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I missed seeing some of the countryside by flying here but I consoled myself by thinking of how worn out I would have been if I had taken that rough two day bus ride over bad roads.
Lijiang is a modern Chinese city whose ancient center has been carefully restored to what it was like a century ago or more. There's nothing very special about the modern part, it is clean, efficient and growing fast like all Chinese cities but Old Lijiang is a jewel worth making a long detour to see.
An even greater attraction to Lijiang are the Naxi people who live here. The Naxi are descendants of ancient Qiang nomads that migrated south like the other mountain tribes that gave rise to several other minorities of Yunnan such as the Achang, the Dulong, the Lisu, the Nu, the Pumi, the Yi and the Zang.
The Naxis distinguish themselves from the others mentioned above by having maintained in the predominance of women in their society in spite of the heavy pressure exerted by the Han to make them conform to the Confucian ideal.
The Naxi are good agriculturalists and they have a high regard for running water which is one of the forces of nature they consider worthy of worship. Most of them are nominally animists but the practice of their ancient Dongba religion has practically disappeared.
I stayed at the "First Bend Guest House" whose courtyard is shown here. The door in the center opens onto the room seen below for which I paid 5 US$ a night.
Naxi women predominate; they own and inherit most of the property and make most of the decisions but they also do most the work.
The restoration or reconstruction of these old buildings along the Yu-he River has been very well done. The results are simply delightful.
Sourpuss critics that I have met lamented that Dong Dajie had been over-restored and lacked "authenticity" because it was not crumbling and filthy as they thought it should be to fit their preconception of ancient China. Maybe so I replied but not more than parts of Venice, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Paris, London or Quebec City.
Sometimes I wonder why such people bother traveling, if everything is so much bigger and better where they come from, why don't they stay there!
The center of old Lijiang is a showcase and the Naxi are rightfully proud of it but there are also more modest areas where ordinary people live and work.
The men here have an easy life, they may not have much to say about running things, but I didn't see any of them doing heavy work.
Running water is everywhere not only in the restored center of the Lijiang but also in the outlying villages that I have visited.
This is Lijiang's old market square bordered by souvenir shops and cafes where tourists nurse a beer while they watch other tourists making the rounds.
Brassware souvenir stalls on the old market square.
Across the Yu-he River from the market square is the Tower Cafe from where the view is unbeatable. I hope these pictures will tempt you to visit Old Lijiang, it is a jewel!
In Lijiang I was appointed "Honorary Older Brother" by this group of lovely Yi girls who were having their picture taken before a statue of Mao standing on the base seen behind us.
It is amazing how different China has become in only 30 years, from what the helmsman said it should be when he was in the driver's seat. It is too early yet but I think that history will someday give him full credit for his contribution to China's future greatness, and perhaps even more to that modest man with the long term vision, Chou Enlai.
To the immediate left of this building is the Dongba Research Institute and Museum. It's a ordinary modern tile covered building with little esthetic value so I took a picture of this typical walled farmhouse instead.
Here are some of the Dongba pictographs, invented by the Naxi in the 8th century, on display in the museum. I was impressed, not by the pictographs, but by the way the distinctive cultures of China's various minorities were being promoted.
In the week that followed my return in Montreal I heard some journalist on TV telling us how minorities were oppressed in China. I am glad that I have a website where I can say and show that it's not what I saw.
I get fed-up sometimes with the herd instinct of the editorial staffs that control the colouring given to the information they feed us. I have discussed this with professional journalists a number of times. They generally hide behind the catch phrase of so-called "objective jounalism" meaning that if you are "objective" you will see events the same way all other "objective" journalists do. This BS is such a big lie that a lot of sincere journalists have fallen in the trap and believe it. If you don't see an event the politically correct way like all your collegues, maybe you are not an "objective" journalist. Then, you must be a "marginal" or maybe even a "weirdo" and your boss should not take the risk of keeping you on the job.
I thank God that I'm not a journalist and that I can write things as I see them without risking my livelihood.
Yes, the Tian'anmen massacre was horrible but the "China bashing" bias that has become politically correct since then in the western media is as blind as the "Israel can do no wrong" bias that feeds on the horror of the Holocaust.
A trip to China is interesting and not expensive, why don't you go and see for yourself?
