Blog 3 - The missing bit of Dong culture...

April 3
Still in Chengdong. After a rest and lunch we walked to village centre, crossing the Chengyang Rain and Wind Bridge, built in 1912 and 78m long. Took 12 years to build and without the use of nails or bolts. It is considered by the Dong people to be the best of their 108 Wind and Rain bridges in Sanjiang County. The bridges are built as shelter for the poor. They have seating and ornate tiles roofs with wide eaves.
Then into the village square to see a song and dance performance by local young men and women in front of the Drum Tower - a tower from which a drum was hit to summon the men to meet and discuss issues in the meeting room inside it. It is now just a general meeting place. Bamboo reed instruments (lushen) were played by the men which accompanied the women singing melodic love songs. Women wore colourful traditional costumes - mid blue embroidered tops, indigo skirts with colourful leggings. The indigo dye is special to the Dong people. They grow the plant and the dye is extracted to dye the cotton fabric made from cotton grown, spun and woven by them. This fabric is then embroidered and made into clothing as well as items to sell to tourists.
Michael invited us to join him and his extended family to pay respects to their ancestors next day, April 4th Ancestors Festival. This turned out a lot more involved than we had anticipated. We were escorted by Michael's mother up a steep slippery hill to the ancestors' grave sites - the family has lived in the village for more than 560 years. We arrived at the site
to find about 16 people including some wives and children busily clearing growth around the graves. The 8 or so men were busy erecting new, ornate headstones on the grandparents' graves. These were five piece prefabricated which made a three-dimensional tombstone with a carved headpiece and a back plate inscribed with Chinese characters. While this was happening more family members arrived including infants and toddlers.
Everyone took part in the cleaning and tidying of the site including one enthusiastic teenage boy who lit a fire in the long dry grass to save him effort.(We think he is the Chinese Daggon.) When all was ready the graves had small sapling, stripped of leaves and placed on top of the grave. Onto these saplings and around the gravestones special paper money and yellow
perforated paper was attached. Some notes were small and some were for 1 million yuan. This was for ancestors to pay their way in Heaven. Then many incense sticks were placed in front of headstones and lit. Each person put some of each on to each grave. Lastly they let off firecrackers to frighten away the demons. This ceremony was a joyful occasion and they
asked the ancestors to send them good luck.
John then went with Michael and some of the relatives to a communal cemetery and paid respects to ancestors there. We then joined the relatives for a special lunch which included the traditional pickled black eggs and yellow rice of the Festival. There were many dishes such as duck and chicken including their cooked heads and feet being served up.
A late departure took us further in Dong country over the Liping Passes through beautiful mountains arriving late at Zhaoxing, a village of 800 households, with five drum towers and villagers who continue to wear the indigo clothing daily. Many of the people only speak Dong language. After leaving our hotel the next mornig and while walking to breakfast along the edge of a small river that dissects the town, we saw a man and a woman butchering a large doge dog in the river, washing it very carefully.
After breakfast we spent as hour strolling through village and through the open air food market where a recently butchered pig was being delivered in baskets on the back of a motorbike (rigor mortis had not even set in!) On the stand in front just about every part of the animal was for sale. A massive selection of vegetables, especially greens, both gathered from the forests
and cultivated, was for sale. This was a fascinating town in which you could spend more time strolling around.
Then on a long and winding drive, sometimes rough to Gaezheng. The highlight here was a song and music performance by the young men and women in traditional dress specific to this area - the embroidered indigo cloth plus lots of silver necklaces and bracelets and high piled hair decorated with flowers and silverware. Again lovely singing with an unusual musical tongue click and accompany by the bamboo stringed instruments. We then went to an upper room for a private performance in which we both participated in a circle dance ending with John being thrown up in the air by the men. Lunch followed.
After lunch we drove on to Miao minority village of Baisha. This appeared a village untouched by time with basic wooden housing and many granaries for rice. We were to watch a performance but our visit was cut short by the death of one of the local men just after we arrived. The people went out on a path away from the village to have rice wine and eat lunch as tradition does not allow them to eat in the houses immediately after a death.
Back through Conjiang to the newly constructed highest drum tower in China, in excess of 40m, built for tourism. The amazing part of the structure was the four central uprights which were single tree trunks running the total height of the construction with a base diameter of more than a metre. This was built to surpass the previous highest one in Ronjiang. Overnight in Ronjiang, after visiting their now second highest drum tower and the thousand year
old banyan trees.
There are about 2.5 million Dong people. The housing of the Dong, Miao, Zuang and Yao minority peole is all timber and they are constructed of pine logs with mortise and tenon joints. The outer and inner walls and floor are single skin pine boards with an overlapping lip and they have tile roofs with curved up ends. Next day from Ronjiang a long drive that included a massive climb over and down a mountain range which any Targa driver would love, the road never straight, spectacular views and magnolias in bloom along the roadside.
Into Nanhua for a special performance for us by a hundred plus villagers. We were welcomed with rice wine at the bottom of the steps by beautifully dressed young women who the led us up the square through a guard of honour starting with men, then the older women and being greeted again at the top by the young women with rice wine. The older villagers some in their 80's+ sat down. The oval meeting ground had a large totem pole in the centre with deity carvings of, this is used for their religious ceremonies. The dancing is performed around this pole.
Two old men beat a welcome on the metal drum. Then the performance began. The costumes were spectacular and split, richly embroidered overskirts swirled with the dancing. The silver adornments here were the most spectacular we have seen - necklaces, bracelets, backplates and very ornate headpieces. The lead dancers had buffalo horn shaped pieces on top
of their headdresses. The men played the lushan and there was a large bamboo drum.
After the introductory dance we were again given rice wine. The performance concluded with a ring dance in which Cynthia was taken to join by the women. Lunch in village.
Then a drive on to Guiyang to overnight. Plans from here were totally disrupted. Six hour flight delay to Chengdu. Stranded in Chengdu for the night as no tickets available to fly on to Jiuzhaigou. China Airlines were most helpful. Refunded 100yuan on air ticket because of the delay. They booked us on to their flight for next day at no cost even though we were originally to travel with another airline. They supplied breakfast and lunch at Guiyang Airport and when we arrived at Chengdu organised hotel and transport at their cost. (Can you imagine an Australian airline doing this!)

Blog 9 -And then some more

April 22.We left early from Shanxi to try and get out before the roadworks begin again for the day. Were lucky and only had a 5 -10 minutes delay. On to Shibao Mountain to walk down to the temple suspended on the side of the mountain slope and see the Shizhong Mountain Grotto Cluster - a series of 800 y.o. carvings of Buddha, Bodhisattva, the Heaven God and other deities and Kings of the Bai culture. The carvings of the 8 grottoes had great detail and retained some of their original bright paint colours. Many were damaged during the Cultural Revolution with the heads being smashed off. The rock on this part of the mountain is deep red sandstone, weathered by rain to give the boulders and exposed rock faces a deeply grooved texture like a turtle's shell.

Our walk then continued down to the bottom of the gully and up the other side to see one of the three grottoes of Shizi Pass. This was a very demanding set of steps to a viewing platform that gave a panoramic view back across the gully to the temple grottoes. John and Jonathon then walked down to the two other carved grottoes on textures outcrops but they were closed off. We then  stopped at the entrance to the park where we saw Yunnan Golden monkeys. John and Jonathon walked up a steep path to a group of temple pavillions with a massive sandstone wall with a large Buddha and other deity figures. We then drove on to Jianchuan County for the night.

April 23  Today we visitied Qianshishan - Manxianlin - a lovely wooded forest scattered with spectacular displays of carved stone lions - over 2900 of them. Of course the only way to see them was up, up and UP! These amazing sculptures are in all sorts of leonine poses from upright to reclining, playful and serious. Some are 3D statues and some are 3D carved rock faces. The only way to see them was to climb the many stone stairs that wind their way up and up the mountain sides, these were interspersed with a few paved gentler slopes.

About two thirds of the way up is a set of pavillions with temples and many Buddha figures. At this spot there was a 1000 y.o., 70m tall cypress tree which still survives in its healthy state despite the fact that during the Cultural Revolution some illegal loggers tried to cut it down. When they were more than halfway through its massive trunk, they fled in fear as each cut brought forth from the tree sparks of fire and load noises - the loggers feared the spirits of the tree and fled in terror. There is a long climb from here to the huge Lion King - the last section on very rough, original stone steps. This huge lion, in fierce pose, is carved out of the rock and stands about 20m high. This day was a long and hard trek for Cynthia - took some 3 hours up with photo stops and Cynthia's rest breaks and just one hour down.

From here we drove to Dali through kilometre after kilometre of garlic fields being harvested and bagged by hand. All the villagers help each other in the harvesting of each other's fields. The sacks are sold to 'middle-men' who take it away by truck to the factories and big markets. We arrived to find Dali a hive of activity with thousands of local people and those from surrounding villages participating in the Spring Festival Market.

April 24. We walked through the market which had thousands of Chinese and as many from local minority groups buying and selling a huge variety of goods at the hundreds of stands. There were many, many stands selling a huge variety of foods including strange dried plant varieties and an extensive range of fish from Erhai Hu (Lake) including live eels and water bugs that looked like locusts, seaweed type plants, huge mussels and different kinds of water snails.

Dali is famous for its marble and we visited a huge showroom with a wide range of pieces from small to extremely large - some vases in excess of 2m high. There were carved pieces of every imaginable Chinese design and framed naturalistic looking scenes of mountains and trees. 

We then viewed the famous Qianxun pagodas of Dali. The main one was 70m high and its sister ones 42m. They date back to the mid 9th century. 

After lunch John and Jonathon went for a 3 hour ferry ride on the lake. Erhai Lake's name means 'ear shape' and it is 42km from north to south. They first went to Jinsuo Island which had a small village with a market which sold catches of the lake including a variety of live fish and a small lobster about 100mm long.
They also visited a cave with stalactites highlighted with coloured lights. Then they went to Tianging and Guanyin Pavillions set high up in picturesque gardens, on a rocky outcrop with stunning views over the lake. While on the cruise John met William who worked for the BBC. We all went out together to Jack Jack's in the old city and had a nice meal.

April 25 and we left Dali and headed back to Lijiang. Stopped at the Ancient Town of Xizhou and had their traditional sweet cake for breakfast. We then visited a traditional three house - one wall Bai house. This had been the home of merchant Yan whose descendants now live in Canada and have given the house complex to the Xiazhou Historical Cultural Precinct. It was built in 1939. There was a central courtyard with the wall on the eastern side, the family house on the southern side and the guest wings on the north and south sides. The buildings were symmetrical, two storeyed with living quarters on the ground floor and storage rooms on the second floor. We watched a traditional Bai dancing performance at which we were given tea at three breaks - each was different, the first somewhat bitter, the second flavoured with honey and the third flavoured with cinnamon.

After a tour of the house we had a tea tasting, with much ceremony, in an upper storeroom. We had Snow tea, Flower tea, Moon tea and Black tea. The tea making was a special procedure where the tea leaves were first covered with boiling water in a lidded bowl to open them. This was quickly poured off before a second lot of boiling water was poured on and allowed to infuse.
It was the strained and poured into tiny cups for tasting. Each had a distinctive taste, from sweet and light through to a strong but delicate black tea. Bought some of each to try at home. Then back to Lijiang for the night to pack and get ready for the 'tourist' run in Xi'an and Beijing.

April 26 was a travel day. Flight from Lijiang via Kunming to Xi'an where we were picked up and taken to Bell Tower Hotel in the old walled city.

Blog 8 -More days

April 20 left Felaisa for the long drive to Weixi. There was traffic delay as we worked our way through the chaos of numerous trucks still waiting for petrol. We dove down the valley from Deqin a few kilometres then began another steep and twisting climb. We joined the Lan Chang River (Mekong River) which we followed for more than 170km. The water was brown and ran swiftly through narrow gorges. Looking across the river we had stunning views of Miacuma Peak (6045m). The sheer beauty of this peak earns its affectionate name of Mother Peak.

We stopped further on to look across the valley to a section of the last day of the Yubong trek we had decided not to do. A track perched on the side of a steep slope that fell down to the river - the track actually the side wall of a water ditch taking water to a village below. (Cynthia's comment about the track was that she wouldn't have needed a horse to complete but would have needed wings.) The route then passed through villages that seemed to be etched into every little valley or piece of hillside that had the slightest piece of arable land.They made a brilliant contrast to the stark mountain slopes with their patchwork of emerald green and the brown of the ploughed fields ready for planting.

As we progressed along the river the colours of the landscape changed to many shades of red, both in the rocks and soil. Further along we saw many people in a small riverside village at the
Yangchao Bridge. This day was a festival and the people were on a prayer-walk which went from Yungling Township down the river to a large chorten, crossing the river at the Yangchao Bridge.
We later crossed the river to go to a village of Cizhong, with a small, simple Gothic style Catholic Church. The French Missionaries came here in the 19th century and still have a presence. They introduced the growing of red wine grapes and the village has many small vineyards and makes a fruity red wine. Had lunch in a very dirty place - owned by the elderly teacher!. After returning across the river we found the road was closed for 45min to clear rubble from a landslide. While waiting in the hot sun we watched a card game in which a considerable amount of money was being won and lost very quickly. Just before the road reopened, some women loaded their donkeys with heavy bags and set off on a track up the hill to their village.

As the afternoon drew on the journey became tiring and the scenery repetitious with little of special interest. Jonathon began to look for a village in which we could stay the night. We stayed in the second one he made inquiries in. There were two accommodation blocks, the newer one being the one the officials stayed in. Our room in this had a bathroom with a pleasant view of the Mekong River from the window. Dinner was followed by a walk down the street before bed. Cynthia entertained the small children (and their parents) by hopping down the street with them. We seemed to be a novelty as we did some shopping, possibly few Western tourists have ever stayed here.

April 21 and after leaving the village we headed towards Weixi but turned off to go to the First Bend in the Yangtse River. We had lunch on the way at another disgustingly dirty restaurant where the meat ( half a pig) was stored on the floor with some leaves over it. The drive was long and uninspiring. On the way we encountered a broken down van in the middle of the road, preventing passage either way. Everyone seemed content to wait till they got it going, but John organised the two occupants and Jonathon to help him push it out of the way. The people in the other cars just watched. The First Bend was disappointing- just a broad almost V shape and of no particular scenic interest. The only factor was its vast size and the way it turned back on itself in the other direction. Then on towards Dali. Not very happy because we couldn't get a proper idea from Jonathon exactly what the plans were for the next few days. Passed a large town on the way where marble was being cut into headstones, fences and some ornaments. The very basic workshops lined the road for several km.

We then turned off the main road to visit the Ancient Town of Shaxi - an old town on the tea horse trail dating back some 600 years. We had an hour or more delay again on this route as the road was closed for works. Arrived in town and had some trouble in locating accommodation. Found a room in the centre of the old town at 320 yuan - more than three times what we had been paying.We paid the extra 200 over budget to have the room - the only one with a private bathroom. It was a pleasant room but small. After dinner had a walk around town with a guide but as it was dusk it was no good for photos. Went through the East gate dating back 6oo years. Then to a pretty 400 y.o. arched stone bridge and then back through the reconstructed South Gate. Shaxi town square is on the World Monument list of 2001. Its restoration and preservation is funded by the World Monument Fund. A Swiss archeologist was instrumental in its listing and in planning its protection and restoration.

There was traditional Bai dancing on the platform stage of the Theatre that evening. It is one of the few remaining theatres of its kind in rural China. We got up early next morning to see the village properly - Sideng street and the square in the village is the only surviving fair market of
the ancient tea horse merchants' trail and it has a complete open stage and theatre, temple and village gate. The old shops still have platforms outside on which the tea sacks were placed for loading on to the horses. There is one fairly original Bai folk courtyard house which belongs still to the merchant Ouyang's family. The house is the three house, one courtyard and one enclosing wall system. The temple was closed for restoration but a gentleman took us in through a back entry. The courtyards contained beautiful old trees. The artworks and temple furniture was in storage whilst the buildings were strengthened and restored - little structural work needs doing but there have been many years of neglect in maintenance.

Blog 7 - But wait there's more

April 15 - the beginning of the big walk!

After some more time at Black Dragon Pool, we went on to Shuhe Ancient Town as Cynthia hadn't been here. Crossed the 400 year old bridge and walked through the streets and square. It is overdeveloped for tourists with shops and stalls. Briefly visited the Tea Horse museum as the Tiger Leaping Gorge Trail is part of the old tea horse trail from China to Tibet and on to Asia Minor and Europe.

Drove to Qiaotao to start the walk. Set off at 3:30pm for the walk to Naxi Guesthouse estimated at 2 hours away. Made it in 2hours 15 minutes. Some of the climb was tough and it was very hot, about 26 degrees - a dry heat. Our room had the biggest bathroom imaginable - up till late last year these 3 ensuite rooms had been the barns in which they kept the livestock. Met a guy from Sandy Bay. Also a friendly couple from the Dandenongs in Victoria.

April 16 we set off at 7:30am after a pancake breakfast to face the challenging climb of the 28 bends to a height of 2640m. We walked up for 45 minutes on a faily steep track to the beginning of the 28 bends climb. Cynthia had opted for a horse to ride up ths section. (Thank God!) John kept on ahead and summitted about 15 minutes in front of the horse party. Some sections were very difficult for horse and rider, with steep drops over the edge. The rest of the walk to the Tea Horse Guesthouse was much more pleasant, mostly downhill. The walk offered spectacular views of the 13 peaks of the Jade Snow Mountains, the highest at 5660m. The narrow rocky track was daunting at times with vertical drops to the Yangtse River over 200 metres below. Arrived at the guest house at 10:40am - a good time for the section. Spent the rest of the day lazing on the balcony in awe of the peaks which seemed only an arm's length away. The brilliant sunshine accentuated their ruggedness and sharpness against a clear blue sky dappled with powderpuff clouds.

April 17  started at 7:10am to beat the heat and complete the Tiger Leaping Gorge walk as far as Tina's Guesthouse. Jonathon said it would be an easy downhill walk. There were still plenty of ups and downs including one big up of 200 metres over a kilometre or so. Passed a beautiful waterfall that fell from high up, down over the track and continued down to the Yangtse hundreds of metres below. At times the walk was a steep descent over the rough, rocky, twisting track. Arrived at Tina's at 11:05. After a short break, John and Jonathon descended an almost sheer track to the Tiger Leaping Stone. On the way back up they selected the route up the 'scare' ladder - a vertical ascent up a home-built ladder in two stages, made out of 'reo' and attached to the rock face. John's concern was not so much the vertical ascent but the 'Chinese engineering'. Meanwhile Cynthia had hired a room for a rest after yet another tiring walk.

After lunch we drove on to Shangrila (Zhongdian) - a route that was a mix of climbing, twisting passes interspersed with flat plains dotted with Tibetan villages and many yaks. On arrival in Shangrila we walked through the cobbled streets of the old city to our Tibetan hotel. It was
traditional in style and the bed was more of a platform with Tibetan carpet and cushions. On this was placed a sleeping pad and quilts for the night. The wooden furniture was ornately carved. After a pleasant meal at Rose's Restaurant we went to the square and joined in the traditional Tibetan circle dancing with the locals and other tourists.

Breakfast in the hotel, the dining area was heated by a charcoal burner in the middle of the table. The decor included weapons from guns to bow and arrows to daggers - all traditional Tibetan. the entrances were hung with heavy drapes to prevent draughts. Then off to Shika Snow Mountain in Blue Moon Valley. This mountain is 4700m high. We boarded the two stage cable car under blue skies but with threatening clouds beginning to encompass the summit. At the end of the first stage there was a plateau between the peaks into which nestled a Tibetan village, with yaks scattered over the grasses. As we went up the second cable stage to 4500+m, snow flakes began to fall. As the cable car went up we were surrounded by spectacular views of snow covered valleys and peaks. Some of the trees were draped with long strands of lichen. As we ascended the snow became heavier and the wind increased with the cable car swinging in the gusts. By the time we reached the station it was snowing heavily with strong winds. John and Jonathon set off to do a circuit walk to Mirror Lake but as they climbed to the viewing platform it became a blizzard with horizontal snow lashing like bullets into their faces. Their attempt to the summit was thwarted by the track being closed. After spending half an hour enduring the blizzard they returned to the station because of the dangerous conditions. Cynthia had a look outside and lasted 2 minutes. 

The first part of the cable car ride down was hazardous, being lashed by gale force winds. Once in the lee of the ridge the trip became a pleasant ride in a winter wonderland over the top of tall pine trees and tree rhododendrons. It was almost an anticlimax coming into the mid-stage station. Continued down the other stage to be picked up by the driver and off to lunch in a restaurant frequented by track drivers. Tibetan bread and pancake and yak meat among our chosen dishes.

Then on to Ganden Sumtselling Monastery - a 300 year old Tibetan monastery with 600 monks. The most important in south west China. Renovation is ongoing since 1986. It was badly damaged by the Red Guards in 1960. As with all monasteries there were many, many steps leading to the main buildings. There were many large rooms, one of which contained over 100 prayer wheels. As you passed through you could hear monks chanting in prayer in side rooms.
In a large temple there were many Buddhas. The main temple had a huge 19m high Buddha, it was heavily gilded. The temples were decorated with paintings of grotesque creatures. The vultures (heaven's birds) soared around the top of the buildings. The Buddhists and Tibetans allow the vultures to clean the deceased body of flesh and thus allow the soul to fly to Heaven. The bones are then cremated.

April 19 and after breakfast we left for the drive to Feilaisa. Had news that a bus had crashed down a 300m ravine the day before with 20 injured people flung out and scattered down the slopes. We climbed up out of Shangrila and stopped to look back over the Napu Lake, partly filled at the moment but it covers the plains after the summer rains. The road wound up through scenic pine forest dotted with patches of deciduous tree just showing colour. Passed a 'blue' truck on its side where it had overturned and crashed into a rock face spilling part of its
load. Continued to climb and saw picturesque villages below and on the high slopes above.

Stopped at a lookout at the top of te first of many passes. This was manned by an old mute man dressed in army uniform who collected one yuan for the use of the public toilet. He seemed to have a sense of humour and enjoyed a joke with the driver and Jonathon. The terrain was rugged and arid, with steep barren slopes many purely rock. We descended into a valley through which the Yangtse River rushed. We crossed the river. This is the province border of Sichuan and Yunnan.

After crossing the bridge we were stopped at an army checkpoint as we were going into an area where pro-Tibetan terrorists had supposedly been operating. John's passport was checked here. Continued on to Benzalin for a lunch stop. Our next stop was to see the "Omega" of the Yangtse, one of its important bends. We then began a long and amazing climb up the pass on Baimang Snow Mountain. This took in excess of one hour of twists and turns, sometimes on rough gravel roads which eventually became a cobbled surface. We stopped at a viewing place at over 4200m. John and Jonathon headed out to climb a snow covered peak adjacent to the road. The view from the top at 4700m was a 360 degree panorama of snow covered peaks up to 5600m. The pair of them returned after an hour and a half in high spirits, but with wet and cold feet from trudging through snow. We stopped a few kilometres later at the highest point of the pass at 4317m.

From here the road continued in a similar vein as it descended into Deqin. We stopped at Tibetan chortens (stupas) on the top of one ascent where we observed the truck drivers buying branches of juniper to burn on the prayer=fire for peace and a safe journey. They also bought prayer flags to add to the many hundreds fluttering in the breeze. They burned insence as
well. During the final descent into Deqin we saw an injured victim from yesterday's bus crash being attended on the roadside by local women. We suspect he may have been overlooked and had made his own way up the steep bank to the road.

Deqin is nestled right into the head of a valley. It is a service centre with very few old, traditional style buildings and lacked character. Continued round the side of the mountain to Feilaisa. The road was partly blocked by a long line of trucks queueing for petrol. Booked into our hotel room with a view over cloud covered Meili Snow Mountains with glimpses of Kawa Karpo (6740m) and the more beautiful Miacimu (6045m) to the south. This peak is affectionately known as Mother Peak.

Kawa Karpo has never been climbed. In 1996 seventeen Japanese climbers perished during an attempt to reach the summit. There is a memorial to them in the village. The Tibetan people have closed access and will not allow climbers on it now. This is one of their holy mountains. Dawn brought magnificent views of the range from our hotel bedroom window. As the sun rose the mountain was blessed by an early morning glow. Whisps of cloud in front of and behind the peaks caught the rays of the rising sun.

After breakfast walked down to the chortens where many villagers had been for prayers and insence burning. A monk was praying with his beads with the beautiful snow covered peaks towering behind him.