Spotlight Yunnan Province

ho would have thought that level, and on the northern side of Lake Dianchi Our guide tells us that every visitor can find his a mere two-hour flight from (named after the first kingdom to control the KUNMING’S EXPO or her likelihood in one of those figures! In Search of Kolkata can transport you to Kunming area, Dian), the leadership of Kunming We head to the old town, or Guan Du, the City of Eternal Spring, changed hands under the kingdom of Dali GARDEN HAs A Grand which used to be an old port, and was rebuilt in Kunming? I’m about to discover this, as I board a and dynasties of Han, Ming, and Qing. Today, Greenhouse, where 1999. The oldest temple there dates to the year ChinaW Eastern Airways with my parents, bound the city is the prosperous seat of the Yunnan 1219. There, the Vajra Pagoda (with its snail- for this destination that few Indians are aware of province, with a population of 1.8 million. It was you’ll FIND pyramids shell covering), built in 1457 sits in the central ‒ for in its very proximity lies its attraction. propelled into the modern era when it caught the square. Just a few metres away is the Miaoxhian SHANGRI-LA And our first vision of Kunming did world’s attention after the World Horticultural of poinsettias, Temple (a Shaolin temple where all the monks not disappoint. From the grand Kunming Exposition in 1999. Just seven kilometres from are trained in kung fu), which sports a fierce From Kunming, capital of China’s Yunnan Province, Chanshuing International airport with its the city centre, the Expo Garden is today a begonias, aza leas, dragon sculpture on the stairs leading to the massive twirling ribbon-like columns, state-of- tourist magnet, set on 218 acres of land, and rhododendrons, prayer hall, and hundreds of red prayer ribbons wind your way through the charming cities of Dali, the-art shopping facilities, and gleaming floors, seven kilometres from the city centre. One of the attached to trees. Lijiang, and ultimately the fabled Shangri-La, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d landed in highlights is the Grand Greenhouse, where, in and cacti. The area around the Green Lake Park or the West. A smooth 24km-ride later, we check separate climatically controlled halls, you’ll find Cuihu, is strewn with parents taking cherubic discovering along the way the province’s ethnic into our hotel, the Yijing Garden Resort and Spa giant pyramids of poinsettias, begonias, azaleas, surrounded by 450-year-old cypress trees. The children for a walk, little old ladies playing with Hotel (+86 8714313338). rhododendrons, and cacti. In fact, so famed are main hall houses three large Buddha statues, at their dogs, and young couples walking hand in minorities, legendary temples, stone forests, scenic As the capital and largest city of the province Kunming’s flowers, that the city produced 800 the centre of which is the historical Sakyamuni. hand. Come November, the place becomes a of Yunnan in southwestern China, Kunming tonnes for the Beijing Olympics. The most fascinating feature of this temple is the refuge for hordes of migrating seagulls, we are lakes, and the origin of the historic ‘Tea Horse Route’. has a long and colourful history from its time We then proceed to the Bamboo Temple, a collection of 500 arhat or monk-like clay figures told. Just opposite the park is an amber-coloured NOV — DE C 2013 as an early settlement on the fabled Southern Mahayana Buddhist temple, in the city’s Western piled one on top of the other in the interior halls colonial period building that resembles a TEXT BY PRIYA KUMARI RANA Silk Route to southeast Asia, India, and Burma. Hills, which was destroyed by Kublai Khan created in the late 19th century by sculptor Li Franciscan seminary, bordering a large, rambling PHOTOGRAPHS BY KISHAN S RANA Sitting at a height of 1,900 metres above sea and rebuilt in 1280, with its peaceful courtyard Guangxiu, some grimacing and some grotesque. courtyard. This is the old French Legation, a — DE C 2013 NOV — The Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, about 20km from the town of Lijiang, is a sacred mountain of the Naxi ethnic minority in Yunnan, Clockwise from top left: The Bamboo Temple in Kunming’s Western Hills; A Naxi girl at a palace belonging to the Mu family, Lijiang; One of 44 with the highest peak, Shanzidou, sitting at a lofty 5,596m. Its stunning vistas and scenic beauty harbour a wealth of flora and fauna. many restaurants that flank the cobbled streets of the old town in Lijiang; A wooden laughing Buddha at the entrance to Lijiang’s old town. 45 reminder of the area’s French legacy. Inside, In the same village, we attend a ‘Three Lijiang from many other provinces, are intent a vast commercial enterprise. And hordes of is a collection of coat of arms and training Tea Ceremony’ at a Bai cultural centre, where only on jade bargains. Thus, we barely see one or Chinese tourists descend to Lijiang, mostly paraphernalia (it used to be an elite military spectators are served small bowls of three kinds two food stands at this place! by bus, lodge in the inexpensive hotels, and academy). Stay at the nearby four-star Lian of tea: bitter, to symbolize how life is hard and Lijiang, a UNESCO heritage site, is a throng the markets. Around the village the Yun Hotel (+86 8715156661), for a taste of bitter when one is young; sweet, to symbolize 1,000-year old village, authentic and also a new town has come up, with lots more hotels city comforts. the good things that come to one later in life; paradox. With its winding lanes and water and restaurants. Food-wise, we stick to local The next day, we drive to Shilin, the Stone and finally, flavourful, to show how in old age channels, single-story houses crested by vegetarian fare (not such a challenge, given Forest, which is a 350 sq km area located in one can reflect back on one’s life and enjoy the tile roofs, it is as it must have been over that strict Buddhists run all-vegetarian eateries, the Shilin Yi Ethnic autonomous County, and memories. While this is served, onstage, an hundreds of years. Only cycles and mopeds most of which was spicy, and included stir- listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO elaborate 20-minute dance drama is performed are allowed; cars abound on its periphery. But fried Chinese vegetables, and tofu. in 2007. The most incredible characteristic of in elaborate Bai costumes, music, and dance, it is also hollowed out – no one lives there, Barely a couple of kilometres from Lijiang are this stone forest is the sight of densely clustered depicting the wedding of a young couple, and the and virtually every second home is an inn or two other villages of the same vintage, Baisha limetone pillars that were formed under the sea three days of ceremony that takes place. a small hotel, and there are 6,000 of them. and Hsuhe, not as picturesque as Lijiang, but some 300 million years ago. Once there, special By far one of the most stunning sights in (We stay at the posh Wang Fu Lijiang Hotel also at an earlier stage of commercialization, both eco-friendly electric cars ferry you from one Dali is the Guanyin Tang Temple, dedicated (+86 8885189666), in the old town.) The rest inhabited by locals, and yet undergoing tourism sub-forest to another, and it’s a good idea to to the Goddess of Mercy, also known as are restaurants and shops, making this village transformation. At Baisha, we spot vendors wear a hat or a cap (you can buy one at the many Avalokitesvara. In 200 BC, when the Han shops at the entrance) to ward off the strong sun. people wanted to invade Dali, it’s rumoured that Chinese tourists are the most common sight, the goddess turned into an old lady carrying a with many breaking into joyous claps as they large stone to block them. Behind the Guanyin watch dance performances by the Sani people Temple sits the Gantong Temple, atop a hill of the Yi ethnic community. You might even be (you can hike or take a shuttle bus up). The tempted to buy a colourful woven wallet or two, gigantic, renovated buildings (there are three but be prepared to haggle ferociously. of them), gleam colourfully, with golden-hued Yunnan is famous for its tribal people, who Buddhas smiling serenely from within. The in China are called ‘National Minorities’. The San Ta or Three Pagodas, right before the three leading towns of Yunnan (after Kunming), temples, stand tall against the backdrop of the heavily visited by tourists are Dali, Lijiang and Cangshuan mountains and the lake, the tallest Shangri-la, each unique in its topography and of the three being almost 70 metres in height, its ethnic life, where we plan to wend our way. and made of hollow brick. Besides the Tibetans, some of the most famous On the 190 kilometre stretch from Dali to tribes are the Naxi and the Bai – which means Lijiang, we stop at a ‘midway’, but one with a ‘white’ in their dialect – who inhabit the town difference. Anywhere else in the world, such of Dali, our first port of call, and a 45-minute a place would have a food court and souvenir flight from Kunming. shops. But the Chinese, traveling to Dali and Dali sits at a height of 2,000 metres and boasts of an average of 150C, and is located on a big ear-shaped lake, Erhai, which measures 42km in length and pours out into the river that eventually becomes the Mekong, when it enters Laos, and then Cambodia and Thailand. We head to our abode, the Regent Hotel (+86 8722666666), a four-star property with a century-old reception area, with façades painted with the distinctive black, grey, and white frescoes, typical of that area. The night is spent exploring Yu Road, main street, home to bustling food stalls and eateries, and shops selling jewellery, clothes, and bric-a-brac. The next day, we drive to Xi Zhou village, around 30km from Dali, where we witness a colourful morning market (and end up buying a painted glass hip flask from an old lady), and then head to Sacun village, where we take an excursion on small boats (wearing lifejackets), to see trained cormorant birds (they put a ring around their necks so they cannot swallow big fish), go fishing for their masters. What is amazing, is the way they bring up from the water big fish, which are then sold to spectators. NOV — DE C 2013 This is followed by a short performance on a boat stage of Bai music and dance, which we watch from our boats.

Clockwise from top: Kunming’s Expo Garden, created in 1999, is a tourist magnet; The San Ta or Three Pagodas in Dali, stand against — DE C 2013 NOV — the Cangshuan mountains; Shilin’s Stone Forest is now a World Heritage Site; A deity in the Yuang Si Pagoda, Kunming’s popular Bud- Jiaozi, momos, or Chinese dumplings are a staple, from Kunming to Shangri-La (top); A dance drama depicting a traditional Bai 46 dhist temple, and the largest bronze temple in China, built during the Ming dynasty. wedding, during the ‘Three Tea Ceremony’ in a village near Dali (below). 47 selling beautifully embroidered cushion covers tea merchants, as well as a prospering carpentry and trinkets, again to be bargained for. WHAT IS GOOD JADE? trade. The people of Lijiang hold that their tea A major attraction, about 20km from Lijiang, Jade connects with history; in an earlier age it has more colour, body, and tastes better. The is the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, with peaks was so rare as to be available to only kings trade that developed involved taking tea, packed of 5,500 metres. A cable car takes you to a and rulers. The best varieties come from parts in bricks and in round-shaped blocks, selling it lookout, which promises a flower meadow after of China, and Myanmar. Essentially one needs to Tibet, taking in return animal skins, which a 6km hike. Alas, at 3,500 metres already, oxygen to be Chinese to fully understand the features were in turn taken to India. The short, sturdy is rare, and the task is daunting. We then go to that make for high quality, and why a same- Naxi horse played a key role in this round trip an open auditorium, to see a 500-member dance sized piece, say a bracelet, looking more or that took about three years for the merchants drama on the life of the Naxi people, against the less similar to the next one, can vary 100 times that built their fortune on it. Hence the term magnificent backdrop of the mountains. in price. Jade is usually pale green in colour, Tea Horse Route describes this entire region, The first person to bring alive to the West the but it can vary from alabaster, to light purple with inscriptions about it in places such as ethnic heritage and natural beauty of Yunnan to deep-green. It is translucent, lustrous, and Lijiang and Shangri-La. province was botanist Joseph Rock (1884-1962), gives a subtle glow of its own; it improves in the A word on the tea trees of this region. Unlike whose articles and photographs in National wearing. Jade bracelets are traditionally worn the short tea bushes that we know in India, in Geographic in the 1920s onwards made the world on the left wrist, closer to the heart. Darjeeling or elsewhere, the tea tree grows 20 aware of this region’s charms. He is remembered metres and higher, and lives for over 100 years; in an exhibition at one of the old palaces that content to the economy of this region, 700 years it is said that the oldest in Yunnan is 1,000 years was the sprawling home of one of the leading ago. This tea is grown in the Pu Er County old. Women were the main source of labour for families of the region. (which produces among the most exclusive of tea – it was respectable for men to drink and laze This entire entire region of Dali, Lijiang Chinese teas, matured for hundreds of years around, apart from those that went on the Tea and Shangri-La is central to what is called and literally worth their weight in gold!). Route, or became soldiers, who too were famous the historic ‘Tea Horse Route’, that gave real Xizhou village near Dali was home to wealthy among the Naxi and their sister tribes.

The Magical Shangri-La Located at 3200 metres, it boasts of cool and world’s largest prayer wheel, which is some 25 Do we see China as a savvy image marketer? That dry summers, and truly cold winters. It is the seat of metres in height. On a sunny afternoon, the area is exactly what Yunnan province did in 2001, when several Tibetan monasteries, the largest of which is is picturesque, buzzing with activity with stalls a remote town, ‘Zhongdian’, was renamed ‘Shangri- Ganden Sumtseling Gompa, at the edge of the selling handicrafts, jugglers, and enterprising La’, borrowing the name of a mythical city that James town, which is an important Buddhism seat, with 600 owners of lovely Tibetan Massifs, who will let tourists Hilton had conjured up in his novel Lost Horizons lamas; it has several attractive temples located pose with their shaggy dogs — at a small price, (1933). For Hilton, Shangri-La was an idyllic place of at the summit of a 200-step climb – not an easy of course! One can even pose atop a white tranquility, harmony, and bliss. proposition at that height! yak. Leading from this square are stone-paved Yunnan’s Shangri-La sits at the edge of the Hordes of Chinese tourists now rub shoulders roads, for pedestrians, and the ubiquitous cycles Tibetan plateau, populated mainly by Tibetans, with in the Old Town with smaller numbers of Western and mopeds. This is tourist town, with handicraft a sizeable Han (Chinese) minority in a population backpackers and tourists from many lands, attracted shops, bars, and restaurants, studded with small, of 440,000. The new buildings along the highway, by easy accessibility (several daily flights from inexpensive hotels and guesthouses. We chanced schools, colleges, and district headquarters, are Kunming), and the chance to capture a glimpse of upon a Nepali restaurant, and after days of testimony to Chinese investment in the Greater Tibet the Tibetan way of life. exclusively Chinese cuisine, savoured their biryani, region. In the summer, Shangri-La is lush with greenery, The old town square of Shangri-la is dominated dal, and roti. ringed on one side by a range of mountains. by three temples, one of which boasts of the A major must-visit, about 15km out of the town, is China’s first national park, Po Da Tso, a haven of forest, grasslands, and lakes, which attracts some 12,000 to 15,000 tourists per day, principally Chinese. Entry tickets are a cool ¥260 (about $45, the same price for locals and foreigners). One then embarks on one of 100-odd shuttle buses that take tourists to five drop-off points, at the two major lakes, a grassland pasture, and two viewpoints. The lakes are pristine, and most Chinese visitors walk along the lakeside on elevated boardwalks; the injunction against picking the rhododendrons and stepping on grass is clearly followed well. The grasslands are marked by herds of yaks and ponies, belonging to the pastoralists that live within the Park, making a splendid sight. One catches an occasional glimpse of the high snow-clad mountain peaks in the distance. Shangri-la lives up to its borrowed name...

By Kishan S Rana

Clockwise from top left: The highest peak of Po Da Tso, a national part a short drive from Shangri-La, sits at 4,500 metres, and can — DE C 2013 NOV — be reached by cable car; The world’s largest prayer wheel, over 25 metres high, stands tall in the old town of Shangri-La; The Ganden 48 Sumtseling Gompa monastery is an important seat of Buddhism, to be reached after a 200-step climb.