Nanjing Weekend
Nanjing, China
A short May Day holiday gave the perfect opportunity for a road trip to Nanjing, a 3 1/2 hour drive from Shanghai.
We booked into the new Sofitel Galaxy Nanjing at internet rates, upgrading to a Deluxe City View and Premier Lake View. The rooms were great, especially for the price. I wouldn't bother
with the "Lake View" unless looking through the haze a couple of kms off at about 2 o-clock is what you consider a lake view. I always hope for the quieter side of the hotel with this kind of thing, but neither a view nor quieter aspect was on call. The room was very nice, so regardless of the view, the price to value ratio was great!
As the weather was expected to deteriorate over the weekend, we headed after lunch to ZhongShan Mountain National Park, otherwise known as Purple Mountain, and Ming tombs. Thirty-two years from 1381 to 1413 and 100,000 laborers were used in constructing the tomb area, with Zhu Yuangzhang, aka Hong Wu, first emperor of the Ming dynasty being buried in 1398. Many of the buildings were damaged during various wars, but the carvings remain impressive.
Douglas finds the buildings and carvings relatively boring. However, most imperial building have great marble staircases that easily turn into slides. Being one of the few sets of Westerners in the grounds, Douglas provided much amusement to the Chinese families and tour groups.
The most interesting sight of the grounds is Shen Dao, Spirit Way, which is lined with massive Ming Dynasty stone statues of guardian animals. The pairs of animals represent the
virtues of the emperor. At 13, Douglas still can't resist getting astride these statues. The only problem is that he's not that easy to pick up any more!
Zheng He is celebrated at the newest $50 million dollar museum of Nanjing. Quoting from
Answer.com,
in a period of 28 years, from 1405 t
o 1433, Cheng directed seven expeditions and visited no fewer than 37 countries, stretching from Champa in the east to the African coast in the west.In preparation for these expeditions, some 1,180 ships of various types and measurements were constructed. The size of the fleet varied from voyage to voyage. The first expedition consisted of a 27,800-man crew and 62 large vessels and 255 smaller ones carrying cargoes of silk, embroideries, and other valuable products. Zheng took personal command of each voyage, but he often entrusted his lieutenants to undertake side trips away from the main itinerary. The countries visited ranged from the nearby states, such as Champa, Sumatra, and Java, to the faraway lands to the East, including Arabia and places on the east African coast, such as Mogadishu and Brawa.
The museum contains a replica of one of the troop carrying ships - relatively small compared to the command ship - but enormous compared with the ships of the European explorers who sailed over the next century and more. More than anything, the museum reinforces the thought that numbers are frequently staggering in China compared to western countries. The Ming shipyards were extensive, the labor force enormous, and the sailing fleet vast.
Nanjing, filled with museums and universities, is a pleasant city with wide tree-lined streets and many separate bike lanes. From Purple Mountain to the parks, city walls, and memorials, there's much more for our next road trip.
Labels: Nanjing China, Sofitel Galaxy Nanjing, zheng he museum
Dali - Yi Market and Village
Dali, Yunnan, China
A second day trip offered by Jim through
China Minority Travels is to the Muslim Market and Yi Village. The market is held on the 5th, 15th and 25th of the month, with the market being bigger on certain days. Try to plan your trip to do this tour on a market day!
Animals must head to market at the crack of dawn or earlier
- horses, water buffalo, cows, pig, goats, sheep and in the food areas - chicken, rabbits, etc. While desultory negotiations can be found, things don't get intense until closer to closing time - 3:30 PM. The unanswered question - how many animals head home market after market with their owners.
As you will have seen from the prior postings, faces captivate us in the markets - these are from
my husband's pictures last year. Don't you love the hats? And then there's the endless other commercial activites aimed at supporting life - tobacco, shave and a haircut, new clothes (sewn by the ladies in easter bonnets!) and shoe repair.
Beside the faces, I am forever amazed how much women carry on their backs, long distances. Here's the walking straw!
No story about China is complete without a contrast of the old and new. Here we have the traditional clothing, combined with the back basket - now available in bright plastics rather
than the old style rattan on the picture's left, and the plastic toy for the child.
As with the prior day's tour, Jim arranged for lunch - this time in a Muslim restaurant; buried in a village, on a road that probably sees a car once a day. Not a place you would stumble upon, nor likely choose on your own. Amazing amounts of food poured out of the kitchen. Completely different flavors and food varieties, and all delicious. You just didn't want to look too closely. Cynthia, toasting with her tea cup, was none too impressed with the flies or the full volume DVD of the midday call to prayer and sermon. Guess I've been in China too long and took it all as part of the experience. It was yummy and not to be missed.
What could be missed, and was, was the local toilet. Sent down the alley to this, I have to say that I've done basic toilets in all of my travels, but an open field would be far preferable to this "composting" toilet. With roofers laying
tiles next door, the combination was enough to send us back down the alley, to a slight bend in the wall. It had clearly served as a backup solution for others and with little road traffic, met the need of a spot of privacy.
Finally, a walk through the fields to a Yi village. The Yi are mountain people, scraping out of a living hours out of Dali. As road construction
brings town closer, and satellite dishes bring in the world, how much and how soon will this life change?
On the return to Dali, we had Jim stop to help us understand the coal manufacture. These bricks are used in the home ovens to provide heat and fuel for cooking three times a time. Delivered by bike or wheelbarrow, each family generally uses 3 a day. Coal is brought to the manufacturers, ground, mixed with sand and water and pressed into these briquettes. No OSHA protection in this operation. The men grinding and mixing the coal will be blackened head to toe. According to this man, most die young of black lung.
With much thanks to Henriette for her efficient arrangements, and Jim for his "storytimes", we end our trip to Lijiang and Dali for this year.
Labels: China, China minority travel, Dali, Yi village, Yunnan
Dali - Visiting the Bai Markets and Bai Village
Dali, Yunnan, China
Our trips (both this year's and last) were planned and organize by Henriette and Jim of Jim's Tibetan Hotel, Jim's Peace Hotel and
China Minority Travel. Jim (picture on the right) offers a one day tour to the Bai markets, across Erhai Lake and through Bai villages.
The markets offer untold opportunities for people watching. My personal favorites are the lovely faces of the older women and men.
I recalled my mother talking of this as the day they took every known form of transportation, or at least it seemed that way. Starting from the hotel in a car, we added the more interesting horse-cart,
open truck and boat to the equation.
Too often, the food on tours caters to the common denominator, resulting in bland westernized flavors. Not so on Jim's tours where he hopes to provide a true taste of local foods. Pictured below was lunch on the boat. A great combination of vegetables (LOVE the chili-ed potatoes), beef and chicken. Fantastic food!
No washing machines for these ladies. If you are lucky, there's a water spigot. If you're not, you're pulling water in a bucket up from a well. In either case, you're washing the clothes in a small plastic basin. I'm still not sure which is better: washing clothes in the field near a water spigot, or washing clothes on a concrete slab but having to hauling up the water?
Near the lake is the dried noodle factory. It looks like laundry hanging on the lines to dry, but take a closer look and you can see the individual noodle strands.
One of the highlights of the visit to the Bai village is meeting the "barefoot doctor". Medical training ceased during the Cultural Revolution, and so medical care was provided then, and continues to be provided in small villages, by self-trained professionals. The doctor in this village ushered us into his concrete floored "ward" and described through gestures (and some words translated by Jim) how he assists in the birthing process. With such checkpoints as the amount of dilation, frequency of contraction, size of stomach, and orientation of the baby, he decides whether this appears to be a normal birth and when it will occur. If soon, the patient stays, an IV is started. Whether the IV contains more than saline (the cure for many ills in China) to increase the rate of contractions is unclear. If the birth looks to be a problem (too early, too big, not rotated), the mother is sent off for the 45 minute bus ride to the hospital in the new city of Dali. Otherwise, should all be fine, Mom and baby will be sent back home (and to the fields) within a few hours of birth.
The debate rages over whether Lijiang is the more interesting town or Dali Old City (certainly not the new concrete Dali!). My family found Lijiang more interesting with its cobblestoned canals, the interesting night scene and Jade Dragon Mountain in the backdrop. The sales people were more aggressive in Dali, and the town less interesting in appearance.
Cynthia and I hit Lijiang with the Chinese tour groups and very cold weather. Dali warmed up and we spent quite a bit of time in the late afternoons and evenings just relaxing in restaurant/bars over a drink (or two) watching the travelers wandering up and down "Foreigner Street".
In any event, both are worth visiting, offering differences in food, shopping and nightlife, and in common, cheap beer!
Labels: China, China minority travel, Dali, Jim's Tibetan Hotel, Yunnan
Lijiang - Naxi Music, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Feminine Power
Lijiang, Yunnan Province, China - home to the Naxi minority group, land of snow-clad mountains, fur-clad horseman, and feminine power.
Last year, a broken leg kept my son and me from joining the family on the long-planned trip through Yunnan. This year, a visit from Cynthia gave me the opportunity to try again. And so, you'll find a combination of pictures from last March's trip and this April's trip. I hope you enjoy.
Lijiang was the capital of the Naxi people. The Naxi - actually comprised of a number of smaller
groups - are traditionally matriarchal. Still today, most of the work is done by the women and most of the wealth is held by the women. This painting, from the wall of the Naxi school, symbolizes much of the feminine power of this region. The key figure is Shu, the Naxi Goddess of Nature with a frog head, human body and serpent tails.
In the 8th century, a pictographic script was created to capture the history, religion and customs. This culture is called the Dongba culture. This gentleman stands before the Dongba Museum/Nightly Show. With his ever present smile, capped by his pheasant plumed hat, we only wonder what he smokes in his 4 ft pipe.
The town principles are outlined in Mandarin, English and Naxi script at the entrance to the old town. A great comparison of the forms of writing, not to mention some good mottos to live by.
During the mornings everyday, you'll find older people demonstrating the more traditional singing, music and dancing. Following on their heels are the fur clad horsemen, ready to give you a ride (or sit) on their mountain ponies.
More formal music Naxi music is found in
the evenings. The emcee proudly introduces the 8 or so members of the band who are over 80; the oldest being 92. I expect every audience wonders which of the many will fall asleep during a performance or perhaps not make it through. Or perhaps the dissonance (to the western ear) is good for the heart and soul!
When the formal music reaches an uncomfortable pitch, the visitor need only wander to the restaurants to find a new level of singing. Bars and restaurants line either side of a cobblestoned canal area. With windows flung open no matter the temperature, guests drape themselves out of the 2nd floor windows and engage in singing (shouting??) competitions to similarly situated patrons across the canal. Led on by costumed women and conducting tourists,, the patrons, tourists, and passing travelers seem to be enjoying themselves - at least those who understand Mandarin.
A trip to Lijiang isn't complete with a trip through Black Dragon Pool Park with its vistas of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Visit the temple, hang a lock on the fence, explore the Dongba Research Institute Museum and take the obligatory photos.
Here's the family from last year.
... and when the bars, restaurants and music become just a bit too much, there's always the shopping.
Lijiang details: Last year's stay was the Moon Inn - the most expensive room is wonderful with magnificent views of the old town. Some of the smaller singles/twins are not so great.
This year's stay was at the
Swiss Snow Inn. With quite low temperatures (I put on every layer I owned), the well-tended fireplace and bar were a great plus.
Labels: China, Dongba, Lijiang, Moon Inn, Naxi, Shu, Swiss Snow Inn, Yunnan
with the "Lake View" unless looking through the haze a couple of kms off at about 2 o-clock is what you consider a lake view. I always hope for the quieter side of the hotel with this kind of thing, but neither a view nor quieter aspect was on call. The room was very nice, so regardless of the view, the price to value ratio was great!
Douglas finds the buildings and carvings relatively boring. However, most imperial building have great marble staircases that easily turn into slides. Being one of the few sets of Westerners in the grounds, Douglas provided much amusement to the Chinese families and tour groups.
virtues of the emperor. At 13, Douglas still can't resist getting astride these statues. The only problem is that he's not that easy to pick up any more!
o 1433, Cheng directed seven expeditions and visited no fewer than 37 countries, stretching from Champa in the east to the African coast in the west.
The museum contains a replica of one of the troop carrying ships - relatively small compared to the command ship - but enormous compared with the ships of the European explorers who sailed over the next century and more. More than anything, the museum reinforces the thought that numbers are frequently staggering in China compared to western countries. The Ming shipyards were extensive, the labor force enormous, and the sailing fleet vast. 
