Rainy daze

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

• After a terrible breakfast at the hotel (basically the only good option was toast), we drove to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.  It was raining all morning and there was no visibility. Once we got to the park, we took a crammed bus ride (dad sat next to a guy who speaks some English and whose daughter goes to Georgetown) to a tram.  Took a cable car to the top of the mountain to Spruce meadow where people were having their pictures photo-shopped into good weather (pretty funny).  Five electric car rides took us to the various highlights around the huge park in the rain.  Sadly, the lack of sun meant that didn’t look anything like the pictures.  One area had an artificial cascade where people were riding yaks.  I can imagine that the area is quite stunning in the sunlight.
• Joseph Rocks house in Yuhu village – he was an Austrian-American who wrote for National Geographic in the 30s and 40s documenting the lives of the Naxi people
• Baisha frescoes
• Drove to Naxi village for lunch – more yak, mushroom dish, veg dish, rice – walked around the village where Steven pointed out various building styles, like the two wood fish hanging from the roofs
• Then… we went back to town and dad got his haircut.  Took 30 minutes because the guy insisted on using a comb with the hair clipper, so silly
• Walked around old town Lijiang, sun finally came out so we actually got to examine the buildings, daddy tried a moon cake
• Back to the hotel for some relaxation
• Ventured out in the rain for dinner and searched for the French restaurant we had seen earlier, we actually found it!  We started with soup then I had some spaghetti while dad had salmon (which took forever because the woman forgot to put in his order so we were worried about getting to the concert on time)
• Traditional Naxi music concert with a band of 25, six who were over 82 years old – traditional music, instruments and old people – interesting, but I wouldn’t buy the CD

Funny story: When dad mentioned to Steven that he wanted to get his haircut, Steven thought he was joking.  We ended up at the place where Steven gets his haircut and tried to explain that dad just wanted a buzz with the clipper.  Since he has so little hair, the people were laughing and trying to figure out what to do.  The guy started by using a comb and dragging the clipper over the comb.  I watched skeptically since it seemed to be cutting unevenly.  After about 20 minutes, he finally decided to get rid of the comb and just use the clipper.  That’s when you realize that everyone has their own way of doing things.