Lijiang and the Tiger Leaping Gorge

We left you last time with Sue having eaten a dodgy egg. Unfortunately we had some long drives to come as we headed further south in China, leaving Scichuan province for Yunan. On the 22nd and 23rd October, we had 2 full days of driving, with the plan being to bush camp on the first of those. By the end of the first day, Sue was starting to feel really unwell and coming down with a fever. The truck stopped at a pretty ropey place to set up camp (basically a small patch of land by the side of the road that had been earmarked for a new house) and I realised that Sue was not in a fit state for this. Jason, our Chinese guide, came into his own at this point and we manged to get a cab to take us to a nearby hotel for the night. I was pretty worried for a time, as Sue's temperature had risen to 39 degrees, but after applying some cold compresses it gradually started to come down.

The next morning we made the call that Sue was well enough to travel, and she was able to lie down on the back seat of the truck, but a long day was lengthened due to a motorway closure and we eventually limped into Lijiang after nearly 18 hours on the road. The only good thing to say about this, is that Sue was forced into going 'nil by mouth' for this period, which it turns out is exactly the correct treatment for Salmonella poisoning. Also we now had 3 nights in one place, which allowed her some time to recover.

Lijiang turned out to be a great city with some wonderful scenery around it, but sadly Sue missed out on it, pretty much staying in the room for the duration. This all sounds very gloomy, but the good news is that she is now recovered from this illness, as the photograph below proves!

So, let's tell you a little about Lijiang. The city is set in a large valley, surrounded by mountains and our time here was intended to be split between the two. We had a pleasant guest house on the edge of the old city (which was useful, because it allowed me to dip in and out, whilst keeping an eye on Sue). Whilst most people outside of China have probably not heard of Lijiang, Chinese people certainly have and parts of the old town are mobbed with Chinese tourists.

They come to see the maze of narrow cobbled streets and alleys, ramshackle old traditional wooden buildings (with some doorways giving tantalising glimpses of hidden courtyards beyond) and the streams and canals that run through the town, criss-crossed by old arched stone bridges. The narrow streets are lined with shops selling all manner of souvenirs (silk shawls, silver and jade jewellery, wooden carvings, paintings and calligraphy, bone handled combs, tea and all sorts of dried meats and foods). At one point I reached an area where the aroma of roasting meets started to fill the air. I followed my nose and the alley started to open into an area where it was lined on both sides by open counters grilling and frying skewers of meats of all descriptions. I couldn't even identify most of these (which was probably just as well, though we are reliably informed that dog and monkey meats attract premium rates), but I braved 3 skewers of pork and some stir fried vegetables and sat at a trestle table eating whilst trying unsuccessfully to make some sense of the chaos that surrounded me.

It occurred to me that we generally hate the word 'touristy' and you would have to apply that adjective to this place, but for a westerner here it felt wonderfully exotic. It also felt symbolic of the growing Chinese self-confidence. The Chinese people are more and more able to afford to take time out, to go out and explore their country and to spend money on indulging themselves. And here they were very content to do it in their own way and in their own style. I felt very much like I'd gate crashed a party which kept on rolling, pretty much oblivious to my presence and of the small sprinkling of other westerners in town.

As I headed back to the hotel, dusk was falling. In the main square, loud music was being played from ghetto blasters and 2 large concentric circles had been formed. People skipped around in time with the music, as if round a May-pole, breaking this pattern occasionally to bob their heads and throw their arms up in the air. Every face was grinning and it all looked like great, impromptu, slightly subversive fun!

The flower-shrouded entrance to Lijiang's old town.

A back street of Lijiang old town, with bars and restaurants lining a canal.

Throngs of Chinese tourists cram one of the alleys

What would you like on your skewer - yak or black goat?

On our second full day in Lijiang, Sue was well enough to stay at the hotel on her own, so I decided to go with most of the rest of the group on a day's hiking in the Tiger Leaping Gorge. After a 5.30 a.m. start, we drove for a couple of hours out of the city into the mountains, where the Jinsha Jiang river has cut a 10 mile, 200 metre deep gorge through the limestone.

It turned out to be a great, but challenging hike. From our base the path rose steadily initially through small villages, populated by the Naxi, a distinct minority ethnic group who live very simple lives, growing rice and vegetables and keeping pigs, chickens and other animals. The early morning mist gradually dispersed, revealing as it did the snow capped peaks of the Habe Shan mountains rising to 4,000 meters on the far side of the gorge. The sun transformed the fields into the brightest of greens, the river below us shimmered and our group was in the happiest of spirits.

Then the going got tough, as the path turned precipitously upwards, switch-backing straight up the mountain in a feature known locally as the 'Twenty Eight Bends', though we stopped counting when we got to 50. Occasionally we passed local Naxi villagers coming up and down with mules carrying their produce down to the road-head to get it to market, but only once did we meet other hikers. We passed an old lady by the side of the path at one point looking to sell some of her goods to us: 'Water?' No thanks; 'Snickers?' No thanks; 'Ganja?' Now she had our attention! It turns out this is one of their main cash crops in this remote mountain region and because they are a minority group the authorities turn a blind eye. We politely declined her offer, but she provided an amusing interlude.

We were heaving for beath and jelly-legged by the time we got to the top, but the views down over the gorge and across to the mountains beyond were truly worth the effort. We walked along the ridge for a couple of miles and then slowly descended down to the river floor through pine forest and small-scale farmland. At the the Tiger Leaping Gorge itself, a huge rock constricted the water, which crashed thunderously through the narrowed channel, filling the air with spray and blocking out any attempt at conversation.

Nearby we found a cluster of small guest houses by a quieter spot on the river floor for a late lunch and a rendezvous-virus with our transport to take us back to Lijiang.

On our next post, we will tell you about our onward journey south through the mountains of Yunnan to the ancient city of Dali.