Final month in China - Yunnan Province

Once I finished my work at EF in Nanning I packed up my bags and got on a train.  2 days later I was in Lijiang, in Yunan province in Western China.  My destination was actually Shuhe, just outside Lijiang.  Both of these places are very touristy, with cobbled streets and horse-drawn karts.

Lijiang

Liiang is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and, if you can look beyond the hordes of tourists (Chinese), it is quite pretty.  I spent the day there, but most of my time in Shuhe which is similar but smaller.

Shuhe

souvenirs

When I arrived at my hostel I was met by one of the owners, who was Dutch.  I always meet Dutch people when I travel!!  He and his Chinese partner run the guest house I stayed in.  She is a great cook and residents and non-residents alike enjoy the meals here, and especially the cakes.

ladies in traditional Naxi dress dancing in Lijiang

I also met an Israeli man who lives in Amsterdam, more Dutch travellers, a British-Iranian girl and a Malaysian man.  I love this part of travelling!

playing zheng instrument in Shuhe

My next stop was Shangrila.  James Hilton wrote a book called Lost Horizons and this is allegedly set in Shangrila.  Certainly this is what the Chinese government is promoting and there is a heavy tourism push along those lines.  In fact, when I was there they were still working on building the ‘old’ town. 

Shangrila

Local ladies

That aside, Shangrila was very relaxing and reminded me a little of a ski resort in summer.  There were plenty of yaks there a (and I drank yak milk and ate a yak burger).

yak

There’s a monastery there, which is similar to the big one in Lhasa, Tibet.  I had wanted to visit Lhasa but about a month ago the Chinese changed the rules to get the permit to enter Tibet and so I was no longer able to do so.

Songanlin Monastery

The area around Shangrila is inhabited by a variety of ethnic groups, of which the Tibetans form a large part.  The décor and items sold were heavily influenced by Tibet.

After a few days there, and a visit to the monastery in the rain, I returned to Shuhe and from there onto Chengdu.  

Chinese tour group climbing up to the monastery in the rain