October 10, 2005 Lijiang, Yunnan, China
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My stomach problems made a comeback lat night, and I got my moneys worth out of my private, Western toilet. It’s quite a luxury not to have to get dressed, go outside, and down three flights of stairs in the cold when I have to go to the bathroom.
My guesthouse is a charming little Naxi compound on a quiet alley with a babbling canal. I’m not in a hurry to leave after the rigors of Western Sichuan.
I went to see the sites today, which charge expensive entrance fees. Looking at the Past Pavilion was a new Chinese pagoda on the top of a hill that had nice views over the old town, which is very big. The surrounding new city is even bigger, though.
The Mu Family Mansion was the home of the Naxi chieftains. It was destroyed by the 1996 earthquake, and was rebuilt from scratch. It was nice. It’s interesting that the buildings were Han Chinese style, reflecting how the leaders wanted to integrate with the dominant culture.
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I walked to the Black Dragon Pool Park, but the entrance fee was exorbitant, $8, and nobody was going in, so I passed.
Lijiang is charming and beautiful, bit it is crowded. There are a lot more Chinese tourists out today (there are hardly any Westerners). Maybe because it’s not as cold. In fact, there are so many Chinese, most being led around by flag waving guides, it’s actually difficult to walk down the streets. With the crowds and the costumed natives posing for photos, it feels a bit like Disneyland.
I’m reaching the halfway point on my tour of China, and I haven’t covered much ground. I’ve met a lot of travelers furiously racing from city to city and country to country, but I’m more of an “explorer.” So this will be more of a tour of Southwest China than China as a whole.