Strolling through a 750-year-old Naxi village, we peeked into a courtyard where sheaves of corn (maize) were hanging out to dry.
We were invited to enter the kitchen of a traditional Naxi home to meet the family.
The Naxi people descend from Tibetan nomads and have strong matriarchal families. Many women still run the show and also seem to perform much of the hard labor.
The popular trek through Tiger Leaping Gorge passes along the lower banks of the mighty Yangtze River, providing magnificent views to hikers as the muddy river surges through China's deepest gorge. I had dreamed of taking this trek for months. The day we arrived, however, I was still ill with bronchitis. It was extremely hot and humid, and throngs of Chinese crowded the path to hike the 6.6 kilometer trek. I decided I would hike one way but catch a sedan chair at the end of the trail rather than trying to make it on foot in both directions. With this working plan in mind, I headed off confidently in the hot sun. Soon I realized I was tiring more rapidly than I had predicted and had to pause frequently to catch my breath. Coming around each bend of the crowded path and emerging out of dank dark tunnels, I found myself thinking of the kids' eternal lament: "Are we there yet?"
The river seemed to flow slowly in some places, but you could hear the roar ahead as it rushed through the narrow gorge.
Relieved at finally reaching the trail end, I summoned just enough stamina to make it almost to the bottom of the lookout point so I could catch the dramatic view of the water rushing through the gorge.
I waited in vain for awhile at the designated pick-up spot to catch the crucial sedan chair ride back. No luck! Reluctantly, I decided I'd have to start the long hike back on foot. This was probably the most painful, though not the longest hike I have ever taken--because I was ill. Stopping often to catch my breath, I hiked about two thirds of the way back along the now endless trail. I don't know which was more painful, my aching knees or my labored breathing! But no help was in sight (and the group was waiting for me at the end of the trail) so I struggled on. Just when I felt my strength about to give out, suddenly an empty sedan chair popped into view. The runner was headed straight toward me. Stepping boldly in front of him, I halted him and gestured (as beseechingly as I could without speaking the language), please, can you turn around and take me back? The sedan chair runner, a slight young man who looked to weigh no more than 95 pounds, obviously saw my predicament. He could also see the 50 yuan note I waved in front of his face! (That's how much the entire trip normally cost.) Without hesitation, I jumped aboard and reclined, exhausted, in the cushioned chair as my driver ran effortlessly back through the crowds. I've never been so eager to pay for a ride in my life! But as least I had realized my dream of hiking (almost all the way) through China's famous Tiger Leaping Gorge.
Situated at 9600 feet elevation on a high plateau of the Himalayan Mountains, Zongdian was renamed Shangri-La a few years ago. The capital of the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Region in China, the village is touted to be the site of the mythical lost kingdom made famous by James Hilton in his 1933 novel, "Lost Horizon." It is inhabited primarily by Tibetans. A few miles out of town, Songzanlin, an enormous Tibetan monastery complex on a mountaintop, houses several hundred monks. It was built by the fifth Dalai Lama four hundred years ago.
To visit the monastery you must climb 200 steps to the top of the mountain. I didn't feel like it that day but many others did.
Wandering through back alleys lined with crumbling abandoned houses, I could see they were doomed for remodeling. Construction is taking place everywhere in this Tibetan region, and this entire village is slated for modernization as part of China's current economic agenda to expand tourism.
In the monastery village I came across a group of future monks relaxing in front of their seminary.
The schoolboys didn't mind having their picture taken.
[Go to Shangri-La Part Four]
