Sunday, April 20, 2014
25kms (15 miles) North of Dàlǐ is the old town of Xizhōu with its Bai architecture. We pulled off the highway to check it out, only to find they wanted ¥60 (USD $10) per person to visit. We decided against it.
We got off the highway onto smaller roads heading towards Shaxi, which (according to our guide book) is a village with old and traditional buildings often used as a set in Chinese movies. The road was a little slow going, but we did get to see farmers working the fields again. Then the road came to a sudden end and we had no obvious option but to enter the toll road. And what a toll road it was, magnificent and brand spanking new. Apparently it had just recently opened.
We were hurtling along towards Lìjiāng when we saw the exit to Shaxi. We made the decision to skip the more mountainous roads and instead stay on the exceedingly fast toll road. We found out later from Marijke and Coen that this was a mistake, as the town was very beautiful. Oh well.
Being the first into town it took a bit of effort to locate our hotel. We have not yet decoded how street addresses work. And the massive amount of road construction in the area did not help. When the Chinese do construction, they really do construction with block after block being closed. But with the help of our guide at the end of the phone we were successful. And now it was time for coffee. Again we were successful. Our first cappuccino coffee in China, and it was good.
Dinner was with the rest of the convoy. Double the typical price, but this is a World Heritage Town after all. After dinner all went for a stroll around the old town and managed an expensive drink in the middle. To be frank we weren’t that impressed with what we saw. The building were beautiful, but everything was so commercial. It was a bit like a UNESCO version of disney land. The evening did give us a chance to get to know our fellow travelers a bit better.
Monday, April 21, 2014
Today we slept in. There aren’t going to be many days during the China itinerary when this will be possible. And then we went back to our favourite coffee house.
The morning was spent walking around the UNESCO World Heritage Old Town. And the place started to grow on us. The further we strayed from the center of the Old Town, the better and less touristic it became. It is quite strange to see a beautiful old shop selling hand-made specialist paper right beside a shop selling plastic toys. The afternoon was spent relaxing back in the hotel room. Stephen worked a little bit on Sterlin and attempted to improve the dust sealing of the rear door in preparation for Mongolia.
We headed back to the Old Town to say goodbye with a few drinks.
