Lijiang (Yunnan)
Once more, we decide to take a shared Didi to our next destination: Lijiang. Another pleasent drive, this time with comfortable leather seats, almost like armchairs. We enjoy winding roads most of the journey, until we finally reach the crowded city Lijiang. What a contrast!
We are dropped off, just across the road of Zhongyi Market. The friendly owner of the hostel is already waiting for us with a luggage carrier to guide us through the narrow streets of the colourful market. There are souvenirs, but mainly fruit, vegetables, mushrooms, tea, and close to our hostel, we finally reach the fresh meat market with its almost unbearable smell.
It is still early when we arrive, so we drop off our luggage and head off to find a good lunch spot. Soon, we find ourselves on the second floor of a cute restaurant, right at a corner, where two lively streets come together. We enjoy a tasty meal while watching the crowds below. Here we are – back to chaotic city life again!
Zhongyi Market
Our location next to the lively Zhongyi market turns out to be perfect to exploring the narrow streets without having to walk too far. We enjoy a fresh pomegranate juice at one of the fruit stalls. Unfortunately, it doesn’t agree with me very well, as I soon need to find a toilet!
In the afternoon, I have a Zoom job interview with a hotel in Norway. Meanwhile Dave is strolling around and ends up having a tea ceremony with a lovely young Chinese woman named Roxane. We meet up later for a banana milkshake and head home early, as we are going on a long day trip the next day, to explore the famous Yulong Snow Mountains.
Yulong Snow Mountains
The next morning, we get up early to be picked up by our driver and guide for the day. He wants us to call him: “Little Bear“. We pick up two other couples: a Russian couple who now living in Vietnam and a Polish couple who have been living in Dubai for over ten years. They are not the most sociable people, but it is still nice to share some time together.
We start the day with heavy rainfall and no views at all. Not very promising! When we arrive at the entrance to the Yulong Snow Mountain Area, we all have to get out and listen to a Chinese informative talk about the risks of altitude sickness. We are all given oxygen bottles. It feels a bit over the top. But, well, we except the bottles and head back to the van.
Blue Moon Valley
Our first stop is at the cable car station of Spruce Meadow, where we take a shuttle bus down to Blue Moon Valley. We pass some stunning waterfalls and terraces. It is crowded, and, as always, Chinese visitors are keen on making photographs everywhere.
The weather is clearing up and the rain has stopped now. After taking the shuttle bus twice, we feel like walking for a bit. We cross to the other side of the river to get away from the crowds. Suddenly, we meet up with the Russian couple again! They decided to walk all the way down instead of taking the shuttle bus.
We enjoy our little walk and the Blue Moon Valley even though we miss the sunlight for our photos. I feel a bit sorry for the multiple newlywed couples who are having the most-important-phtographs-of-their-lives taken in the rain.
Performance Impressions of Lijiang
After the Blue Moon Valley, we take a bus to the tourist centre, where we meet up again with “Little Bear” and the rest of our group. Suddenly the sun comes out and it starts to become very hot! We pick a good seat for the Performance: Impressions of Lijiang.
Soon, the show begins. What a stage! The mountains in the background are fighting their way through to clouds. The setting is incredibly impressive. More than a hundred actors and actresses give us a wonderful performance telling the history and culture of Lijiang. The costumes are beautiful, and each act surprises us. There are horses involved too, making some scenes feel incredibly realistic.
Spruce Meadow
After the show, we take another bus to the cable car. We take the cable car up to Spruce Meadow reaching an altitude of 3.188 m. We are now surrounded by mountains rising well over 4.000 metres. People are using their oxygen bottles, and it feels a bit surreal to me.
I cannot imagine this happening back home in Austria! The thought of people visiting the Hintertux Glacier with oxygen bottles seems hilarious to me. Dave and I leave our bottles unused in my backpack. I only take them out to make a funny picture with mine!
The view is not quite what you would wish for, as it is cloudy again. We sit and rest while waiting for a bit of sunshine. After twenty minutes, our patience is rewarded and we can spot the highest peak for a brief moment. It is truly impressive!
I buy some souvenirs before we head back to the cable car.
Lunch is included, so on our way back to Lijiang, we a stop at a beef hotpot restaurant. We enjoy our meal, which is nothing really special, before continuing our journey back.
Tired but satisfied, we arrive at our accommodation around 5 p.m. It has been another wonderful day!
