Yesterday we stayed close to the guesthouse as it rained all day. Did an interview and in the afternoon went looking for a shower. The first two were broken but I got lucky at the third place which told me to come back in an hour by which time the water would have heated up! So I did. In the evening we went out with two guys from Guilin. They are 'punkers' with long hair, leather jackets and tatoos. Very unChineselike. They were taking lots of photos of themselves in beautiful settings (by the lake, on a mountain, etc) standing around in the nude. It's pretty cold here too. Wasn't quite what we expected when they offered to show us their holiday snaps on their digital camera.
Anyway, we went out to a bar and they played guitars and an harmonica and sang. They are pretty good and also know a lot of Western music as they hate Chinese pop. So we sang along to guns n roses, nirvana, red hot chilli peppers, the beatles, etc. There was only about half a dozen people there and we were all sitting around a fire, so it was a lot of fun. The bar kicked us out at 11.30pm.
This morning we got up earlyish and went with Lance and a Chinese tourist into Yongning. We went to the buddhist monastery there and then went and bought fresh fruit from the market as well as toilet paper, bottled water and some yoghurt. Then the Norwegian girl and I caught a lorry to Luoshui. It got stuck in the gutter at one point but managed to manouever out. I have a few things I want to do here and then I'm going back to Lige tomorrow. We got very excited about the ensuite bathroom and the prospect of fresh coffee and cheese on toast.
Saturday, March 26, 2005
Friday, March 25, 2005
Easter
Happy birthday Dad.
If my Dad was still around he would be 84 today, 25th of March. The interesting thing is that when he was born in 1921 it was also Good Friday, just like today. It doesn't come around very often that you have Good Friday in late March, so I decided to make a special mention of it. I imagine he would celebrate his birthday by sitting out on the porch with a glass of red wine, spinning yarns and having a laugh with anyone who cared to join him, in the late afternoon. He was just that kind of guy. In fact, that's how he spent every afternoon. He might tell you about his childhood in Cornwall, his navy days during WWII, maybe something about farming, animals, travel, history or politics; what his kids are doing, or the latest project that he and Mum were planning (usually something involving travel or house / garden renovation). He might even tell you that salt and fat were good for your health and one of these days the nutritionists would figure that out. I find it a little hard to imagine what he would say about me studying a minority language in rural south-west China, but I suspect he would think it was pretty cool and would be sure to tell everyone about it. Though he did used to say that he didn't really believe Chinese people really used chopsticks all the time, he was sure that was just a rumour or exaggeration!
If my Dad was still around he would be 84 today, 25th of March. The interesting thing is that when he was born in 1921 it was also Good Friday, just like today. It doesn't come around very often that you have Good Friday in late March, so I decided to make a special mention of it. I imagine he would celebrate his birthday by sitting out on the porch with a glass of red wine, spinning yarns and having a laugh with anyone who cared to join him, in the late afternoon. He was just that kind of guy. In fact, that's how he spent every afternoon. He might tell you about his childhood in Cornwall, his navy days during WWII, maybe something about farming, animals, travel, history or politics; what his kids are doing, or the latest project that he and Mum were planning (usually something involving travel or house / garden renovation). He might even tell you that salt and fat were good for your health and one of these days the nutritionists would figure that out. I find it a little hard to imagine what he would say about me studying a minority language in rural south-west China, but I suspect he would think it was pretty cool and would be sure to tell everyone about it. Though he did used to say that he didn't really believe Chinese people really used chopsticks all the time, he was sure that was just a rumour or exaggeration!
Thursday, March 24, 2005
try again
I just posted this and it didn't work so now I have to try it again.
I met a Norwegian girl here yesterday who is just about to start her anthropological fieldwork research on Mosuo culture for her Masters degree. She'd been in China about nine weeks and spent time with friends in Hong Kong, Kunming and Lijiang and has only just arrived at the lake the last couple of days. My impression after talking with her last night and this morning is that she is almost completely unprepared. She doesn't speak Chinese, and apparently didn't realise that almost no one here would speak English. She also doesn't seem to have read much of the literature on Mosuo people either, which can't help. We get along quite well, I'm just finding it difficult to imagine what she will find out in a couple of months. Oh and she's vegetarian. Not sure what she's going to eat for the next couple of months either. You've heard enough of my complaints about the rule of pork to understand why. Even vegetables and potatoes are fried in pork fat.
This doesn't sound very nice but I suddenly feel like I'm coping fine and have got a lot done. Just by comparison of course. I might go out to a village and do some interviews after this. I'll take her along maybe and she can watch or something. Acted as interpreter last night as she asked my friend at the guesthouse questions about Mosuo culture. That certainly stretched my skills. He was trying to explain the difference between walking marriage and a one night stand. Evidently 'one night stand' was not in my dictionary in English or in Chinese, so we had to use the descriptive method, which got quite funny.
eg. Imagine him saying in Chinese
'well it's sex, you know the word 'sex' right?'
Me 'yes, you mean sex where the next day you don't have a relationship anymore, where you can walk away and find someone else for sex'
Him 'yes, but walking marriage is different to that. Young men nowadays just want 'one night stand' but then they call it 'walking marriage' to try to sleep with the tourists, which is ruining the meaning of walking marriage, ruining Mosuo culture'
Me' I don't recognise that word you used, 'ruining'.
(We get dictionary, look up Chinese word that means 'ruining')
I say 'aaah, yes I understand'
Him 'Yes, but walking marriage is between two people who have very strong feelings for each other, who are talking about love. It is just much freer than other marriage because you don't live together so there is no pressure to find someone wealthy, or to worry about money, and if you don't love each other any more you just break up'
Me 'Would I be right in saying that local boys generally don't have one night stands with local girls, just with tourists?'
Him 'Yes, the village would shun him / send him away if he had one night stands with local girls'
I translate all this to Norwegian girl.
Her 'Is that exactly what he said?'
Me 'Yes, more or less, that's what I understood'
Her 'But I don't understand why they don't want to move in together if they are in love?'
Me 'Well because they sleep together every night anyway and their ties to their maternal family are strong'
Her 'Are they allowed to see each other during the day?'
Me 'I'll ask....'
And so on...
I met a Norwegian girl here yesterday who is just about to start her anthropological fieldwork research on Mosuo culture for her Masters degree. She'd been in China about nine weeks and spent time with friends in Hong Kong, Kunming and Lijiang and has only just arrived at the lake the last couple of days. My impression after talking with her last night and this morning is that she is almost completely unprepared. She doesn't speak Chinese, and apparently didn't realise that almost no one here would speak English. She also doesn't seem to have read much of the literature on Mosuo people either, which can't help. We get along quite well, I'm just finding it difficult to imagine what she will find out in a couple of months. Oh and she's vegetarian. Not sure what she's going to eat for the next couple of months either. You've heard enough of my complaints about the rule of pork to understand why. Even vegetables and potatoes are fried in pork fat.
This doesn't sound very nice but I suddenly feel like I'm coping fine and have got a lot done. Just by comparison of course. I might go out to a village and do some interviews after this. I'll take her along maybe and she can watch or something. Acted as interpreter last night as she asked my friend at the guesthouse questions about Mosuo culture. That certainly stretched my skills. He was trying to explain the difference between walking marriage and a one night stand. Evidently 'one night stand' was not in my dictionary in English or in Chinese, so we had to use the descriptive method, which got quite funny.
eg. Imagine him saying in Chinese
'well it's sex, you know the word 'sex' right?'
Me 'yes, you mean sex where the next day you don't have a relationship anymore, where you can walk away and find someone else for sex'
Him 'yes, but walking marriage is different to that. Young men nowadays just want 'one night stand' but then they call it 'walking marriage' to try to sleep with the tourists, which is ruining the meaning of walking marriage, ruining Mosuo culture'
Me' I don't recognise that word you used, 'ruining'.
(We get dictionary, look up Chinese word that means 'ruining')
I say 'aaah, yes I understand'
Him 'Yes, but walking marriage is between two people who have very strong feelings for each other, who are talking about love. It is just much freer than other marriage because you don't live together so there is no pressure to find someone wealthy, or to worry about money, and if you don't love each other any more you just break up'
Me 'Would I be right in saying that local boys generally don't have one night stands with local girls, just with tourists?'
Him 'Yes, the village would shun him / send him away if he had one night stands with local girls'
I translate all this to Norwegian girl.
Her 'Is that exactly what he said?'
Me 'Yes, more or less, that's what I understood'
Her 'But I don't understand why they don't want to move in together if they are in love?'
Me 'Well because they sleep together every night anyway and their ties to their maternal family are strong'
Her 'Are they allowed to see each other during the day?'
Me 'I'll ask....'
And so on...
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Zebo village
Yesterday, a 16 year old Mosuo girl who I've become friends with here in Luoshui took me to visit her village, Zebo. We left around midday, got a taxibus to Yongning and from there we walked about an hour to her village. It was a pleasant walk except that after 20 minutes she started worrying that I might be tired or that my feet might be hurting. She explained to me that she knew westerners don't walk much, they ride their bikes everywhere!
It was a bit overcast as we got there, but it is really a very pretty village. The blossoms on the trees have just come out, people were working in the fields and the village is nestled just at the base of Gemu mountain. I sat in her home and interviewed her parents. She also took me to her friend's home to interview them. It was starting to get late (we didn't get away from Luoshui very early)and we were about to start walking back to Luoshui when it started raining. I really wanted to get back to Luoshui that night and I hadn't brought any of my things with me. Anyway, her brother said that he wanted to drive back to Luoshui that evening too and we could go with him. But first his truck, which had a load of roof tiles in the back, needed to be unloaded. Everyone donned gloves and started unloading. I tried to get them to give me some gloves but they refused and told me to sit down and have a rest!
Then I tried to help without gloves (as a few people were doing) but the tiles are filthy, they are curved and feel like theyre made of coal, and the people on the truck refused to pass them to me. They were concerned my hands would get dirty. I stood there feeling annoyed and frustrated- I don't really appreciate being subjected to stereotypes that westerners (and particularly western women) are incapable of any physical work, and that uni students have never done a days work in their lives anyway. I stood there fuming, recalling the many jobs of done that were more unpleasant, dirty and heavier than unloading a few tiles and felt frustrated that I couldn't communicate that. As the work continued, I saw my chance. They pulled away one of the side slats as the truck became emptier and from there it was possible to just reach in a grab a stack of tiles.
This is exactly what I did as I flashed my very angry, determined expression at the guy on the truck, warning him not to get in my way (Scott can probably describe this look to you quite well) and started helping. They gave in then and gave me some gloves. The mood lightened after that and we joked as we unloaded the truck. Then the girl tried to get me to sing something but I got out of that saying I don't know how to sing, just know how to unload stuff.
Then we washed our hands, three of us piled into the front seat of the truck, next to the driver, and as the sun set we drove across the unmade, heavily potholed roads, back to Luoshui.
Sat down with the brother who drove us and his friend who came along and had tea. Then we started drinking beer. Spent the evening talking and joking and drinking. At one point he started calling me 'Australian kangaroo' (Aodaliya de daishu) and I recall us all playing a game where we threw sunflower seeds at each other and tried to catch them in our mouths and they taught me how to eat sunflower seeds the Mosuo way, by crunching them up between your teeth and spitting out the shells. Then they had to duck as I spat a little too enthusiastically! Hey if you can't do it in China....
It was a bit overcast as we got there, but it is really a very pretty village. The blossoms on the trees have just come out, people were working in the fields and the village is nestled just at the base of Gemu mountain. I sat in her home and interviewed her parents. She also took me to her friend's home to interview them. It was starting to get late (we didn't get away from Luoshui very early)and we were about to start walking back to Luoshui when it started raining. I really wanted to get back to Luoshui that night and I hadn't brought any of my things with me. Anyway, her brother said that he wanted to drive back to Luoshui that evening too and we could go with him. But first his truck, which had a load of roof tiles in the back, needed to be unloaded. Everyone donned gloves and started unloading. I tried to get them to give me some gloves but they refused and told me to sit down and have a rest!
Then I tried to help without gloves (as a few people were doing) but the tiles are filthy, they are curved and feel like theyre made of coal, and the people on the truck refused to pass them to me. They were concerned my hands would get dirty. I stood there feeling annoyed and frustrated- I don't really appreciate being subjected to stereotypes that westerners (and particularly western women) are incapable of any physical work, and that uni students have never done a days work in their lives anyway. I stood there fuming, recalling the many jobs of done that were more unpleasant, dirty and heavier than unloading a few tiles and felt frustrated that I couldn't communicate that. As the work continued, I saw my chance. They pulled away one of the side slats as the truck became emptier and from there it was possible to just reach in a grab a stack of tiles.
This is exactly what I did as I flashed my very angry, determined expression at the guy on the truck, warning him not to get in my way (Scott can probably describe this look to you quite well) and started helping. They gave in then and gave me some gloves. The mood lightened after that and we joked as we unloaded the truck. Then the girl tried to get me to sing something but I got out of that saying I don't know how to sing, just know how to unload stuff.
Then we washed our hands, three of us piled into the front seat of the truck, next to the driver, and as the sun set we drove across the unmade, heavily potholed roads, back to Luoshui.
Sat down with the brother who drove us and his friend who came along and had tea. Then we started drinking beer. Spent the evening talking and joking and drinking. At one point he started calling me 'Australian kangaroo' (Aodaliya de daishu) and I recall us all playing a game where we threw sunflower seeds at each other and tried to catch them in our mouths and they taught me how to eat sunflower seeds the Mosuo way, by crunching them up between your teeth and spitting out the shells. Then they had to duck as I spat a little too enthusiastically! Hey if you can't do it in China....
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Luoshui again
I've been here in ultra touristy Luoshui for a few days now. Trying to get interviews with locals here is more difficult then the villages. People are more reluctant, maybe more cynical. But I've become friends with the old guy who speaks English and he's provided some introductions. Think I'll have to go back to Lige tomorrow. Run out of clothes. I only packed for a couple of days and have been gone a week.
Anyway, this was on a sign I saw up in Lijiang on the hill. There is a buddhist monastery there and a large park you can walk around. There was a sign in the entrance:
"No Hunting in Religious Free Captive Animals Area"
On tv the other day there was a Korean band called Loveholic which sang in Korean with just the chorus in English which went:
"I love you always, just like a shining spring. I love you always, just like a happy christmas"
Just wanted to send that message out to all my friends ;)
Anyway, this was on a sign I saw up in Lijiang on the hill. There is a buddhist monastery there and a large park you can walk around. There was a sign in the entrance:
"No Hunting in Religious Free Captive Animals Area"
On tv the other day there was a Korean band called Loveholic which sang in Korean with just the chorus in English which went:
"I love you always, just like a shining spring. I love you always, just like a happy christmas"
Just wanted to send that message out to all my friends ;)
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
And back again
Well I've had a couple of very nice days in ole Lijiang. Caught the bus down on Saturday. Pretty smooth trip. Saturday night I had a fantastic hot shower, got dressed up (Put on a clean top and jeans) and went out to Prague cafe for pizza and to watch a dvd on their couch upstairs. I was about half an hour into the movie when Hunter called and said, "come out with us, we are going to a bar for a party" I was tired but agreed to do the social thing. Met him and some others who had also joined him and we walked into the new part of town where we waited around for over half an hour for someone else he was supposed to be meeting. He was obviously getting frustrated, and eventually walked up to us, said "She's not coming" and just walked off. We were left feeling somewhat bewildered, and I was more than a little annoyed. Walked back to old town, where I was staying, back to Prague cafe and finished watching my movie.
Sunday morning I ran around doing banking and buying stuff I need, etc. Had lunch at a cool little cafe called Hakuna Matata, which serves excellent Chinese and Western food. Went back to Prague cafe in the afternoon to relax and watch another dvd. In the evening I decided to go back there again for tea and ran into my friend Gemma. After Hunter rang me last week and said Gemma was coming to Lijiang and could I come, I had been looking forward to seeing her, but after Hunter's performance the night before, I still had no way of contacting her as he was my point of contact, and not surprisingly, I hadn't heard from him anymore. I walked into the Prague and she was sitting at the table there having tea. We had a good catch-up and went for a bit of a walk later on and ate some watermelon.
Monday was frustrating. I walked all over New Town all morning looking for some recording stuff I wanted, and discovered that you can't buy it in Lijiang. Rang up the Dutch guy I met last week at Lugu lake and we had lunch at a little Italian restaurant run by a French chef. Had a fantastic salad; my first in months! After lunch he took me on the back of his motorbike to see Pencil mountain, which was very beautiful and has a large buddhist monastery and parklands and lake on top. It was a lovely warm day, and I was actually able to wear a t-shirt without any kind of jumper and jacket and feel warm! It was lovely sitting under a pagoda in the sun looking down on the lake and Lijiang in the distance. Got back to Lijiang in the late afternoon and went back to the Italian place for a pizza. It still wasn't particularly cold and I sat out on the balcony with my pizza and beer. Scott would have loved it.
Then I went inside and got chatting again to the French chef and his Aussie mate. When the restaurant closed we all went out to a new bar in town, and sat on swings suspended from beams across the ceiling and I had a few gin and tonics. Then the French chef took us back to his home. He is renting it in Old town (the nice part of Lijiang). It's a beautiful old Naxi home with a huge courtyard. Very open plan. I could live in a place like that. And the rent's much cheaper than Aus....
Got back to my motel at about 2.30am. The gate was locked, which I expected, and I had to bang on the door and wake up the owner to get in. They don't seem to mind. Fell in to bed for a few hours sleep before getting up at 6.30 am to shower, pack and go back to Lugu Lake. The Dutch guy was going with some friends up to Ninglang this morning, so they offered me a lift that far, which was cool.
I caught a taxi down to where I had agreed to meet him and we had a car accident. It was quite odd actually as the taxi had just stopped to let me out. It was still quiet at that time of the morning too. She had parked just behind a van that was parked at right angles to the road, on the footpath. I was just starting to open the door to get out when the minivan, which was about two metres away from us, began backing out, straight towards my door. I was thinking "this guy's not serious, we've been stopped right behind him for nearly a minute" but he was apparently backing out without making any attempt to use his side mirrors or do a head check. The woman taxi driver started yelling at him, I quickly put my feet back into the car and closed the door again and a second later he backed straight into our taxi. The taxi driver yelled at him. He put his car back into first and slowly accelerated forward, looked out the window and saw that the taxi only had a bit of a dint, and then he turned left and drove off without even an apology.
The friends we were to be travelling with turned out to be colleagues of his Naxi wife, who used to work in a Lijiang orphanage. They're all Westerners who work for this orphan homes organisation, and they were going to finalise an agreement to start up a new orphanage in Lijiang. It was quite bizarre sitting in a van with half a dozen Westerners who all speak fluent Chinese. Except for my Dutch friend. They were very friendly and we chatted most of the time, so I didn't get to make up much sleep.
They dropped me off near the bus station in Ninglang and I looked around for a bus to Lugu Lake, and a guy said his van was waiting. I went with him and found that they didn't have any other passengers yet, so I would have to wait till they found some more. Unfortunately, I couldn't see any already half full minivans so I had to sit it out and wait with them for an hour until the next bus came in from Lijiang with passengers going to the lake. Ended up travelling with some locals, an older guy dressed in khaki from the army surplus store and a young buddhist monk in his long maroon robes. We all snored away in the back seat for most of the trip. We had to stop on one of the narrow mountain roads to change a flat tire. Then we were back in the van until we had to stop again when the monk got car sick and had to throw up beside the road.
Finally got to Luoshui and I went straight to my motel room, got into bed and slept for a couple of hours. I've just had a late dinner and a coffee at the Husi Teahouse, and now I think I'll go back and catch some more sleep. Good night fellow travellers.
Sunday morning I ran around doing banking and buying stuff I need, etc. Had lunch at a cool little cafe called Hakuna Matata, which serves excellent Chinese and Western food. Went back to Prague cafe in the afternoon to relax and watch another dvd. In the evening I decided to go back there again for tea and ran into my friend Gemma. After Hunter rang me last week and said Gemma was coming to Lijiang and could I come, I had been looking forward to seeing her, but after Hunter's performance the night before, I still had no way of contacting her as he was my point of contact, and not surprisingly, I hadn't heard from him anymore. I walked into the Prague and she was sitting at the table there having tea. We had a good catch-up and went for a bit of a walk later on and ate some watermelon.
Monday was frustrating. I walked all over New Town all morning looking for some recording stuff I wanted, and discovered that you can't buy it in Lijiang. Rang up the Dutch guy I met last week at Lugu lake and we had lunch at a little Italian restaurant run by a French chef. Had a fantastic salad; my first in months! After lunch he took me on the back of his motorbike to see Pencil mountain, which was very beautiful and has a large buddhist monastery and parklands and lake on top. It was a lovely warm day, and I was actually able to wear a t-shirt without any kind of jumper and jacket and feel warm! It was lovely sitting under a pagoda in the sun looking down on the lake and Lijiang in the distance. Got back to Lijiang in the late afternoon and went back to the Italian place for a pizza. It still wasn't particularly cold and I sat out on the balcony with my pizza and beer. Scott would have loved it.
Then I went inside and got chatting again to the French chef and his Aussie mate. When the restaurant closed we all went out to a new bar in town, and sat on swings suspended from beams across the ceiling and I had a few gin and tonics. Then the French chef took us back to his home. He is renting it in Old town (the nice part of Lijiang). It's a beautiful old Naxi home with a huge courtyard. Very open plan. I could live in a place like that. And the rent's much cheaper than Aus....
Got back to my motel at about 2.30am. The gate was locked, which I expected, and I had to bang on the door and wake up the owner to get in. They don't seem to mind. Fell in to bed for a few hours sleep before getting up at 6.30 am to shower, pack and go back to Lugu Lake. The Dutch guy was going with some friends up to Ninglang this morning, so they offered me a lift that far, which was cool.
I caught a taxi down to where I had agreed to meet him and we had a car accident. It was quite odd actually as the taxi had just stopped to let me out. It was still quiet at that time of the morning too. She had parked just behind a van that was parked at right angles to the road, on the footpath. I was just starting to open the door to get out when the minivan, which was about two metres away from us, began backing out, straight towards my door. I was thinking "this guy's not serious, we've been stopped right behind him for nearly a minute" but he was apparently backing out without making any attempt to use his side mirrors or do a head check. The woman taxi driver started yelling at him, I quickly put my feet back into the car and closed the door again and a second later he backed straight into our taxi. The taxi driver yelled at him. He put his car back into first and slowly accelerated forward, looked out the window and saw that the taxi only had a bit of a dint, and then he turned left and drove off without even an apology.
The friends we were to be travelling with turned out to be colleagues of his Naxi wife, who used to work in a Lijiang orphanage. They're all Westerners who work for this orphan homes organisation, and they were going to finalise an agreement to start up a new orphanage in Lijiang. It was quite bizarre sitting in a van with half a dozen Westerners who all speak fluent Chinese. Except for my Dutch friend. They were very friendly and we chatted most of the time, so I didn't get to make up much sleep.
They dropped me off near the bus station in Ninglang and I looked around for a bus to Lugu Lake, and a guy said his van was waiting. I went with him and found that they didn't have any other passengers yet, so I would have to wait till they found some more. Unfortunately, I couldn't see any already half full minivans so I had to sit it out and wait with them for an hour until the next bus came in from Lijiang with passengers going to the lake. Ended up travelling with some locals, an older guy dressed in khaki from the army surplus store and a young buddhist monk in his long maroon robes. We all snored away in the back seat for most of the trip. We had to stop on one of the narrow mountain roads to change a flat tire. Then we were back in the van until we had to stop again when the monk got car sick and had to throw up beside the road.
Finally got to Luoshui and I went straight to my motel room, got into bed and slept for a couple of hours. I've just had a late dinner and a coffee at the Husi Teahouse, and now I think I'll go back and catch some more sleep. Good night fellow travellers.
Friday, March 11, 2005
On the move again
Yesterday I spent several hours sitting out in the sun chatting with some Mosuo guys who were teaching me Mosuo words, which was good. I also came back and interviewed one of them. In the evening I had a headache though. I guess I sat in the sun a little too long.
Well, I hadn't planned to go to Lijiang till I finished interviewing, but I haven't finished and I think I'm going to go tomorrow. I definitely have to go mid next month, but I'll still need to go before then, so I may as well not put it off any longer. Anyway, I've run out of chocolate and conditioner. There are actually some less important things I need to buy for my research like stationery, etc!! Go to the bank. Put some more credit in my phone.
I found a beautiful little shop here yesterday that I'd never been into. It was run by the guy I interviewed and sold Mosuo garments and bags that his sister hand weaves. I'm definitely going to buy some stuff. Also, in Luoshui (the touristy Mosuo town) that a lot of the shops had goods that were identical to what you can find in Lijiang, ie. probably Naxi, or just goods that look kind of ethnic and are mass produced for tourists. I'm not sure who they think they're kidding because it's almost impossible to get to the lake from the Yunnan side without going through Lijiang, and nearly all tourists spend time there first. It's quite obvious that the items can't be local.
Well, I hadn't planned to go to Lijiang till I finished interviewing, but I haven't finished and I think I'm going to go tomorrow. I definitely have to go mid next month, but I'll still need to go before then, so I may as well not put it off any longer. Anyway, I've run out of chocolate and conditioner. There are actually some less important things I need to buy for my research like stationery, etc!! Go to the bank. Put some more credit in my phone.
I found a beautiful little shop here yesterday that I'd never been into. It was run by the guy I interviewed and sold Mosuo garments and bags that his sister hand weaves. I'm definitely going to buy some stuff. Also, in Luoshui (the touristy Mosuo town) that a lot of the shops had goods that were identical to what you can find in Lijiang, ie. probably Naxi, or just goods that look kind of ethnic and are mass produced for tourists. I'm not sure who they think they're kidding because it's almost impossible to get to the lake from the Yunnan side without going through Lijiang, and nearly all tourists spend time there first. It's quite obvious that the items can't be local.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)