Footsteps - Jotaro's Travels: China - Dynamic Yunnan Day 7 & 8

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Footsteps - Jotaro's Travels
China - Dynamic Yunnan 24th to 31st August 2011

Day 7 : 30th August 2011

Having arrived from Shangri-la late the previous night, we were looking forward to an interesting day today. And it will be.
In the morning it was a visit to a tribal religious temple gardens.
Next was to see an outdoor show presentation with a stage 300 feet long and 100 feet tall.
In the afternoon, we will go up to a scenic plateau with a good view of more snowy mountains and after that to beautiful water village.
Sounds like a lot. Yeah! But it was an enjoyable lot!

The Dongba Gods Garden
This place is sort of a mini park showcasing the Naxi tribal practices.

At the entrance was a stone monolith totem with carving of their gods.
Again, don't be misled by the colorful penants, they are not for a festive mood but to ward off evil spirits. Sort of like saying "No Entry for Evil Spirits!"

We were ushered to an open auditorium, with interesting wall murals on the facing buildings.

A lone singer came out, singing some song in Naxi. I could not really understand him but I must salute him for bravery, singing all alone in the large auditorium.

Next we were directed to a temple section where a shaman was waiting for us.
I consulted him and he wrote some inscription in old Naxi characters on a paper to protect me. Till now I am still keeping that piece of bamboo paper in my wallet!

At another area, we could see dwellings of the Naxi and a colorful Naxi couple.

Finally, it was time to leave. I joined this lady for some prayers for a continued safe trip. Her face looks a bit worried though, I hope everything will be fine..... for me.

The Impression Lijiang Show

That was a quick 1-hour visit as we had to rush over to see the majestic Impression Lijiang Show. Well it has to be majestic has it was directed the famous Chinese film director Zhang Yimou, he the one who also co-directed the successful 2008 Beijing Olympics opening & closing ceremonies.

Impression Lijiang Show has to be impressive as it is presented in a gigantic open 360-degree amphitheater with a stage easily 300 feet long by 100 feet high! The stage looked like a crimson mountain plateau.
And with a cast of 500 actors and 100 horses, Yes! 100 horses!

The show kicked off with a group of tribal warriors marching/dancing & singing there way in from the top and moving towards the bottom.
This was going to be a cultural presentation of the tribes of this area.

And the horsemen came riding in with their horses crossing a wooden bridge to line the top of the "mountain".

Then came the 'table" drummers, using fabled "Dragon Inn" tables as drums and also to perform acrobatics.

Next the dancing ladies came winding down the mountain, singing their way down dressed in the different, colorful tribal costumes.

There were many other performances which made the show last about 1-1/2 hours. The
Yulong Snow Mountain were suppose to form the back drop for the show. Unfortunately for us, cloud cover hid the mountain for the major part of the show. It only revealed itself towards the end of the show.

The show was grand, it was majestic, it was stupendous!
But I think it overdid itself in being overly grandeur with too many cast too the point that one cannot focus and recall a specific highlight of the show.
I can only recall it as a huge show, albeit without a life, without a soul, without any personification! I missed Ms Yang Liping touch.....

The YunShan Plateau

We had lunch nearby. Interestingly on the walls of the restaurant were posters of our next destination - the Yunshan Plateau.
The food whetted my appetite and the large mural photos whetted my interest. It looked so scenic.

After noshing eats, we took a cable car up to the plateau. The ride was not as interesting as our previous one but it did take us to the top station - where we saw not plains, just slopes and trees!

Aaahhh.... but this was not Yunshan. Tram cars took us on a 15-minute ride to the place.
When we arrived, our mouths were agape with awe. It was scenic indeed a mountain meadow well over 3,000 meters high with snowy mountains in the backdrop.

Here there was a 3 km. boardwalk that goes round a small part of the meadow. The were many small timber plaques attached to the pine railing of the boardwalk. Wonder what there are?

These are prayer plaques. For a small donation, one gets to have one's name and wishes written on a plaque. For slightly more, one gets a wind-chime bell attached to the plaque
The plaques are hung onto the railings, in between trees - the blowing wind rings the bell and the tingling sounds attract spirits to the plaques to grant those wishes.
There are even cows here... Well, it's a meadow and meadows do attract cows.

Oh Dear! The cows seems to like eating those plaques, crunching them in their mouths and swallowing the crunch bits.
Is it part of the ritual? If not, then someone's wishes has just gone up in smoke (or more aptly, gone tummy side).

Okay, okay... let's not let the cows distract us. Let's look around, after all that's what we are here for.
Peering through the trees, I see the meadow fringed by spruce pines and far in the back are the snow-capped Jade Dragon Snow Mountains, crested by clouds.
Beautiful!

The mountain looks cold and harsh, but eerily attractive. I can only imagine how much better thew will look in winter, when fully covered by snow.

Even now they do form a nice back-drop. Tourists can rent colorful tribal costumes and have pictures taken for keepsake.

Time to leave this heaven and get down to earth!
On our way down via the cable car, we espied our next destination -
the blue waters of The Jade Water Village.

Blue Water of the Jade Water Village

As we got nearer, the water of the pools got even bluer - a bright light blue!

Rounding a corner, I turned to look again, not believing by eyes.
Yes! The water is really blue, cascading from one pool down to another.

Up close, the blueness of the pool water lessened, but it was still bluer than ordinarily, still an amazing sight.

At one of the pools, tourists can ride a yak to the edge of the pool, where it cascade down to the next, and have their photos taken. Just pay RMB50-00 for this!

From one of the cascading waterfalls, the view of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, seen afar, was magnificent.

Further away, round the corner is the Yu Feng Temple, sitting on the toe of a slope facing the Jade Dragon. The scenery here is more green, a welcome change from the stark, cold mountain.

The water is not blue anymore, but clear. Together with the soothing greenery, it adds a tranquil mood to the place.

There are many ponds in these area. Each filled with carp and only orange carps that contrast neatly with the green of the trees and hills.
Such a nice blend.

Behind the top most waterfall, a golden statue of Kuan Yin sits, shining brightly while giving here blessings to the place.

The place had such a quiet, serene and peaceful atmosphere that one of my colleagues did some meditation beneath the rustling pine trees.
He did indeed have the peaceful? look of a monk.
We were all similarly affected and left the place in a happy mood and later had a tranquil sleep.

Day 8 : 30th August 2011
Today, we were suppose visit flower market and a silk factory.
My co-travelers wanted more time to buy silk, so I was a disappointed as I had looked forward to seeing the different and colorful flowers of this region.
And I was not one for silk as I had visited one such factory in Beijing previously. So sorry, no photos.

After lunch we left for the airport and flew off.
Good bye Yunnan, your colorful and happy people; you scenic mountains and forests will forever be etched in my memory.

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