Lijiang Ancient Town Travel Diary

If you are looking for a detailed guide to the ancient city, you may be disappointed. I am purely for my own entertainment and recording what I saw and heard throughout the whole process, excluding the hiking and Lugu Lake parts (separate posts). The perspective may be one-sided, and the comments may be harsh. This is just one person’s opinion. , for entertainment purposes only.

After the plane landed, we took a taxi to the hotel, which was 30 kilometers, about 30 minutes, and cost 120. Slightly expensive.

This guide is made by Brother Bi. Our hotel is located in an alley near the north gate of Lijiang Old Town. The name of the hotel is Fuyun. The hotel is very stylish.

The room is very large, with a washing machine, Toto toilet, a large bathtub in the room, and a direct drinking water dispenser. It is very modern and newly decorated. The key price is very impressive. Except for the most expensive family room, which is 240 yuan, the rest are only about 170 yuan. I lament that business is difficult to do and the competition is fierce. With such good conditions, the five-star standard in Shanghai only costs 240 yuan for a room. Can they make money? How much is the rent and how much is the renovation... It’s really worrying, haha

Put down your luggage and prepare to go out for food. I am not familiar with the place, so it seems that I can only rely on Dianping. We also asked the guy at the front desk and found that all the places they recommended were about 800 meters away on foot. We were too lazy and thought we would solve it at the door. When we went out, there were only restaurants. We were blinded and didn’t know which one was delicious. At 8:30 , most of them are empty. Based on Dianping’s reviews, we chose the Apola Pork Ribs, which has the highest score and the most popularity at the intersection, to see why there are so many people!

The tea jar is interesting

It’s also interesting to use a small bamboo basket to hold vegetables

I have one thing to say, it’s not very tasty, I’m a little disappointed. The ribs and pig’s trotters are marinated bacon series but not very tasty. The taste is mild and the chicken is just barely. Overall I’m not very satisfied. I can only give it a 5.5 out of 10. point. I bought the Dianping set meal for two for 108 yuan, which was a bit like checking into an Internet celebrity store. There were batches of leeks... It turns out that Dianping can't be trusted, haha. But we don’t know anything when we go out, so what can we believe...

The next day we went hiking to see Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and returned to the city at 6:30 pm. I rushed to watch the Lijiang Eternal Love Show. I took a taxi 5-6 kilometers from the hotel and it cost 32 yuan. Why is it so expensive? It seems that this price is the same in Shanghai. Taxi taxis in Lijiang are comparable to those in Shanghai. I even wondered if I had been scammed, but I clearly took a regular taxi. I took the opportunity to watch the night view of Lijiang New Town. The buildings are very beautiful. The driver said that the house price is about 8,000 per square meter.

When we arrived at the performance venue, we entered the auditorium through twists and turns. Brother Bi bought me a VIP seat for 290 (I wouldn’t have gone if I knew it was so expensive 😆). When I walked in, I saw, Emma, everyone had VIP seats, and I sat down. In the second row, there is no one behind...

Because I had seen the Pingyao Ancient City Impression Series and Angkor Wat performances before, I was eager to see them, and I felt a little disappointed overall. It was not as complete and magnificent as the previous two. To put it bluntly, I was watching a group of graceful beauties twisting their waists and dancing, and suddenly a wire appeared from behind, or it rained in real life, and the stage was integrated with modern technology, but it was not so perfect and harmonious. a feeling of. Maybe my expectations were too high, so I was disappointed.

I went out early to catch a car, called Didi, and entered the parking lot at the north gate of Lijiang Old Town as my destination. My hands were shaking for a moment, so I entered the parking lot at the north gate of Lijiang Old Town. It turned out to be two places... On the importance of being careful and rigorous. !

The return trip is 18 yuan on Didi (4 yuan for a detour if you enter the wrong destination), which is much cheaper than a taxi. The Didi driver who picked me up was a female driver, about 30 years old and Tibetan. She said that being a Didi driver frees her time and makes it easier to take care of her family and children. I said that I really like driving and the feeling of driving. She said that she used to like it too, but now she drives for about 10 hours a day and is tired of it. She goes out to play with friends and stops driving if she can. I mentioned it casually, where is your husband? Her husband is 10 years older than her. He is from the Naxi ethnic group. He used to work in a company. When he was in his early 30s, he rested at home when the company closed down. After many years, he no longer wants to go out to work. He cooks at home every day. He likes to drink. He talks about men from ethnic minorities. They all like drinking very much and often get very drunk. I used to refuse to learn to drive when I was young because of drinking, and now I don’t want to learn to drive anymore when I am older. The young lady asked me seriously, do all the men in your place like to drink? I said it was okay, I only drank beer occasionally, but no liquor. I said, he is so happy to marry you, you are so virtuous. I wanted to say in my heart, why don’t you divorce the man you met? I told myself, this is love! I asked her, if he drinks often, is his stomach okay? The young lady said that she has heart disease, diabetes... She also mentioned a few diseases that I didn't remember... Maybe she was replying to my question that was about to come out, why didn't you leave him... She said that most men from ethnic minorities are like this, and women When they go out to work, the men are lazy and drunk. Alas, we can’t talk about this topic anymore. Let’s change the topic. When I went out, I met a local who was a minority. I asked her, do you usually wear ethnic clothes? She said it was inconvenient to wear, so she didn't wear it when working, but would wear it when meeting weddings and weddings. They also stipulated that when ladies get together, they must wear it, and anyone who doesn't wear it will be fined.

….

On the morning of the third day, we only had an hour and a half to go to Lugu Lake, so we packed our bags, went to have breakfast, and then left an hour to quickly browse the ancient town of Lijiang.

For breakfast, we stopped by the Hangzhou Xiao Long Bao at the intersection. When I heard that the accent was from a local, maybe I had learned it outside before, I took a bite of the bun and lamented that the young man didn't learn the essence. The master didn't teach me this big skill of making dough. Xiaolongbao, 7 pieces, 10 yuan, pan-fried buns, 7 pieces, 18 yuan. I also ordered a preserved egg and lean meat porridge and a tea egg, a total of 43 yuan. This consumption is a bit tricky.

After breakfast, at 8:00 sharp, the car picked us up at 09:02. Let’s turn on the quick browsing mode of the ancient city.

Mainly I want to see Mufu. Mufu is also a Naxi people, that is to say, the rulers here were Naxi people in the past. The buildings left by the royal family are always full of mystery. However, I didn’t have time to go in, so I took a quick look around and took a few photos.

Walking through the streets and alleys is beautiful, but it’s too commercial! There are almost no authentic things, only shops, restaurants, bars and B&Bs. I miss the ancient city of Pingyao a bit, where I can still see the county offices, prisons, private schools, banks, escort agencies, pawn shops left over from the Qing Dynasty. Business is business, and the old things are still there.

Fortunately, we went in early and there were not many people there in the early morning. It was quite nice to take pictures and the scenery was everywhere.

Seeing the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, some people were as excited as children, looking for the best angle to take pictures. I complained in my heart, there is nothing good to take, just a small one. I prefer the beauty of pavilions, bridges and flowing water~

At the end of the 50 minutes, we quickly got on the bus and headed to Lugu Lake.

I chose the passenger seat again and started chatting with the driver again.

This time the driver is a Han nationality and lives in Huaping City, which is more than an hour's drive away from Panzhihua and four or five hours away from Lijiang on a mountain road. The expressway will be opened to traffic in two years. Every household in Huaping mainly grows mangoes, a cash crop with an annual income of over RMB 100,000. Basically every household has a car. The driver lamented that the current policies are good and as long as you work hard and are willing to endure hardships, you will basically not go hungry. Even if he goes to work part-time in someone else’s mango field, the locals will pay him 120 yuan per day and provide two meals a day. They are mainly Han people, with ethnic minorities also mixed in. But if any Yi people come to the village to buy a house, they will object. Is there some disharmony here? Ha ha. His family raises pigs, cows, sheep, and chickens, all of which are available. It is the off-season for tourism, so he discussed with the driver on the same bus that everyone would drive for half a month and rest for half a month, and then go home to do farm work during the rest. As soon as I got home, I drove the tricycle out to walk the sheep. Their sheep especially liked the tricycle. I said you were willing to kill it. He said I didn’t dare to look at it, I didn’t want to look at it. I asked him, do you need to hire someone to butcher? Skinning and bone removal is still very technical. He said that relatives and friends come to help. Nowadays, when cattle and sheep are slaughtered, they are blanched instead of skinned. It tastes great when stewed. I may still be at the same cognitive level as I was 20 years ago...

The driver's family has two children. The eldest son graduated from Chengdu University of Technology and went to work in a state-owned hydropower station. He has been stationed at the Gansu Hydropower Station for a long time. He said that it is actually very close to us, just over the mountains. The younger daughter is still studying in Lijiang. I can feel that the driver loves life and this job.

Along the way, he told me how good their Huaping mangoes were, and I couldn’t wait to just go there and carry the mangoes, haha.

Passing by Ninglang County, I have been talking about opening this line for many years. The current mayor is very effective. He has made the dirty and messy Ninglang County quiet and has been very effective in cracking down on gangs and evil.

There are many resettlement houses near the county town. Minorities have been relocated from the mountains. The government then organizes business owners from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangzhou and Shenzhen to recruit people and send the young people out to work and earn money.

In the past, when driving on this road, there would be people walking chickens on the side of the road. If you accidentally hit his chickens, you would be in big trouble and you would not be able to walk. He would have to pay 5,000 yuan in compensation. He said that chickens lay eggs and eggs lay eggs. , how can you do it if you are short of 5,000 yuan? You said I would give you a chicken, but that doesn't work, he wants his chicken!

I seriously suspect that the driver is a joker!

The driver took us to various rest points along the way. On the one hand, he warned us not to buy yak meat when we arrived at Lugu Lake, because there were no yaks at all. On the other hand, we ate milk-wrapped tofu and yak meat kebabs at the rest area. Jin asked us to try the food, and we all bought tofu and skewers after the trial, but we all found out that he didn’t pay for it, haha. On the one hand, we were warned not to take unlicensed taxis, especially those that distribute small advertisements at stations. On the other hand, they transferred our calls to the local taxi dispatch boss in Lugu Lake as soon as we got off the bus...

The complexity of human nature is real!