Tuesday 15 January 2013

Li Jiang #1 posting

Don and I visited the town of Li Jiang last week and I have delayed writing about it because of a cold.

We had a condo exchange into this great little town, of 1 million people.  It was a magical place, not fully

enjoyed because of my cold.

First, try to locate Li Jiang on a map.  It is in the province of Yunnan in the southwest corner of China.  You will 

notice that Tibet is  to the  northwest of Yunnan.  Li Jiang is in the northwest corner of the province.

The location of this town has been the reason for its existence at the crossroads of trade and travel for centuries, probably 

millennia. Traders have come through the mountains and across the rivers from all four corners.   It would be fair to say that Li Jiang

 is in the "wilderness" of China, in an isolated area which is still populated by

diverse ethnic groups.  It is also an area of the world that has great bio diversity in its birds and flowers.b

The  old town of Li Jiang is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Li Jiang is located in the UNESCO Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Area Site. 

In the northwest of Yunnan Province, three major rivers run parallel to each other for 300 kilometres, with mountain ranges separating them.

These rivers are the Mekong (which flows to Viet Nam), the Salween (which flows into Burma) and the Yangtze.

About 20 miles west of Li Jiang, the Yangtze River makes its first turn to the north, and this eventually allows

the river to become the might Yangtze River of China.  Without this turn, China's development would have been very different.

This first turn is celebrated.  The river at this point is about the size of our Old Man River, running slowly and smoothly with

sand banks lining the river's edge.  Then the river runs north for many miles and then turns south and passes on the east of Li Jiang, and then makes

another great loop to the north.  Li Jiang is bounded, at a distance, by the Yangtze on the west, the east and the north.   OK.  I just think rivers are interesting!

One of the secrets for the success of Li Jiang has been its pure water source and the irrigation system through the canals in town, and in the country.  The spring water is

still so clear it looks like you are looking into glass.  Don says that it is like Beazer water, and he is probably right.

To get a flavour of the ruggedness and the Tibetan influence, here are a few pictures of the rugged small mountain horses and people

with birds of prey.

Li Jiang was on the Tea Horse Road, which was a dangerous caravan trail that traded in tea from China and horses from the west.

This trail was also the trail that brought goods into Kunming (in Yunnan where the American and British forces were headquartered)

 during World War 2 when all the other entry points into China were closed.  This area has a fascinating history.  For more information

read:

The Forgotten Kingdom  by Peter Goullart

Books by Joseph Rock

Lost Horizon ( A novel that has been made into a movie a few times. The setting for this novel is along the road to the north, and it claims to be Shangra-la).