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Previous: Lijiang
Baisha, ten kilometers north of Lijiang, was the capital of an independent Naxi kingdom before it was annexed by the Yuan Empire in 1271. The regular minibus service from Lijiang dropped me off not far from the Liuli Temple shown here.
When I arrived, this group of Naxi women went through their dance routine even though I was the only tourist there.
Today, it is a quiet agricultural village.
There was quite a lot of constuction work going on for a quiet agricultural village. Here, I finally saw some Naxi men at work.
The few male masons I saw were an exception for most of the work was carried out by women, even the tough and dirty job of mixing lime mortar.
An essential part of the feminine Naxi costume consists of a thick felted pad that they wear on their back to protect their spine from the heavy loads they carry.
The characteristic crossed bands that make the Naxi costume so easily recognized hold their protective back pad in its place as you can see here.
Water runs through ditches in every street but these ladies are drawing clean water from a public tap. I presume that means there must be a water treatment plant somewhere even though this is just a small village.
The wooden rack on the left is used to hang up golden corn ears to dry when it is the season to do so.
The houses were hidden behind high walls. I peered through the gates and made signs to this lady asking her permission before taking this photo of her house and courtyard. She smiled and even posed for me.
When I had seen enough of Baisha, the only minibus I found going back to Lijiang was first taking a customer to a farm near Lo Twa. I was delighted by the drive across dirt tracks in the rice fields and by the chance of seeing this hamlet where tourists never go.
Were it not for the electricity and telephone wires and for the occasional TV antenna you think this was a century ago.
No Naxi village can be without running water and you can see on the left below. The boy on the right seemed thrilled to see a stranger in his village and I took his enthusiasm as a sign of welcome.
Here we have Naxi men at their traditional occupation, acquiring wisdom through meditation on the village square!
After a couple more days in Lijiang I took a bus for Dali about 150 kms to the south. The drive through the countryside was spectacular.
Here is another Naxi village with carefully irrigated terraces and a new house being built in the Naxi traditional way. There are a lot of Han people in modern Lijiang but their influence on the Naxi culture has visibly been less important than on the Dai in Xishuanbana. I have not seen any bathroom tiled brick houses around here.
