Apr 21, Tuesday, Lijiang

This morning as we walked to the car we were passed by a man carrying a live chicken…we assume destined to become lunch or dinner.  We also passed a series of three pools.  The first, fed by small fountains, was said to be for drinking water, the second for washing vegetables, and the third for washing clothes.  Every time we have walked by the pools there has been someone there washing clothes.

We had a lovely drive though the countryside to a large outdoor theaters.  Along the way we could see Snow Mountain up close.

At the theater we saw the Impressions of Lijiang performance.  It was presented in a large open-air theater at 10,000 feet, with the Jade Dragon Snow Mountains as a backdrop.  It is one of three cultural productions that have been directed by Mr. Zhang Yimou, all using a natural backdrop such as a mountain or a river/lake (the other two are in Yangshou near Guilin and West Lake in Hangzhou). 

The performance had over 500 dancers from 10 minority groups (and over 70 horses).  The day was sunny with a wonderful blue sky and white clouds overhead.  It was visually very impressive and the songs and dances were very enjoyable. 

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More photos of the Impressions of Lijiang show.

We then took a bus and cable car up to Spruce Meadow (Yak Meadow being closed) for views of the mountains and the surrounding valleys, at 11,150 feet.  The day was just beautiful for viewing mountains. 

The meadow had a number of sheep who were continually looking for handouts.

The tourists were also out in force, renting costumes and hanging prayers. 

We were treated to a really awesome sun halo.  Really awesome!  

We then drove to the Naxi minority village of Baisah for lunch and a visit to see some murals.  The murals are housed in the former palace of the Naxi king, who was deposed by Mao Zedong.

On the way back we stopped at a Chinese pharmacy and got some sort of root to make into tea to help with altitude sickness.  We forgot to bring our Western altitude drugs.  We’ll see how it works.

Chinese "drugs"