Greetings all,
2 Nov 2014
This is the 1st of several (not sure how many as I write this) updates on our travels through Yunnan and a little of Guanxi provinces. Both are beautiful and as we spent more time in Yunnan, there will be more updates on this area.
After the 1/2 marathon and 10k in Qiubei, we started our vacation exploring some of the other areas of the Yunnan province. We started out by flying from Kunming to Dali. There were several highlights of visiting this city including walking on the wall around the old city of Dali, going to a local temple, visiting a local market and visiting some tie-dye artisans and staying at a lovely hotel. We booked our travel with a tour company, Wild China (Thanks to our friend Julie for this recommendation!). If you are interested in a first class, customized tour of China with English speaking guides, I highly recommend them. Here is the link
http://wildchina.com/
Below is a map of China showing the location of the Provinces. This blog is not a geography lesson, but I thought it might help give some context (I have to look at this map several times, and I live here...the country is as big as the USA in terms of geopgraphy and relatively speaking, we have not seen much of it!) Yunnan is South Center on the map, bordering with Myanmar (former name Burma), Vietnam and Laos. Liaoning (where we live in Shenyang) is North east bordering North Korea.
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| Map of China Provinces. |
First I'll start with Dali. Dali and still is a very prosperous city in Yunnan province. It is the 'breadbasket' of Yunnan as it has very fertile soil, good water and temperate climate. In ancient times it was the cross roads of two major trade routes: North South was the Tea and Horse route and East West was the Southern Silk Road (Starting in Chongqing and going to India...the Southern Silk road was less known as it was dominated by the various ethnic minority groups and so Han Chinese didn't want to publicize it!). There are several minority groups in Dali, but the biggest one in this region are the Bai people. As we explored the region, I found myself fascinated with the various dress of the different ethnic groups..they still wear them to this day and some are quite colorful!
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| Rod and Sarah at the entrace to the City wall at Dali |
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| Rod and Sarah on the wall at Dali with the gate in the background |
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| In the old town of Dali, there is a temple. The people there are a combination of Tao, Buddhist and Confusist. Their religious custom is to bring all the fixings for a full meal (including the unsuspecting live chicken), cook it in the public cook area and then offer the fully cooked meal to their Gods. Above is an example of the cooking at the temple |
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| One of the women cooking at the temple in Dali |
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| Some of the ingredients for the meal for the Gods |
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| Rod holding his Blessing (he bought from the man and woman outside the temple) |
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| When he's not writing 'Blessings', he's smoking his pipe outside the temple in Dali |
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| Writing his "Blessing' outside the temple in Dali |
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| Rod getting his "Blessing' at the temple at Dali |
After going to the temple, we headed over to the local market outside of Dali. We were pleased to find some local Cheese. In Shenyang and most other cities we have visited, we have never seen cheese. This cheese is similar to Swiss cheese, but a little more chewy. Very good! I just loved the look on some of the faces from the women at the market…lots of photos of them and I’m showing just a few below.
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| Fresh Cheese at the market outside of Dali |
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| The market outside of Dali |
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| Chopping at the market outside of Dali |
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| Selling at the market outside of Dali |
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| Faces of Yunnan |
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| Faces of Yunnan |
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| Faces of Yunnan at the market outside of Dali, she has a bar scale in her hand |
After the market, we went to a family workshop in Zhouchen, outside of Dali, where they did a type of tie-dye. My friend and professional fabric artist, Marilyn says that this is Shiburi art where they tie up the knots in the fabric, then they dip it in a huge vat of indigo die 22 times, letting it dry between dips, then when it's all done, they undo the knots and reveal the beautiful designs. The indigo plant grows in the mountains around Dali and all of their work is hand done with natural dies...I just had to have one..or two pieces!
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| Stitching up the shiburi cloth |
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| Sarah and Rod with 2 members of the family Shiburi workshop in Zhouchen, outside of Dali |
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| Master Shiburi artist at Zhouchen |
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| One of the pieces I bought...a round tablecloth |
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| Rod stirring the die in the vat of indigo |
That night, we spent the night in a lovely hotel, called the Linden Center hotel... a very nice, small boutique hotel in the small village of Xizhou outside of Dali. It was 1st class, small and cozy. Just right for a nice nights rest. We could have stayed there longer...not because there was so much to see in Xizhou...but because the hotel and courtyard were so nice! This small town used to be a signal base for the Flying Tigers when they flew the resupply missions "the Hump" from India to China in WWII. One sentennce History lesson: "The Hump" was the name given by Allied Air pilots for the flights over the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains from India to China to resupply the troops of Chiang Kai-sheck and the units of the US Air Forces based in China. As a child, I'm sure I was taught in school that the US had forces in China in WWII but I sure don't remember it! Seems so real now to live here and experience it and know more about what my Uncle John did in India in WWII...Thank you Uncle John!
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| The entrance to the hotel Linden Center in Xizhou, outside of Dali |
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| Sarah next to one of the statues in the courtyard |
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| One of the three Courtyards |
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| Another of the 3 Courtyards |
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| Add caption |
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| Can you tell I just love the courtyards? |
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| Happy in the garden...one of these days! |
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| Rod and Sarah in the Garden at Linden Center, |
So that is about it for the 1st day of exploring in Yunnan. We loved the area and may come back...it's beautiful, full of fresh air and blue skies..something we don't get every day in Shenyang!
Blessings to all!
Rod and Sarah
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