Exploring China Part 1: Shangri-la

Last week I went on a CIEE sponsored trip around Southern China to the Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces. The purpose of the trip was to study minority cultures and interact with minority peoples in southern China. We visited 4 cities: Shangri-la, Lugu Lake, Lijiang and Chengdu. Here is a link to a map of all the places that I went to. Note where Nanjing is, all the way to the East, and where Burma is! We were less than a 100 miles from Burma at some points. For the next 3 days I will write a post about each destination. Today's post is about my adventures in Shangri-la.

On the morning of Friday, October 23 we departed Nanjing on a plane and arrived in Yunnan Province at 3:00 pm. At the airport, we promptly boarded a bus and traveled for another 4 hours to Shangri-la (香格里拉), which is the capital of the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (read: we were in a Tibetan county but technically not in Tibet itself). Shangri-la is about 3,000 meters (2 miles) above sea level and we had all been warned the day before that we might experience altitude sickness, which is usually dizziness, racing heart and shortness of breath. When we arrived, we all immediately noticed how incredibly cold it was. Unfortunately, due to linguistic and cultural barriers (they had told us how cold it was going to be in degrees Celsius…), most of us had not brought enough warm clothing.

We noticed right away that it was harder to communicate with the Tibetans. Not only were they not as accustomed to hearing Mandarin with a thick American accent (since they mostly deal with Chinese tourists), but also many did not speak Mandarin as their first language. All the signs were also in Tibetan. That first night, after bundling up with as many clothes as possible, we headed out to find food and stumbled across a Hot Pot (火锅-literally "fire bowl") restaurant. Hot Pot is a style of food in which a pot of boiling water is placed on a fire in the middle of the table and you add ingredients, such as noodles, meat and vegetables, as you wish. A bunch of my friends and I walked in and sat down. We were pleased to find that although the restaurant was cold, the tables were small and the fire in the middle of the table created a warm and cozy atmosphere. After we warmed our hands in the fire in the middle, our Hot Pot came and we quickly added the mushrooms, potatoes, and of course, Yak rib meat. Yak meat is the most commonly eaten meat in Yunnan Province and that night we discovered that it was absolutely delicious! We mixed the delicious sauce and feasted that night.

The next day was Saturday and we woke up early and headed off to Putatso National Park, the only national park in China. Although it was cold, we walked around and took pictures of 2 beautiful lakes. It was there that we reached the highest elevation of the entire trip- almost 3,500 meters above sea level, which is over 2 miles. Afterward, we feasted on more Yak meat and headed off to one of the highlights of the entire trip, the Tibetan Buddhist temples in Shangri-la. We were first instructed that we couldn't take pictures, wear hats or sunglasses, or walk/explore the area counter-clockwise. Then we climbed several flights on stairs to the top of a smallish mountain. The first temple took my breath away. A huge golden Buddha sat in the middle with prayer flags and other adornments hanging on his person. The walls were painted with the most beautiful and intricate murals I've ever seen. Different Buddha idols sat positioned around the room at various points. The first temple was 3 stories high, all surrounding the huge Buddha in the middle. I wish I could describe the beauty here, but it is impossible to find the right words. The next temple was just as beautiful and breath taking. As I walked around, I felt myself holding back tears. This beautiful culture, this beautifully peaceful religion has been practically eliminated and almost made extinct by the Chinese government. It is so sad to think about how in Tibet many of these temples were ransacked and destroyed. The pictures of the Dalai Lama that adorned the temple reminded me that their leader will forever be in exile from their country. The third temple, the last temple, was empty when I walked in, except for a monk chanting prayers and burning incense . I walked around the temple as I listened to him chant, and lit a candle at the end as a wish for the happiness of all those who have touched my life.

The next day was Sunday and we had a free day. Some friends and I decided to go to the hot springs at a ecological park nearby. After arriving at the hot springs, we got 1.5 hour massages and then got in the hot spring, which was a large pool of very, very hot water. It was so relaxing and fun to sit in the hot water when it was so cold outside. We swam, relaxed and chatted for a few hours in the water, got a delicious dinner with more Yak meat, and then ventured into Old Town Shangri-la which is a very quaint district with cobblestone, windy streets, a city square and small shops. We went shopping, buying Christmas presents, and watched some traditional dancing in the city square.

Afterward, 3 friends and I decided to hang out at one of the restaurants:

My friends and I at one of the restaurants, from left to right Elaine, Sean, Me and Jonathan.

After hanging out and chatting for a while in the restaurant, we discovered that we had actually walked in on a birthday party. Luckily, they gave all of us cake, which tasted exactly like a birthday cake you would buy at Giant Eagle. A cake fight ensued, of course:

This is a picture of us in the midst of a cake fight. Note the cake on Jonathan's face.

This is the part where we interacted with the local people! We made Tibetan friends, of course!

The next morning was Monday, October 26^th and we left for our next city, Lijiang. On the way to Lijiang, our bus stopped for an hour at Tiger Leaping Gorge, one of the most famous and beautiful gorges in China. Pictures below!

This is a picture of 4 CIEE students at Tiger Leaping Gorge. Their shirts say "We stay Fresh to Death." It's funny because 1. It's purple 2. It's Chinglish. I mean, who says that really? 3. Chinese people say everything is "adjective to death" such as "hungry to death" but when they translate it it doesn't always work!

This is a picture of me and Kira at Tiger Leaping Gorge.

This is a sign from Tiger Leaping Gorge with Mandarin at the top, English in the middle, and Tibetan at the bottom. I included this so you could see what Tibetan looks like if you've never seen it. Also, this sign is an excellent example of the awesome Chinglish that is seen on all the signs in China. The security guard gave me a weird look when I took this picture.