The Stone Forest of Shilin

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From Lijiang, I headed back South to Kunming to see a few of its attractions, hoping the rain and bad weather would be finished. Thinking it a good idea to take the overnight, sleeper bus for the 9 hour trip, I instantly realized that was the wrong choice the moment I boarded the bus. Instead of the normal configuration of seats, these buses are a jumble of two levels of metal beds, put together in twos and threes, leaving just enough room for one to squeeze down the narrow aisle to their coffin. The worst part is that these beds are clearly not made for anyone over about five and a half feet tall. They have very little room to stretch your legs and a nice little hump at the top that is supposed to serve as a raised portion for you to place you pillow. After a few minutes of maneuvering, I finally managed to fit myself in, crunched up against the metal railing and aisle on one side and my two bedmates on the other, each of us supposedly in a separate, single bed. I tried to lay down, but it ended up with me basically sitting up for the entire trip, my head hitting the top bunk above me while the hump for the pillow dug into the middle of my back. Seeing my discomfort, one of my seatmates kindly gave up one of his pillows to help ease the burden a bit, but I soon found myself counting down the minutes until I would be out of this sardine can arrangement. As a bonus to the long trip, I returned to my hostel around 5:30 am and found that no one working there was awake, so I sat down my bags and sat in the street for about half an hour until another Chinese tourist arrived and banged, yelled and called until someone finally awoke and let us in.

My next day, I headed to the Stone Forest of Shilin, a tourist, yet incredible natural attraction just a few hours away. The stone forest is a massive collection of limestone pillars worn away by erosion and rain into sharp, narrow points, often looking like a field of knife blades pointing towards the sky. As anticipated, the first few minutes at the park were miserable, wading through huge groups of loud Chinese tours and locals dressed in traditional costumes, charging for pictures with them. Fortunately, I found a tiny trail through the rocks and around the back, to similarly impressive scenery and the all-too elusive silence that a place like this truly demands. I climbed up and down, in and out of the strange formations, seeing barely anyone else for a few hours before heading back into the melee just before leaving. Though many are put off by the large groups (and I was at first), I was really impressed with the beautiful rock pillars of the area. I also bought a Snickers bar after a plate of noodles for dinner and found that I won a free one with my purchase. (I had to ask a few locals to translate the inside of the wrapper, but I correctly assumed that a longer message and an exclamation point at the end meant something good.) It's amazing how little things just brighten your day when on the road.

(A few of the first pillars of the Stone Forest at Shilin.)

(Nice costumes, but I wasn't going to pay just to get a picture with them.)

(A typically jagged rock in the area, formed by millions of years of erosion.)

(I think this is called something like Dagger Lake, and this is where I made my break from the masses, finding a bit of solitude. It's amazing how easy it actually is to get away from the groups sometimes, as they simply stick to the main thoroughfare and nothing else.)

(You rock, rock.)

(I'm sure there is some sort of legend about what these rocks represent, but I don't know it. They do have evocative names for each formation, though, but, again, I don't know those anymore. It's ok; it didn't look like the name anyway.)

(Most of these formations were between 20 and 30 meters (65-100 feet) high.)

(This is creatively called the Long and Narrow Valley or something.)

(More rocks, viewed from the crowded pagoda with an expansive view of most of the park.)

(Little tiny people and big rocks - the way it should be.)

(The horizontal lines at similar heights in adjacent rocks indicate some sort of large event at that time in history. Probably someone winning a free Snickers bar or something huge like that.)

(Me at the top of the stone forest, trying to sneak in an exclusive picture before the next group arrived. As you can see in the bottom left, I was just slightly too late.)

(Getting ready to leave the Major Stone Forest, I headed along the grassy paths to the Minor Stone Forest. As expected, it wasn't as big.)

(I honestly have no idea. There were a few of these deep messages along the path, but they didn't mean much to me. Feel free to clue me in if this enlightens anyone.)

(The world's biggest banjo. I tried to play the Deliverance song, but no one got it. It's actually a traditional Sani instrument, I believe, and there are performances in this square every few hours.)

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Tiger Leaping Gorge - Sounds Impressive, Eh?

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Tiger Leaping Gorge is the epic sounding name of the large canyon carved out by the upper Yangtze River in its beginning phases, before heading out through the rest of China. This area is said to contain one of the world's largest gorges from top to bottom (if not the largest), a massive 3,900 meter (over 12,000 foot) difference from the snow capped peaks of the top to the brownish river below. Instead of trying to deal with public transportation, I took a shuttle bus from Lijiang along with about six others, making the two hour ride quite easy and worry-free, other than the ridiculously loud songs spouting from the radio, piercing our ears with each shriek as the high pitched voices crooned love songs in Chinese. At a quick stop for the driver to pick up some fruit, I discretely lowered the volume and did so even more obliging a request from the back seat, but our plan backfired, as the driver then raised it up to an even higher level when he realized that the sound was back down to a non-ear drum shattering volume. Despite the gloomy, overcast weather, I was planning on making a two day hike in the area, hoping that I'd get lucky and the clouds would clear, while the rest of the group was just doing a day tour, meaning they would just stop at a few viewpoints and overlooks and then head back to Lijiang.

After passing through the entrance station (a tiny store in the side of one of the buildings in town), the driver soon pulled off to the side and pointed to a windy, uphill driveway, apparently indicating that it was the start of my trek. Not knowing where I was really going, I followed the road which eventually turned into a trail, passing farmers and a few horses along the way. Many bends and hills later, I reached the top of the trail, stopping at one of the scattered guesthouses along the way for some lunch before continuing on in the cloudy, misty mountain top. I wound along the side of the ridges, at moments getting glimpses of the massive mountains all around and sometimes even the river below, but it was mostly fog that I saw. I also made a valuable purchase of an umbrella at a tiny stand/bench selling one umbrella, a few bananas, Snickers bars and marijuana (I can't verify the quality of it) on the top of one of the passes. The cheap umbrella had its faults, but it was definitely worth the $2 I paid for it, keeping me relatively dry for the rest of the afternoon. Though not being able to see the whole expanse of the canyon, the walk was still quite scenic, with the dramatic mist rising and falling to reveal waterfalls, cliffs and even some areas of thick forest along the way. I spent the night at a guesthouse midway through, having walked through rain and clouds for the better part of six or seven hours. My clothes were all completely soaked, and it wasn't much better in the morning. Mostly descending, it was an easier day, and I even made it down to the river to the spot where a tiger supposedly jumped from one side of the canyon to another, giving the place its name. After some pictures with some Chinese that I met along the way and others that just wanted a picture with me, I made the step ascent back to the main road and headed back to Lijiang, a tiny bit disappointed that I never saw the canyon without a bit of clouds but still quite impressed with the sights and happy to get away from the chaos of Chinese cities for two days.

(One of the first views of the Yangtze or Yangzi or Yantse or Yang-C or however you want to spell it. As I learned, English transliterations from Chinese aren't too strict.)

(Part of the wooded, muddy and slightly slick trail during the middle of the first day. I was also reminded of hiking the muddy Kalalau Trail in Hawaii during parts of this, trying hard not to fall, yet trying to take in the impressive scenery.)

(A slight break in the clouds would always yield an inspiring view. Though it was rainy and a little bit cold, it gives it that mysterious, foreboding look.)

(The roof of my guesthouse, and the mountains across the river. I had an incredible Naxi sandwich that night, basically two thick tortilla/pita bread pieces grilled with an assortment of grilled squash, cucumber, pumpkin, potato and more inside. And Naxi is the name of the indigenous people here, not a reference to those infamous Germans. I'd like to try to see them make a sandwich that good.)

(Breakfast was almost as impressive: a honey and banana pancake on the left and a chocolate and banana pancake on the right. I couldn't decide, so, as usual, I chose both. With my soaking shoes and socks, wet pants, damp backpack, Snickers bar and two banana pancakes, I was truly living the life of luxury.)

(A view of the "town" and guesthouse where I stayed. The guesthouse is the one the furthest to the left, near the bottom corner.)

(Along the trail, I came upon a herder and his goats and horses. I eventually had to make a pass, but the goats weren't too friendly about letting me by. They also smell terrible. Maybe I should have told them that after I passed instead of before, and they would have been a little more amiable.)

(The winds came and cleared out the fog for just about 3 minutes, enough to get a wonderful view of this huge waterfall along the trail. You can sort of see the trail crossing the base of the falls just a little way from the bottom of this picture. At this point, I was wet enough that crossing a waterfall really didn't matter.)

(From the main road, there's another trail down to the river below. I had to pay a cute, toothless old lady about $1.50 to let me pass. I may have been able to answer her questions three to avoid the toll, but, again, I don't speak Chinese.)

(The whole area is a pretty popular place for corn farmers, so it had a bit of a Latin American feel here. Disappointingly, when I asked, they told me that it wasn't ready to be eaten, so I had to just stare longingly at it.)

(And this is the Tiger Leaping Gorge from the precarious trail carved into the side of a cliff. Right about where that cloud is near the top is where the tiger was said to have jumped. I think there may be a bit of exaggeration going on in this area.)

(I don't know if you know, but I'm a pretty big deal around here.)

(A completely safe looking bridge from one rock to another, just before getting to the river. Of course it shakes when you walk on it - it's supposed to do that. Good thing they have that wire/railing, too. Surely that could support a baby or extremely small child if pulled.)

(Another shot of the gorge, mostly the same as before, but check out the big rocks in the river below. The tiny specks on the top are people, to give you a little perspective.)

(This one has a flower in it.)

(Of course, as I was leaving, things started to clear up just a bit, but I had to get back to town.)

(Two more Naxi sandwiches. These are the more traditional versions made of goat cheese, eggs and tomatoes. Once again, these were amazing. The one of the left is open for your viewing pleasure.)

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The "Old Town" of Lijiang

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After Xi'an, I went South to Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, a popular spot with tourists looking for a bit more of the Southeast Asian feel and warmer climates. Unfortunately, that meant some rainstorms as well, so I only stayed about a day before taking some side trips to the Northern edge of the province. Stranded the first night looking for my hostel that was closed down, I was helped by the nice owner of a local bar who called and called until we found another place. The next day, another unpleasant experience of standing in the pouring rain for ten minutes until finally finding a taxi to the bus station didn't do much to help the situation, but I was soon on the way to Lijiang, a small city about 9 hours to the North. I arrived to the edge of town where the taxi from the bus station dropped me, not being able to drive any further into the cobblestone streets and canals of the old town. An almost quaint little place, the winding streets and waterways make it quite difficult to find anything, but I eventually found the small alley of my hostel and got a nice deal on a single room, allowing some rest away from the dorm rooms in which I usually stay. The next morning, I explored the town, a surreal but nice recreation of the way ancient Chinese cities used to be, full of tiny streets, red lanterns, willow-lined canals and street vendors. The only problem is the large amounts of tour groups that invade the city, myself included. Overall, the town is definitely worth a look, though you can't expect the tranquility that the photos would make you expect.

(One of the major streets just a few minutes from my hostel. The wooden planks lead into the restaurants and shops that line the roads.)

(As you can see, there was a little bit of rain here as well, but it was nothing compared to the storm that drenched me back in Kunming.)

(Getting close to the top of the city, I was hoping for some nice views, but it was mostly just cloudy and roofy.)

(In the afternoons and evenings, young men and women dressed in traditional clothing stand outside these doors, trying to bring you in to their restaurant.)

(In spite of the tourist feel, this place was still pretty great if you could find a secluded alley like this one.)

(More of the canals. At this point, I was realizing that the jelly filled bread that I had for breakfast was not sitting well, so I spent the afternoon in bed, hoping to fight off an impending sickness, with the trash can nearby, just in case. As it turned out, my body managed to fight it off in less than a day, and fortunately, I didn't have to see that breakfast again.)

(At night, the streets glow red. Not with blood. That would be a whole different kind of attraction.)

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Xi'an in One Day

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Apart from the Terracotta Warriors, Xi'an offers a few other historic and pseudo-historic sights with pagodas, temples, drum towers, gardens, etc. Many are quite nice looking, but the influx of tourists makes some of it a bit too surreal for me. Planning well with the weather, most of the first rainy day was spent inside with the warriors, leaving the clear evening and following day for exploring the city by foot. I first stopped at the Big Goose Pagoda, built in 652 AD, now surrounded by a wall and nice gardens, along with the obligatory tourist shops and photographers. Afterwards, I headed back towards the large Drum Tower, a huge pagoda type building in the center of town, behind which is a popular night market filled with Muslim food, meaning lamb kebabs and char-grilled bread for me. Though it wasn't as good as the food from my new friend's restaurant in Geermu, it was still a nice break from noodles. During my second day, I rented a bicycle and rode the 14 kilometers along the top of the old city wall, one of the few remaining city walls in China. The 40 foot wall surrounds the old town, and at about 60 feet wide, it has plenty of room for walking and bike riding around the top, though a bit bumpy on the cobblestones. As it was a weekday, I was surprised to find that the wall was not very crowded, offering a relaxing, flat ride in the pleasant, sunny weather. I arrived back from my ride in 91 minutes, giving me just a few minutes to spare, as the bike rental allows 100 minutes for the trip and stops. So, I headed back to my hotel and took the evening flight down to Southern China, ready to again experience a bit more of the natural beauty of the country.

(The Big Goose Pagoda and a tiny temple in the late afternoon.)

(All seven levels of the pagoda. For a small price, you can climb the stairs inside to the top for some nice views of the old city, though, as usual, there is a good bit of smog to be seen.)

(Same two buildings, different perspective. Perhaps I should work on some variety.)

(Well, don't hold your breath on the variety thing.)

(One of the buildings in the courtyards and gardens surrounding the temple.)

(The view from the third floor of the pagoda, following the narrow stairs up to the top, re-routed by the occasional Chinese tourist who would refuse to move out of the way.)

(The next day, at the South end of the old city wall. That's a full-sized bus below, so you get the picture that this thing is big.)

(One of the small outposts along the wall.)

(Nothing spectacular, but this is a very, very typical apartment block in Chinese cities. My friend Kelly in Chengdu lives in a place very similar to this.)

(Biking leisurely around the wall was a great break from the crowds of the day before. Plus, as you can see, the weather was much better.)

(In case you didn't know what I look like or a bike looks like, or what me on a bike looks like, here it is.)

(The red silk lanterns lining the entire ride. You'd think these would look really nice at night, but I just remember seeing some sort of white Christmas lights outlining the wall...not so great.)

(Looking down on the wall from the Southwestern corner, leaving me just a few minutes to speed back and return the bike in time to get my full deposit back. Lots of lanterns over and over again.)

(The idea of repetition keeps repeating itself. Wow, that just blew my mind.)

(Leaving the wall, back on street level, the Bell Tower looms large as the center of the city, and also a good landmark for me, as my hostel was just ten minutes from there.)

(Some of the skewers on offer at the market street behind the Drum Tower. I usually opt for the meat that looks to have the least fat, as I have to maintain my girlish figure while here in China. Actually, some of the other meats turn out to be stomach, intestine and other chewy delicacies, so I always hope that I am choosing lamb or beef.)

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