Lijiang and more Puerh!

The following day was Sunday. All day today I kept thinking it was Monday. I have no idea why? I had breakfast at my guesthouse and had my first full day of exploring Lijiang. I really wanted to get to know the town better. I was with my guide or walking around at night mostly. So I felt like I still kept getting lost or would be walking in circles on my own unless I took the time to explore it during the day. The old town is really a beautiful and charming place. All the buildings have pointed tile roofs. The roads are tiny, narrow, cobblestone streets and alleys. They criss-cross canals, bridges, narrow rivers, and streams. Now there are shops everywhere but it is still possible to get away from the crowds in the morning and evenings or head to more residential areas. I'm just surprised that no one slips and falls into one of the canals!

I walked to black dragon pool in the morning. The town's water used to come exclusively from a spring here. There were three pools. One designated for drinking water, one for washing vegetables, and another for washing clothes. There is a pavilion in the park with a small stone bridge. Behind it is Snow Mountain. When I arrived I could see a portion of the mountain. The rest was cloud covered. But after I walked around the various pools, the view had become much better.

I wanted to head to the Wang Gu Lou pavilion afterwards. It sits on top of the old town and offers nice views of old and new town including the nearby mountains. The walk is all uphill, but it took me to a part of old town I hadn't seen yet. It was a gorgeous walk and a great view once I got to the top. The clouds atop Snow Mountain had cleared up a bit more since the morning. You could also see the tile roofs of all the old buildings in old town.

A man from Vancouver, traveling alone, and I exchanged taking pictures for each other. He said he had just played golf at the highest golf course in the world at 3100 meters (near snow mountain). His favorite shot was a 300 yard drive. He knew it was due to the altitude, but he certainly enjoyed it!

It was well past lunch now. These breakfasts don't quite fill me up, so I need to have some snacks and a late lunch or early dinner.

I was still trying to find the place Ivy took me to dinner the first night. The reason being is that the tea house was right across the way. I have been unable to locate either. I actually started from the main square several times and went in each direction. Eventually the last way I tried was correct. This town is such a maze. I did have the business card of the tea house but it was completely in Chinese. I suppose my last resort would have been to ask someone. I decided to go to the restaurant for a late lunch.

One of the waitresses remembered me from the previous evening. I ordered eggplant with potatoes and steamed rice. It was a good people watching spot. I do like Chinese food but notice how much oil is always at the bottom when I have finished my dish. I have been eating a lot of the fried flatbread here. It's sometimes onion, plain, or with honey. It was definitely bigger and better in Dali but the first time I tried it was in Darjeeling. There it was filled with cabbage and onions.

I found a nice cafe to have a cup of tea on my walk back to the guesthouse. They had live music. I don't know if the live music was because it was Sunday and more people would be about, or if it was like this every day late in the afternoon.

I was gearing up to go to the tea house but wanted to wait until later in the evening. Ivy had a tour group from the US today so if she went at all, it would be later in the evening. They did tell me to come back and to drink tea anytime. Someone there would know English.

So even though I had found the tea house in the afternoon, coming from a different direction in the evening, I got lost again. I felt so stupid. But I did know which way to go from the main square. I eventually got there.

When I did, some of the workers recognized me and said hello. Then I saw Gao Shun. He said hello too. I saw a new face. Her name was Diana. She will actually be accompanying me to Tiger Leaping Gorge on Tuesday. She was a guide and a very good friend of Ivy's. The three of us went upstairs to drink some tea.

Today we would try 4 teas. I brought some of the Makaibari Imperial Silver Tips for Gao Shun to try. We had that first. I told him to start with boiling water, but that it had to sit for a while before he could brew it. It was a delicate tea, which I'm sure he understood. I didn't want the taste to be spoiled by using water that was too hot. I had not yet brewed any of this tea myself so I didn't know exactly how many minutes either. I thought Mr. Banerjee had said about 3-4 minutes, but I think Gao Shun was using more than a teaspoon of tea per person. So I let him figure it out. He brewed it for a short time. The flavor was definitely more flowery than they both were used to but they liked it. I let Gao Shun keep some to show my appreciation. I wonder if I should be tipping him too???

The second tea was a green tea from 1996. This still looked green and the color of the liquor was light colored too. They told me it was stored in Yunnan the whole time. Typically if the cakes are stored in Guangzhou or Hong Kong they turn darker in color and liquor faster. This was my favorite of the evening. They told me that most people just keep buying green tea cakes and store them on their own. That way they can always drink good tea but pay cheap prices.

The third tea was a 1992 old tea rolled in pieces. It was fermented. This was nice and dark. It was warming.

The fourth tea was white particles that looked like ashes. It was from the third tea. I guess after the tea is fermented, these particles can be scraped from the top. He put just a few pieces in the pot and didn't strain them at all. The tea is supposedly portable this way but it didn't have the depth and the same quality as the other one did.

I didn't stay as long tonight. I didn't want to overstay my welcome and felt guilty about drinking all their good teas. But I didn't want to go back to the hotel yet either. I went walking. I found a new area of town that I hadn't been to yet. It was past the Tibetan Cafe with the music. You have to walk through one restaurant and over the bridge and then you reach the country market with all the street vendors in one spot. If you keep walking on this street it's called Qiyi Street. It runs into the old tea horse road. I couldn't believe I had missed this whole section of town as this road was really long. I walked on it almost to the end. I memorized the location so I could spend time exploring this location tomorrow.

The next day, what I really wanted to do was go to Shaxi. Supposedly they still have original parts of the tea horse road and it has not been overrun by tourists. I asked at the tourist booth. They said I would have to take a bus. It would take me two hours. Then from the bus station, I would have to take a 20 minute taxi ride to Shaxi. If everyone spoke English or I spoke Chinese it would be easy and I would do it. But this would probably be impossible to communicate. I wish I had done a little more research and added it to my itinerary earlier. Oh well, still much to explore in Lijiang. I actually thought about renting a bike today but in hindsight it was a good idea I didn't. It rained a good part of the afternoon.

I had the regular breakfast and was out of the guesthouse before 11. I got some flatbread and started walking. After realizing I couldn't go to Shaxi, I decided to hang out at the tea house up on the hill with a great view near Wang Gu Lou pavilion. I saw it yesterday. I walked a different way this time and got there around noon just as the school children were coming out for lunch. They were so cute. I ordered a pot of puerh tea. There was no chance to re-steep the leaves as they gave me a large pot without the leaves. Well, considering the nice view I had, it was a good compromise.

I hung out for two full hours. Much of the time it was raining so it worked out perfectly. Then afterwards, I decided to head to that area I discovered last night on Qiyi Street. It's busy near the market stalls and then thins out some. Plus today it was raining on and off so there were hardly any people around. I took the road until it ended and it got me to the "so called" south gate of the old town. Then I went over a few streets to Nasmen or something like that. There were more canals and restaurants and hotels in this area. Again, I was blown away by the size of the old town. In Dali, the streets are in a grid so it's easy to get around and you cover the area quickly. But here in Lijiang there is no grid. And with the canals and bridges, it makes it even more difficult, but also way more charming. I eventually figured it out and was even able to find my way back to the guesthouse without much difficulty.

One thing I should mention about this town is that the first day, my guide told me the public toilets are really quite clean and you don't have to pay anything. I didn't really think anything of it. But the second day, I had to use the restroom at dinner and they sent me out to the public toilets. There are signs all around the town for them when you pay attention. Most restaurants do not have their own toilets. I was surprised that they are very clean. Almost every time I used them, there was someone cleaning.

I came back to my guesthouse for a short rest before dinner. I had a place in mind where I wanted to go. I also wanted to check out a women's clothing store. I have seen this one shirt every day I walk by and really like it. I figured I should just check the price and try it on. So the shirt I liked did not look so good--a little big. But I saw another similar style in a different color and it fit better. I bought it.

I walked around quite a bit for dinner. The place I thought I would go to was really more of a cafe than a restaurant and I was hungry. I ended up at this Naxi place. I had mushrooms and tofu seasoned with hot chili garlic and ginger and steamed rice. Oh yes, and of course the very average to poor tea they give you for free. The dinner was really good and my waitress was from Xishuagnbanna. She told me a few places I should visit there.

After that I was ready for my last evening of puerh tea in Lijiang. I went over to the tea house. No one was there that I knew and no one really spoke English. It sounded like they would call someone if I liked, but I didn't want to burden anyone.

So actually one of the women called Diana who would be my guide for the drive to Tiger Leaping Gorge. The woman ran down the alley to catch me. Diana was at my guesthouse and trying to leave me a message. Apparently there was a change of plans for tomorrow. They wanted to leave at 8 instead of 7. She was trying to tell me this. I told her I'm a slow hiker at higher altitudes and I would rather leave earlier. She said, leaving at 8 would be enough time. I reluctantly agreed.

The woman from the tea house, motioned for me to come back. So I did. They poured me the tea they were drinking which was the 13 year old fermented tea I drank on day 2. Then Ivy showed up. She asked me what I wanted to drink next. I said the 4 year old fermented tea from Yi Wa that I bought.

Next Diana came in. Then when Gao Shun showed up, he got in the chair to make tea for everyone. Next we tried the green tea that was 4 years old from Yi Wa. That was nice to drink now and would continue to get better. I already liked it now.

Gao Shun brought out the Makaibari that I brought over yesterday for everyone to try. Then we tried two more. The first was a 19 year fermented tea from Xiaguan - 1992. The final tea we tried was tea from an 800 year old tea tree. This was a green tea made in 2010. These teas are all very special and I realized how lucky I was (a foreigner that knew no
Chinese) just hanging out drinking this amazing tea!

Teas over a certain age are no longer available for sale here. Now I wondered if I should have bought the 4 year old green puerh cake instead of the fermented one. It would have been cheaper and I liked the way it tasted now. I wonder if I will like something in xishuangabanna better? I left shortly afterwards. I had to repack and get up early tomorrow. I thanked everyone and tipped Gao Shun.

They said goodbye and still couldn't get over how a foreigner could drink so much puerh tea and enjoy it as much as I had done.