China's Southwest

Kunming, Dali and Lijiang

Yangshuo was really amazing. Our last day there we hiked for 4 hours by the Li River, which was very picturesque. In town, there is a very popular light show directed by the guy who choreographed the 2008 Beijing Games' Opening Ceremony. When we looked into getting tickets the day before our hike, once the travel agent told us it was 130 yuan a ticket, we politely declined and started to walk away. She called us back and told us that she knew about some cheaper tickets for 50 yuan each. She vaguely explained to us that we would not be sitting with the show's audience but would be watching from a nearby mountain. She said a bus would take us to the show from the ticket office the following evening. It was pretty unclear but I really wanted to see the show so we got the tickets. When we showed up later on at the travel agent's office, there was no bus in sight and she was standing outside with two dudes on motorcycles. She told us to hop on and, as my driver zipped in and out of car traffic, I clutched on tight for my dear life. We passed the big tour buses parking by the show's entrance and went down several back alleys until we came to a big group of people standing by a well-lit desk. Steve's biker stopped and handed the woman in charge 50 yuan and she let us pass. We were led to a gate where there were many seats on a mountainside overlooking the left side of the stage. In the main seating section, there were about 30 Chinese people watching the show. Using his cell phone light, my biker led me down a path left of the "main seating area" to a "left wing" where there were two foldable chairs. We had our own special section and, though we were far away from the main stage, we enjoyed the show and the hilarity of the entire situation. Steve's biker stayed with us the whole time and kept informing us when a special part was coming up and insisting that we take photos. Before the show was fully over but after the main finale, the biker told us we had to leave and and we followed as all the other attendees on our side of the mountain were leaving too.

After that, we headed back to Guilin where we thought we were getting on a 6 hour train to Kunming in Yunnan province. A few hours into the ride, we realized we were really behind schedule and a nearby passenger informed us that the ride was actually 18 hours. We adjusted pretty quickly by purchasing some instant noodles.
Kunming was very beautiful. It was the first day in China that we had really clear blue skies and we spent the afternoon walking around the city. As it was Sunday, the city's largest temple was packed with worshippers and the nearby park had many music bands performing. The bands were so close to each other that each band was drowning the other nearby groups out.

From Kunming, we headed to the old town of Dali, a quiet city sandwiched in between Cang Shan mountain and Erhai Lake. The area around Dali is home to China's Bai ethnic minority. The older women wear traditional clothing, which I think looks very similar to ethnic clothing of the Quechua people in Peru. We walked through Dali's outdoor market where farmers were selling fruits, vegetables, chilis, old tires made into baskets, and traditional and trendy clothing. We even saw some dentistry being performed next to the fruit sellers. There were several dentists working in the market and I had to turn away when I thought a guy's tooth was about to get pulled. After the market, we took an afternoon trip to Xizhou, a nearby small town that has retained much of its old Bai architecture. All the children said "hello" to us as we walked by and we saw many farmers working on their land. We spent the next day climbing 1 km up Cang Shan, which had some amazing views of the entire area.
This morning, we left Dali for Lijiang, a 400 year-old town that has preserved most of its architecture. We spent the day walking through its cobbled-stoned alleys and had a leisurely dinner by the Yu River. We have one more day here before we hike to Tiger Leaping Gorge.