Lijiang - full of preservatives

There is an old Chinese saying that I haven't a clue how to say or write in Chinese but translated into English it means 'an old wine in a new bottle'. I'm not sure if they were talking about Lijiang when they first started using it but it definitely sums up the place really well.

It is without a doubt worth a visit, especially if you manage to avoid the crowds, at around 7 in the morning. There are more souvenir shops than even the Chinese mobs now what to do with and there is a street that runs along a canal that is home to what must be more than 200 restaurants and bars, all doing their best in their own special ways to attract customers. We found a karaoke singing bartender highly entertaining.

The hostel we stayed at fitted well into the chaos and was an absolute madhouse. The 'mama' in charge spent the entire day shouting at people and she seemed more interested in curing or preventing illnesses in her terrified guests than actually running the place.

One thing that really ticked us off was the Lijiang old town preservation fee (LOTPF) that you have to pay at every site around town. We refused because the only thing being preserved by the fund, in our opinion, is the pot-bellies of the politicians in power.

We cycled 1 hour north of Lijiang towards the beautiful Jade Dragon Snow mountain and visited the small village of Baisha. About half an hour further north, in the foothills, we had a free argument with 4 idiots in uniform at the Jade Dragon Summit Temple, where you have to pay 25RMB entrance and the 80RMB LOTPF. After having spent a few weeks in China we accept that these sorts of arguments are part of the experience but they remain intensely frustrating. They really need to initiate common sense classes at school.