China Part 3: Old Towns

A typical tourist attraction in China is an Old Town. A generic tourist ghetto built up with modern-looking “ancient” buildings, restaurants and shop. Lacking in authenticity, old towns compensate with conformity and look brand new, as if they were built or very least renovated in the last five years. Thin on anything original or interesting, they are designed to efficiently extract tourist kuais. The novelty of old towns feels alright for a little, but wears off rather quickly.

The first old town we visited was in Dali. We were unlucky to land there right in the middle of San Yue Jie festival. A hotel clerk assured that it was the best time to visit the town, but I begged to differ. Every corner of the town was crowded with domestic tourists and it felt like a party we were not invited to. Long gone are the days since Dali was known as a hippy backpacker paradise. Nowadays it is a mass tourism powerhouse catered mainly to Chinese tourists. On top of that, the area around the base of the mountains is one huge residential development zone. So it is bound to get even more crowded in the coming years. It was like the horrible vision of what Pai might turn to. I sincerely hope it will never happen. On a more positive side, Dali’s mountains, lake and surrounding small villages were pleasant, but not enough to warrant a separate visit. The fengshui like landscape reminded of was Inle Lake, which it made me realise that Inle was not that touristy after all. All is relative indeed.

Next stop on Yunnan’s tourist trail was Lijiang, another ancient city. Despite the prior prejudice Lijiang turned out a much better than we thought. Unlike the grid like flat Dali, Lijiang is a chaotic maze of cobblestone streets, canals, bridges and hills. The majestic Jade Snow mountains serve as a background. Lijiang has got a character and it almost feels authentic and real, especially in the wee hours of a morning, before the tourist onslaught begins. And even after that it is alright. The city’s surroundings are stunning and can be easily reached by a local bus. The closest village, Shuhe, is a horrendous generic old town and shall not be mentioned again. However, if you venture further north up to the mountains, it will guarantee you an excellent day trip for the cost of a bus ticket. No need to pay entrance fees to walled gardens either. There is enough of free nature to enjoy.

Cangshan Mountains, Dali.

Dali street-life.

Red Bull cans as part of traditional Chinese ornaments

A man smoking a cigarette from a specialized bong that are sold on every corner in Dali. Why such a thing exists I will never know.

Chinese communist art in Dali.

An old woman, Dali.

Chinese puzzle shop, Dali.

Sprite, a computer guru, who knows how to type on keyboard his name in Chinese.

Dali street-life

Dali in the sunset.

A beggar in Dali

Erhai a lake, Dali.

Farmers in an onion field near Dali.

Dali street-life.

This is what mountain hiking in China looks like. Cangshan Mountains, Dali.

Allegedly world’s largest Chinese chess board in Cangshan Mountains, Dali.

Tibetan prayer flags in Gangtong temple in Dali

Ornament bridges in Cangshan Mountains, Dali.

Walking trail in Cangshan Mountains, Dali.

A pond in Cangshan Mountains, Dali.

Toy-money found in the wild. Cangshan Mountains, Dali.

Lijiang at night.

Food court at night

Typical Lijiang

Lijiang street-life.

Lijiang in the morning

Typical Lijiang

Cooks dancing in front of a restaurant in Lijiang.

Typical Lijiang

Lijiang at night

Lijiang street-life.

Lijiang street-life

Lijiang in the morning

Breakfast stall with dumplins and tea-eggs in Lijiang

Typical Lijiang

Men cleaning up a street in Shuhe.

Jade Dragon Snow Mountains.

A view over Lijiang Valley.

Graveyards are often found in mountains. Jade Dragon Snow Mountains, Lijiang.

Toy money again In Lijiang valley.

China Part 2: Red Capitalism

There is no free lunch in China. You have to pay for visiting monasteries, historic buildings, parks, mountains, lakes, scenic areas and nature in general. Anything remotely interesting has a price tag on it. Sometimes you have to pay just to get a look at a building from outside, entrance is not allowed (Three Pagodas, Dali). Government is not the only one collecting money, but entrepreneur locals do it independently by charging for using public roads (Shangri La) or ladders and bridges (Tiger Leaping Gorge). Nature spots are turned into neat theme parks with paved roads, curvy bridges and electric carts. Designed for mass consumption and tuned for efficient money extraction. Sometimes the theme park approach adds a nice touch, as it greatly simplifies exploring the area. Other times it feels just generic and tiresome. In some cases it may feel absurd, as you can enjoy exactly the same nature for free just next to the walled gardens.

Money extraction schemes can be cunning, as in the Stone Forest near Kunming, where the ticket booth is placed 3km away from the entrance. It is either a walk or a 3â‚¬ electric cart trip. As a reference, in China you can get a decent three pieces meal for this amount of money. Sightseeing is not cheap by any standards too. Entrance fees can reach as much as 30-40â‚¬ for top mountains. Student card is good to have nearby in order to get a discount (sometimes half the price). Paid attractions also are a sure way to summon tourist crowds, unless it involves a lot of walking. Eventually all of this was enough to kill all the interest in sightseeing in China.

Stone Forest was nice though. Â A funky karst formation turned into a labyrinth set among lush green landscapes. It was naturally crowded, but at the same time large to provide solitude. Maze was challenging enough almost to get lost too. On the way to Stone Forest, a number of unwalled free-for-all similar karst formations was seen. So maybe another trip is in order sometimes for an alternative free exploration.

Otherwise Kunming was unremarkable apart from a) impressive sunsets, which seemed to go on forever b) having pig intestines for dinner that were gross and tasty at the same time c) putting Â local buses into use. Thanks to Google Maps and a local SIM card, figuring out public transit has never been any easier. Just select the destination and it will figure out the rest. Turned out to be much cheaper than taxis and eliminated no need to deal with cocky taxi drivers, who spoke no English. Intense looks from locals on the bus were provided free of charge.

Stone Forest at glance.

Stone Forest a bit closer

Stone Forest even closer.

Stone Forest up close

Old meets new.

Yuantong temple

Solar water heaters are ubiquitous in China.

Mahjong on a street

And card games in a park.

Men gaze at the white man in a local bus.

China Part 1: Roads and smog

The first impression of China was massive awe-inspiring infrastructure and ever present air pollution. The impression remained true during the entire stay in China. Only when we reached the mountains of northern Yunnan, air turned clear and roads started showing signs of negligence and decay. Elevated highways, high speed trains and skyscrapers are all over the country and more are being built. Everything covered with thick hazy smog naturally. Elevated highways are particularly interesting. They seem to be the universal solution to road problems. A congested road, a canyon or a body of water? No problem, just build a highway on top of it. I wonder if three-level highways are on their way. Some naysayers claim that this building frenzy is nothing more than a construction bubble. Whether true or not, all this infrastructure is truly impressive.

Guangzhou was our starting point in China. Situated in the heart of Pearl River Delta, it is the most populated area in China. Indeed, the map of the area looks like one gigantic metropolis with cities seamlessly merging with each other. Guangzhou does not feel crowded or even large, though. The city is rather spread out and decentralised. It is modern and neat, but at the same time rather dull and grey. However, the city gets points for its space submarine like opera house, amazing food and Redtory, a hipster art district. The latter was thin on art, but had a lot of selfie-taking hipsters and expensive cafes. A nice half-day trip nonetheless. Another thing about Guangzhou is that motorbikes are banned in the city and electric scooters are preferred method of transport. Green, fast, quiet on the verge of dangerous and a good example of a vehicle of the future.

A Chinese man and Canton Tower.

Guangzhou Opera House

A woman lightening up incense in Guangxing Temple

Beggars in front of the Guangxian temple.

Monk shows how a prayer is done to three men in Guangxian Temple

A mannequin shop.

An art installation.in Redtory

More of Redtory

Girls posing in Redtory

Two men enjoying a football match for free.

Three Rams statue in Yixue Park.

Street Walnut cracking station on the streets of Guangzhou

Evening lights in a park.

Chinese park kitsch

Shopping in Hong Kong

Shopping has never been easier than in Hong Kong. The entire city is geared towards effortless money spending. The moment you venture outside you find yourself surrounded by myriads of shops. Shops are not limited to ground floors, but can be found on any level of multistorey buildings. In fact if you look for a bargain, your best bet is shops hidden on upper levels of tower buildings. Another interesting feature of Hong Kong is that shopping malls do not have public sitting space. So if you wish to take a rest, your only option is a cafe or a restaurant, which means spending more money. I am undecided whether it is genius or just plain evil.

This consumerism culture made me almost want to stay in Hong Kong and indulge in shopping and eating and find a job to support this lifestyle. Fortunately we made it out of Hong Kong, before this idea turned into reality. Below are purchases made during this shopping frenzy.