We traveled to a remote area halfway from Zhangziazie on our way to Fenghuang ancient town. It is not as popular as our ending destination and it is for this reason it is quaint and worth a stop to see as it is not touristy.
Furong Town is also known as Hibiscus Town. It was originally Wangcun Village but changed after a popular and award winning movie Hibiscus Town that was filmed here. It is found in the Western Hunan Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture.
Today the old town is a mix of Tujia (original people here) and Han Chinese people. The town is beautiful. The scenery is lovely with cliffs and a waterfall to the You River.
Lunch was amazing. We are just outside of the gates of the old town. The potatoes are unbelievable and the spice here in Hunan is hot but so delicious.
Pickled daikon with red wine vinegar and tofu with lots of chilies.Trying bijou alcohol in a shop.
The typical Tujia “Diaojiaolou” building is high on the cliff for easy defense against invaders.
This “Xizhou Bronze Column” marks the ceasefire after a long war. It is inscribed with over 2300 characters of the story of the war and teens if ceasefire.
The waterfall was closed but we went around the one side where there was no guard to go behind the waterfall. It was so hot that standing under the water felt great and just what we needed. I was waiting to be going out but we made it through without interrogations.
Some of the others on the tour “saw” us.
Behind the falls are statues of native Tujia people.
At the top of the falls.
From there we had another 2 hour ride to get to the next ancient town. As buses are not allowed into the town, we had to transfer to a shuttle bus. Unfortunately they did not know what to do with foreigners as covid-19 restrictions have changed. Finally they were able to straighten out whether it was safe to let us enter.
We started the day at the same entrance at the Bailong elevator, this time going in a different direction than the day before.
Tianzi Shan
The Bailong elevatorThere narrow strip of green between the two mountains is where we hiked yesterday, going uphill to get to the beginning then going down into the valley.A closer view of where we walked yesterday.This naughty money listens for plastic bags then runs and breaks a hole in the bag to steal some of the goodies.
Tujia minority
One of our guides is from the minority village. They had an information center explaining much about the culture.
This outfit is 24 kg total in weight. Girls who wear this much have been rewarded with riches by a suitor.They make there own alcohol, baiju. We tried plum but this one has snakes in the alcohol as it ferments.
Yuanjiajie
From there we took a bus to get further towards a trail that we would take to get back closer to the town. It was a lot of downhill but at least the steps here were dry.
We went to Wulingyuan National Park which is amazing. The park is dotted with sandstone cliffs that seen to have ridden out of nowhere. These quartz structures are in some dense tropical forests and reminiscent of the wonders in the movie avatar (though that is tomorrow’s hike!)
After a bus ride that took hair pin turns rather quickly, which adds to the experience we arrived at the elevator that takes you to the top. Bailong elevator takes you to the top of the one cliff and we spent time walking around the top then making our way down.
The elevator that takes you to the top.Of course there were monkeys there to see what they could get from visitors.Man praying to Buddha
Of course we started in the touristy area which we quickly left behind. There were many climbs up and of course back down through the peaks. It was very slippery and if course I fell a couple of times.
One step to heaven. This took s climb up on a vertical ladder but the views were breathtaking.
Corridor in the cliffs
Golden whip stream. Finally we were on a flat area without climbing unbelievable amounts of stairs then going back down the other side. Easier and faster walk from here.
We worked out way around the base of all of these magnificent structures. It is truly humbling to be in and out of the various areas in this forest. Not many take this hike and it was very challenging with the wet rock surfaces.
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!
