Follow me to a trip to China

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I get this out of my closet when I had too much to drink or eat the night before. It makes me feel better, but it's definitely an acquired taste .
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Your Pu'er tea looks nice I regret to say that my knowledge about tea is below average Chinese.

Do you think it is because of politics ? Or developing more national tourism ?

Also, I guess if you travel to China for the first time as a foreigner, it is so big and so diverse, and there are so many beautiful and interesting places, that you would have to pick three or four locations to see, unless you could stay there for several months !

In France there used to be tours visiting chinese cultural minorities sites, I'm not sure if they still exist.

I think it is largely due to politics. China is not in good relationship with many European countries or US, so these countries will advise their citizens not go there. According to some BBC article, the paying system that completely uses Alipay or Wechat is also deterring foreign tourists. International flight is another issue. I don't know much about flights to Europe, but flights between US and China is only 1/4 of the ones from 2019.

is that mysterious Black Pu...Erh Beengcha... known by any another name? More importantly, how does it work!?

Pu'er, sometimes spelled as Pu'erh, is what Chinese call "black tea". Black tea in English is translated to "red tea" in Chinese.

Beengcha appears to be a literal translation from Chinese pronunciation. "Beeng" means pie because these tea leaves are stuck together in a big pie shape. "cha" means tea.

 

[notabitail]

I think it is largely due to politics. China is not in good relationship with many European countries or US, so these countries will advise their citizens not go there. According to some BBC article, the paying system that completely uses Alipay or Wechat is also deterring foreign tourists. International flight is another issue. I don't know much about flights to Europe, but flights between US and China is only 1/4 of the ones from 2019.

Do you still use cash over there, or have you completely switched to the alipaywechat this time?

 

[lightm]

Do you still use cash over there, or have you completely switched to the alipaywechat this time?

You technically can. People give you a stink eye. I have used cash twice. If you don't need change, then you are probably OK. If you need change, they often tell you that they don't have change and you are stuck... Occasionally business have change. Many big stores, especially stores in a shopping mall, all take credit cards.

 

[notabitail]

You technically can. People give you a stink eye. I have used cash twice. If you don't need change, then you are probably OK. If you need change, they often tell you that they don't have change and you are stuck... Occasionally business have change. Many big stores, especially stores in a shopping mall, all take credit cards.

That's sad.

 

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May 23rd, Thursday, heading to Dali

Dali is 174km (108 miles) south of Lijiang. It is built around a beautiful lake called Erhai. Thursday and Friday's tour is driving around this lake.

This is in a town in Dali called Shuanglang. It is a beautiful town by the lake. In this photo local people, who belongs to ethnic minority "Bai", are playing cards. They are dressed differently.

Then we got to this recently built site, called "Santorini by the sea". It appears to be trying to copy Santorini of Greek. It is very nice.

In this picture below, you can see that Chinese people need to be completely covered/protected from the sun, mostly because Chinese women want to have pale skin. Tanning is a very strange idea.

I thought this is a great photo showcase the lake.

Late afternoon, we got to the actual city of Dali. Dali old town is not as old.

This gate was rebuilt in 1987. Before 1253, Dali was not part of China. It is its own tiny country, so below used to be where the capital was located.

If you look at the right end of the photo above, you can see that there is some writing and painting on building wall, in gray. This is typical of the local architecture of "Bai" ethnic people.

 

[Perris]

It is built around a beautiful lake called Erhai.

It does look beautiful, and large!

"Santorini by the sea"

That's astonishing! Is it popular with Chinese tourists?

Before 1253, Dali was not part of China.

That's about the same time that England conquered Wales (with a formal incorporation much later in the mid 1500s) so I completely get how the people can still self identify as a different ethnic group with its own culture and history; did China grow by such a process but on a much bigger scale and duration?

its own tiny country

a city state, or larger than that?

"Bai" ethnic people

do they have their own language?

 

[lightm]

It does look beautiful, and large!

That's astonishing! Is it popular with Chinese tourists?

Yes it is popular. People often go there if they visit Dali. If you want to have the best photo, you need to spend money in a coffee shop, restaurants, or hotels. These business places have the best perspectives for photos.

That's about the same time that England conquered Wales (with a formal incorporation much later in the mid 1500s) so I completely get how the people can still self identify as a different ethnic group with its own culture and history; did China grow by such a process but on a much bigger scale and duration?

You are asking really good questions here. I honestly don't know a whole lot either. I think a quick answer is yes. Like many countries, the land of China grew and shrunk throughout.
It is generally considered that China, as a unified country, started in BC221 (The Qin Dynasty. Before that, it was more like a structure of EU). At that time, China probably has 1/2 or 1/3 of the land it has now. It definitely does not include Tibet, Xinjiang, inner Mongolia. My hometown seems to be on the southern border.

a city state, or larger than that?

After some research, the Dali Kingdom was bigger than I thought. I can't find its land area, but it covers present-day Yunnan Province, Guizhou Province, southwestern Sichuan Province, and northern Burma, Laos and Vietnam.

Speaking of this, one famous food in Yunnan is very similar to Pho.

do they have their own language?

Yes they do, at least in spoken. It is completely not understandable to me.

 

[Perris]

thanks! that's really interesting.

 

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May 24th Friday, car ride from Dali back to Lijiang.

We visited the landmark of Dali: Three pagodas. It is very grand. I love it. The main pagoda was built during 800s, so it has been standing for more than 1000 years. It has withstand several earthquakes on record.

The two other pagodas were built about 100 years later.

Their architecture and style is very unique.
The main pagoda is climbable, but not open to tourists.

The three pagodas, together with its Chong Sheng Temple, was the royal temple of Dali Kingdom, a very devout Buddhism country. This temple was built at the same time of the pagoda (this is often the case). The temple was destroyed, and what we see today was rebuilt in 2005.

As you see above, there are many buildings for one temple, hosting different buddhas. This one below is the main building.

After the three pagodas, we visited another old town, called XiZhou. It is still nice, but less impressive.

A symphony is going on.

Back to Lijiang

I was glad that I got to see the night life of Lijiang old town. It was completely packed with people. Hard to walk, and this is May we are talking about, meaning non-peak season. All schools, from elementary school to universities in China have summer break from July 1st to Sep 1st. These two months are peak season.

So many people in the old town square. It is not bad to be surrounded by so many people occasionally.

And this is the "bar street". Very lively. Dancing, drinking, electronic music, rap, ... I went to bed early, like an old hen.

 

[Perris]

wow! just wow! this trip is full of surprises! thanks for inviting us along