We're in Lijiang

Jumped on a bus this morning to head to the famous Lijiang. 8 hours later we arrived. This place is stunningly beautiful. It is a city with a new half and an old half. We're staying in the old half in an old wooden 2 story building. After checking in (nice room), we headed out for explorations.

Lijiang is North east of Kunming and fairly close to Tibet. It is home to the Naxi ethnic minority mostly (well other than the han Chinese) and they are seen in the streets everywhere. It soon became evident that this is also a huge travel destination for Chinese people (hardly any foreigners), as the alleys of the old town are teeming with hordes and hordes of travellers seeking souvenirs, local foods and other sources of merriment. Despite this the place is stunning. Old style chinese buildings (sorry I dont know the history of the place yet) cascade around the hills, and are lit beautifully as it gets dark in such a way the roof shapes and wood detailing of the buildings are really accentuated. It is a labyrinth of these alleys and canals and buildings. Much bigger than I expected. The roads are stone, and there are canals everywhere with arching stone mini bridges crossing them. It is all geared at tourism. Shops, restaurants, cafes. One part of old town even has modern stores installed within the old buildings - including of all things a KFC! I'm not sure I always agree with the Chinese approach to tourism an especially the portrayal the minorities. Girls in traditional ethnic dress beckoning you into a beautiful old building converted into a hideously loud, and bright (laser lights included) nightclub with traditional local music set to a thumping techno beat. Yeh, not really my taste. But I'll be ignoring that side of things while we're here. Once again though, the beauty of the place still overcomes the tackyness of some of the merchandise.

Pictures and movies will do the job better so stay tuned. I'll put some up tomorrow our time. We'll be here for 3 days I think and there's lots to do.