Lijiang
Location: Lijian, Yunnan, China
Local Time: September 7, 2006 - 5:01pm
Yesterday afternoon we caught a 3 and a half hour bus from Dali to Lijiang, another city 190km further north, still in Yunnan province, southern China. At the rate we're going, we'll never see any significant portion of this country. It's huge. And buses go slow.
Our bus had no air flow inside, and stank like a bus, so, naturally, Val and I were both a little travel sick, though we managed to avoid making a mess.
The bus went north from Dali along the lake, past extensive rice fields, then climbed up through beautiful red earth mountains, passing through the occasional little village.
I suspect it doesn't get very cold in this part of the country as there are many open buildings, and stone is the predominate building material. Stone seems to be the predominate building material in most places I've been too, it is just North America that is missing out on the benefits. Think of houses that aren't falling down after 20 years. Think of buildings that can be a family heirloom, livable for centuries.
Think about developers who knock down perfectly good houses so they can build bigger housed and charge more. How much harder would their job be.
The old part of Lijiang is just lovely, with stone streets, brick buildings, those sway back roof tops everywhere. The wood work they do for the doors is fabulous.
And it's so rare to see a Chinese mother holding her kid up so he can take a leak into the garbage can.
On a more disappointing note, China is, so far, the worst country I've ever travelled in for finding English books to read.
Local Time: September 7, 2006 - 5:01pm
Yesterday afternoon we caught a 3 and a half hour bus from Dali to Lijiang, another city 190km further north, still in Yunnan province, southern China. At the rate we're going, we'll never see any significant portion of this country. It's huge. And buses go slow.
Our bus had no air flow inside, and stank like a bus, so, naturally, Val and I were both a little travel sick, though we managed to avoid making a mess.
The bus went north from Dali along the lake, past extensive rice fields, then climbed up through beautiful red earth mountains, passing through the occasional little village.
I suspect it doesn't get very cold in this part of the country as there are many open buildings, and stone is the predominate building material. Stone seems to be the predominate building material in most places I've been too, it is just North America that is missing out on the benefits. Think of houses that aren't falling down after 20 years. Think of buildings that can be a family heirloom, livable for centuries.
Think about developers who knock down perfectly good houses so they can build bigger housed and charge more. How much harder would their job be.
The old part of Lijiang is just lovely, with stone streets, brick buildings, those sway back roof tops everywhere. The wood work they do for the doors is fabulous.
And it's so rare to see a Chinese mother holding her kid up so he can take a leak into the garbage can.
On a more disappointing note, China is, so far, the worst country I've ever travelled in for finding English books to read.
posted by Jaye | 2:36 PM
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