Jade Dragon Mountain

After breakfast we departed for the airport by minibus. The usual protracted procedures were carried out, though there was a problem when Mr C tried to get his boarding pass from a machine. It continued to say his passport number was unacceptable. This was the only flight on trip Exodus booked and they’d used his old passport number, even though he sent details of his new one. Luckily he had his old one with him as his Chinese visa was in it.

It was a flight of just over an hour to Lijiang though we held up in a big queue to get onto the runway as Chengdu is a major hub for China.

We flew near snowy mountains before reaching the wooded hills of Lijiang which is at an elevation of 2300m. The city has an old and new part, though the old part is probably newer really. Apparently there had been a fire about 20 years ago and the old town was destroyed. It has been recreated like a film set. Well that’s harsh. It is very well done, but instead of the small wooden buildings where the minority Naxi people lived, there are shops selling tat for Chinese tourists. The ‘ancient’ cobbles streets were thronged.

As it was warm and sunny we walked through a park to the lake for a view of the mountain. Old men were playing a game of checkers in the sun. We had a delicious meal of shared plates, mostly meat dishes and some stir fried veg. A Plate of tofu in a spiced sauce arrived but by the time the meat eaters had piled their plates I got some scraps. So I’m hungry already. Typical,Chinese food! we walked back to the hotel along a tiny narrow street which had wooden bridges going across to each building. Loud music. Singing in western languages and strobe lighting came from each building in the steer and they were full of young tourists. We are the only Europeans we’ve seen. Mr C is back to celeb status with women wanting selfies with him.