Farewell Dali

From Dali we headed north three hours to the town of Lijiang. A heartfelt farewell was offered to us by an 18-year old girl as we boarded the bus. We had met her just ten minutes before.

"May I ask you a question," she asked as she walked us from the ticket office to the bus station? "How do you like town of Dali?"

"We like it very much," I replied.

She blushed. "Thank you," she whispered, hiding her head between her shoulders. "How long you been in Dali?"

"Four days," I said. Again she replied with a whispered, "Thank you."

"May I ask how long you been in country?" She asked.

"Three weeks," I said. "How long have you been here?"

This of course produced a small giggle. "All life. I live here," she said. Her next question was one that we answer often. "What country you from?"

"We are from America," I said. "What country are you from?"

She laughed then said, "Of course, I from Chinese."

She waved goodbye to us, flapping her wrist like we were dear friends, as the bus pulled away.

Hello Lijiang

As I hadn't yet been to Lijiang, my initial assessment of Dali being paradise was a bit premature. Dali was merely the foyer. Lijiang was the real thing. When I asked John to help me with a description of Lijiang, he replied, "It's, it's, it's just awesome!"

I agree. Lijiang Old Town is wonderful. Lijiang Old town at night is even better. Everything that I had pictures as "Chinese" is here. The entrance to Old Town is marked by two large wooden waterwheels and a carved clay wall. Inside the town there are old stone bridges, cobbled streets, winding lanes of shops with tiled roofs and pointed eaves.

There are kodak moments like local women making noodles in open windows overlooking the canal, artists carving wood or embroidering neckties in the open shops, old, short Naxi (pronounced Nahsi) women carting greens on their backs - the ornate embroidery work of their costumes poking around their baskets. Even Chinese tourists trying on ornate Naxi wedding outfits (complete with humongous silver body jewelry) seemed to fit in. They jingled as they walked to a nearby stone bridge, and waited for their friends to take that perfect photo.

Lijiang can bring even the most gung-ho traveler to a slow crawl. So many people we met had been sitting for hours at one of the restaurant tables that line the canal. To get to them you cross wooden bridges then sit overlooking hanging willow trees and moss-covered limbs. People sip tea and watch candles nestled in styrofoam flowers float downriver. At night it is all back lit by red and gold glowing lanterns.

At the Sunshine Cafe we sat looking out a wooden window to the corner of three tiled roofs. Sunflowers in a vase sat on the windowsill and hanging from one of the eaves was that red paper lantern. I could barely pull my eyes away from this tiny, perfect piece of the world to enjoy my ginger tea and pancake breakfast.

A man came up to us here and asked to see our Lonely Planet China guidebook. "How did you find this place?" he asked. "It's my favorite place in all of Lijiang. I spend hours here," he said.

He was a Lutheran Pastor from Denmark and we had a wonderful conversation. "There's so much to do in this town," he said, "But I'd rather just sit here and meet the people that walk in." We passed by that same window several hours later and, true to his word, he was still there.

Although sitting for hours did seem appealing, we wanted to see some of the sights. Our favorite was Jade Dragon Pool, a park at the north end of town that has a pool of spring water that lives up to its description of jade. Stone bridges crossed the pool and dragon-shaped boats were paddled across as big multi-colored goldfish swam underneath. In the center was a much-photographed pagoda accented from behind by the mountains.

We hiked to the top of one mountain - up endless stone stairs - to 8600 feet. Pagoda gazebos sat at at much needed 'catch your breath' points and overlooked the entire town. Old Town, with it's jumble of weathered wooden roofs faded into the new town with high glass-windowed buildings and the dome-shaped blue convention hall.

I have to say that Lijiang has been our favorite spot so far in China. It's relaxing, the people we met and shared dinner with (a man from Singapore, an Australian) were great, the scenery was fantastic and because our plans to hike Tiger Leaping Gorge were thwarted due to rain, there didn't seem to be any real reason to leave.

But then we learned of something that did give us a reason. It gave us a reason to get our Visa extended. It gave us a reason to head north five hours to Zhongdian. It gave us a reason to brush up on our Tibetan. We had found a new way into Tibet.