Strolling through a 750-year-old
Naxi village, we peeked into a courtyard where sheaves of
corn (maize) were hanging out to dry.
We were invited to enter the
kitchen of a traditional Naxi home to meet the family.
The Naxi people descend from
Tibetan nomads and have strong matriarchal families.
Many women still run the show and also seem to
perform much of the hard labor.
The popular trek through Tiger
Leaping Gorge passes along the lower banks of the mighty
Yangtze River, providing magnificent views to hikers as the
muddy river surges through China's deepest gorge. I had
dreamed of taking this trek for months. The day we arrived,
however, I was still ill with bronchitis. It was extremely
hot and humid, and throngs of Chinese crowded the path to
hike the 6.6 kilometer trek. I decided I would hike one way
but catch a sedan chair at the end of the trail rather
than trying to make it on foot in both directions. With this
working plan in mind, I headed off confidently
in the hot sun. Soon I realized I was
tiring more rapidly than I had predicted and had to pause
frequently to catch my breath. Coming around each bend of
the crowded path and emerging out of dank dark tunnels, I
found myself thinking of the kids' eternal lament: "Are
we there yet?"
The river seemed to flow slowly in
some places, but you could hear the roar ahead as it rushed
through the narrow gorge.
Relieved at finally reaching the
trail end, I summoned just enough stamina
to make it almost to the bottom of the lookout point so I
could catch the dramatic view of the water rushing through
the gorge.
I waited in vain for awhile at the
designated pick-up spot to catch the crucial sedan chair
ride back. No luck! Reluctantly, I
decided I'd have to start the long hike back on foot. This
was probably the most painful, though not the longest hike I
have ever taken--because I was ill. Stopping often to catch
my breath, I hiked about two thirds of the way back along
the now endless trail. I don't know which was more painful,
my aching knees or my labored breathing! But no help was in
sight (and the group was waiting for me at the end of the
trail) so I struggled on. Just when I
felt my strength about to give out, suddenly an empty sedan
chair popped into view. The runner was headed straight
toward me. Stepping boldly in front of him, I halted him and
gestured (as beseechingly as I could without speaking the
language), please, can you turn around and take me back? The
sedan chair runner, a slight young man who looked to weigh
no more than 95 pounds, obviously saw my predicament. He
could also see the 50 yuan note I waved in front of his
face! (That's how much the entire trip normally cost.)
Without hesitation, I jumped aboard and reclined,
exhausted, in the cushioned chair as my driver ran
effortlessly back through the crowds. I've
never been so eager to pay for a ride in my life! But
as least I had realized my dream of hiking (almost all the
way) through China's famous Tiger Leaping Gorge.
Situated at 9600 feet elevation on
a high plateau of the Himalayan Mountains, Zongdian was
renamed Shangri-La a few years ago. The
capital of the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Region in China,
the village is touted to be the site of the mythical lost
kingdom made famous by James Hilton in his 1933 novel,
"Lost Horizon." It is inhabited
primarily by Tibetans. A few miles out of town, Songzanlin,
an enormous Tibetan monastery complex on a mountaintop,
houses several hundred monks. It was built by the fifth
Dalai Lama four hundred years ago.
To visit the monastery you must
climb 200 steps to the top of the mountain. I
didn't feel like it that day but many others did.
Wandering through back alleys lined
with crumbling abandoned houses, I could see they were
doomed for remodeling. Construction is
taking place everywhere in this Tibetan region, and this
entire village is slated for modernization as part of
China's current economic agenda to expand tourism.
In the monastery
village I came across a group of future monks relaxing in
front of their seminary.
The schoolboys didn't mind having
their picture taken.
|
