Summary of Shanghai:
I feel sometimes like my approach to learning Chinese resembles the Truman Show. There have been countless times that I remember learning a phrase in class and then the next day I will encounter it in the street. My time with Billy in Shanghai confirmed my suspicion that this entire country has a syllabus just for me! Every day I was learning something new and my trip to Shanghai was the perfect capstone to my intensive program in Beijing, like it was all planned. Billy took the time out of his busy Spring Festival schedule to take me around to all the beautiful museums, sights, and delicious restaurants Shanghai had to offer. His ability to speak fluent English along with a vast knowledge of Chinese history and culture made him the ideal teacher. I am so grateful for him and the experience I had in Shanghai. After I left Billy, the second half of my Spring festival Holiday kicked off in Yunan…
Yunan Preface
Forgive my lack of detail in the following entries for I wrote them nearly a week after the fact. I do not claim my writing to be as vivid as John Steinbeck’s or as superbly detailed as David Sedaris, but I like to think I explain myself in my blog a little better than, “I did this…and then I did this…and this was fun…” Either way I apologize in advance for not being able to convey the beauty of Yunan to you through my words, but instead I have posted pictures of, what I consider, the most beautiful place on earth. These upcoming entries are more of a Marco Polo-like account of what I saw and less reflective.
I originally thought that I could sum up Yunan in one entry, but I was wrong. In one week I did and saw so many beautiful things that I have to split it up into multiple “Chapters.”
If you are not familiar with Yunan or the allure to travelers let me briefly describe this province. Yunan is a southwest province of China and its largest city is Kunming. Yunan also borders Tibet and contains some of the foothills of the Himalayas. Among the famous mountains are the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Haba Mountain. Jade Dragon and Haba face each other and allow the Yangtze River to slither through creating what is known as Tiger Leaping Gorge. The gorge starts in Lijiang and ends in the ancient town of Shangrila. Shangrila is close to the Tibetan border and has much Tibetan influence in the buildings, monasteries, and cuisine. In between Lijiang and Shangrila is the natural wonder called Bai Shui Tai. Bai Shi Tai is a mountainside stream that runs through a limestone spring and deposits bits of white rock as if flows down the mountain like a water fall. The deposits create terraces that collect beautiful clear blue water and look like giant white steps. This area is so ancient and beautiful that it is said that Dong Ba Buddhism (a form of Buddhism practiced mostly in southwest China) was founded and preached there. This area is actually considered to be a holy pilgrimage for practicing Dong Ba Buddhists. Along with the beautiful sights the people are vastly different from the majority Han ethnicity. In Yunan there are roughly 11 ethnic minorities and among them are my favorite, the Naxi people (pronounced Naw She, not Naxi like the WWII Germans, although every time I read Naxi I think WWII Germany). The Naxi are rural and historically nomadic people with a darker complexion. They are known for their hot pepper, solid diet of goat and yak, and beautiful art. There were several Naxi villages along the way and we stopped at some of them buying local goods and interacting with the people. These places are only a few of the locations that make Yunan the most beautiful province in China and the most traveled by Asia backpackers. My trip consisted of the following places and sights with plenty of pictures to go along with them:
Chapter 1: Kunming’s Dragon Gate
Chapter 2: Lijiang
Chapter 3: Tiger Leaping Gorge Expedition
Chapter 4: Shangrila
Chapter 5: Jade Dragon Snow Mountain
I hope you enjoy the upcoming posts!