Lijiang

Just a short post about Lijiang I think. A bustling large town, with a charming old town. A lot of people complain about tourism here, but really I think they are a bit whingy. We are all tourists!

We were a bit overwhelmed by it when we first got in, wandering round with our bags and being approached by people calling "come stay, guesthouse!!!", and noises and people all around. But a good nights sleep and shower later, we enjoyed the old town heaps. There are lots of crafty shops, which yes are aimed squarely at the (largely chinese) tourist market, but actaully have some really lovely things in them. To me it is sort of reminiscent of Byron Bay or the Rocks, with some hippy clothes shops, locally made arts and crafts- not all traditional, some more like a fusion of local flavour and comtemporary techniques. Also there are heaps of cafes and bars and restaurants. Which make it a lovely place to chill out and rest after adventures in more remote areas.
We did some shopping, eating and reading. Skipped the naxi disco the other night and went to Naxi orchestra instead (maybe we'll hit the disco tonight ;) ). The Naxi orchestra was ancient music being played on ancient instruments by ancient men! Half the musicians were over 70, 7 or 8 were over 80! Some of the music was probably an aquried taste (a bit like yak butter tea), but others were quite listenable.
I felt like it was a bit cruel making these really old men get up every night to play for tourists, but they were quite proud of their music. SOme of them had to bury their intruments during the cultural revolution to stop them getting destroyed. During the concert one guy was popping pills, and several of them seemed to be asleep when they weren't playing!

We went out to Tiger Leaping Gorge- that is another story... Now we're back in Lijiang, despite the tourists, I still like the canals or crystal clear water, cobbled streets and traditional wooden architechture. (It is better that the old stuff is preserved for tourists than knocked down like the hutongs in Beijing!) I also like places like the "Prague cafe" where it is nice and warm, and they make decent Yunnan coffee (they grow Arabica here- the good stuff). The cold snap that is all across Asia is hitting here too!

Off to the Naxi disco now... or something... :)