Finally arrived in Lijiang after an hours flight up from Kunming.
Arrived in Lijiang at around 2pm in afternoon on Tuesday 29th May. Flying over the area already provided with an impression of the landscape and its diversity, but nothing could prepare me for the breathtaking views and vistas Lijiang was about to present to me. Checked into our hotel and I was confronted with an amazing backdrop of ‘Jade Dragon Mountain’ rising high behind our hotel villa. Lijiang is like a fairyland beneath the colourful clouds of Yunan. It’s so remote, peaceful and relaxing.
Headed straight to the ‘Old Town’, a listed UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site (since 1997) to start exploring this fabulous place. The Old Town was once the centre of Lijiang and thankfully, despite Lijiang having expanded into a newer, more modern city around it, this part has maintained it original flavour and the local buildings and architecture. Went to a great little bistro/restaurant/cafe to have lunch which had a fantastic choice of vegetarian dishes (something of a rarity in Ningbo). Spent the rest of the afternoon and evening strolling the narrow, winding streets of the old town, which are regularly caressed by clear water steams hosting hundreds of gold fish.
At night the houses are romantically lit up under the roof tops to accentuate their architecture and to bestow the whole city with a wonderful light. Without realising we must have spent a good 5 hours drifting around the town, being gently washed in and out of side streets, shops and over bridges. It was a truly enjoyable day spoilt only by the shortcomings of my camera, which did not allow me to capture the spirit and atmosphere as well as I had hoped to.
Over breakfast the next day, we decided to have another relaxed day and drive out to ‘Jade Peak Monastery’ on a hillside about 30 km outside of Lijiang. The monastery sits at the foot of Yulong Xueshan Mountain (5500m above sea level) and was established in 1756. It’s main attraction is a beautifully old Camellia tree said to be over 300 years old.
The architecture of the monastery sparked an interesting conversation about outdoor spaces, verandas and water features. I was also very excited to see such a great variety of plants such as Rhododendron, Azalea, Magnolia, Ferns and Peonies grow in the wild. Yunan province is known world wide for its abundance of plant varieties and many of the plants we have back home in Europe are actually originally imported from here. As special treat for me therefore to see them grow in their natural habitat.
Had lunch in a dreamy little village called Baisha. Baisha used to be the capital of the Naxi people (one of China’s 55 ethinc minorities) and still offers a glimpse, albeit a diluted one, at the Naxi culture if you spend enough time looking for it. Again the scenery was breathtaking with the snow topped mountains in the background and the traditional, very picturesque houses in the foreground.
Upon our return to Lijiang we went back to the old town to wander the streets some more and this time, armed with a tripod and a better idea of how to and what to photograph, fed our desire to take a decent picture of the old town at night.
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