Day 16 Wed July 5
I went to the Peking Capital airport on the metro – green line 8, blue line 2 to Dongzhimen Station, mauve line 13 Capital Airport Express 25¥. Stops first at the International Terminal 3 and continues to the Domestic Terminal 2.
Flight. Beijing (PEK T2) to Kunming. Henan Airlines @16:15-20:00 3’45” HU7111. The flight boarded 45 minutes before.
Metro line 6 to East Coach Terminal, Line 3 to Wuyi, 10-minute walk to hostel. Anna’s flight was 30 minutes late, the metro had stopped and she took a bus/taxi to the hostel arriving at 12:15.
CHINA – YUNNAN -EAST (Kunming, Chuxiong, Yuxi, Honghe)
KUNMING (pop 8,460,088, metro 5,604,310) is the capital and largest city of Yunnan province. The city was of great significance during World War II as a Chinese military center, American air base, and transport terminus for the Burma Road. In the middle of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, Kunming is at an altitude of 1,900 metres and a latitude just north of the Tropic of Cancer.
Kunming consists of an old, previously walled city, a modern commercial district, residential zones and university areas. Kunming’s economic importance comes from sharing a border with various Southeast Asian countries: rail to Vietnam and by road to Burma, Laos and Thailand.
Kunming also houses some manufacturing, chiefly the processing of copper, as well as various chemicals, machinery, textiles, paper and cement. Kunming has a nearly 2,400-year history, but its modern prosperity dates only to 1910 when the railway from Hanoi was built.
History. On the caravan roads through to South-East Asia, India and Tibet. Early townships in the southern edge of Lake Dian date to 279 BC. 1832, the beginnings of a real city Decades later, Kunming began to be influenced by the West, especially by the French Empire. In the 1890s, an uprising against working conditions on the Kunming–Haiphong rail line saw many labourers executed after France shipped weapons to suppress the revolt. The meter-gauge rail line, only completed by around 1911, was designed by the French so that they could tap Yunnan’s mineral resources for their colonies in Indochina.
Major trading routes: westward via Dali into Myanmar, southward through Mengzi County to the Red River in Indochina. Eastward, a difficult mountain route led to Guiyang and Hunan province. To the northeast of Yibin in Sichuan province on the Yangtze River. These trails were all extremely difficult, passable only by mule trains or pack-carrying porters.
1906–1910 Yunnan-Vietnam Railway to Haiphong
Kunming was transformed into a modern city in the Second Sino-Japanese War/World War II. The 1937 Battle of Shanghai, Nanking and Taiyuan, forced many refugees from the north and eastern coastal regions of China, bringing much commerce and industry. They carried dismantled industrial plants with them, which were then re-erected beyond the range of Japanese bombers.
Nanning fell to the Japanese and China’s sea-access was cut off but the Burma Road remained open. China grew increasingly vital as much of the essential support and materials were imported through Burma. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Kunming acted as an Allied military command center with Chinese, American, British and French forces. Kunming became the northern and easternmost terminus of the vital war-supply line into China known as “The Hump’.
When the Burma Road was lost to the Japanese. The Hump went over the Himalayas between India.
Until 1952, Kunming was a walled city. The wall’s bricks were used to make a new road running north–south. After 1949, Kunming developed rapidly into an industrial metropolis: iron and steel, chemical complexes, The city consolidated its position as a supply depot during the Vietnam War. Mao Zedong during the Cultural Revolution used Kunming to exile people who had fallen politically out of favor. In 1957, Kunming’s rail link to Hanoi was re-opened.
Geography. Situated in a fertile lake basin on the northern shore of Lake Dian and surrounded by mountains to the north, west, and east, Kunming has always played a pivotal role in the communications of southwestern China. Lake Dian, known as “the Pearl of the Plateau”, is the largest lake in Yunnan and the sixth largest freshwater lake in China. About 96 km (60 mi) southeast of the city centre is the Stone Forest in Shilin County,
Climate. Elevation 1,890 metres, Kunming has one of the mildest climates in China, characterized by short, cool dry winters and long, balmy and humid summers – the “City of Eternal Spring”. May to October is the monsoon season and the rest of the year is dry.
Culture. Kunming’s public focus is the huge square outside the now-demolished Workers’ Cultural Hall at the Beijing Lu-Dongfeng Lu intersection, The city’s true center is west of the square across the adjacent Panlong River outside the Kunming Department Store at the Nanping Lu/Zhengyi Lu crossroads, a densely crowded shopping precinct
Bird and Flower Market daily in the streets has plants (mainly orchids).
Two large Chinese pagodas thirteen stories of whitewashed brick crowned with four iron cockerels. Both were built between 824 and 859 but the East Pagoda was destroyed by an earthquake in 1833 and rebuilt. Cuihu Park (Green Lake Park) is one of Kunming’s major parks. Daguan Park is in the southwest and is where youth hang out.
Yuantong Si is Kunming’s major Buddhist temple. It is Kunming’s largest and most famous temple first constructed more than 1,200 years ago during the Tang dynasty. Qiongzhu Si (Bamboo Temple) was built in 639 and rebuilt in 1422 to 1428. Numerous Buddhist temples line the road to the Dragon Gate.
The entertainment district is around Kundu Square with cinemas, bars, clubs, and restaurants. Operatic troupes and indigenous entertainments which include huadeng, a lantern dance. Economy. Kunming has three economic advantages – natural resources, a large consumer market, and a mild climate. Mineral resources include phosphorus, salt, magnesium, titanium, coal, quartz sand, clay, silica, and copper. Dongchuan is a major copper production base. Coal bed gas – agricultural products, minerals, and hydroelectricity. Food and tobacco processing and the manufacture of construction equipment and machines.
Yunnan has developed into the largest flower export base in Asia: Dounan Flower Market, Transportation. The road into Vietnam and Laos crossings at Hekou in southeastern Yunnan or Bian Mao Zhan in Xishuangbanna. The Kunming–Bangkok Expressway
ON Hump Route Hostel. 198¥ for a private king bed, a good BF included, lovely room with a deck just outside the door. Has a bar and restaurant.
Day 17 Thur July 6
After breakfast, we rented scooters to see Kunming City.
Jewel & Mineral Museum. Not where Google Maps said. Does it exist? Anna couldn’t find it on Gaode Maps.
Yunnan Art Gallery. Three stories of large paintings profiling Uyghur culture. I really liked this gallery with so much “realistic” art. Free. Google Maps was totally incorrect about its location.
Yuantong Temple is an ancient Buddhist temple first built in the late 8th and early 9th century, it was expanded in 1686 with covered corridors, bridges, and grand halls. Yuantong Wonderful Realm has a great front archway with very old stone carvings. The Yuantong main hall is octagonal and surrounded by water, unique in China. Circling the two central pillars inside are two giant dragons. Stone stairs on both sides are carved out of the cliff and climb to the top of the mountain. Beside the path are ancient inscriptions. Two caves wind far into the mountain.
Yunnan Railway Museum. Located in Kunming North Railway Station, part in the century-old Yunnan-Vietnam Railway Station. It has historical photos, a steam locomotive with a meter gauge, No. 29 steam locomotive with a 60 cm gauge, “Michelin” diesel trains and a very interesting wooden train with wood carriages, seats, and floors. Free
Bird and Flower Market. Flowers, pets (birds in very small cages, cats, dogs, and rabbits), crickets as pets or fighting, polished walnuts used for hand massage. Lots to see here.
Huating Temple is a Buddhist temple in the Xishan District built between 1320 to 1334. After the fall of the Ming dynasty, the Huating Temple was devastated by wars and rebuilt in 1687, damaged in the Hui Uprising in 1857, and reconstructed in 1920.
Along the central axis are the Four Heavenly Kings Hall, Mahavira Hall, Guanyin Hall, and Buddhist Texts Library, and over 10 halls and rooms on both sides.
Statues of lion and elephant front it and Heng and Ha are to the sides of the Four Heavenly Kings Hall. In the center of the hall are Maitreya Buddha and Skanda. Mahavira Hall has Sakyamuni, Amitabha, and Bhaisajyaguru with Ananda and Kassapa Buddha on the left and right. At the back of Sakyamuni’s statue are statues of Guanyin and Twenty-four Gods of Heaven. 500 niches have small statues of Arhats.
It was a long 18 km scooter ride here.
Yunnan Nationalities Museum. At the front is the spectacular silver bas-relief of the “Chinese Family” – 4.5m long and 2.1m high. The costume display is fantastic. Ethnic exhibits include pottery, masks, roof tiles, tools,, music and arts and crafts. Free
Yunnan Provincial Museum. Another great, very new building displays Yunnan’s ethnic minorities and artifacts from tomb excavations at Jinning on the southern rim of Lake Dian. Free
Day 18 Fri July 8
We left early to go the 70 km to the Fossil Site by taxi 200¥ as there was no public transport there.
CHENGJIANG FOSSIL SITE WHS. A hilly 512-ha site in Yunnan province, Chengjiang’s fossils present the most complete record during the early Cambrian period, 530 million years ago of an early Cambrian marine community to the rapid diversification of life on Earth before the present. In this geologically short interval, almost all major groups of animals had their origins. The exceptionally preserved biota displays the anatomy of hard and soft tissues in a very wide variety of organisms, invertebrates and vertebrates. They record the early establishment of a complex marine ecosystem. The site documents at least sixteen phyla and a variety of enigmatic groups as well as about 196 species, presenting exceptional testimony to the rapid diversification of life on Earth when almost all of today’s major animal groups emerged. It opens a palaeobiological window of great significance to scholarship. It is one of the earliest records of a complex marine ecosystem and a unique window of understanding into the structure of early Cambrian communities.
Taxa recovered range from algae, through sponges and cnidarians to numerous bilaterian phyla, including the earliest known chordates. The earliest known specimens of several phyla such as cnidarians, ctenophores, priapulids, and vertebrates occur here. Many of the taxa represent the stem groups of extant phyla and throw light on characteristics that distinguish major taxonomic groups.
It displays the excellent quality of fossil preservation including the soft and hard tissues of animals with hard skeletons, along with a wide array of organisms that were entirely soft-bodied, and therefore relatively unrepresented in the fossil record. Almost all of the soft-bodied species are unknown elsewhere. Fine-scale detailed preservation includes features as the alimentary systems of animals, for example of the arthropod Naraoia, and the delicate gills of the enigmatic Yunnanozoon. The sediments of Chengjiang provide what are currently the oldest known fossil chordates, the phylum to which all vertebrates belong.
In another grand building, the Cambrian Explosion is well described with the large exhibits on everything from dinosaurs to humans. I ignored these to concentrate on all of the incredible fossils the site is known for. Great displays show the fossils of many extinct tiny organisms in very fine cream-coloured rock, many that take some imagination but with large blow-ups of each fossil. Some are large enough to appreciate the entire organism. Free
From Chengjiang, we could find no public transportation so decided to rent a car for 250¥ per day for two days to go to the Hani Rice terraces. It was almost 300km, most on a wonderful 2-lane divided highway through the mountains and many tunnels as the road followed a river. Anna was a much better driver than I thought and generally travelled over the 120-speed limit. There was not much traffic. Turn off the expressway to wind up into the mountains.
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE of HONGHE HANI RICE TERRACES WHS covers 16,603 hectares in Southern Yunnan. It is marked by spectacular terraces that cascade down the slopes of the towering Ailao Mountains to the banks of the Hong River. Over the past 1,300 years, the Hani people have developed a complex system of channels to bring water from the forested mountaintops to the terraces. 
Carved out of the dense forest over the past 1,300 years by Hani people who migrated here from further to the northwest, the irrigated terraces support paddy fields overlooking narrow valleys. In some places, there are as many as 3,000 terraces between the lower edges of the forest and the valley floor.
Responding to the difficulties and opportunities of their environment of high mountains, narrow valleys crisscrossed by ravines, extremely high rainfall (around 1400mm), and sub-tropical valley climate, the Hani people have created out of dense forest an extraordinarily complex system of irrigated rice terraces that flows around the contours of the mountains.
The terraces extend across an area of some 1,000 square kilometres. Three areas of terraces, Bada, Duoyishu, and Laohuzui, within three river basins, Malizhai, Dawazhe, and Amengkong-Geta, reflect differing underlying geological characteristics. The gradient of the terraces in Bada is gentle, in Douyishu steeper, and in Laohuzui very steep.
The landscape reflects an integrated four-fold system of forests, water supply, terraces, and houses. The mountaintop forests are the lifeblood of the terraces in capturing and sustaining the water needed for irrigation. There are four types of forests, the ancient ‘water recharge’ forest, a sacred forest, consolidation forests, and village forests for the provision of timber for building, food, and firewood. Above the village are places for the Village God “Angma” (the soul of the village) and for the Land Protection God “Misong”, where villagers pray for peace, health, and prosperity.
Clefts in the rocks channel the rain, and sandstone beneath the granite mountains traps the water and then later releases it as springs. A complex system of channels has been developed to spread this water around the terraces in and between different valleys. Four trunk canals and 392 branch ditches which in length total 445.83km are maintained communally.
Eighty-two relatively small villages with between 50 and 100 households are constructed above the terraces just below the mountaintop forests. The traditional vernacular buildings have walls built of rammed earth, of adobe bricks or of earth and stone under a tall, hipped, roof thatched with straw that gives the houses a distinctive ‘mushroom’ shape. At least half the houses in the villages are mainly or partly of traditional materials.
Each household farms one or two ‘plots’ of the rice terraces. Red rice is produced on the basis of a complex and integrated farming and breeding system involving buffalos, cattle, ducks, fish and eels. Ducks fertilize the young rice plants, while chickens and pigs contribute fertilizer to more mature plants, water buffalo slough the fields for the next year’s planting, and snails growing in the water of the terraces consume various pests.
They have a system of dual interdependence known as the ‘Man-God Unity social system. The inhabitants worship the sun, moon, mountains, rivers, forests, and other natural phenomena including fire.
Get There. Coach from Kunming to the Yuanyang area – where the terraces are located. Minibus from the bus station. 30 km to get to Yuanyang where all the rice terraces are clustered.
We rented a car, unfortunately from Chengjiang where the Fossil Site is rather than from Kunming. We had thought that we could get public transport from Chengjiang to the terraces, but couldn’t.
Get Around
The protected area has a ticket that gives a one-time visit. Normal 70¥, 60-69 35¥, over 70 Free. No one asked for the ticket except at Laohuzui.
Transport between the villages by local minibus and taxi drivers. Half a day to see the main spots. The area is 35 km long. Drive to the far end of the valley, where the most picturesque group of terraces are, the one with lots of ‘pools’ and only thin walls separating them.
Walk around the rice fields, more fun, muddy.
Accommodation
Guesthouses in the villages, get free views any time of the day, the downside is that you don’t have the same panoramic heights. Cheap, stay for two nights to learn about their culture, the way of life.
SEE
Most rice terraces look more charming when the landscape is green in the summer. After the harvest, in winter, the terraces are mirror pools. The best photography viewpoints are marked on the provided map – two for sunset and one for sunrise. 82 traditional villages. Most stunning are Quanfuzhuang, Bada, Duoyishu, and Laohuzui.
Women in traditional clothing make great photographic subjects with a variety of dresses – all with a black base, some embroidered, or satin. Pigs, chickens, turkeys and buffalo.
Qingkou traditional folk village.
Bada village has the most beautiful and largest terraces. We ate at the viewpoint roadside stands – corn, rice, meat brochettes (avoid the spicy ones), cornbread. A woman here was dressed in traditional clothes carrying her baby in a colourful wrap on her back.
Azheke (mushroom village). named after the shape of the houses – 2-3 story cinderblock homes with thatch roofs. An open-air museum. Enter the village under a reed gate, with which the Hani indicate the border between where people live and where the spirits live. Above the village, there is a sacred forest where the villagers once a year worship the god Angma for happiness and a good harvest.
Duoyishu. No great views as the terraces are relatively far away. The town has many guest houses.
ON Duoyishu village. Flower Residence Inn 200¥, The owner has a restaurant on the main street, may be the only place to eat in Duoyishu.
Day 19 Sat July 8
It rained during the night and was very overcast in the morning so slept in and didn’t bother going to the best sunrise viewpoint.
Laohuzui. Drive up and over a pass (mist and cloud on our drive), then descend over many switchbacks to the town. We stopped at the pass to a good but unmarked viewpoint. This has the best sunrise viewpoint. The valleys are much deeper terraces much steeper.
The viewpoint in the town is a long walk down many flights of stairs to get past all the trees obscuring the view.
We then left the terraces to drive 40 km south to the market with a plan to return to Chengjiang via the Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Zone. We had filled the car with gas and had all day to get there.
Laomeng Sunday Market, Jinping County. With five minorities at One Market, many of the hill tribe people have to walk all the way back and the market starts breaking up at around noon. A kaleidoscopic mix of colours, as ladies from the Hani, Yao, Yi, Miao and Black Thai ethnic groups. The men on the other hand were fairly indistinguishable, wearing pretty much the same peasant clothes and large wide-brimmed hats.
It was then 100 km on a narrow two-lane brick very windy road through mountainous terrain following on the north side of a river. Houses lined one or both sides of the road for most of the way. We passed a large hydroelectric dam. I drove for about an hour. Eventually, we hit a big expressway about 200 km north of the main city in the autonomous zone.
Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture in southeastern Yunnan and is the easternmost prefecture-level division of the province. It borders Baise, Guangxi, to the east, Vietnam’s Hà Giang Province to the south for 438 kilometres (272 mi), Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture to the west, and Qujing to the north.
History. The prefecture has been inhabited for at least 4000 years, as evidenced by surviving neolithic rock art in Malipo County. The seat of Guangnan, known today as Liancheng, was the heart of the Gouding Kingdom and lasted approximately 400 years, from 111 BC to 316 AD.
Ethnic groups. Wenshan is highly diverse. According to a local saying, “Han and Hui live by the market, Zhuang and Dai live by the water, Miao and Yi live on the mountains, and Yao live among the bamboo. Some of Wenshan’s ethnic groups include: Han Chinese, Tai people (Zhuang, Dai), Kra people, Miao–Yao people (Miao people – Lopsided Miao, White Miao, Green Miao, Flowery Miao), Tibeto-Burman people (Yi people, Bai people), Mon-Khmer peoples
This was a long driving day through the Prefecture. We didn’t see the ethnic minorities I was hoping to see. In Jianshui, we walked to a Walmart and bought a large jar of Nescafe (impossible to find anywhere else), UHF milk and yogurt. I ate at Micky’s and Anna had yogurt and cucumbers.
ON Yan Chao Yeng Boutique Hotel, Jianshui. 116¥. A nice hotel at a great place.
Day 20 Sun July 9
Up early, we drove to Chengjiang to return the car. She drove us to a bus depot that went to Kunming. From the bus station there, we took a metro to the train station. While we were buying tickets (all sold out except for standing room), a taxi driver approached us offering a taxi to Dili Old Town for 180¥ each, cheaper than the train and we had a seat. I was able to enter 1,600 sites into worldheritagesites.org during the drives. That placed me 7th in their list of members. I also entered all my Tentative WHS but they don’t have a standing listed for it.
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CHINA – YUNNAN – WEST (Dali, Xishuangbanna, Pu’er, Lijiang)
DALI
Xiaguan is the modern city centre and is usually conflated with Dali City by being its seat. This town is the destination of most long-distance transportation heading to Dali and is sometimes referred to as Dali New Town.
Dali Town is a division of Dali City, located 10 km (6.2 mi) north of Xiaguan. This town, commonly referred to as Dali Old Town to distinguish it from Xiaguan, is usually the Dali referred to in tourist publications. The old town is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Yunnan, known for its natural scenery, historical and cultural heritage, and vibrant nightlife.
Dali City is 250 km (160 mi) northwest of Kunming. Dali is situated in the transition area between the dramatic valleys of the eastern Tibetan Plateau and the distinctive mountains of the western Yungui Plateau. The city surrounds Erhai Lake between the Cang Mountains to the west and Mount Jizu to the east. The county seat at Xiaguan is located at the outlet of the lake into the Yangbi River. Dali Old Town is situated on a fertile plain between the Cang Range and Erhai. This plain has traditionally been settled by the Bai and Yi minorities.
Climate. Its low latitude tempered by its high elevation, Dali has a mild subtropical highland climate with short, mild, dry winters and warm, rainy summers. A majority of the days feature some rainfall and daytime temperatures to 25 °C.
Marble buildings, marble streets, marble wall foundations and marble wells make the city so bright and limpid as if it is a tranquil fairyland. Each family loves door carving and wall decoration; every household has a flower garden. While it is freezing season in the north, hundreds of flowers are in blossom here. Among them, camellia, azaleas, and orchids are the nicest.
Mt. Cangshan and Erhai Lake and its four grand scenes, namely, Xiaguan’s wind, Shangguan’s flowers, Mt. Cangshan’s snow and Erhai’s moon. Enjoy the full moon on a boat at Erhai Lake. The reflection of the Buddhist Temples. The summit of Mt. Cangshan, 4,000 meters high, perennially covered with snow offers a beautiful sight.
The Bai nationality has lived here for generations and is the chief inhabitant. Bright and cheerful in disposition, amiable, and easy to approach, the Bai people are very hospitable and conversational. Their national costume looks neat and graceful. Both sexes have a partiality to white colour. A Bai man usually wears a short black gown over his white jacket with buttons down the front, whereas a woman, coiling up the hair over her head, often wears a black or blue gown over her white jacket. The daily attire for a maiden is very attractive, i.e., a red close-fitting jacket without sleeves. The Bai girls like to wear one pigtail tied with red string with a colourful towel wrapped around and snowy teasels waving to and from on the right. They like carved doors and windows, and delicately whitewashed walls. Their national music sounds very sonorous, showing the nation’s bold and uninhibited character.
We walked all over the old town – narrow two-lane streets, all sidewalks rough stone, the main street with an open creek flowing along the side, and many shops and places to eat. I needed to use an ATM – the first required a 6-digit PIN, and the second refused my Scotiabank card but accepted my BMO card. I ate again at Micky’s and we walked back along all the pedestrianized streets to our hotel. Many musicians were playing in restaurants and a ton of tourists. I saw two single, white guys.
ON Dongting Bie Yuan Hotel, Dali Old Town 162¥.
Day 21 Mon July 10
We rented scooters to drive around the lake and see the sites.
Dali Chanshan Mountain and Erhai Lake Scenic Spot Tentative WHS (29/11/2001). This includes the ancient town of Dali, lofty Cangshan Mountain, and Erhai Lake. There are more than 100 scenic spots in the area with nice natural scenery, a long history and culture, numerous historical sites and strong customs. At the southern end of the Henduanshan mountain range, there are 6000 species of plants on 19 peaks and 18 streams. The primeval forest of alpine azalea, rocks, springs and butterflies add to a little mystery of the mountain. The moon is mirrored on the wide Erhai Lake.
Dali dates to the Neolithic Age. The Kingdoms of Nanzhao, Dali, Dachanghe, Datianxing and Dayining all once made Dali their capital. Another old town is Weishan ancient town.
Some or the historical sites are Chongshengsi Three Pagodas in Dali, the Dehua Tablet of the Nanzhao Kingdom, Shibaoshan Grottoes of the Nanzhao Kingdom and Bai Nationality.
Chong Shen Monastery. The Three Pagodas of Dali are one of China’s most iconic sites and are famous for their beauty, size and age. These pagodas are some of the best-preserved Buddhist monuments in China today. Sitting at the foot of the mountains, just 2 km outside the North Gate, the setting of these pagodas is spectacular.
The nicest part of this is the gardens – gorgeous flowers, ponds with rocks, hedges, trees and walkways. Of the three pagodas, the middle is the biggest with 13 balconies. The other two are older and have 8 balconies. Two small museums flank the central path, only the one on the right is a “museum” with several small Buddha images. A bell tower is the last large building of the complex. 70¥, free if over 60
Zhusheng Temple, Mount Jizu. This was a 105 km drive from Dali Old Town and high up in the mountains, so we didn’t go.
After Chong Shen Monastery, we drove on the 8-lane divided highway for almost the east side of the lake (it is also difficult to even approach the lake from this side). The highlight is the south and southwest end of the lake. The area between the lake and the road is full of ponds, flowers, lily pad pools, paths, and boardwalks constructed over the water. There are also several gardens and boardwalks on the land side of the road.
There were two large traffic jams on the west side, at the ancient town and peninsula tourist area. We eventually drove the scooters over 110 km to encircle the lake. Dali New City was confusing and we became separated. I had my phone so followed it into the ancient town. I had not marked my hotel (with Anna leading me around, she was my map as she had great position sense), and looked forever for the main street with the creek that can also be driven on. The town is very large and there are a few pedestrian streets with running water. I finally gave up and contacted Anna on Messenger, showing her the name of a business I was outside of. She came and rescued me. I am pretty sure I would never have found our hotel.
ON Dongting Bie Yuan Hotel, Dali Old Town 162¥.
Day 22 Tue July 11
Taxi to Dali New town at 05:30. Train Dali – Kunming @7:03-9:25. Kunming to Chengdu, Sichuan @10:55- 18:22. The train went through some rough mountains and a lot of tunnels transiting Sichuan Southern Autonomous Zone. We arrived in Chengdu and caught the metro three stops to our hotel.
ON Yujian Chuangy Hotel. CC Plaza. An apartment with a kitchen on the 22nd floor. 252¥
Day 23 Wed July 12
I was up at 5 to give an interview for Greg Nestoroff of Kootenay Culture Magazine on the KMC Karabiner.
Go to Sichuan Autonomous Prefecture
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Day 26 Sat July 15
We took the high-speed rail from Chengdu to Guiyang North rail station, 3 hours and a taxi to our hostel. In the evening, we walked a long way to a BK and actually had a real milkshake at a Dairy Queen.
ON Shu Hostel. Private for 184¥.
CHINA – GUIZHOU (Guiyang, Bijie, Zunyi, Qiannan)
Day 27 Sun July 16
At 04:45, I woke up fine but suddenly developed severe lower back pain that made even walking painful. I took a lot of Vitamin I, did stretches on the train and was able to manage.
We got a taxi back to Guiyang North Station and took a high-speed train to Tongren for 1.5 hours. A bus from there went to Fanjingshan for 1.5 hours.
FANJINGSHAN WHS. Mount Fanjing, located in Tongren, is the highest peak of the Wuling Mountains in southeastern China, at an elevation of 2,570 m (8,430 ft). Fanjingshan is a sacred mountain in Chinese Buddhism, ranking just below the Four Sacred Mountains of Buddhism and considered to be the bodhimaṇḍa – a spot in which one reached enlightenment – of the Maitreya Buddha.
Fanjungshan’s relative isolation has ensured a high degree of biodiversity. Endemic species such as the rare Guizhou golden monkey and the Fanjingshan fir occur only in a small region. It is also home to the largest and most contiguous subtropical primeval beech forest in China.
Buddhism. Buddhism reached Fanjingshan by the Tang dynasty by 639 AD when several temples were built. The Bozhou rebellion in the late 16th century caused great damage but the Golden Peak and the Cheng’en Temple were rebuilt ushering in the golden era of Buddhism in Fanjingshan.
After further destruction during the Cultural Revolution, many old temples have been rebuilt and new ones constructed, including the Cheng’en Temple, Huguo Chan Temple, Great Golden Buddha Temple, and Longquan Temple.
Reservations are necessary and tickets can be bought from 8:00 to 23:59 every day on the day and pre-sale tickets for the next three days at ctrip.com – 80¥ adults, 30¥ seniors, 120¥ foreigners. In the summer and on weekends, tickets are often sold out. This was especially true when we were there – of the normal quota of 10,500 visits per day, it had been reduced to 3000 following a small earthquake a week earlier. Take an electric cart to the lower station of the cableway and the starting point of the hiking trail. It is recommended to take the cableway as walking up takes about 4 hours and is not that exciting. See stunning rock formations, pass temples and shops and food stalls. The final temple is accessed by steep stairs.
This is a mountain-type scenic spot with high altitude, large temperature differences, and erratic weather. Visitors entering the park should prepare for possible rain and cold.
After the mountain, we walked 3.5 km to the Fanjingshan Buddhist Cultural Park with a Golden Hall that houses a 5-metre-tall (16 ft) statue of the Maitreya Buddha made with 250 kg (550 lb) of gold and thousands of gems, the largest gold Maitreya statue in the world. Pass two halls and climb long stairs up to the final hall with the gold Buddha.
There is a big fat bronze Happy Buddha with little kids climbing on top to the side of the main temple.
GUIYANG (pop 5,987,018, 4,506,134 metr0) is the capital of Guizhou province. It is located in the center of the province, situated on the east of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, and on the north bank of the Nanming River, a branch of the Wu River. The city has an elevation of about 1,100 meters (3,600 ft).
A city with a humid subtropical climate, Guiyang is surrounded by mountains and forests. The area, inhabited since at least the Spring and Autumn period, formally became the capital of the surrounding province in 1413, during the Yuan dynasty. The city is home to a large Miao and Bouyei ethnic minority population. Guiyang has a diversified economy, traditionally a center for aluminum production, phosphate mining, and optical instrument manufacturing.
ON Shu Hostel
Day 28 Mon July 17
All the NM sites in Guiyang were a long way away and it was a Monday when most museums are closed. All trains to Nanning and Wuhan were booked for at least 2 days (I guess this is the summer holidays in China), so I booked a flight to Wuhan.
Flight. Colourful Guizhou Airlines. Guiyang to Wuhan @15:50-19:25. GY7129 3’35”. 574¥. What a weird flight – we flew the first 40 minutes due west to Bijie deboarded for 55 minutes and could not leave the boarding gate.
It was 36 km from the airport to downtown Wuhan.
ON Enjoy International Youth Hostel.
TUSI SITES WHS In the mountainous areas of southwest China are several tribal domains whose chiefs were appointed by the central government as ‘Tusi’, hereditary rulers from the 13th to the early 20th century. Its purpose was to unify national administration while allowing ethnic minorities to retain their customs and way of life.
The three sites of Laosicheng, Tangya and the Hailongtun Fortress combine as a serial property to represent this system of governance. The archaeological sites and standing remains of Laosicheng Tusi Domain and Hailongtun Fortress represent domains of the highest ranking Tusi; the Memorial Archway and remains of the Administration Area, boundary walls, drainage ditches and tombs at Tangya Tusi Domain represent the domain of a lower ranked Tusi.
An empire can only grow so much until the people at the peripheries feel discontented and neglected by the central government. Maintaining control needs more than military prowess. Governing an area so large and with a multitude of ethnicities makes it even extra difficult. The emperors extended their influence over ethnic minorities by legitimizing tribal rule. They made the tribal leaders hereditary rulers and established the Tusi System. The system granted political autonomy, retained the ethnic identity, and at the same time allowed the central administration to exert its leadership.
Laosicheng. The best-preserved example of the highest-rank Tusi System of governance, Laosicheng was ruled by the Peng clan for centuries. The cultural interchange between imperial China and Tujia customs was evident from the paved streets and layouts of the administrative areas. Streets were decorated with pebble patterns (triangles, diamonds, lines) and were distinctive features of Tujia nationality. Remains of the administration halls and other surviving relics illustrated the patterns of imperial influences.
Laosicheng is an easy day trip from Zhangjiajie with multiple buses going to Yongshun, where local buses to the sites were available. The bus station is hidden among communist-era apartment blocks), take a minibus/one per hour, the last one at 5 p.m, 40 minutes. Stop at the visitors’ centre a few kilometres before the site itself at the bus stop called Museum. Pay the entrance fee, visit the museum and take an electric vehicle to the start. Board a small vessel to the Patriarch Hall, they open it when a boat arrives. Laosincheng is still a living village. Cross the river to the remains of village walls and watch out tower, and a newly reconstructed temple. The Hall of the Patriarch is at least 2 kilometres from the bridge. Made of wood and reconstructed many times in its history, was first built in the first half of the 10th century and is a typical building of the Tujia minority.
Administrative, residential and funeral quarters of the domain, pass through a modern village. Reconstructed temples – Ancestral Hall of the Peng family, Memory Archway, Ancient Tomb Complex, water management system, road system, and administrative buildings.
Tangya. Isolated, but can easily be combined with a trip to Shennongjia WHS or with the Three Gorges TWHS. Take a local bus from Enshi to Xianfeng. A cab for the roundtrip was a whooping 1200 RMB and two hours. An alternative visit plan is to combine this site with Zhangjiajie, a 2-hour fast train connection with Xianfeng. Local buses are available in Xianfeng to take directly close to the site.
Tangya was a representative of the Tusi domain of the lower rank. It was ruled by the Qin clan in the 14th century. Like Laosicheng, the interchange between the imperial and the tribal was quite evident in the relics – including the Memorial Archway, several tombs, boundary walls, and ruins of administrative area.
Hailongtun. Zunyi City was the main base using Zunyi Airport (ZYI). A cab from the airport to the site is 400 RMB, including over 2 hours wait for site-seeing and return to Zunyi Bus Station.
By bus, it’s a bit of a trick to get there, the bus from Zunyi does not leave from the main bus station, but a van that leaves from the parking lot of the gas station a block down the road whenever they’re full, and wind their way through half a dozen mountain villages for the next three hours until finally arriving at the site entrance.
Hailongtun Fortress is very different from the other two sites. A representative of a military Tusi domain, it was ruled by the Yang clan in the 13th century. The fortress is perched on top of a mountain, compared to the relatively low terrain of Laosicheng and Tangya. The visit consists of a very long climb on historic paths or high-step staircases carved in the ravine. The buildings inside are mostly razed to the ground but fortifications and barbicans encircle most of the site. The stone gateways have elaborate patterns distinctive of the ethnic minority culture. It is in an extremely scenic setting.
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I didn’t go CHINA – GUANGXI WEST (Nanning, Baise, Hechi, Qinzhou)
World Heritage Sites
ZUOJIANG HUASHAN ROCK ART CULTURAL LANDSCAPE. Located on the steep cliffs cut through the karst landscape by the meandering Zuojiang River and its tributary Mingjiang River, these 38 sites of rock art illustrate the life and rituals of the Luoyue people. They date from the period around the 5th century BCE to the 2nd century CE. In a surrounding landscape of karst, rivers and plateaux, they depict ceremonies portraying the bronze drum culture once prevalent across southern China and is the only remains of this culture today. Today bronze drums are still respected as symbols of power in southern China.
The paintings are located on the west bank of the Ming River in the Nonggang Nature Reserve. The main painted area along the cliff is 170 m wide, 40 m high and between 30 m and 90 m above the river. The main area contains about 1900 images in about 110 groups with a red color using red ochre, animal glue, and blood. They depict human figures (60 to 150 centimetres (4.9 ft) tall, with one figure 3 metres (9.8 ft) in height), animals along with bronze drums, knives, swords, bells, and ships.|
Recent carbon dating suggests that the oldest paintings were executed around 16,000 years ago, whereas the youngest are around 690 years old. An exhibition in the Zhuang Nationality Museum in the City of Chongzuo is dedicated to the history and interpretation of the paintings.
NANNING (pop 8,741,584, metro 5,293,359) is the capital and largest city of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Located in the South of Guangxi, 160 km (99 mi) from the border with Vietnam, Nanning is surrounded by a hilly basin, with a warm, monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate and has an abundance of lush subtropical foliage.
Economy. Mineral resources include gold, iron, manganese, aluminum, quartz, silver, indium, coal, marble, and granite with a third of China’s different types of mineral resources found in Nanning.
Rail. Nanning has three major railway stations: Nanning Railway Station, Nanning East Railway Station and Nanning North Railway Station with the Guiyang–Nanning high-speed railway. Nanning railway station is a railway junction for the Nanning–Kunming, Nanning–Guangzhou and Hunan–Guangxi Railways.
Food. The local cuisine has the style of Cantonese food and
Tourism. Nanning is close to scenic Guilin, with its world-famous hillscape, northern and western Guangxi and its minority villages, and the border with Vietnam in the south.
