(ABOVE PHOTOS FROM TOP TO BOTTOM: Nightly fires burning in Lijiang, a dog in a Lijiang alley, prayer wheels in Shangri-la, and a man smoking in old-town Kunnming.)
To end our wonderful summer, Leanne and I took at two week vacation to southern China.
There were so many highlights, thoughts and analysis of China and our trip that it is difficult to explain it in a manner that would not come off like a long-winded lecture but I will try my best to keep it short.
Starting in Guangzhou, we did the customary stroll through the city which culminated in a two-hour Starbucks session and a walk through a market selling albino rabbits, baby turtles and giant carp.
From Guangzhou, Leanne and I tucked our lanky frames into small beds on a sleeper bus to the mountain town of Yangshuo. This riverside town was spectacular because of its early morning Taichi practitioners, Karst mountains and the best countryside bike ride we had ever taken.
After three nights in Yanshuo and on in Guilin, we boarded an epic 18-hour train to Kunnming. The train was over packed with Chinese tourists who were spitting, eating dried fish, drinking copious amount of rice wine and smoking cheap cigarettes. It was essentially a human rights violation in each of the cabs besides the sleepers that Leanne and I had/schemed our way into.
Our first five hours in Kunnming were terrible. No accessible public transportation, zero English and hotels full of Chinese tourists. It was almost dark when we stumbled into top-floor dorm room used by local university students. After a shower via an electric water kettle, we hit the city and fell in love with the same streets we hated just hours prior. A hip and active university culture and the best restaurant that we had eaten at all trip. Thank you Salvadore's for the burrito, Mexican breakfast, nachos and giant cups of coffee.
Another night train took us from Kunnming to Dali and, from that point on, an odd feeling that we were suddenly transported to Colorado. Warm, dry heat coupled with 75 cent meals and 50 cent beer was just what we wanted. We rented mountain bikes and had a makeshift meal of peaches, almonds and Kellog fruit snacks on a trail used by local farmers who laughed at us and offered us fresh mushrooms when they passed us on the trail. We read in cafes, ate grasshopper pie (the mint and chocolate dish, we must clarify while living in Asia) and enjoyed the slow vibe of the city.
From Dali, we took a 12 hour night bus through the mountains to the 9,500 ft town of Shangri-la which sits on the boarder of the Tibetan Autonomous Region. This town had everything you would imagine from Shangri-la. Weathered and tattered prayerflags draped from a 300 year-old monestary. Minority women dancing in the town square throughout the evenings and temperatures so cold that each morning we were forced to lounge under our down blanket until we could pry ourselves out only to be reheated by coffee and hot chocolate.
A two hour trip to Tiger Leaping Gorge was our next stop. TLG is one of the largest and deepest gorges in the world, at one point the Yangtze river flows 9,000 ft. below the trail but the sound of the water can still be heard as it churns and shifts through the canyon. We hiked for 8 hours and slept at the foot of 15,000 ft. peaks. We loved the feeling of TLG, the mountains, rivers and waterfalls flowing over the trail. At any point on the hike we could see nothing but farm houses, high peaks and wildflowers. No other hikers in sight, I guess the Chinese have not caught on to hiking yet.
Our last stop came after three wonderful Chinese men drove us from the end of trail to the city of Lijiang. Along the trip, we stopped for Rainbow-trout sushi, fish head soup and pork dumplings. Because we could not speak with out Chinese friends, they took the lead in the meal, showed us where to spit the bones (on the table of course) and continued to serve us plate after plate of fresh raw fish and steaming hot dumplings.
Our last stop was Lijiang which was best described to us by a Polish wanderer at the bottom of Tiger Leaping Gorge as "Chinese Disneyland." Thousands of Chinese crawled like sugar-ants through the stalls of cheap but apparently unmissable nick-knacks. At night, the labyrinthine cobblestone streets were filled with piles of burning logs topped with roses and sunflowers. The city glowed red with the smoke and Chinese paper lanterns that adorned every street. We loved and hated the city, I have never seen such beautiful streets but swimming though the crowds each night was frustrating and overwhelming.
Our 30-hour trip home allowed us to think about all that we experienced in China and we are still trying to figure out what all we saw and learned. It was a trip that was an absolute blessing because so few people have the opportunity to go to such a place. We loved the country, the food, the sights, climate and our time of relaxation and rejuvenation in an amazing and diverse country.
PHOTOS BELOW FROM TOP TO BOTTOM: Prayer flags at monastery in Shangri-la, a farm house outside of Yangshuo, a merchant stopping for a smoke in Guangzhou, woman oustide of Salvadore's in Kunnming, three old men talking in Lijiang)
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