The tourist towns I visited had some common themes. They were generally full of happy people who were in no hurry to go anywhere. Many dressed up in the traditional dress of the region and did photo shoots. As a result, the streets were full of costume and make-up shops where people would be transformed into someone else. The streets were also full of people being photographed professionally. At times it was difficult to walk down the street. People would simply walk through the shot and not care.
In Shangri-la, people were dressing up in traditional Tibetan clothes which seemed strange to me.
As well as the professional photography, the vast majority of people were artistic amateurs going for arty and off-beat shots rather than the usual point and click landscape or portrait shots. This created a surreal environment. It seemed that people were more intent on photography than looking at things. More intent on a great photo than watching where they were going. More intent on getting in front of someone to take a photo than giving any consideration to the person they are pushing away. None of this affected me but I watched it all happen.
Dali
Dali was the first overtouristed city that I’ve been to on this trip. It’s beautiful and it’s stunning with steep snow capped mountains in the background but there are parts where you can barely move due to the package tours stampeding through at a snails pace.
I saw some tempers get flared as a result of the crowds. A really solid guy put a full on shoulder charge on two tourists who were browsing the wares of a market stall. I was coming the other way and watched his frustration build in the human gridlock. The lady who copped the brunt of it was left winded and shocked. It was probably the only really aggressive thing I’ve seen in China, and very much out of character of these usually patient, unflappable types.
I also expected more western influence in Dali, but it seems to be set up primarily for local tourism. No problem with that, but I was surprised, given Dali’s history with western travellers.
Lijiang
I was looking to recuperate here and was marginally successful. Like Dali, most tourists are Chinese but I noticed more westerners here. It’s also much larger and also has a lovely snow capped mountain as a backdrop.
My time here changed from being a planned relaxing and restorative few days, to becoming stressful as I navigated the freight systems to get my bike and some gear to Chengdu.
In Kunming, I took the train to Dali. The CRE freight people let me leave a couple of bags on the bike – properly secured and covered. They checked the bags and x-rayed the bike and allowed it all to go. In Lijiang, the CRE people inspected everything. I had to remove everything from the bike. They went through the tools piece by piece, spare nuts and bolts. They refused to allow the replacement mineral oil for my hub, insect repellent, my pocket knife etc. in the end I stopped the process and rode back to the hotel to work out my next steps.
I shipped a box of things to Chengdu, that CRE wouldn’t allow and I carried the frame bag and other stuff with me on the train when I travelled. I’ll work the rest out in Chengdu when all of my gear arrives.
… which brings me to DHL. Before leaving, I arranged the shipment of my camping gear from home to Chengdu. I provided all of the information required of each item such as – Item, brand, value, place of manufacture. Bear in mind that this wasn’t new stuff. It was my existing camping gear and some spares. My partner, Cathie brought it all to Pack and Send in Maroochydore, and they were absolutely fantastic from first contact to shipment. I can’t recommend them enough.
DHL on the other hand … The DHL people in Chengdu contacted me when the box arrived, and required similar information, a signed customs declaration and one additional mystery form that I should have filled in on arrival to China. (Since November, arrivals information has been online, so there is zero possibility that I could have filled in the form). Without the form, I’m up for a tax bill to import my own, used camping gear. As I sit here in Chongqing, my shipment has now been cleared by Customs. It’s sitting with DHL in their bonded warehouse. If I had known this administrative faff would occur before I left, I wouldn’t have done it. I would have gone to Decathlon and bought new stuff. I’ve wasted many many hours translating emails and replying, filling in forms and signing them and until now, I did’t know when or if the box would be delivered and what the additional charges will be. For an international company, DHL are simply incompetent. They don’t know their own processes.
So I really didn’t relax in Lijiang.
Lijiang was also my last time on the bike for a couple of weeks, so I was immensely relieved to get there.
For the previous four days on the road, I had a very slow leak in my rear tyre and couldn’t be bothered fixing it. On the first day out of Dali, I pumped it up just the one time. To Shaxi, it was three times, and to Jiuhe County and to Lijiang, it was four times.
Yes I’m lazy, but I’m replacing the tyre after Lijiang, so it just seemed like a waste to go thru the process of removal, replacement, and then do it again soon after.
However, in Lijiang, the station is 8kms south of the city. I made two separate trips there, and I had to pump up the tyre three times on the last day. I suspect that I’ll be replacing the tube when I pick the bike up in Chengdu just to get it back to the hotel .
Shangri-La
I took a mini-bus tour from Lijiang to Shangri-la via Tiger Leaping Gorge – a place I’ve wanted to visit for years. It didn’t disappoint. I left the tour in Shangri-la and had two nights there.
The air is thin there. It’s at 3,300m elevation and I struggled. I still had a heavy cold and a bit of asthma, so sleep wasn’t particularly easy. But the place was beautiful. I loved it and most importantly … they had pizza and mango yak yoghurt but still, the coffee was weak and luke warm.
Chongqing
I took the train from Shangri-La to Chengdu and the next day, went to Chongqing. The first trip was soooo long. We left Shangri-La at 9:40am and arrived in Chengdu at 8:10pm. Same train, same seat.
I brought snacks to eat and had heard that the food on the train was quite nice. So I bought lunch on the train. Mine wasn’t nice at all. Not by a long shot. In fact, the main dish was inedible, and as a result, I had 24 hours of diarrhoea and 48 hours with almost no other food.
So getting to a hotel in Chengdu was a struggle, as was the next day getting back to the station and to the hotel in Chongqing. That’s where I truly relaxed and recuperated.
I’ve mentioned before how Amap and Google Maps aren’t accurate enough to find a hotel. Getting to the hotel in Chongqing should have been a straight line of less than 300m from where I popped up from the subway.
Unfortunately, google tried to send me on a 2.3km scenic walk to the completely wrong destination. Amap showed slightly less distance, so I followed it’s directions. I was sick, exhausted and being misdirected by technology. After noticing that Amap was getting me to walk past a point I’d been to before, I stopped, looked around and noticed the building I needed. It was pure chance and I was relieved that it was.
Chongqing is crazy. Some Swiss people I met, said exactly the same. It’s the lights, the hills, the crazy architecture, the bridges, the people … It’s the vibe.
I did the usual traveller things in a big town – washing, haircut, good food and tourist places. Hongya Cave was a bizarre highlight, but I was surprised by so many shopping malls that seemed largely empty of shoppers but full of the same exclusive stores as the next centre.
They had mango yoghurt and better coffee here too. Things were improving. I ate noodle soups and garlic and ginger stir fry to nearly get rid of my cold.
This is the best I’ve felt in China yet.