Visit to Naxi Village near Lijiang

Our local guide in Lijiang, "Janice"

We were awakened by the sound of the ship’s crew docking at Chongqing around 4 am. We did some last minute preparations for the flight then went to the lobby to put the gratuities for the Viking Emerald staff on the credit card. By then Mary was down for breakfast.

When we were leaving the ship we saw the local men at the dock with bamboo poles hoping to carry luggage up the stairs from the dock to the bus. Since our backpack carry-on bags are fairly light we opted to just carry them ourselves. The bus ride from the dock to the airport took only about 30 minutes. I was called to security because my GPS showed up on the luggage scan. Once they saw it was a GPS they were fine. We all had a complete pat down at the security check point then went on to our gate. We were pleased to see that we were seated in business class which meant a little more legroom for us. The flight to Lijiang was only about 80 minutes but included a snack of traditional Chinese airline food. Mary had chicken with noodles and I had curry chicken with rice. Our bags came quickly at the Lijiang airport and our only slowdown was because a member of our group left his Kindle on the plane. We boarded a bus at the airport and met our local guide, “Janice”, who is a Tibetan woman from Lijiang.

Carved door in Lijiang

We took the bus into town to a local restaurant where we had a family style lunch with favorite meal items of the locals. Like many meals in China, dinner was served at a circular table for eight with a large glass lazy Susan at the center.  We started with a wooden bucket filled with sticky white rice. We had several dishes that included chicken, vegetables, pork and yak meat. Everything served in the town is locally produced and organically grown. I had never eaten yak but it is a very flavorful meat that is like a very lean beef. We ate with Daljip and Catherine, Scott and Marlene and Darla and Sharon. They were good lunch companions.

Traditionally dressed Naxi women in Lijiang

After lunch we took the buses out of town into the Himalayan Mountain rural community where we had tea at the home of a traditional local family. Many of the families in this community are subsistence farmers of the Naxi culture. They consider themselves a separate ethic group from most Chinese. The Chinese government recognizes 56 separate ethnic groups in the country. Most of the women in the area dress in the traditional attire. Most of the men now wear western style clothing. The home that we visited is very old but is well maintained and the wooden carvings are beautiful. At the 10,000 foot altitude here the sheep wool and yak fabric are certainly appropriate for most of the year.

This area is very beautiful. At 26 degrees north latitude, Lijiang is about the same latitude as Miami. However, the altitude makes the weather much cooler. There is a nice mix of tropical and temperate plants growing here. There is abundant water available making the plant life lush. It is no wonder that this area was the inspiration for ShangraLa. We could see this as a paradise.  Historically, Lijiang played important roles in the Tea and Horse Road by facilitating trade and transport of both commodities.  There are still many horses in use in the area that are descended from two bloodlines.  There are small Himalayan horses as well as large heavy bodied horses from the mounts of the Mongols who invaded and traded in the area many times.

The Naxi were nomadic people who raised yaks and sheep. They made many foods from the meat, skin and milk of these animals. They were important in assisting trade during the Silk Road era. Even now they are a very proud and self-sufficient people who adhere to their religious beliefs that are a blend of Taoist and Buddhist religious practices.

Naxi woman selling flowers on the street in Lijiang

After our tea with the family we walked the short distance to the home of Dr. Joseph A. Rock, an Austrian-American who wrote about China for National Geographic in the 1920s and 30s. Dr. Rock is still highly regarded in the town and his home has been converted into a museum of his life here. There were a lot of artifacts and items from his life on display. After walking around the area we got back to the bus and rode to the Intercontinental Hotel in Lijiang This hotel is really nice. We and the Whittingtons were in a villa that is very elegant as well as roomy. Everyone agreed that this is the nicest hotel we have ever stayed in. We were happy to be away from the smog and humidity of the previous week. We were also happy to have faster Internet.

Our evening meal was at a local Naxi restaurant and was served family style. There was plenty of food prepared in Tibetan style. We finished our meal and walked back through Lijiang to the Intercontinental Hotel. Since we were all tired we went to our rooms.