The Yunnan Countryside
If we were searching for a counterpoint to the tourist crowds of Lijiang, we certainly found it in the village of Wenhai, where we spent two days and saw no other tourists, international or domestic. Owing to there being virtually no snow on the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain at this time of year, the scenery around Wenhai wasn’t truly spectacular, but was very nice at any rate, and a worthwhile excursion for anyone wanting to experience a bit of the ‘real’ Yunnan, where locals farm for a living and wear traditional clothing for reasons other than to entice you into a shop/restaurant/guesthouse.
It’s a 2.5 hour hike to Wenhai from a village near Lijiang, and the altitude rises from 2400m to 3100m. Fewer than 300 Naxi people live in the village, all in traditional, tiled-roofed Chinese houses. A well-run ecolodge – a cooperative between 56 village families to establish an alternate source of income – has been set up there, and we spent most of our time in and around the lodge and village, enjoying the slow pace of village life and the lovely taste of home-cooked food. On the second day, I hiked for about four hours with a guide (Wendy, who wasn’t feeling well, stayed at the lodge) to see some other nearby villages with populations made up of a different ethnic minority from the Naxi people in Wenhai. Yesterday we hiked back down to Baishi (a completely overrun tourist village that is not at all what it’s claimed to be, i.e. a counter to the crowds of Lijiang), and then quickly returned to Lijiang for our final night in the province.
With our all-too-brief Yunnan trip now at an end, we return to Guangzhou tonight well-rested for the final week of this stage of my work there. Meanwhile, here is a collection of photos from Lijiang and Wenhai.
Tags: Asia, China, Wenhai, Yunnan
Nick