From the airport, we were taken to Western Hill for a picturesque view of Kunming and temples up the hill. Along the way, our guide sang a beautiful song to us. He explains that there is a say
ing that says " If you can walk, you can
Picture1-Dolls wearing ethnics costumes of Yunnan
dance.If you can talk, you can sing." True enough all our guides can sing very well and even our bus driver in Lijiang who doesn’t talk much and look very fierce sang an ethnic song to us.
On the way down Western Hill, I asked a lady tour guide from other groups who were wearing an ethnic costume to take picture with me addressing her as xioa jie and she refused. Later I found out that they find it insult to call them xiao jie which for them has no difference with refering them to those in vice activities. I also found out that in Kunming, ladies were addressed as Ah Shi Ma, in Lijiang they are called Pang Jing Mei (means the dark and fat which for them is beautiful- no joke! ) and in Shangri-La is called Zhou Ma (which also sounds like sitting on the horse) and in Dali, Jing Hua (which means golden flower). If only we can recall so much so there are times that I called them by other names…instead of Jing Hua, I called Ching Hua (frog in chinese) without realising it.
Picture 2-Stone Forest
One of the wonder in Kunming is the Stone Forest. Like its name, it is a forest covered with karst stones more than seven feets high, very much like the stalagmites in the caves. The only difference is that these stones sprout out from the ground.
Picture 3- A lady in ethnic costume
On the third day, we flew from Kunming to Lijiang. It was a turbulent ride before reaching ground as the whole area is covered with mountains. It was very cold when we reached, around 19degC but at night, the weather dip to 5degC. My tour guide, a 22-year-old guy named Ah Niu greeted us with his Naxi ethnic costume and a long ponytail which he has kept for six years. The ponytail I feel is not part of their culture.
Picture4- Heilong pond
We immediately toured Heilong (Black Dragon) pond which offered a serene view of the pond with a small hill and Yulong Snow Mountain as it’s backdrop, very much like those we see as the garden of the emperor in the movie. As Yunnan is covered with mountains and no where near the sea, they regarded the lakes as sea like Erhai (Ear Sea), Bitahai (Bita Sea) and etc as the chinese considered water as good fortune.
Picture5- The ancient town of Lijiang
Then we went to the ancient town of Lijiang, made of two-storey of shops selling all kind of goods with roads made of natural stones radiating all around up the hill. Clear water from Yuquan River flows everywhere in the town and you can see the stream and brigdes connecting both side,making a very beautiful scenery.This town is declared as part of World Heritage. The shops open until late night. One particular road is lighted up bright red with lantterns where most pubs are. Two groups of party goers separated by the stream take turn singing their lungs out. My guide explained that this is the way guys get to know girls in the olden days with the groups separated to guys and girls and when they got to be together they will go hand-in-hand to another section to dance the ethnic music together.
Picture6-9(From left to right) : First bend of the Yangtze river, Tiger leaping gorges, The Songzhanlin Monastery Shangri-La, a young monk chatting with his friend
On the fourth day, we proceed our four-hour-long journeys along the moutainous terrains up to Shangri-La. We stopped by the first bend of the Yangtze river. All along the way, the view is so spectacular. One could really feel the kind of lifestyle of the ethnic people along the mountains, so peaceful and relaxing. You see mountains after mountains and the snowcap of Yulong Snow Mountain accompanied us all the way.
We were greeted by another guide, a ZhouMa who will bring us to Shangri-La before we stopped at Tiger Leaping Gorges where fast moving river flows to the Yangtze,an ideal sport for river-rafting. The force of the wave hitting the stones can be hear from 100 feets high above the gorge. All the way down to the river bend, people selling stuffs and young children wearing ethnic costumes greeted us asking to take picture for RMB2. The lucky ones has fire by their side to keep warm while others were seen rubbing their palms. Worst, to take picture at a better location overlooking the beautiful gorge, the locals demanded RMB1 for each person entering the so-call zone.
Proceeding all the way up to Shangri-La which is above 9,000 feet above sea level, trees barely grows high, the land look dry and the sky is clear blue. Yaks grazing grasses and black furry pigs are common view at the highland. Shangri-La, the gateway to Tibet has only been open to the public in 1992. Buddhism is the main religion there and houses are built like tibet style with some having a pole with flags. According to my guide, one pole means there’s an elderly staying in the house, two poles mean there is someone praticing Dalai in the house and three means there is a Dalai in the house.
Picture 10- the Yulong Snow Mountain
As we approached the Songzhanlin Monastery, I could really felt that I am in Tibet eventhough Shangri-La is very near to its border. We walked the stairs up the monastery and one has to be cautious not to run and jump in case we experience altitude sickness at 10,000 feet. Its different case with the monks there. I saw a senior monk chasing a few younger ones with a stick and the young monks were running and laughing loudly. We were adviced to step into the monastery with our left foot and with the right foot on the way out. Inside, monks were listening attentively to their lessons as we walked around with some offering prayers.
The weather at night was cold but we were lucky as we were told that usually the wind is so strong we could hear a howling sound as it hits the windows. We were entertained to some local dances and sharing a whole boar and lamb within a small group each. We visited the Bitahai Lake, a large lake at 600 feets higher than Shangri-La in the morning before heading down to Lijiang.
Our last destination before heading further down the mountain is Yulong Snow Mountain which is above 5000m above sea level. We rode the cable car from 3356m to 4506m and along the way, the wind was blowing snow into the cable car. From there, we only managed to walk in thick snow up the stairway to 4546m because of the one hour timeframe given by our guide. As we waited for our cable car, one chinese lady had to rush her few months old baby down the mountain as her baby is dozing off due to lack of oxygen, quite an ignorant part of her.
Picture 11- The three pagodas of 
Dali
As we bid Shangri-La and Lijiang goodbye, we proceed our journey to Dali where we visited the three pagodas and TianLong Babu(the Hollywood of the east) where a few movies were filmed there. As we drove along the terrains mountains after mountains leaving Lijiang and Shangri-La far behind, the song that our Lijiang guide sang still ran deep in our hearts. I have no doubt why Shangri-La and Lijiang are called the paradise. As the song goes ( a direct translation from the chinese song) ,
grasses and flowers beside the lake,
sweet scented breeze from the wind,
the place in my mind is far away,far away
that unforgettable night, we dance around the fire,
eyes in contact, full of mistery
and friendship is found.
We had a short jungle trekking the next morning before packing to go off. The trip, though short is really memorable and I felt so refreshed as if all the negative energies from work and stuffs were all gone. We definitely will have another get-together in the future and I believe that the group will get bigger.
