We arrived in Wulingyuan, Hunan on a late night flight. After some sleep I found some breakfast. We then walked to the cable car station that took us up the mountain.
It is a 7 km cable car ride which is the longest in the world. It took us through the edge of the city and then through farmland before climbing up the mountain for a very steep ascent.
At the top we noticed a shrine covered in locks. It is for fertility, wishing for a boy or girl. Legend is if you walk the ish to the came the type of echo will determine the child.
We walked along the cliff hanging walkway which is 1400 m above the ground and used to be made of wood planks. Now it is concrete with a rail but nothing underneath.
At the top we walked around but did not walk around the whole perimeter as it was so foggy and not many views.
The section of glass walkway.In the forest of wishes where you write your wishes on silk ribbon to tie on a tree.
We took the internal escalators down to where we could see views at a lower level. We were standing at Heavens gate. This is an unusual and natural rock formation that had a hold on the middle. It is also the site of many daredevil attempts. The legend is that gods meet the mortal world here.
From there we went down the 999 steps to reach the bottom. It is approximately 4,100 feet or 1000 meters and the carved stone steps are being step and narrow.
Looking down on the stairway from heavens gateHeavens gate from the stairs below.
Looking up at the views makes it obvious why generations of the people in Hunan believed that Tianmen Shan was the realm of the gods. It looked like the gateway to heaven even with the fog.
At the bottom we also snacked on some food. This is Jianbing which is a crow with crunchy fried dough in the center and of course chili spices for heat.
The 99 curves of Tongtien highway below us. This is the most dangerous road in Hunan and they have races here. We walked to get to the cable car to take us back down.
After we picked up our bags we took a short bus ride to another village to stay a few nights. We are at a local restaurant. Hunan food is spicy especially the costing in the fish and this eggplant dish that had lots of chilies and tremendous flavor.
We found tickets to an acclaimed live show that celebrated the stories of the minority people of Hunan including Yau, Bai, and Tujia.
It is pretty hot here in China. Much like the southern part of Florida. Very warm with high humidity. I run in the morning and still walk outside during the day but works love a pool.
I do miss the infinity pool at my last apartment. It is open but I moved because I wanted more space. The pool at my new place probably will not open as there are many kids. But since school is still in session for Chinese schools they may be waiting to fill the pool. Covid-19 had changed many things.
There are a few places to go and some tours to get to water. I took a tour with global friendship to a water area outside of the city.. it was a fun tour with people I know and others I have not met before.
Gulao water village
The water village is still in Guangdong province but outside the city. The ponds used for fish and the planting fields have been relatively unchanged since the Ming dynasty.
We then took a short bus ride to the restaurant that had the most awesome fish hot pot.
There are three varieties of fish we cooked in the hot pot.Yes that is a chicken head. I didn’t eat it but the person next to me did.
We then went to a water hole but the locals were not very friendly at letting us in the water. They had us go further downstream. My friend is Chinese and was very upset that she heard then say we were bringing the virus to their village. We have all been tested before traveling (again!). It gets really upsetting.
Some images of butterflies and dragonflies…
I also went to my friend’s Trisha and Dan in Huadu. They were very generous to invite Morgana and I up to visit. I went up to enjoy their company, swim in their pool, eat dinner and then brunch, and watch a movie. I also went for a run in their much larger complex, finishing the RunOBX 300 mile run challenge with a 7k run.
Just outside the fence of Mulian residence complex is how some rural Chinese live.
The pool was lovely but even lovelier with the company.
It is blistering hot right now. 30C in the early morning and 40C in the afternoon. That is with high humidity.
When we left Dali, we took a train to Lijiang and then a car was waiting for us to bring us to Shuhe Old Town. Our host Shirley was great. When they changed the rules and foreigners had to register at the local police, she went with us to make sure everything was okay. She arranged us transports and walked us to a bus pick up.
Her place is beautiful.
And she has dogs. One night she went to get us apples for breakfast the next day as we could not find the market. Her poor dog howled because she left. I kept him company.
We explored areas of Shuhe old town. The Naxi indigenous people live here. They are known for their embroidery and flower cakes. They keep their town very traditional and it is lovely.
A bridge over a pond. Lots of blessings hanging from the ceiling.
There are lots of photographers and people in costume or traditional dress.
The Naxi indigenous people believe water is sacred. They have three pools at various levels. The first pool has water coming in from the spring and is used for drinking and it flows into the second pool which is for washing. That flows into the third pool which is for scouring. That water drains to the ground which filters the water as it returns to the groundwater.
And I chuckle at some of the signage…
No washing here.No freeing captive animals here.
On the last morning I walked to an ancient hotel that is the oldest in the area. It now has a market with handmade embroidery objects. I walked through many smaller villages along the way.
The hotel. It really is much older than the other buildings.
I bought a beautiful handmade jacket. It is all pieced and stitched by hand, not machine. It is also hand embroidered.
A few other places I tired before I was for to fly out. We went to get a coffee drink and have a flower cake with it. The flower cake is a flaky pastry with red bean inside and infused with rose. It is totally yummy.
This cat food everything to get attention.
Shirley was so fun. I had a great time hiking and getting to know Morgana! She teaches at a Canadian school in Guangzhou.
The dog would run into my room every morning when I had the door open.
We did not plan this part of the vacation appropriately so did not realize the amount of time needed to see the things we wanted.
I read about this mountain known as 玉龙雪山 Yùlóng Xuěshān. The mountain is always covered in snow and fog and it resembles a silver white dragon laying in the clouds from the distance.
From travelchinaguide:.
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is a sanctuary for rare animals and wild plants. In fact, one fourth of all plant species in China can be found here and 20 primeval forest communities shelter a big family of 400 types of trees and 30 kinds of animals which are protected by the state. These species live in different temperature levels and create different kinds of views. The 13 peaks, which have the altitudes of at least 4,000 meters, are covered by snow all year round.
This is the second tallest peak in subtropical China that has a glacier and a really nice alpine lake. It is also the most southerly snowcapped mountain in the northern hemisphere. It is a small mountain chain with elevation of 5596 meters or 18360 feet. It seemed like a great place to visit. Highly commercial but something I haven’t done yet.
You can hike the mountain or take the cable car up most of the way. Since it is difficult to get around right now we chose to join a tour and take the cable car. The cable car takes you to 4506 meters and then you walk the stairs to 4680 meters. It’s tougher than it seems. After yesterday’s long hike, I don’t know how climbing the actual mountain would be.
We took a bus to the Yulong Naxi Autonomous county. There were many checkpoints and in the age of covid-19 and being the only foreigners, created extra scrutiny. We were asked to use other health codes that Chinese were not asked to do. Everyone’s ID was taken and photographed. We were on a bus with several students from London who are from China and we commiserated about discrimination that happens. For them in London and for us here. Unfortunately they were dismayed at what people around were saying about us and I’m glad I don’t know what it was.
As there are greater amounts of people in closer proximity, we wore our masks on this trip. Even at the top where you are in the open, the mask also helped keep my face warm. The temperature was right around zero celsius. It was also one less thing that could blow away with the blustery winds.
You don’t need a tour but they pick you up, get all the tickets in advance so no waiting, and give you essential materials. You get off the tour bus and then on a big bus to travel up the mountain to the start of the cable way at 3356 meters. Then you take the cable car to the first platform at 4506 meters.
The stairways and platforms to the top.
From here you can walk up sets of stairs and walk ways until you get to the top. Many people don’t make it so be careful of people turning around on the spot in front of you to sit down quickly. You start to sweat and hyperventilate so knowing your body helps.
Besides a waterproof down parka, we were also given a can of oxygen. After climbing the first long set of steps I needed the oxygen. Slow and deep breaths in and out help to lower your heart rate and stopping on platforms to acclimate helps. At the top I needed more oxygen.
After admiring the view I headed back down. You think it is easier so you move faster. But it isn’t. You still need oxygen and take it easy.
A member of our group wanted a picture with me at the bottom platform. She did not know I coach cross country at a high school.Some coffee seemed in order. Yes I bought a medal that said I went to the furthest elevation.
I then took the cable car back down where we were all to meet and journey back to the base of the mountain. I took a few photos from inside the cable car. This is of course after you descend through the clouds.
Blue Moon Valley is at the bottom and we had time to explore after lunch. The blue color is due to fine rock flour from the mountain that become suspended in the water column.
Though the waterfalls are man made, they do know how to create fantastic scenery. Many couples were having wedding photos taken.
Of course there were animals, especially yaks. Yes, I spent money to get my picture taken on one. It could be selling out my animal friends but if it helps the Naxi people and feed their livestock I am okay with that.
I enjoyed rubbing his neck.
On the bus ride home we stopped at a meadow not far away.
This is one if the most popular hikes in China but generally only foreigners will hike it. Very few nationals will trek and only locals also use the path. It is difficult in the ascent and a few spots where coordination is required.
The Jinsha river flows through Tiger Leaping Gorge and is between two mountains: Yulong Snow Mountain and Haba Snow Mountain. There is a huge stone in the center of the river, and a tiger once leaped from Yulong Snow Mountain to Haba Snow Mountain by jumping on it, which contributes to the name of Tiger Leaping Gorge.
We hired a driver for 500 kuai ($71) to take us there, wait for us, and bring us back to Shuhe old town. We started at the Naxi Family Guesthouse and started along Haba Snow Mountain. The first part of the hike took 2 hours up the steep switchback called 28-bends. There were arrows and signs along the way to help guide in the right direction.
One of these peaks is Jade Dragon Snow mountain.Looking back to where we started. They are building a new bridge.A place for a rest in the middle of the 28 bends. This is all uphill.
The views are unbelievable and unforgettable.
We then arrived at the Tea Horse guesthouse to have a Naxi bread sandwich with eggs and vegetables another hour or so later.
Another squatty potty. Simple.
We continued until we were at Halfway guest house but stopped at a little place selling cold drinks on the first part of the village instead.
We only saw a handful of people and they were all locals carrying goods or herding their goats and cows.
This gentleman was calling for his cows and then you could hear their bells as they started moving towards him.
Along the way there were great views of Yulong Snow Mountain and the Jinsha (Golden Sands) River Valley below. You could actually break up the hike over many days and stay at these guest houses.
There were lots of spray paint signs just when you thought you were possibly lost.
We hiked down to Tina’s Guesthouse (about another 2 hours) and passed through some pretty waterfalls and canyons on the way. There were a few rockslides to maneuver around.
In total it took us about 7 hours. We carried plenty of water but there are great places to stop along the way. We were grateful for good weather as rain would make this more treacherous. You could spend more than one day meandering and stopping at guest houses. This eventually takes you to Shangri-La.
Of course at the beginning there was some construction to stop traffic so we had a late start. Then there was more construction when we were leaving to view the gorge along the viewing platform. It had just closed when a bunch of people begged the guard to let them in to get a picture. When he did we snuck in too. We could not go down to the bottom but we did get some pictures. There is a place where the tiger statue is on the rock. We did not get to see that.
Not far from the gorge we saw a rainbow. It had rained at the bottom of the mountain.
In this hike there are also caves with cave paintings on them but we should have tried to figure out where those were.
We also saw insects that I could not help taking a picture of.
These mountains are the foothills of the Himalayas. The highest peak is Malong at 4122 meters (13,523 ft). You can hike up some very steep paths and do the fitness mountaineering hike up to a glacial lake. But with the rain of the past few days and the rain that had just started that morning, we took the Zhonghe cable car to an elevation of 2600 meters (8530 feet) to start the hike along a paved path. There are 18 peaks in the range. The path cuts across several.
There are many tombs in the side of the mountain. This was popular practice which is no longer allowed to do the large Chinese population.
We took the cloud travellers path across the mountains to the Gantong cable car to go back down. It rained the whole time. This hiking is in paved paths but was still beautiful.
We used a restroom that had a squatty potty over a trough. Water runs every free minutes through the trough. This was a different one for me.
The Zhonghe temple
Some views of the hike were shrouded in low clouds but we took pictures where we could.
The Phoenix eye came was unfortunately closed.
Qilongnv pools
These people are created from a river running through the gorge. There are 6 pools where water is collected in flat areas. There was quite a climb to get above all 6.
The path and the Gorge viewingplatform
Heading back to the cable carView from the cable car
After returning to old town, we found a Chinese foot massage. Or get needed it after two days of hiking.
We then went to dinner. I tried Dali ice flower beer. It was light and refreshing.
It was due to rain all day but as it did not rain at night I was hopeful to get a run in. It started raining when I wanted to begin but tapered off enough to run 7k. I came close to the lake we were visiting today.
We had breakfast and then rented a car to take us to the lake and be at our disposal. For 300 rmb ($42.50), we could go anywhere and he would pick us up for 8 hours. That is for four of us. He drove us to the other side of the lake which is 72 miles (116 km) around it. The west side had many flower and vegetable farms but the east side is where there are villages and better photos.
Shangluang ancient town
We had coffee and cheesecake at a little cafe.
Denied Nanzhou Island tour to foreigners
Bai families live here on this island. We went to buy tickets but they would not sell to foreigners claiming that it wasn’t open fully. I used my translator to inform them that I would be sure to tell tour groups that they were not welcome here in Dali. He looked surprised and I was pretty upset about the interchange as so many others were glad to see us due to lack of tourist money.
Instead we started walking a section around the lake to see other villages. Along the way we were met by police who were obviously looking for the foreigners on the road. They asked us many questions and wanted to see the health code that is standard for moving between places. We cobbled together enough Chinese to answer their questions.
Crane in the water.
Little Putuo Island 小普陀岛 Xiao Putuo Dao
We called the driver to come get us and we drove to the next island we could visit. Here they sold us tickets as it is manned by locals. On this smallest island in the lake, there is Little Putuo Temple, which was built in the 15th century, and originally devoted to Bodhisattva Kwanyin (the female Chinese Bodhisattva of compassion, Guanyin).
They use a rope to pull the boat to the other shore.
We drove to another island we could visit that is a fishing village. We decided not to go on it and instead walked along the road to try to take a photo of Dali old town from across the lake.
The fishing villageDali cityDali old town is just across the water and slightly hidden from view of the island.
We had the driver pick us up and take us to Dali city. There we were dropped off on the lake front and what looked like a Thai restaurant was there. It wasn’t Thai. We were not sure what cuisine it was but it was more Thai than anything. The food was delicious.
Sticky rice, peanuts, whole fish, some other meat, pickled fish, and lots of vegetables.
The view right before sundown was gorgeous as well.
The lake looks like glass.
A very tiring day but beautiful and… Without rain!
It rained most of the night but after breakfast we decided to try to go to hike the mountain. After getting at the foot of the mountain, we were told the cable cars were not operating and then at the foot path entrance we were told that was closed as well. So we hiked to the three pagodas.
The three pagodas
About 1.5 km north of Dali Old Town, these pagodas are unique Buddhist towers. They were built 1,800 years ago. It is a symbol of the history of Dali City, and a record of the development of Buddhism in the area. The Three Pagodas are made of three ancient independent pagodas forming a symmetrical triangle. The middle pagoda is the tallest from the Tang Dynasty. Inside were Buddhist relics.
The north gate of Dali from the foot of the pagodas.I am unsure what this rock sculpture represents and could not find the answer.This area is known for its marble.
Some history of Dali
In 738, the Nanzhao Kingdom was established with Dali as its capital.
In 937, the Kingdom of Dali emerged.
By 1000, Dali was one of the 13 largest cities in the world.
In 1253, the Mongols conquered the city and ended the Kingdom of Dali.
In the early 1400s, the old Dali City was rebuilt by the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), and it still stands in a similar layout today.
An alternative to hot pot
For dinner we went to a slate cooking restaurant. It is like hot pot where you order the basic ingredients then cook it on a stone. One of the servers helps with the cooking. You eat slower this way as you have to wait for things to cook. The sauces are amazing and not too hot.
City gates
There are four city gates. The east gate is near the guest house.
The south gate is over 600 years old and is the landmark of the town.
The north gate is a preserved palace building built in the Ming dynasty.
The west entrance that is not a gate
Fuxing street has architecture from the Ming dynasty.
It rained off and on through the day and it is forecasted to be the same tomorrow. We have more exploring to do in the area but hope for a break to hike the mountain.
This was the first time flying since being back in China. I planned this trip with Morgana, Tricia, b and Daniel. I met Tricia at an event last year and she messaged me about getting together for a dinner. I now have a wide circle of friends from other schools who have similar interests.
We were tested again for covid 19 as it was recommended to have a test completed within 7 days of travel. By the way, this is my 8th virus test. Many Chinese hospitals will not test foreigners and the one international clinic charges 10 times as much. We found a clinic that would test us.
We flew into Dali and a driver took us to Old town. Dali Ancient Town is one of the most famous ancient towns in China. As a major stop on the Ancient Tea Horse Road, or Southwest Silk Road, it is a town full of historic sites and traditional culture.
In search of lunch, we wandered the stone paved streets of the old town. We looked at the traditional architecture of the Bai ethnic minority. We stopped at a restaurant to try their local food and found snacks to take on future hikes.
On the corner of the foreigner street. Yes, that is a McDonald’s.This night club we intend to go back to tonight to hear the live music.All three places looked so inviting for one reason or another. This giant Teddy bear wins the prize for the day.
Hidden Hotel guest house and the map
Our guest house is very beautiful. There is a central garden courtyard with a stream that had crayfish, crabs, and fish.
The Bai architecture has three buildings forming a U shape with a fourth wall forming a screen. The courtyard is in the middle. The houses are built of brick and wood. Bai houses are decorated with black tile paintings, woodcarvings, and crafted marble objects.
The map they gave us covers many of the places we are going. The old map feel is genius. The square is where we are staying and we plan to view all the places inside this square and sights outside. The area is 3 square km or 1 square mile inside.
People
We were exhausted. School just ended and this year everyone was on edge and pulling double duty. School itself is always such a race. The first few days of vacation seem normal but then you crash. That was today. All of us just needed to lay down. I napped for three hours. When we woke up there was a different vibe in the streets. There were lots of vendors and we decided to do what I love, just eat street food.
Top of the picture is rice roll, the middle is a sticky rice cake with apple pineapple glaze, and the bottom is fruit we can’t identify except for the big one which is a wax Apple.
We ate some of the street food along the way then took the rest to this little night club we had seen earlier.
History of Dali
In 738, the Nanzhao Kingdom was established with Dali as its capital.
In 937, the Kingdom of Dali emerged.
By 1000, Dali was one of the 13 largest cities in the world.
In 1253, the Mongols conquered the city and ended the Kingdom of Dali.
In the early 1400s, the old Dali City was rebuilt by the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), and it still stands in a similar layout today.
On the last weekend in June, we traveled several hours on the bus to go to camp on an island on the other side of Shenzhen. I really don’t like camping but the opportunity to swim, snorkel, and paddleboard was worth it.
We had a great lunch along the way and celebrated the birthday of one of my friends, Tricia.
The water was terrific. The paddleboard had kayak paddles so I did not stand up on it as the paddle was not long enough.
We camped along the beach.
We caught barnacles and crabs. The crew cooked food on the beach.
Barnacles.
Sunset.
Sunrise.
There were plenty of places to explore and many resort buildings were abandoned. The history of the island was that of a place for pirates and smugglers.
Stone with inscription about the island.
The big thing that was hard to see was the amount if plastic pollution. It did not just all wash up there. It was obvious people who were here earlier just dropped their trash. The people who run the camping area really should have a system and more concern for the environment. There was a lot of trash in the ocean when snorkeling.
A good time was had by all. There was karaoke at night, games and camaraderie by day.
