Northwest Yunnan Journey: A Trip through Paintings, a Trip through Dreams — Recalling the Early Spring 2017 Yunnan Journey

In early February 2017, just after the Spring Festival, Ah Li flew from Wuhan to Yunnan and joined an eight-day group tour of Northwest Yunnan, visiting Lijiang, Shangri-La, and Lugu Lake. Throughout the journey, there were no scammy shopping stops, no unpalatable group meals, no rushed itinerary—only dreamlike, surreal scenery, delicious flavors that lingered, and plenty of free time. Ah Li’s mood soared and her appetite bloomed. By the time she returned home, her cheeks had visibly plumped up. She had wanted to write down the wonders of the trip, but who could have guessed that immediately afterward she’d be so busy day after day, weighed down by mundane affairs, without a moment to jot down a single word? The plumpness in her cheeks gradually faded, and the lines began to show again.

Time flies. In the blink of an eye, Wuhan entered its long, scorching furnace-like season. Ah Li ran the bedroom air conditioner at night and the living room air conditioner during the day—around the clock. Yet the brutal heat was still unbearable! One day she casually opened the photo album from her Northwest Yunnan trip and saw those snow mountains, that frozen lake, the down jackets, the radiant smiling faces. Ah Li felt a cool breeze rise gently in her heart. Those aesthetically exquisite images made her feel that the Northwest Yunnan trip months ago was truly a journey through paintings! Compared with her current life, she also wondered if it had been a journey through dreams!

If it was a journey through paintings, Ah Li is now willing to step back into those paintings; if it was a journey through dreams, she would happily roam in that dream again!

So let Ah Li, following her Northwest Yunnan photo album, journey through those paintings once more! Roam through that dream once more!

First, let Ah Li dream her way back to Lijiang! Back to the Old Town of Lijiang!

The World Heritage Site of Lijiang Old Town is built against mountains and along waterways. It is one of China’s famous historical and cultural cities, composed of three parts: Dayan Old Town, Shuhe Folk Residence Complex, and Baisha Folk Residence Complex. Actually, the travel agency’s sightseeing itinerary did not include Lijiang Old Town. But we stayed the longest in Lijiang, spending four nights—all at a hotel right beside the Old Town. That’s because Lijiang was our assembly and dispersal point. We set out from Lijiang to Shangri-La, stayed two nights and then returned; later we set out from Lijiang to Lugu Lake, stayed two nights and returned. We were like kites flown from Lijiang; no matter how far we flew, in the end we always came back.

After returning from Shangri-La and Lugu Lake, we visited Dayan Old Town three times, Shuhe Ancient Town twice, and Baisha Ancient Town once.

The first time to Dayan Old Town was at dusk, because by then the 80-yuan old town preservation fee was no longer required, so the city was packed with people, bustling and lively. We went with the flow and soaked in the town’s immense charm, and conveniently enjoyed dinner inside. On the second visit, we had already paid the preservation fee while touring Black Dragon Pool Park, so in the afternoon when the sun was just right, we strode swaggeringly through the main gate, hoping staff would stop us to check our tickets. Who knew they wouldn’t even glance at us? We felt a bit deflated—our contribution to the old town’s preservation went unnoticed. We headed straight to the central square, watched the afternoon cultural performances, and sampled the freshly made, warm flower cakes sold all around. The third visit was on our last morning in Lijiang. The sun hadn’t come out yet. After breakfast, we entered the Old Town from the direction of Lion Hill. Someone was already guarding the entrance. My companion quickly pulled out the tickets from her bag, thinking she finally had a chance to use them—she had carried our several tickets everywhere for days, ready for any sudden check. Too bad the guards waved their hands, saying: “It’s not office hours yet, no ticket checks!” My companion’s painstaking effort was in vain! The Old Town was extraordinarily quiet at that hour, the streets empty. It silently watched us linger on the flagstone paths, on the little bridges, beside the water channels, and among all kinds of enchanting flowers. After leaving the Old Town, we returned to the hotel, grabbed our luggage, and headed straight to the airport, ending our Northwest Yunnan journey.

Shuhe Ancient Town is very large. Our first visit was to its eastern area, which is basically a commercial zone, similar to the Daughter City in Enshi that Ah Li once visited, or Xibu Street in Zhangjiajie. Feeling something was off, we asked locals and learned that the essence of Shuhe Ancient Town lies in the western area. Before leaving Lijiang, we went again and finally appreciated its superb scenery. The Jiuding Dragon Pond was crystal clear; the Three-Eyed Well showcased the wisdom of the Naxi people; the water channel running down the middle of the flagstone road babbled along, reflecting blue sky and white clouds. All of this made us reluctant to leave.

Baisha Ancient Town seemed very close to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. In several of Ah Li’s photos, the snow mountain tenderly served as the backdrop. The exquisitely carved wooden houses, the murmuring water in front of the houses, and the elderly Naxi grandmothers dressed in traditional ethnic clothing—all were eye-catching subjects.

Lijiang Old Town made Ah Li nostalgic, but she is even more attached to Shangri-La, to Lugu Lake. Ah Li wishes to remain lost in the dreams of Shangri-La and Lugu Lake, never to wake!

Shangri-La is the capital of Yunnan’s Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Originally named Zhongdian, it was renamed because its scenery resembles the earthly paradise “Shangri-La” in James Hilton’s novel Lost Horizon. After visiting Tiger Leaping Gorge, Yila Grassland, Pudacuo National Park, Moonlight Ancient Town, and Songzanlin Monastery, Ah Li fully agrees with the renaming—it truly is a paradise on earth!

The raging Jinsha River, trapped between Haba Snow Mountain and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in Tiger Leaping Gorge—does anything like that exist in the human world?

In front of the restaurant where Ah Li had lunch in Tiger Leaping Gorge town, a persimmon tree without a single leaf yet laden with countless gleaming golden fruits pierced the sky—does anything like that exist in the human world?

On the boundless Yila Grassland, cattle, horses, sheep, donkeys living carefree together with barley racks, white Tibetan houses, yellow meadows, and blue skies—does anything like that exist in the human world?

The deep blue lake water in Pudacuo National Park, the crystal-clear ice sparkling along the shore, the countless intact dead tree roots scattered by the lake with snowflake-like patterns—does anything like that exist in the human world?

The enormous golden prayer wheel standing on the hill in Moonlight Ancient Town, requiring dozens of people to push together to turn it—does anything like that exist in the human world?

Songzanlin Monastery, resembling the Potala Palace, built into the mountain, majestic and grand. By the sacred lake before it, ducks, geese, chickens, and pigs live together in harmony and affection—does anything like that exist in the human world?

Shangri-La, an earthly paradise, lives up to its name!

And Lugu Lake, renowned as the Kingdom of Women in the East, lies at the junction of Yunnan and Sichuan in the northwest. We stayed for over two days in Luoshui Village by the lake. Ah Li didn’t feel much mystery here: both men and women in the village were working; the evening bonfire party held for tourists was hosted by an elder man, and the dancing group was half young men, half young women. What Ah Li felt was unspeakably wonderful scenery: Lugu Lake was like a huge, flawless piece of green jade fallen from the sky; Goddess Gemu Mountain reposed quietly on the northern shore, guarding its people; countless black wild ducks and white seagulls frolicked in the lake, while brightly colored pig-trough boats full of visitors carved ripples across the water surface. The wooden Walking Marriage Bridge on the Grass Sea, where Ah Xia (lovers) used to stroll during trysts in times past, is now bustling with people and hailed as the “First Love Magpie Bridge under Heaven.” In Wakuwa Bay, the Libai Lover’s Beach where Goddess Gemu and God Houlong Male met on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month in ancient times is now a rendezvous spot for couples and non-couples alike every day.

What Ah Li cannot easily forget is that the Mosuo people’s houses are built of stacked logs, and outside the main room’s door, an entire air-dried cured pig is enshrined.

What Ah Li can even less forget is that, on a morning at the Lugu Lake viewing platform, a little brother and sister in ethnic attire hawked apples, sunflower seeds, and other things to tourists. The younger brother must have gotten two candies; he ate one himself, then shared one with his sister. With candy in their mouths, they went on hawking, two white streaks from their noses darting in and out. Our group’s beautiful guide lady unhesitatingly pulled out ten yuan and gave it to the sister, without taking the bag of food, telling them to eat it, and pulled out a tissue to wipe the girl’s nose clean. When she was about to wipe the little brother’s runny nose, that young fellow had already dealt with those two white streaks with his hand!

Is that all Ah Li finds hard to forget? Every day, every moment, every place of the Northwest Yunnan trip is unforgettable! Yet, no matter how beautiful, how wonderful, how magical the dream is, there must be a time to wake! Besides, Wuhan’s sweltering heat constantly reminds Ah Li: Don’t forget me! Don’t forget me! Don’t forget me!

Very well, Ah Li will now close the photo album of her early February 2017 Northwest Yunnan trip. She will step out of the journey through paintings. She will wake from the journey through dreams.

Starting tomorrow, Ah Li will go out and face Wuhan’s brutal heat head-on. Starting tomorrow, Ah Li will return to a busy, worldly life. Starting tomorrow, Ah Li will begin looking forward to the next journey through paintings, through dreams, in some other place.

August 24, 2017