Where is Shangri-La?

Where is Shangri-La? According to Wikipedia, "Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. In the book, "Shangri-La" is a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains. Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise but particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia — a permanently happy land, isolated from the outside world."

According to China however, Shangri-La (香格裡拉) is Zhongdian (中甸), which was renamed in 2001 in a marketing effort to promote tourism in the area. I prefer to call the town of "Shangri-La" its original name of Zhongdian because I really did not see any sort of earthy paradise. Granted, we were unable drive to the really far nature preserves because of our short stay, and supposedly those areas are truly deserving of the "Shangri-La" label. Those lakes, mountains, and meadows would have taken at least a 2-4 hours drive one-way, so I would recommend travelers to stay in Shangri-La for a week to enjoy its true beauty. But, the town itself was shabby and drab, so I'm going to call it Zhongdian (so there!). Aside from the amazing hotel (Songtsam Hotel, highly highly recommended) that we splurged on, the other bright spot in this final leg was just being exposed to Tibetan culture. We read a lot about it in magazines and newspapers, but it was really cool being able to talk to these people face to face in their own region and formulate your own impressions finally.

Right outside our hotel at Songzanlin Monastery.

Zhongdian is situated in northwestern Yunnan, just a stone's throw away from the Tibetan Autonomous Region. In fact, the old Tibetan Empire (吐蕃, tu3 bo2) spanned way beyond the boundaries of modern Tibet, encompassing Qinghai Province, the entire high-altitude plateau beyond Chengdu in Sichuan Province, and the northwestern corner of Yunnan. For hundreds of years the Chinese courts were never able to fully subject the Tibetans under their rule until the Qing Dynasty and then the Kuomintang, but even then it was always had a semi-independent status. Tibet was simply too far-flung and too difficult to control, but modern technology and tactics have now put it firmly in China's grasp.

Our hotel was situated right next to the famous Songzanlin Monastery (松贊林寺), which is a ~300 year old monastery belonging to the Dalai Lama's Gelu Yellow Hat sect. My impression of this monastery was that it was very rundown and shabby... although I'm sure my photos may show you otherwise, it was basically a series of temples with beautiful exteriors but dirty fraying interiors, sitting on rickety layers of slum-like shacks below. The style and architecture of the selectively renovated buildings were outstandingly beautiful though. I wish that the monks who live in the surrounding huts had more than splintered planks of wood and blue plastic tarp over their heads (and probably with their asceticism they don't care), but I'm sure that the growing influx of tourism into "Shangri-La" will solve that problem.

Gorgeous, but you can still smell the fresh paint.

Inside a temple. Rich displays of color and layers of gold paint.

We were not allowed to take photos inside, but you know me... :) The inside of the temple was super musty, Gene couldn't take the smell and had to step out for a breather.

"Halloooo~~~!"

The landscape surrounding Zhongdian was very unlike the other parts of Yunnan that we traveled through -- because we were sitting at 3,200m altitude, it was much colder and thus spring comes at around June. No flowers, no green fields, the Tibetans had just planted their seeds recently. We were able to see their yak and horse herds graze on the fields though (which btw yak skewers are divine). You could also ride Tibetan horses, which are really small and furry ponies, but it will cost you an arm and a leg and possibly paralysis since there's no insurance or helmets involved, haha.

Gene and I then explored Zhongdian Old Town, which was actually pretty cute. Again, like all old towns in this trip, windy cobblestone roads with cute 2-story houses. The vendors here sell pretty much the same stuff as in Lijiang/Dali, except they throw in the random endangered animal pelts as well.

We sampled yak cheese and paired it up with Yunnan wine.

It was yucky, as you can tell from Gene's expression, hahaha.

THE END! Concluding notes: Yunnan is such a diverse place, deserving of much more than the week that we could afford. While this was a whirlwind trip, I will definitely be back one day but take it easy the second time around. :)

ROAR, it's Tiger Leaping Gorge.

Tiger Leaping Gorge (hu3 tiao4 xia2, 虎跳峽) is where you can go to literally experience a mountain IN YOUR FACE in the most obscene manner ever. It's sandwiched between two ~5,500m mountains (Jade Dragon 玉龍 and Haba 哈巴) and boasts a series of sheer 2,000m cliffs.

To get to TLG, we had to pass by Lijiang first from Dali on yet another disgusting 4 hour busride. Lijiang is a booming tourist area, particularly because everyone wants to meander through its adorable old town, an UNESCO Heritage Site. The old town has winding cobblestone roads with waterways and 2-story traditional Naxi style houses on both sides. However, after the town built its own airport, it has experienced such a sudden domestic tourism boom that most backpackers now shun the place in favor for more peaceful and sleepy outer villages, such as Shuhe (束河). We stayed in Shuhe and LOVED IT... apparently Shuhe is where the Naxi people first settled after descending down from Tibet hundreds of years ago. Through our interactions we found the Naxi to be a very warm, polite, and honest group of people... a breath of fresh air in China. :)

Our adorable B&B, the Sleepy Inn.

The lady is making my breakfast. :)

We only stayed in Shuhe overnight and I truly regret not being able to extend it for day or two. I wasn't sure if it was worth staying in the Lijiang area at first because of all the negative reviews from Western travelers -- the general consensus was that Lijiang was overrun with notoriously obnoxious Chinese tourists, but we discovered that Shuhe was nothing of that sort. Of course, the government has pumped a lot of money into renovating Shuhe into becoming Lijiang 2.0, so you should haul ass and go there while you can still get a glimpse of authentic Naxi life!

Gene and I met up with some fellow HNCers (Luke, Margaux, Richard, Hannah) for the TLG leg, which made for excellent company! :) From Lijiang we took a bus to Qiaotou, the beginning of TLG, feeling a steady incline into mountains while passing though patches of fields that were nestled between valleys. I noticed that people here not only plant a lot of crops, but they also plant a lot of tree nurseries. My hunch is that these trees are part of the supply chain that goes into the massive push to beautify cities across China... how did you think Beijing got green and pretty all of a sudden? I also read an article recently about how cities compete with each other to purchase whole groves way in advance.

Tiger Leaping Gorge was a fantastic experience. I think the key draw to hiking TLG is that it puts you at a visual perspective where you can appreciate a mountain in all its glory from foot to pinnacle. You look down and ponder your mortality. You look up and ponder your mortality. Basically as you stand at its gaping maws you feel like Nature can pwn you at any second. You don't have to be a triathlete but the trail does require some level of physical fitness, there were certainly some parts that left us all begging for mercy, but it's mostly mind over matter.

So how did we hike TLG? When we got to Qiaotou, we left our backpacks at a hostel at the beginning of the trail and hired a car to bring us to Middle TLG. OMG, the car ride was simply terrifying. Not only did the twisted and narrow road not have any guard railings, but our driver thought he was at a NASCAR racer or some shit. I almost pooped my pants. At some point I just realized that it was just better to close my eyes and accept my fate, and after 30 minutes of what I never want to live through again I realized God still wants me alive. I'M ALIVE, BITCHES!!!

At the Middle TLG section we stayed at Tina's Youth Hostel overnight because it was already late afternoon, so instead of tackling the long trail we decided to just explore the part that brought hikers all the way down to the rapids. It was extremely tough... even Gene was totally smoked. Was it worth it? Well, I guess it's something you have to do, but not particularly breathtaking. You also had to shell out 10 RMB here, 20 RMB there in tolls or you wouldn't be able to pass a certain section, just like the troll in Three Billy Goats Gruff. That annoyed the lot of us, but I guess it supports the local economy.

According to legend, this is where the Tiger leapt over the Gorge.

The next day we set off from Middle TLG back to Upper TLG (towards Qiaotou). The scenery was breathtaking. It was tough getting to the "high trail" from Tina's Hostel, but once we were on the path it was completely flat and made for a relaxing stroll. The "low trail" was that death-defying road for vehicles I mentioned earlier. The vantage point is much better higher up!

您好, 媽媽 Nature.

The animals of TLG! SooOOoOooOoo cute!

No leaping tigers, unfortunately... only cute cuddly farm animals like cloned Babes and badly-sheared baby goats.

Open smile -- thanks for the good times, guys! :)

Next and final stop, Shangrila.

Dabbling in Dali

After spending a few days in Yangshuo, Gene and I hopped on a plane from Guilin over to Kunming, where we officially began our Yunnan tour. We stayed in Kunming only for a night to catch an early bus to Dali the next day. I found Kunming to be pleasant compared to Nanjing, but perhaps this is a limited point of view since we were there for half a day. All we managed to do was eat hotpot and watch a silly Hong Kong chick flick (單身男女)... which added up to a very nice dinner-date. :)

The next morning we took a 4-5 hour bus over to Dali. We got ripped off at the ticket station (to be expected but it makes me SO mad!). Chinese bus rides are never very pleasant, but we then kicked off our ride with THIS ridiculousness below:

Let me explain. So our bus drives up the highway ramp and we get stuck at the merging section for about 20 minutes. Why? Because some retards ahead wanted to avoid the "traffic jam" ahead (circled in blue) and started U-turning back down the ONE-WAY highway ramp, log jamming all incoming traffic. It was amusing, but the novelty wore off very quickly. U-turning on the highway, really? And this "traffic jam" only lasted maybe 1km at most. I am seriously getting so sick of the many instances of Darwinistic anti-public-good behavior that I see everywhere in China.

Outside Kunming there are huge lots filled with construction vehicles of every size and color.

Finally after an arduous bus ride, we get to Dali! We stayed at The Lily Pad Inn, which was quite reasonable (at $20 USD/night) for a room with a private bath. It was also located right outside the old town, which made for more peaceful nights. The old town of Dali is mostly comprised of the Bai minority, as well as a fair number of Hui (Chinese Muslims). Bai architecture is quite beautiful and distinct... as you can see below. :)

In our hostel's very cute courtyard, a wonderful place to enjoy breakfast and catch up on some reading!

Old Town Dali was very quaint and pleasant to walk through, with clean and wide cobblestone streets that seemed very recently renovated. There were no shortage of tourists here, especially since this place is known as a Westerner's backpacker town (there's even a road called Foreigner's Street, 洋人街). Supposedly it's really easy to get weed here if you look like a 外國人 backpacker. I didn't get approached though. You can also buy a lot of random knick-knacks such as silver bracelets, pillowcases, jade pendants, minority costumes, embroidered earrings, etc... lots of really cute souvenirs that I wanted to bring back so badly!!! Just remember that if you do decide to purchase something, the most reasonable price for both you and the shopkeeper is 1/3 of the original quotation. And if you like something enough then don't feel bad that you "overpaid" by a couple RMB... that's the unspoken market rule! :)

Lots of different kinds of skewers 串 (chuan4) at the Hui-style cart. No pork though, because Hui = Chinese Muslims.

We had to toss out our skewers because we couldn't handle the thick layer of paprika/pepper/mystery-spices! It was super gross, but if you get it sans spices it is actually quite tasty.

So pretty. :)

We met up with some fellow HNCers at a open-air bar street - Gene taught us how to eat 瓜子 (gua1zi, dried watermelon seeds). I always end up using too much brute force and shatter the whole thing into tiny shards. I guess I'll just have to be fed. :)

The next day we went up to Cang Mountains (蒼山), which overlooks many of the little towns in Dali County and beyond into Erhai Lake (洱海胡). The walk was extremely peaceful and relaxing, with the trail completely paved by smooth stones. The mountain is covered with fresh-smelling pine trees and is very quiet, with surprisingly very few tourists. It's definitely a good place if you need some time to yourself and contemplate the meaning of life, haha.

Did I mention that I was kind of afraid of heights?

Gene's favorite part of Cang Mountain was this giant Chinese chessboard. We spent a fair amount of time pretending to be in Alice in Wonderland, haha.

All in all, Old Town Dali felt slow and nice... it had crisp fresh air that reminded me of California, beautiful Bai-style architecture, and a relaxed atmosphere. I do have to say that the food majorly blowed and I had probably the worst curry in my entire life there. My friend Lulu warned me that that'd be the case, and I can confirm that it is indeed true.

And now introducing THE PUPPIES OF DALI! (awwwwwww~~! ^_^)

Next stop, Lijiang (Shuhe).