Snow white snow! I witnessed snow for the first time in my china trip. According to the Lijiang guide, this was the first snow this year. The Yulong Snow mountain's cable car service was closed for the past 3 days due to strong wind and was only opened today so we were lucky. Problem was the snow made the glacier peak a little too cold to enjoy. Brrrrr.. and foggy too...brrr... we did not stay very long at the top.
Macdonalds in the dark. Waiting at 6.00am in the morning for the guide.
Up the Yulong Snow mountain by the steep but stable cable car
After the snow came the rain. I could imagined the locals dancing to the rain since it had not rained for months in Lijiang and all their canals were almost dried up. So the rain was welcomed to them but not us. Watching the Impression of Lijiang by Zhang Yimou out in the cold rain was no joke. Although raincoats were provided but they did not shield us from the harsh freezing wind. Soon it got a little to uncomfortable to enjoy but the cast still continued to do their best for the performance. That made us stayed as long as we can until the cold numbness caught us. We ran for shelter but realised one of the sisters was missing and had to spend some time searching for her out in the cold.
Remember I joined the local tour with 2 singaporean sisters? As much as they are sisters, they definitely are not very coordinated so lot of time was wasted searching or waiting for each other. Which was the difference between travelling solo and in groups. Yes, you do get companionships in groups but the frustration of waiting and miscommunication would be non existent when you travel alone.
Anyway, back on the show , I would have recommended the Impression of Lijiang if you have extra cash to spare but beware that show is outdoor and prone to weather conditions. After the show we were supposed to get our lunch at the basement of the theatre. That turned out to be one mean experience for me. Since all the tours had their lunch at the same place and since the show ended at the same time, there came the problem. Like locusts invasion, the Chineses pushed and shoved while queuing for food. I can barely stand straight with people pushing me from behind and elbowing me from the front. Soon we gave up but giving up posed another challenge too. I could barely get out of the line without a fight with my elbows and some shoving which met a lot of disapproval from the queuing crowd. After a battle we got out alive and decided to buy cup noodles instead. After the meal, we realised that if we could have waited for another 10mins, we did not even need to queue. Duh! Like locusts, the phenomenon came fast and ended fast. We took a set of the set meal to share and realised that it was not worth the queue after all.
Impression of Lijiang in the cold
After lunch, we were taken to the Blue Moon Valley 蓝月谷 and White water river 白水河. The scenery was beautiful but since it was still raining so we spent much time finding a shelter instead. After that we visited a Dongba culture village. The rain have stopped; making the colourful village stood out against the clear blue sky. Dongba 东巴 was a religion of the Naxi people 纳西族 in the ancient times. The religion had many god fearing believes and traditions which were quite interesting.
Blue Moon Valley and White water river
Bride freezing for a photo shoot in White water river.
Clear blue sky after the rain
Majestic Yulong Snow mountain from afar
The last stop was Jade Water Village Yu Shui Zhai. In here is a salmon farm here which uses the fresh spring water from the snow mountain to breed the fishes. The place was green and the spring water was clear and sweet, I do envy the salmons living in the clean water (until they got eaten by us of course).
Total damage of the 1 day tour was 750rmb including winter coat rental, 1 can of oxygen, entrance fees, cable car ride, bus ride and the show fee. Pretty worth it if the weather could be better. For dinner, we met with the Hongkong family and Big bro took us to a salmon feast. Yum yum. 1 big salmon at 128rmb can be made into 6 large plates of sashimi, fried fish skin and hotpot. Cool.
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