March 2008 Lijiang, China (26 52 N, 100 14E)

Lijiang, China is located in the border area between Southwest China’s Yunnan province and Tibet. The Old Town area of the city is lined with beautiful tile-roofed court yard houses. The wooden homes and flag-stoned pavements are reminiscent of Tang and Song Dynasty styles. Several minority ethnic groups live here, most notability 210,000 Naxis. In fact, the town was built and developed by the Naxi people. The town flourished as a trading post on the “Tea-Horse Ancient Path”. Tibetans bartered horses for tea with the villagers around this area.

My first visit to the Old Town was in November 2006. Located in a Lijiang River valley, the old town is an excellent representation of traditional Chinese courtyard houses. Its architecture is noteworthy for the blending of elements for several cultures that have lived in Lijiang over the years. My two favorite examples are Wen Chang Palace and Mu Palace.

Another unique attraction of Lijiang’s is its complex and ingenious ancient water supply system that still functions today. In fact the icons of the town are two huge water wheels located at one of the entrances to the town. It is along the main canal where most of the local restaurants set up temporary outside eating areas when the weather is pleasant. Further along the canal both sides are lined with open air bars full of very inebriated singers charming the opposite sex from opposite sides of the canal. As if it provides some protection. The mating rituals of the Naxi and their singing of pickup lines across the canal is a unique and an entirely different story to be told later.

During the 2006 trip I visited Dali, Shangri-La and Leaping Tiger Gorge. During the 2008 trip, I intended to return to just Shangri-La and Leaping Tiger Gorge then explore a new territory.

English is not prevalent in the area so I hired Miss Li, an English-speaking student as my guide. I asked to be shown something new in the countryside around Lijiang. She suggested visiting Shi Bao Mountain and Sha Xi Village. She pointed out these places were along the Tea Horse Trail. The what?

She explained the Tea Horse Trail was very similar to but less famous then the better know Silk Road. It is similar in that it was a commercial route used for transporting commodities between Tibet and this area, including horses and tea. She said the Chinese and the Tibetans began to exchange tea and horses, along with other commodities sometime during the Tang Dynasty (618 to 970). Yunnan province has been known as home of black tea. So it was during the Tang Dynasty that caravans began to transport bricks of tea from this area to India, passing through Dali, Lijiang and Tibet. The route became known as the Tea Horse Trail by the time it had reached India. It was then brought by merchants who took it to Europe and onto other parts of the world.

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