Either the Body or the Soul Is Always on the Road – My Travelogue (Part 3)
You've seen many beautiful sights, you've seen many beautiful girls, you've lost yourself in every brief moment on the map. You've tasted the night of Paris, you've stepped on the snow-covered Beijing. You've memorized every line of your favorite truths from the books, yet you can't say why you love me, you can't say which expression of mine you admire, you can't say on what occasion I once moved your heart, you can't say the reason for leaving. – Cheer Chen, 'The Meaning of Travel'
Either the body or the soul is always on the road. Actually, there's a first half of the saying: Either read or travel. It comes from a novel, you can go read it. In fact, there's a similar line in 'Roman Holiday': 'You can either travel or read, but either your body or soul must be on the way.' We in the Celestial Empire also have a saying: Read ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles.
The meaning of travel is like life. From the moment life becomes 'life', one experiences the process. When you go through countless processes (let's call it living), it yields countless outcomes, until the moment life is no longer 'life'. Perhaps there is no real end, just as the meaning of travel has no endpoint. What you see is all the scenery along the journey, perhaps.
Day 5 – Get Yourself Drunk, Give Others a Chance
When you come to Lijiang, you must stay in a characteristic youth hostel guesthouse. We chose a guesthouse near the South Gate of the ancient town, the Little Pony Crosses the River Youth Hostel. The boss was a kind big sister who specifically warned us not to buy tourist souvenirs casually and to consult her before buying. The guesthouse was quite cozy.
Due to heavy rain the day before, we ended up not booking the trip to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, and changed to the Ancient Tea Horse Road and Lashihai, 100 yuan per person. On the Tea Horse Road we experienced horseback riding, but the horses only ambled, there was no galloping. It's said that feeling can only be had on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia. Passing a rest stop, someone was selling corn on the cob, 5 yuan each. Seeing how tired the horse was, I still bought one for it. Come, after eating our fill, let's take a selfie...
Following the so-called Tea Horse Road, we climbed up the hill and saw the Lashihai Wetland. Actually, it was quite bumpy. We rode for about an hour before returning to the starting point. Let me tell you, if you don't have much flesh on your butt, it'll feel sore from the bumps. Today's group tour was fine, no shopping stops. After a short rest, they sent us to canoe on the wetland. With us were two senior students from Guangdong, extremely excited. I don't get how two guys traveling together can be so happy.
The one in red was the boat owner, a cheerful guy. The whole boat chatted happily, and everyone had different accents – Sichuan Mandarin, Yunnan Mandarin, Cantonese Mandarin. Along the way were horse ranches, surrounded by large orchards. Right now in Lijiang, apples and snow peaches are in season. After the activities, the tour ended. The driver said he could drop us at Shuhe Ancient Town; how nice, so we headed straight there to stroll around.
This brand of flower cakes was really delicious, not expensive and good value. On the right is a pretty girl – if you want to see a front view, drop me a private message. 😊 Shuhe Ancient Town is not big, not as noisy as Dayan Ancient Town, and has a vibe like a peaceful Jiangnan water town. There are many chic coffee shops. I originally planned to soak up the sun and enjoy the view of pretty girls here, but we had to rush back to Dayan Ancient Town before five for other matters. From Shuhe Ancient Town, there are blue minivans that go to the North Gate of Dayan Ancient Town, where the big waterwheel is, 5 yuan per person. You can ignore any other price.
I originally wanted to hang a few plaques, but so many were already hanging there that I couldn't even find a spot. This is where they filmed the show 'Go Fighting!' The landmark of Dayan Ancient Town in Lijiang, the big waterwheel. They were decorating for National Day, the peak tourist season is coming soon.
We took a taxi to Zhongyi Market near the South Gate. It turned out Uncle Mei, the boss, had opened a restaurant in the old town, and we got a free dinner. Uncle Zhou's restaurant was cozy and unique, and importantly, the cuisine was Sichuan style. While waiting for the food, he gave us a snow peach, super huge! (Please ignore my sun-tanned face) The dishes arrived. Uncle Zhou said since it was our first visit, he specially bought some Yunnan mushrooms for us to taste. He casually prepared some matsutake mushrooms and porcini. Hearing 'matsutake', my mouth watered. I won't admit that I ended up drinking eight bowls of matsutake chicken soup. He also specially prepared a sashimi from a Lijiang freshwater salmon. Too shy to take photos at the dinner table, I just sneaked one shot. Make do with this one; next time you go to Lijiang, be sure to give it a try. This was the best and most satisfying meal I've had on all these days of travel.
After eating, Uncle Zhou said, 'When in Lijiang, you must visit a bar and sit for a while, right?' We nodded. He continued, 'My bar is right by Sifang Square, come and have a few drinks.' What?! He even has a bar and free drinks again! Walking over, it was all hustle and bustle, so lively. When we arrived at Sifang Square, Uncle Zhou's bar was right next to the memorial archway on the second floor, called 'Castle in the Sky'. The bar wasn't crowded yet, so we decided to go out and stroll along the bar street. The bar street was truly lively, packed with people. Just then, I ran into our 'Monkey King' bar-crawling. 'Pray tell, where is the road?' And sure enough, there was our 'Pigsy', utterly entranced by the hot dancers on stage. Do you even let Master know you're bar-hopping? Are we still getting the scriptures? The ancient town also has food and fun.
Back at the bar, it started filling up. Uncle Zhou brought out the drinks right away and said, 'Let's get it on!' After a few rounds of drinks, I began to feel light-headed. From then on, my memory is a bit hazy. I mustered up the courage to go up and sing, even playing a hand drum to keep the beat myself. Starting from the left, the first one I've forgotten; the second, a hand drum player and backing vocal, a Chongqing lad; the third, the band's lead singer; the fourth, me, no idea when I barged in; the fifth, a lead singer of Yi ethnicity from Yunnan; and the sixth, a Yi brother.
As promised, get yourself drunk to give others a chance!!! Then I had no idea how much I drank up there. They said they saw me light up a cigarette; I guess I was high. Yeah, I reveled three songs; next time I get high, I’ll show you the video. After 11 p.m., bars on the street are not allowed to play DJ music, and it suddenly quieted down a lot. I knew I was totally gone, so I had to hurry back to the guesthouse; otherwise, no one would be able to take me back. Along the way, many people were still playing guitars and hand drums and singing on the street. It suddenly felt like I'd love to have this kind of life forever.
Today's expenses: breakfast 30 + Lashihai day tour 300 + horse gear 45 + Shuhe to Zhongyi Market 30 + old town snacks 30 + old town back to guesthouse + last night's dinner 148, last night's taxi 15. Total 608.6.
Day 6 – Heading Home
Woke up naturally, and had arranged with Uncle Zhou's friend to take us to the airport at 11 a.m. Haha, saved on expenses again. Asked the guesthouse sister where to buy snow peaches. The peaches were nice, just too big to carry easily. Then we took a taxi to Zhongyi Market, each bringing a box of peaches. Although everyone felt they hadn't had enough fun in Lijiang, a little regret just leaves a reason to come back and make up for it next time.
Today's spending: Lijiang taxi 30 + Yibin airport back to Gaoxian 100 + flight ticket 1584. Overall, excluding our personal purchases, the per-person cost was around 2,300 yuan, quite affordable.
Postscript: I remember a quote from a book: 'Now, I don't envy others for eating better, dressing better, or having better things. I don't envy others for having big houses, fancy cars, or beautiful women. I don't even envy those who have traveled to faraway places and seen rare, magnificent sunsets. Walking on the road where city meets countryside, in a noisy market, I don't feel anything is amiss. Having seen so many sights, met so many interesting and boring people, my heart is well fed—how could I envy others?' This is probably the greatest meaning of travel or walking: envy no one, not even immortals, walk the path you want to walk, befriend the people you like, capture the scenery you find beautiful, and see the goodness in the world. Whether you want it or not, your body and soul will always be on the road.
