Lijiang was more than enough for us. It would have been great to go up some of the nearby mountains or take the bus up to Shangri La for a few nights, but we weren't up to several more hours on a bus, then several hours in a lift line, just to ride a tram up a mountain, and get off and look around with a thousand other Chinese in rented snow jackets huffing canisters of oxygen. You've got to believe me when I tell you that Chinese tourism is just weird.
From Lijiang it was back south to Dali on a five and a half hour bus ride that was supposed to be three. This is why traveling on Chinese holidays is always a bad idea, that, and the insane amount of road construction and new building that holds things up everywhere you go. After Lijiang, Dali was a little disappointing. It was the original backpacker's haven of the region, long before Lijiang was a travel destination. In comparison it was just dirty, filled with pushy salespeople selling crap your don't want, and with not nearly as beautiful of an old town.
The Cang Shan mountain range, however, was much closer, and we were able to see it through the cloudy days and take a tram to the top. There we enjoyed a lovely, turquoise waterfall and about a 7 km hike. It felt good to finally get out of the city and soak up some of the nature that we miss so much. Even biking outside of Dali and Lijiang we had to fight the traffic and thick congestion from the cars, and tourist attractions everywhere we went. On top of this mountain range the tourists were fewer and the air was actually clean! Can you tell how much we miss that clean, Central Oregon air? The hostel we stayed at was also very nice, The Jade Emu, owned by Australians. We met many wandering travelers over a make-your-own dumplings party. Several young people were either departing or just returning from a stay at a nearby monastery where you learn kung fu, all day long. It was less than $50 to stay for a week, including food, bed, and everything. They said there was no meat, no hot water, and a quarter mile walk to the bathrooms down a trail. And it was freezing. Sounds like quite an experience! I would have liked it for one night maybe, but not seven!
All in all, it was a nice, relaxing break from work and always an eye-opening experience everywhere we go. As we say in our classroom community circle on Monday mornings: Our high was eating bugs (or was that our low?) and our low was the difficulty in getting away from the people and off the beaten track.
Zaijian!
Peter and Melissa
Comments
great pictures you two, and very informative.