11/27/11
For my Chinese Independent Student Travel, Michelle and I chose the beautiful city of Lijiang. I got my first experience of an overnight sleeper train! It’s crazy how tall those things are. On the way there, Michelle and I both had bottom bunks. The bunks above us were empty, so we had the whole compartment to ourselves. Of course, there wasn’t a door, so I still had to sleep with my purse as a pillow. We fell asleep watching Mean Girls on the laptop, and before I knew it the ten hours were up and we had arrived. The bedclothes were clean; therefore I had quite a pleasant time. On the way back we weren’t so lucky. We both had top bunks, and the couple beneath us had a thousand suitcases and a six-month-old baby. Both times we were the only foreigners we could see on these massive trains.
We spent all of our time exploring the old city of Lijiang. The city is set up like a Labyrinth, and we could wander for hours. The streets were cobblestones, and the buildings were all original (on the outsides) and stunning with red lanterns. Different sections of the maze contained different types of stores. There were fancy jade shops, touristy trinket shops, and authentic Naxi (the native Chinese minority inhabitants of Lijiang) product shops. In other areas there were insane Chinese only (I’ve decided) markets. Imagine crates upon crates containing thousands of chickens, geese, ducks, pigeons, rabbits, and even a few dogs. Pigs and sheep were hanging upside-down being skinned. And blood, everywhere. The crates were completely inhumane, and the stench horrible, but hey, how many people can say they’ve seen that? Besides the shops and markets, we spent the rest of our time teahouse hopping (for reading purposes,) and tasting the local cuisine.
Once again, I could talk about the food for hours. Quail eggs on a stick, delicious. Globby green and purple blobs with no taste except sticky, not so much. Yak yogurt in glass jars with wax paper lids, that you drink with a straw, marvelous. Walnut shaped cakes with walnut and sugar centers, made fresh on an old-fashioned batter/mold machines, even better. And for the grand finale: bugs on a stick. It wasn’t the taste of the grasshoppers that bothered me; they had been cooked with a nice spice. The charcoal texture wasn’t even so bad, just annoying. It was seeing the whole grasshopper there in front of me that was so disconcerting. I got down two.
And of course, like in most tourist traps, the main attraction was the native group exploiting their culture. It was just like that day in Los Naranjos when all of the Tsa’chilla got all dressed up for the Swiss tour group. In the town center Naxi (pronounced Nahshee) women in traditional dress were leading the tourist in a dance. A couple of yards away the men were posed on horses for pictures. Although I’m pretty sure just as many people were taking pictures of us white girls as of the Naxi. I may sound high and mighty about tourists, so I must admit how much of a sucker I was for those old-fashioned sewing machines making tiny leather shoes.
In Lijiang I became very aware of how young I am. On the sleeper trains, in the hostel, on the streets, the closest people to Michelle’s and my age were with their parents. Last year I could never have imagined myself doing such things with only another teenager.
Love,
Katherine
P.S. If you’re ever in Lijiang, stay at the Panba Hostel. Michelle and I had our own spotlessly clean room, our own bathroom with hot water, and Wi-Fi! For only $10 an night per person!
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