Lijiang, Yunnan

Chip and I decided to spend this holiday traveling around Yunnan province in the south of China. Yunnan is much warmer than our home this time of year, but still cool. Changchun is -8 degrees Fahrenheit today and it is in the 50s here in Yunnan. We met up with two friends who traveled with us around the province: Jeanna, who teaches in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, and Stephanie, who teaches in Changsha, Hunan.

Our first stop in Yunnan was Lijiang. Lijiang has a beautiful old town that takes you back to ancient days in China before high rises and smoggy pollution.

Can you see the mountain in the distance?






Sellers with street foods and local flavors of the Naxi minority people group


And many handmade handicrafts




Hanging wishes


Washing in the creek that runs through the old town


Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is the backdrop of this beautiful, ancient city



We hiked up the hill and to the top of this pagoda for a better view of the city and the mountain.




A sea of Chinese style roofs

Breakfast at a delicious Western Cafe

Chinese New Year

We experienced our first ever Chinese New Year (and really had we planned better we might have tried to avoid it because housing, transportation, etc. became much more complicated). The highlights were watching people hang red banners on the door frames of their homes and businesses for good fortune and happiness.




Also, Jeanna and I did group dances in the city square.



The lowlight: Hearing fireworks most of the night. . .and for the following days (the loud, popping kind, not the pretty, colorful kind). The firecrackers are believed to scare away evil spirits.




Chip with the luggage--moving onto our next stop in Yunnan province. . .