Chengdu to Lijiang - via Chengdu...
Anyone who recalls our journey from Song Pan to Chengdu will recall the fun we had making the 400km journey by bus. So it was with some relief, then, that we looked forward to travelling on to Lijiang borne on the wings of a dove, courtesy of an Airbus 319 operated by Tibet Airways. Qualms about contribution to climate change aside, this was to be a flight of barely 90 minutes, pick up from our hotel at a very civilised 1240pm, flight at 3.45 pm, touch down in Chengdu at 5.20, tucked up in our hotel in plenty of time for tea, lovely. At first everything runs like clockwork - running fast, indeed, because a little way into the flight the on-board info is telling us we're due to land a little before 5, twenty minutes early. Sure enough, before long there is the town of Lijiang, down there smiling up at us through clear skies. Splendid. And then...we go on a bit, and then a bit more, and after a while it becomes clear the plane is circling. Now we've passed 5.00 but still not 5.20, so maybe that's it - wait your turn until its time to land. But no - come an announcement on the PA it grows obvious that something is wrong, as in, not going to be easy to put right wrong. We engage with the stewardess - neither her english nor Sian's mandarin are really good enough to get into the niceties of the issue, but it would appear to be a weather-related problem, something to do with rain, even though there's been precious evidence of any of that. We circle some more, no more news, no one on the plane really seemed to know what the problem was, or indeed if there actually was a problem at all. Then the aircraft info screens light up again, once more showing the aircraft closing in on its destination. Hurrah - just for a second, and then we realise. You are all probably ahead of us by now, but anyway - yes, instead of Lijiang we are now heading back once more to Chengdu.
We touch down at 6.00 - an hour and some 500km away from where should already have landed in Lijiang. And then we wait. Anyone familiar with being caught on an aircraft that either has to turn back or for some reason can't take off will know the drill. No one is able to go anywhere until a definite decision is made to either continue or cancel the flight, at which point the bags are off-loaded. The last thing the airline wants are passengers wandering off to get lost inside the terminal while their luggage is still on the plane. Fortunately the wait is not all that long. In just over the hour we get the good news - we will go to the ball after all, Lijiang here we come. There's a bit of tension around the flight - especially that will-we-won't-we phase as the seatbelt signs are switched back on and the plane begins its descent, but eventually we do indeed taxi to a halt on the runway, Lijiang airport. Just after 8.30 in the evening - could have been worse. Stepping off the plane we couldn't help noticing the complete absence of anything that looked like rain, but, whatever...Have to say the vast majority of our passengers bore it all with stoical good humour. Get the feeling that when it comes to travel, the chinese are no strangers to the gentle arts of waiting...
Lijiang, then - situated in Yunnan Province, which borders Tibet though where we are now is not in the Tibetan region itself. Much of Lijiang (designated a UNESCO World Heritage sight) has been either rebuilt or restored after an earthquake in 1996 that destroyed much of the original town. First thing to say about the current incarnation is, its a beautiful little place - and doesn't it know it. Hundreds of shops throng the cobbled streets that radiate out from the central square, each one packed with everything ever designed to prise open the tourist wallet. Thirty years previous when Sian was a brief visitor here Lijiang was relative backwater, with just two places offering accommodation to visitors. Now there are around 4000, hosting 190.000 beds. And, in the height of the season, even that is apparently not enough. If that all sounds rather ghastly it has to be said that wandering the old towns largely pedestrianised walkways, criss-crossing over numerous waterways is still a very pleasant experience, perfect for whiling away a fair bit of time doing not very much. On the first of our two days here with have a guide - one of the local Naxi people - to show us around, and he walks through the old town to where, on one side, there is a vast open market - for the locals, mostly, rather than the tourists - selling everything under the sun including a huge range of fruit, veg, roots, herbs and spices - everything you'd ever think of and quite a bit you wouldn't as well. Top market tip though - on a warm day, give the meat section a fairly generous berth... Wandering later in the day came across a micro-brewery but sad to say, did not sample. Chinese beer on the whole has been a bit of a disappointment - as before mentioned, rather weak and watery everywhere we have been.
Outside the old town, a pleasant, tidy little new town area featuring a big underground shopping mall originally funded by central Government yuan as an earthquake shelter, and of course, Chairman Mao. There (in the town, not the the shelter) we pick up the bicycles that will be our transport for the rest of the day, taking us to the neighbouring Naxi village of Baisha, once the capital of the Naxi Kingdom, now a small place of some few thousand souls, home to some elaborate silk embroiderers. Cycling in China not something I'd really had on the list before, but to be honest, even where there are no cycle lanes (and there are, plenty) the other traffic moves reasonably sedately, and steers comfortably wide of you as you wobble along. That said, the silent electric scooters that are also entitled to use cycle lanes are a bit of a hazard to shipping, and the general - well, lets call it fluidity - of how road traffic rules are interpreted still makes travelling the roads on two wheels something to be approached with caution...
We touch down at 6.00 - an hour and some 500km away from where should already have landed in Lijiang. And then we wait. Anyone familiar with being caught on an aircraft that either has to turn back or for some reason can't take off will know the drill. No one is able to go anywhere until a definite decision is made to either continue or cancel the flight, at which point the bags are off-loaded. The last thing the airline wants are passengers wandering off to get lost inside the terminal while their luggage is still on the plane. Fortunately the wait is not all that long. In just over the hour we get the good news - we will go to the ball after all, Lijiang here we come. There's a bit of tension around the flight - especially that will-we-won't-we phase as the seatbelt signs are switched back on and the plane begins its descent, but eventually we do indeed taxi to a halt on the runway, Lijiang airport. Just after 8.30 in the evening - could have been worse. Stepping off the plane we couldn't help noticing the complete absence of anything that looked like rain, but, whatever...Have to say the vast majority of our passengers bore it all with stoical good humour. Get the feeling that when it comes to travel, the chinese are no strangers to the gentle arts of waiting...
Lijiang, then - situated in Yunnan Province, which borders Tibet though where we are now is not in the Tibetan region itself. Much of Lijiang (designated a UNESCO World Heritage sight) has been either rebuilt or restored after an earthquake in 1996 that destroyed much of the original town. First thing to say about the current incarnation is, its a beautiful little place - and doesn't it know it. Hundreds of shops throng the cobbled streets that radiate out from the central square, each one packed with everything ever designed to prise open the tourist wallet. Thirty years previous when Sian was a brief visitor here Lijiang was relative backwater, with just two places offering accommodation to visitors. Now there are around 4000, hosting 190.000 beds. And, in the height of the season, even that is apparently not enough. If that all sounds rather ghastly it has to be said that wandering the old towns largely pedestrianised walkways, criss-crossing over numerous waterways is still a very pleasant experience, perfect for whiling away a fair bit of time doing not very much. On the first of our two days here with have a guide - one of the local Naxi people - to show us around, and he walks through the old town to where, on one side, there is a vast open market - for the locals, mostly, rather than the tourists - selling everything under the sun including a huge range of fruit, veg, roots, herbs and spices - everything you'd ever think of and quite a bit you wouldn't as well. Top market tip though - on a warm day, give the meat section a fairly generous berth... Wandering later in the day came across a micro-brewery but sad to say, did not sample. Chinese beer on the whole has been a bit of a disappointment - as before mentioned, rather weak and watery everywhere we have been.
Outside the old town, a pleasant, tidy little new town area featuring a big underground shopping mall originally funded by central Government yuan as an earthquake shelter, and of course, Chairman Mao. There (in the town, not the the shelter) we pick up the bicycles that will be our transport for the rest of the day, taking us to the neighbouring Naxi village of Baisha, once the capital of the Naxi Kingdom, now a small place of some few thousand souls, home to some elaborate silk embroiderers. Cycling in China not something I'd really had on the list before, but to be honest, even where there are no cycle lanes (and there are, plenty) the other traffic moves reasonably sedately, and steers comfortably wide of you as you wobble along. That said, the silent electric scooters that are also entitled to use cycle lanes are a bit of a hazard to shipping, and the general - well, lets call it fluidity - of how road traffic rules are interpreted still makes travelling the roads on two wheels something to be approached with caution...
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