Lijiang

Little did we know that we would never see the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (5,596 m), which towers over Lijiang and the surrounding countryside. In this typical photo op across Black Dragon Pond, the mountain is conspicuously missing.

They have created an extensive pedestrian zone throughout the old town and including Jade Spring Park, which is the source of the waterways running through the old town and giving it its relaxing character. All along the streams were row upon row of open-air cafes, restaurants, bars, and souvenir shops.

The town is predominantly people of Naxi ethnic origin, whom we found to be extremely friendly (particularly considering that their hometown had become a major national and international tourist destination). Yunnan is home to half of China's recognized 56 ethnic minority groups, and the Naxi were the first we encountered, with their distinctive native dress and language.

Lijiang is at 2400 m elevation, and the lowest point of the trip, Kunming (the Provincial capital), is still at 2000 m, so it was good that we arrived a day early to get acclimated and have a day to wander the back alleys...

We became friends with one restaurant owner, Mr. Chen, from Hubei. We just stopped in to have a beer after dinner, then began talking with him. In the meantime, another European couple came and asked us for help ordering – turns out they would be our travel companions on our bike trip (see photo of them in Walti in previous entry). And, as fate would have it, Lori and Jacques were also Swiss.

After they left, Mr. Chen physically dragged us with him to another restaurant and order a full dinner (we had just eaten). By the time we finished it was midnight. He wouldn’t let us pay for anything, even our beer. He said he was tired of the restaurant business and when his Korean wife came back in one year, they would come wherever we were and work for us. We ate at his restaurant two nights later, and the morning we left, he came at 7:30, in the rain and straight out of a deep sleep, to say goodbye to us.