After sharing our train cabin with another Chinese couple, we disembarked at Lijiang - a former capital of a small kingdom and today a major tourist (trap?) town. Lijiang is notorious for the Naxi people who used to be a matriarchal group meaning women were in charge.
As we knew taxis were reluctant to use their metre for short distance trip, we walked and caught the bus 26 to our hostel. It took 3 guys and 23 minutes to check us in and we still don't know why...
After paying the 80 yuan "Old Town preservation" ticket as the ticket booth, we disappeared in the labyrinth of back alleys. Most people don't pay the fee but we did as we wanted to explore the Black Dragon Pool scenic spot later that day.
We spent the afternoon strolling the cobbled streets packed with food stalls, souvenirs, local handicrafts and fabrics shops. It was lunchtime when we entered Lijiang Old Town for the first time, so we're feeling hungry. Food stalls offered street-food like Lijiang baba (wheat-based flat bread filled with sweet ingredients), fried tofu, or walnut cakes. We bought some spicy dried yak meat we missed when we stayed in Songpan. Tasty but very spicy.
After getting lost (on purpose ) in the maze that is Lijiang we followed the streams north to the Black Dragon Pool passing by the waterwheels. The garden was beautifully backdropped by the massive mountain called the Jade Snow Mountain. The natural scenery was so gorgeous with traditional building scattered about. The pool was the home of thousands of goldfishes. We never saw so many fishes! We could even pay 10 yuan to release a lucky fish they caught earlier that day. A great way to make money!
To escape the Chinese tourists, we onboard a bus to the Shuhe Ancient Town. The compact town is a well-preserved town along the ancient tea trade route. Less crowded and tacky than Lijiang, it's a great place to kick back.
For dinner, thanks to the 'Dianping app', we found the best place to eat in the Old City of Lijiang. The barbecue meat was so tasty! One thing left to do now: sleep!
