Yunnan (2) - the people

Yunnan is home to several ethnic minority groups, two of which I had personal encounters with. Around half the population in Dali are from the Bai ethnic group and Lijiang is home to the Naxi ppl. I usually don't take pictures of ppl, just cos it's usually hard to get ppl to agree to pose for pictures. However, this time round, i managed a couple of portrait-style pics of the locals :) I strongly believe that human subjects add a lot to photographs.

These old ladies are from the Bai minority group. The first day in Dali we decided to visit a market across Erhai lake. and so we made our way to the pier... after some haggling we finally managed to get the ferry fare down to 80 RMB from 130 RMB. Unfortunately, 1/2 an hour later, we found ourselves on an island in the middle of the lake; and were informed that it would actually take 4 hrs to get to our intended destination. Not only were we conned to visit this island, we were also made to pay compulsory island admission fees of about 3 RMB, which in turn entitled us to these old lady tour guides. i did feel rather cheated, but decided to make the best of situation and tried interacting with them... and also tried sweet-talking them into letting me take their pics. hehe, so here they are!

Having been deprived of the market experience the day before, we made our way to another one closer to Dali the following day. This jolly dumpling mold vendor was actively marketing his dumpling molds by giving live demonstrations and an ongoing commentary; repeatedly producing fake, entirely dough-filled dumplings :P However, I was taken in and bought one :) and when i took my mold to examine yesterday evening; i realised that it even had a 'fu2' 'embossed' on the mold!

Some old ladies at the same marketplace. I was very intrigued by the "basket backpacks" that majority of the population carried. Not the most aesthetically pleasing, but certainly very convenient!

Just as Lonely Planet predicted, Doctor Ho spotted us outside his clinic (in Baisha Village) and extended a very warm welcome to us. He's apparently world-renowned; and this fact was repeatedly impressed upon us during our 15-min-or-so stay in his clinic. :P Got some free healthy herbal tea, while incessantly given various write-ups (from BBC, USA Today etc) on Doctor Ho by the man himself. I forgive his slightly excessive egoism, taking into account all the good he has done for the poor :) BTW, he encourages medicine students to visit him for learning pointers.

Last but not least, Naxi ppl dancing in the Sifangjie square in Old Town, Lijiang.

Yunnan (1)

I covered four cities in Yunnan Province on this trip. Flew into Kunming via Silkair; trained overnight to Dali and bused to Lijiang and subsequently Zhongdian (aka Shangri-La). Bus rides in China are amazingly 'informal', as the driver picks up ppl on the way, as long as there are seats in the bus! and so it appears that anyone can try flagging down a bus on the road and check if it's heading towards his/her destination; pay a discounted fare and will then be on his/her way! drivers are generally quite skilful at navigating windy mountain roads... though i had my fair share of worries initially :P my heart jumped during the couple of times when drivers honked furiously, only to realize that it wasn't really at cars in the opposite direction, but at innocent lambs/ pigs/ dogs loitering in the middle of the roads :P Weather-wise, it was generally good, esp in Dali and Lijiang. Zhongdian was a little too chilly for me, coming right from hot, tropical Singapore. it certainly didn't help that i didn't stay at very expensive hotels... and so quite a few didn't have any heater at all... but all of them had electric blankets under the sheets, and the best solution was of course to hide under covers once one was done showering. harsh reality of dealing with the cold in less developed places was impressed upon me-- you just have to bear with it; wear more clothing; or generate heat with lighted charcoal/a fire...

anyway, some scenes from the diff places i visited. will blog separately about the people, food, animals and other random things that caught my fancy :)

View of the Tibetan Monastery in Zhongdian from the spot where we alighted from the bus. It's also the only proper 'tourist destination' i visited in Zhongdian, cos as night fell it just got unbearably cold for me. and thus ended up hiding in bed, skipping dinner and watching TV.

'House' in Baisha Village, around 10 km north of Lijiang. The clear blue sky and orange-brown of the doors made it picture-perfect. This is also where I met the legendary Doctor Ho (more on that later)

View from the Black Dragon Pool Park (or Heilongtan Gongyuan) If the sky were clearer, the snowy peaks of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (Yulong Xueshan) would have been more visible. A very peaceful and scenic place :)

Flowering cherry trees against the Cang1 Shan1 range in the background. Cos it's winter; really didn't expect the entire street to be lined with flowering cherry trees. made wandering around quite pleasant!
Elephant on a platform rock formation in Stone Forest (or Shilin), about 1.5 hr's drive away from Kunming. Unfortunately it was quite rainy, which made navigating the slippery labyrinth of stone formations slightly more challenging. also didn't leave me with many decent pictures :(

I'm back!

took many interesting pictures on this unexpectedly smooth and pleasant trip so don't really know what to post for time being. decided to use this one, since this year's technically the year of the pig; and also cos trip was surprisingly animal-ful... what with dogs, kitties, pigs, lambs, goats and yaks! and i've come to conclusion that more obscure destinations can be quite charming too :)