That said, let's move on before I run out of time to continue my China 2008 series again!
Despite my grandfather's awesome efforts at Guanyin Xia, our next stop was a trip that he could not make - a trip to a 4500 meter snow-capped peak of the Jade Dragon Mountain. It didn't matter that much to Grandfather though, since he had been there about 15 or so years earlier, and probably got a better view of it too, since this time, the clouds were so thick that we couldn't even see the peaks next to the one we were on! Still, the peak was so high that I had trouble getting enough oxygen to my brain, and after just over an hour, we came back down to about 2500 meters, where we could breathe easy again. I was actually quite shocked at how much of an effect the altitude had on me - I guess the "altitude training" that pro fighters use really does have some merit after all!
After coming back down to more breathable heights, the tour bus took us to a place where we not only could breathe without making ourselves dizzy, but we could also see a substantial distance in front of us! Plus, we saw Yak! In case you were wondering, that's what those black and white animals in the right hand side of the photo are.
After stopping by a few more places in the mountains, we came back to the city of Lijiang, another very well preserved old city, as you can see in the photo to the right. Just being there made me want to fly to the rooftops, using my qing gong, and start kicking someone's ass just for the hell of it! Ed, Melinda, Cherrie, and my in-laws went to a local restaurant that looked just like the busy, noisy restaurants you see in Chinese kung fu movies. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a photo of that because my parents borrowed Ed's camera to go see a cultural dance show that night.
The next day would be our last full day in Yunnan. We started off in the old city of Dali. We had passed through Dali a few days earlier, when we went to experience the Bai nationality marriage, but we did not have a chance to visit it's Old City. Though a bit smaller than that of Lijiang's, Dali's Old City was quite nice as well, featuring very impressive city walls. I've always liked city walls - I think probably because they remind me of the good old days in Xi'an...
In Dali, we also got to try one of Yunnan's few culinary specialties - and also one of Yunnan's 18 Oddities - goats milk curdled then roasted or steamed into a sort of wrap. More or less it was a very mild cheese, that, much like other Yunnan culinary specialties, didn't really do much to please my palate. However, it's one of my personal policies to try local snacks whenever I travel to faraway places!Well, we're almost done... tune in next time for the finale of the China 2008 series!
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