In Dali Old Town,if you want to spend your leisure time,don’t worry, you can find the the bars and clubs easily. Maybe you are not interesting in bar and clubs and do not want to watch performance,you can also go to tea house.That is a good choice.
1.Sandaocha (三道茶)
Address:Dali Old Town
“Sandaocha” is a traditional regional tea ceremony consisting of three unique tea flavors, and is an experience not to be missed in Dali. The host begins by presenting a bitter tea which stands for the hardships in life. Then, a sweet tea of sesame and walnut symbolic of happiness in life. Finally, a bitter, sweet, and spicy tea symbolic of pondering life.
2.Yihaoyuan Spa（一号院Spa馆）
Tel：0872-8899111
Address:No.9Boai Road,Dali Old Town
3.Yinghua Wine Bar (樱花酒吧)
Tel：0872-2679889
Address: Yangren Street,Dali Old Town
4.Xingzuo Café（星座咖啡）
Tel：18669418885
Address:Guangwu Road,Dali Old Town
5.Canghaiwan Spring Hotel（苍海湾温泉酒店）
Tel：0872-8889188
Address:Nanguo City,Dali Old Town
The food factor, can be a ‘factor’ while traveling. Here in Baisha, where I will be based for awhile, developing English and foreign language content for https://yunnanexploration.com, I’ve been fortunate to meet the equivalent of my personal chef.
The Kitchen and Yaoyao in Baisha Old Town LijiangMeet Yaw~Yaw, she operates a small kitchen, aptly named…”The Kitchen”….each day she meets the Naxi women who come down from the mountain with large baskets full to overflowing, with the freshest healthiest assortment of veggies I have ever seen. She acquires enough goodies to make fresh soups and dishes of amazing variety… throughout the day to your personal liking.
Taste Rice Noodles in Lijiang Baisha Old Town by Gary ElliotTake a walk up the magical, ancient cobblestone streets of Baisha, in a few short blocks you will pass indigenous Naxi women vending fresh cooked lentil cakes, and locally harvested fried potatoes. Tea stalls, art studios, and shops vending handmade items, old jewelry, icons & rudraksha bead rosaries, as well as meticulously embroidered items the likes of which we seldom see.
With great gratitude I am being well nourished. In a country full of savory flavors, & exotic dishes it’s nice to have your little ‘spot’…a kitchen where you can rest assured that the food will be clean and fresh, and custom prepared to your liking. When traveling through this wondrous region of China, be sure to visit Yaw~Yaw’s kitchen…’ The Kitchen’.
The Kitchen and Yaoyao in Baisha Old Town Lijiang-Gary Elliot
Embroidery Shop in Baisha Old Town of Lijiang-Gary ElliotMore photos and travel notes….coming soon!
Gary A. Elliot
Baisha Old Town with Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in Lijiang by Gary Elliot
A Glimpse of Dali Old Town: Bai architecture
According to literature, Dali Ancient City was a gateway to the Silk Road in Southwest China,and also served as a seat of government and a major military barracks for Yunnan Province in ancient times.There were four city gates facing West, East,North and South,upon which a gate tower set.Four further towers were also placed at the four corners of the city wall. As it underwent many phases of prosperity as well as decline,only the city base remained till today.The North and the South Towers were restored in 1982.
Dali Old Town is famous for traditional Bai-style architecture.The Bai are one of the 56 ethnic groups officiallyrecognized by the People’s Republic of China.In 1956,of their own will they were named the Bai Nationality by Chinese Authorities.Bai people live mostly in the provinces of Yunnan (Dali area),and in neighboring Guizhou and Hunan provinces.Eighty percent of Bai population of China lives in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province.The Bai people hold the white colour in high esteem and call themselves “Baipzix”,“Baip’ho”,or “Baip yinl”,or “Miep jiax”.In Chinese “bai”means white.
Traditional Bai-style dwelling consists of three houses forming a “U” and a fourth wall as a screen with a courtyard in the middle.The houses are usually built with brick and wood,and the main room is in the middle,opposite the screen wall.The screen wall is built with brick and stone.There’s a practical use for that wall.When the sun shines on the screen wall in the afternoon the sunlight is reflected back to the courtyard,thus illuminating the whole area.
There is a Bai saying,“Pebbles make walls that never collapse.”That’s why some people build up their homes by selecting pebbles from the streams that flow down from the Cangshan Mountain and mixing them with mud.These homes are usually topped with mud brick walls and sealed with a mud and grass plaster mix.The foundation of a Bai building is usually constructed of rectangular stones.The stones often weigh in excess of 600 pounds each.
The house is painted in white with black tile paintings depicting animals and nature.The detailing usually is made of clay sculpture,woodcarving,colored drawing,stone inscription,marble screened and dark brink.
Gates are decorated with colorful paintings depicting various stories.Sometimes these include marble slabs,and even valued porcelain plates to show the owner’s wealth.
Walls are usually painted in white which serves as a reflecting wall to bring in sunshine and warmth.Often people paint prosperous sayings such as ‘Fu’ (fortune), ‘Shou’ (longevity),or ‘Xi’ (happiness).
Construction of the house is a village and family affair.Ground is broken on carefully chosen prosperous days of the Lunar calendar.Local religious leaders will often visit the site in advance and make the selection based on Feng Shui.Building begins with a party,with friends and neighbors gathering to help raise the first timbers.After upholding other rituals,the work waits for another day as a feast to celebrate the beginning of the new constructions is held.
In Shuanglang,if you want to spend your leisure time,don’t worry, you can find the the bars and clubs easily. Maybe you are not interesting in bar and clubs and do not want to watch performance,you can also go to tea house.That is a good choice.
1.There are many bars in the town. You can slow your pace and find a lakeside one in which to relax. Wi-Fi is available so surfing on the Internet is not a problem.
2.Lakeside bicycling. The suggested way is to ride from Shuanglang to Wase Town which is about 15 kilometers. There is a slope on the way and, on top of the slope, there is a small hill. From this hill, you will get a great view of Erhai Lake.
3.In the low fishing period, you can rent a small boat. You can enjoy slowly rowing on Erhai Lake, continuing on to Little Putuo Island and Nanzhao Island, where you can have some fun.
4.Walk along Yuji Island and visit the Sun Palace of Yangliping — China’s famous dancer who created the Peacock Dance. The scenery on the way is fantastic.
5.Visit a local family and get to know the local people’s daily lives.
Taste all kinds of food there. The delicious foods such as marine fish, mandarin oranges, line rice noodles, hot pots and barbecues can’t be missed.
6.Go to Wase Fair as it is another way to experience the local lifestyles. The fair dates are the 5th and 10th of each month. Wase Fair is 10 kilometers away and is the most popular one. During the fair, people from different villages flow into the market. You will see how they buy and sell things, and how they bargain with each other, which is interesting.
Shuanglang(双廊) Village: China’s Hidden Gem
Many of you may know of the tourist-thronging Lijiang in Southwest China’s Yunnan Province. But few of you may have heard of Shuanglang Village. With poetic scenery and tranquil guesthouses, the small fishing village has become a favourite escape from urban living for those-in-the-know.
Shuanglang is a small town to the northeast of Dali and it has a honorable title: the most scenic town around Lake Erhai. This small town, or rather a fishing village, doesn’t have many sights to offer but it is no less charming due to that tranquil, slow-pace and peaceful life it leads. It is beautiful all year around. In spring, flowers come into blossom and temperature is comfortable. In summer, it is cool and a good place to beat the heat. In fall, there is very little rain and blue sky and white clouds can be seen every day. In winter, it is the heaven to soak up the warm sunshine.
In a sunny afternoon, it is ideal to treat yourself to a cup of coffee while getting seated lazily on a terrace overlooking the Lake Erhai. You couldn’t help noticing the blue at the intersection of the lake and sky is so much alike that there is no apparent horizon line. And when you are simply absorbed in the soothing tranquility of the pleasant moment, the breathtaking sunset scene suddenly catches your eyes. The setting sun generously casts its last rays on the surface of the water, lending it an orange tint.
Apart from this, you may also go fishing on a small boat with the villagers who live mainly on this or take a nice stroll around the village and the nearby small islands such as Yuji, Jinshuo and Small Putuo, which are also very scenic.
For over a thousand years, the local Bai Minority people here made their living fishing in the lake. But the past 10 years have brough in a change to life. The small tranquil village is now popular with visitors looking to unwind and enjoy a slower tempo.
Old alleys and traditional architecture make for pleasant wanders. And it’s easy to take a boat out on the lake or just kick back and do very little.
Surrounded by mountains on three sides, Shuanglang village hugs the scenic Erhai lake. The weather here always seems perfect, making it a great retreat anytime of the year. It is also home to some of the most romantic boutique guesthouses in China. Baxun is the head of the village and the owner of the first guesthouse here.
There are more than 120 guesthouses now, offering much choice for a comfortable stay. Most face the lake and have decks providing breath-taking views.
Shuanglang Culture
The Beliefs of Bai People
Bai people believed in witchcraft initially, which still lingers in the remote area of Nujiang. During Tang dynasty (618-907), Buddhism was introduced. Fascinated by the doctrines and ideologies, the rulers of Nanzhao Kingdom promoted this religion to its extreme. Among the 22 kings, 10 became monks. Commoners of both gender occupied themselves with reading Buddhism poetry and sutra day and night. Dali became a land of Buddhism in no time. During Yuan and Ming, Daoism and Confucianism penetrated. The result is a cultural boom signified by the co-existence of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism. Meanwhile, nature worship, totem worship, hero worship also hold a space in the mind of Bai people, among which, Benzhu Worship is the most distinctive one.
Benzhu, also known as Wuzeng or Daobo, roughly means “the most revered protection God of native territory”. It is the protection god of their families and villages, who can bestow farmers with good harvest, scholars with academic achievement, artisans with peerless craftsmanship and businessmen with great fortune. Among the over 500 Benzhu gods, each has mythological or heroic story and character.
These secularized gods mainly consist of Buddha, kings, generals, heroes and even enemies. For instance, the Mighty Black God (God of Epidemic) of Tibetan Buddhism is entitled as Benzhu. Legend had it that Bai people lived so happily in this blessed land that even God felt jealousy. One day, the Mighty Black God was sent to Yunnan to spread epidemic. Intoxicated by the enticing scenery and warm-hearted people, he imbibed the poisonous juice, which scorched him black. To thank him, Bai people make him a Benzhu God. Wu Sangui, a notorious military general living in the Ming dynasty, brought much disaster to Yunnan and its dwellers. Rather than bear hatred, Bai people title him a Benzhu God also, and pacify him with offerings from time to time. Wishing for a happy present life, Bai people will erect at least one Benzhu monastery in their village. During the sacrifice day, those senior Bai people will gather there, beating the wooden fish and praying for good harvest, peace and prosperity. Benzhu Festival is one of the most important festival of Bai people.
An Ethnic Melting Pot
The builders of the Dongyuan compound, the wealthy Dong merchant family, were of the Bai ethnicity; yet, why did their family bear a Han name like Dong? The story is almost as old as the Bai ethnicity itself.
According to The Chronicles of Huayang, a written account of ancient southwestern China’s history, geography and people, written by the 4th-century historian Chang Qu, ancient Jianning County, the ancient Zhaotong region and ancient Yongchang County (which are all located in modern Yunnan Province) were inhabited by minorities, yet most of the inhabitants had Han names. In 225 AD (during the Three Kingdom’s Era 220–280 AD), Chancellor Zhuge Liang of the Shu Kingdom (221–263 AD) put down an armed rebellion in the kingdom’s south, in what history would come to call “Zhuge Liang’s Southern Campaign.” Following the Campaign, Zhuge Liang enforced a policy of “allocating minorities to big families of Han Chinese, leading to a wide scale adoption of Han names by minority ethnicities. Yet Zhuge Liang’s policy did not lead to a complete Han Sinification in the Yunnan region; instead, the blending of these two cultures led to the creation of an entirely new ethnicity: the Bai.
By the Tang Dynasty (618–907), people had once again shifted their gaze towards Yunnan, where they discovered the “Xi’er River Barbarians.” (Xi’er is a river in Yunnan that flows from Erhai Lake.) In the era after Zhuge Liang, the local people enjoyed a paradisiacal life and, although they retained some characteristics of Han culture, they developed into a civilization entirely distinct from that of China’s central plains, leading the people of the central plains to refer to them as “river barbarians.”
With the backing of the Tang Dynasty, the Yunnan region’s Nanzhao tribe conquered other surrounding tribes, and the river barbarians, to establish the Nanzhao Kingdom (798–937). In 937, the Bai overthrew Nanzhao and established the Dali Kingdom, with modern-day Xizhou at its center.
The Dong family was one of the pillars of the Dali Kingdom’s rule, so it was this “Great River Barbarian Family” that led to Xizhou’s inextricable link with the Bai people. Yet there were problems with the Dong family’s genealogy.
As historian Zhao Shiyu uncovered, the Late Qing-era genealogy of the Dong family of Xizhou includes a note that “the founder of the Dong family, Dong Jiu, was of Nanjing and moved to Tengchong (a county in Yunnan) during the final years of the Ming Hongwu Emperor’s reign.” Zhao Shiyu’s research indicates that Dong Jiu was actually a local bureaucrat in Yunnan during Hongwu’s reign (which lasted from 1368–1398) and that he assisted the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) in its Luchuan-Pingmian Wars aimed at pacifying Yunnan. Generations of Dong family members ceaselessly proclaimed their local, aboriginal identity in order to maintain their legitimacy as regional rulers.
Yet, in the wake of the Qing Dynasty’s reform for the “abolition of the local chieftain system,” which began in the mid-to-late stages of the Ming Dynasty and strove to abolish traditional chieftains who lead local minority ethnic groups. The court replaced the chieftains with officials dispatched by the central government; therefore, the Dong family lost its traditional claims to rule. After this, the family attempted to maintain its dominance over local governance through the imperial examination system and Dong Jiu’s ethnic identity was retroactively downplayed to the point where, by the end of the Qing Dynasty, he had become a “person from Nanjing.” The family had gone so far as to alter their geological history to claim that their ancestors had descended from Huan Longshi, an official in the court of the Shun Emperor, China’s mythical tribe leader in remote ancient times, to maintain the legitimacy of their identity.
When all was said and done, is the Dong family Han or Bai? In actuality, it makes no difference; the family is at once Han and Bai. Xizhou is a land where Han and Bai cultures are blended and, over the course of its history, the people of Xizhou have come to value cultural identity far more than ethnicity.
In Xizhou,if you want to spend your leisure time,don’t worry, you can find the the bars and clubs easily. Maybe you are not interesting in bar and clubs and do not want to watch performance,you can also go to tea house.That is a good choice.
1.Sandaocha in Yan’s House(严家三道茶)
Address: Yan’s Compound,Xizhou Town
“Sandaocha” is a traditional regional tea ceremony consisting of three unique tea flavors, and is an experience not to be missed in Yan’s compound. The host begins by presenting a bitter tea which stands for the hardships in life. Then, a sweet tea of sesame and walnut symbolic of happiness in life. Finally, a bitter, sweet, and spicy tea symbolic of pondering life.
2.May Bar（五月作坊）
Tel：18689011511
Address:Near Xilinyuan,Sifangjie Street,Xizhou Town
3.Xiangsheng Sifang Café (北相生咖啡馆)
Tel：0872-2475911
Address: Sifangjie Street,Xizhou Town
4.Pumen Wine Bar（朴门酒吧）
Tel：15887379651
Address:Taoyuan Wharf,Butterfly Spring,Xizhou Town
5.Diehaiyuehai Resort Hotel（蝶海月海度假酒店）
Address:Next toGongyu Cave,Taoyuan Village,Xizhou Town
A Glimpse of Cambridge of the Orient
In his book Notes of Trips in Yunnan (written in 1941), the famous Chinese writer Lao She (1899–1966) called Xizhou the “Cambridge of the Orient.” How did Xizhou earn this title? Let’s visit this little ancient town and get a glimpse of its stunning beauty.
Journeying north along the Dali–Lijiang Highway, the Cangshan Mountains filled the view on the west side of the road, while the east side was the mirror-like Erhai Lake. Between the green and blue tableau was a wisp of pure white: my first glimpse of Xizhou.
Xizhou has no city walls but it has gates. Entering through the west gate, one sees the structure of the Zhengyi Gate (the Gate of Righteousness), which is constructed in a pavilion style. Facing east from Zhengyi Gate, one sees a road which stretches onwards as far as the eye can see. Both sides are uniformly lined by more than a dozen white-walled courtyard homes with jet-black roofs, all facing east, as though the structures were constructed according to one master plan. Traditional logic holds that, having experienced centuries of wind and rain, the white walls should long ago have become mottled; yet, the walls here shine like new because any time the building facades are damaged, the owners quickly come to make repairs and the walls are frequently white-washed. Is this, then, what Lao She saw when he first set foot here, so long ago?
Time here seems fixed, unchanging. The residences lining the street are both ornate and orderly: all arranged in either the “three buildings, one screen wall” or “four houses, five patios” style. The so-called “three houses, one screen wall” is, obviously, comprised of three houses and one screen wall. The screen wall is a wall erected within the main gate of the complex for privacy. The screen is white and is also a unique architectural feature influenced by China’s fengshui theory. It surrounds the courtyard and also acts as the courtyard wall. The screen is inscribed with writing. The“four houses, five patios”consists of central courtyards and four patios, each similar to the Chinese character jing (井, which literally means a well water is drawn from), with the intersection of each patio forming a larger courtyard, creating four small patios and one central courtyard, for a total of five.
At the eastern end of Xizhou’s Shishang Street, there is a public square surrounded by shops, which is home to a large concentration on traders and merchants. In today’s era of tourism, such merchants are a common site, yet the town is home to a surprising number of old shops and one can readily see that the area has long been home to a developed commercial culture.
Not far from the public square, one can stay at the Dongyuan compound, constructed by the merchant Dong Wanchuan. The Dong clan has been in business since the Qing Era (1636–1912) and, by the time this building was constructed, they had already established themselves as a wealthy and powerful merchant family.
The Dong compound occupies an area of approximately twenty mu (15 mu is equal to 1 hectare), faces east, and consists of both a “three houses, one screen wall” structure together with a “four houses, five patios” structure. The courtyards within the compound are filled with rare and exotic flora and incorporate a Western style arch capable of handling automobile traffic. The timbers used to construct the structure are all superior woods such as toon and nanmu. The black-lacquered main gate is over 4 m tall. Each door weighs several hundred pounds and is comprised of a single slab of toon. The compound’s screen walls are approximately 10 m tall, displaying the wealth and power of its owner.
With its luxurious yet delicate architecture, bustling streets and warm inhabitants, it is no wonder that Lao She was moved to call this orderly little town the Cambridge of the Orient.
Shaxi Yunnan history and the Tea Horse Road
Ancient graves and early copper mines clearly show that Shaxi was a base for bronze smelting as far back as 400 BC, known in China as the Spring and Autumn period, and the Warring States period (770 BC – 221BC).
The Southern Silk Road, better known as as the Ancient Tea Horse Caravan Road predated its more famous northern counterpart by at least 300 years, The first written records of the route are from the Tang Dynasty (618-907), which was locally known as the Nanzhao Kingdom period (649-920), but trade had been taking place long before this time. From the hillside plantations of Simao and Xishuangbanna the muleteers brought pu’er tea; Burmese traders, often accompanied by Indian monks bought hides and animal bones, for use in in Chinese medicine. Salt, an essential commodity before the advent of refrigeration, came from Qiaohou, south of Shaxi, and from Yunlong across the mountains to the west, along with silver from Misha, and nearby Heqing. As well as felt, silk and precious stones came that most valuable of medicines, opium, perhaps Yunnan’s largest cash crop at the time. All of these and more were traded with Tibetans for items such as musk, rare fungi and exotic medicines, found in the frigid mountains to the north.
The main village of Sideng became an important staging post for the caravans, and the whole valley flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The market square became famous throughout the southwest, and attracted traders from a wide range of cultures that only enhanced the profitability of the Tea Horse Road. Hani from southern Yunnan brought tea and rich cloths. Naxi from Lijiang brought timber, Muslim Hui bought yak furs and horses. The wealth generated by all this trade is clearly evident in the ornate local architecture, with their imposing gate towers and spacious courtyards. At the center of all this, stands the Qing dynasty theater, directly across from the 400-year old temple, dedicated to as wide a range of faiths as the merchants and pilgrims that turned this remote village into a vibrant trading hub, which lasted well beyond the end of the Qing Dynasty (1614-1911).
The caravan routes finally died out around 60 years ago, when the newly formed People’s Liberation Army began its advance on western Tibet, and requisitioned every pack animal they could find. The centuries old trade routes came to an abrupt end by 1950, when the communists’ ban on private markets put the last nails in the coffin. The locals quickly reverted to agriculture and passed the last few decades in relative isolation.
More recently, the World Monument Fund added Shaxi’s market square to its Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites in 2001. By this time squatters had taken over much of the village, and many of the buildings had decayed to the point of collapse. In 2002, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETH) and the People’s Government of Jianchuan County jointly established the Shaxi Rehabilitation Project (SRP) to protect and revitalize the cultural and natural heritage of Sideng Village and the Shaxi Valley. With USD1.3 million in funding from the World Monument Fund they hired a Swiss conservation expert Jacques Feiner, who had previously made his name at Yemen’s old city of Sanaa, one of the earliest centers of population in human history. His approach has been to restore rather than rebuild, using traditional techniques and materials wherever possible. Apart from the restoring the temple and the stage, the entire market plaza was drained and relaid, which has led to a number of major awards, including a UNESCO Award of Distinction for cultural heritage preservation.
1.Allen`s Cafe,
Address: Sideng Square (South of the old theater stage in the town square)
2.Trail Cafe
Address:At the northeastern edge of the town square
3.Miss Mary Wine Bar（玛丽小姐吧）
Address: 46 Sideng Street Shaxi Ancient Town, Jianchuan County 671000, China
4.Laohuaishu Café（老槐树咖啡屋）
Address: Sideng Street Shaxi Ancient Town| opposite the Xingjiao Temple, Jianchuan County 671000, China
5.Qintai
Address: Sideng Street Shaxi Ancient Town | near the main square and , Jianchuan County 671000, China
6.Shibao Mountain Song Festival
Shibao Mountain Song Festival is a grand ethnic traditional festival known as the Valentine’s Day of northwestern Yunnan. It reflects the custom of Bai nationally intensively, symbolizes love and wisdom, and has taken shape based on the legacy of group marriage in ancient times. On the 27th to 29th day of the seventh lunar month, people from Jianchuan, Lijiang, Eryuan, Dali, Lanping and other places get together, play music and sing antiphonally. With the main content of improvisational antiphonal singing, Shibao Mountain Song Festival is a cradle and development base of Bai songs. Protecting the festival effectively will promote the development of Jianchuan’s tourism resources and the growthof tourism. Shibao Mountain Song Festival was listed as one of the national intangible heritage.
Shaxi Culture—the last Tea Horse Road market town
Years ago, tea growers and horse traders met in markets along Yunnan’s Tea-Horse Road, an old trade route also called the South Silk Road, between Xishuangbanna and Tibet. Today, you can travel the ancient route and find remnants of the caravan road in old market squares, patches of cobbled lane and still-thriving tea plantations.
Trace the ancient Tea-Horse Road by beginning where, in theory, it all starts: with the tea trees in southern Yunnan. Then move northwest along the old route until you reach Zhongdian, or Shangri-La, which is one of the last stops in China before the Tibet Autonomous Region and is nearly 10,000ft higher than Xishuangbanna. Most towns are populated by ethnic minorities who played individual roles in the tea-horse trade, such as growers and middlemen. Today, many of these minorities still dress in their traditional clothing and speak dialects far removed from Mandarin. Interacting with them is a highlight of any trip to Yunnan.
Here is a breakdown of some of the villages and sites along the way:
Shaxi
The climb continues to Shaxi, another major trading hub designated as a Unesco World Heritage site. Cobbled streets, old horse stalls and small courtyard guesthouses that were once used for muleteers are all being preserved in Shaxi as it prepares for tourism. It is one of the most intact and beautiful sites along the Tea-Horse Road, with its market square framed by a performance stage and powerful statues guarding a temple; the square is still used by locals in the evenings for traditional dancing.
Xishuangbanna
Xishuangbanna prefecture encompasses the subtropical lowlands of Yunnan. Its rolling hills are spotted with small Dai villages surrounded by acres and acres of tea. This is the land of Pu’er, a particularly favoured tea that is fermented and shaped into bricks or pancakes for easy transport by mule.
Dali
Dali Old City sits at 4,000ft, with vertical peaks rising behind it like a green screen. A major conduit market town on the route, Dali is the cradle of Bai civilization and you will notice their signature whitewashed buildings with flower-painted borders. This ethnic minority group acted as middlemen between tea growers from Xishuangbanna and horse traders from Tibet.
Lijiang
Traders rarely made the entire journey along the Tea-Horse Road, instead trading goods at markets along the way. Lijiang, also on the Unesco World Heritage List, was one such town. It is a stunning place if you can get past the theme park-feel and the crowds of tourists. But with its ancient canal system filled with rushing water from the snow-topped peaks in the distance, topped by arched stone and wood bridges, and reflecting moody red lanterns in the evening, Lijiang’s personality is difficult to resist.
Zhongdian/Shangri-La
What is still locally known as Zhongdian (or, in Tibetan, Gyeltang) was officially changed to Shangri-La in 2001. At nearly 10,000ft in elevation, Zhongdian swirls with the smell of wood and coal smoke permeating its cold, dry air. Here, ruddy-faced Tibetans stand out from the Han Chinese, as does their architecture: square, three-storey homes with bright scrollwork trimming them. Tea is mixed with yak butter for a high-calorie drink in this shivery climate.
Just outside the old city is the Songzanlin Monastery, a golden, multi-storied complex where Tibetan Buddhist monks make clockwise circles outside, and juniper smoke and Tibetan prayer flags burst against the blue sky.
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Shaxi Culture—the last Tea Horse Road market town Years ago, tea growers and horse traders met in markets along Yunnan’s Tea-Horse Road, an old trade route also called the...
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