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Age: 26
Birthday: 22 July
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E-mail: cleverkiwibird@hotmail.com
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Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Well I know I have since been to Beijing and back but thought it would be nice to bring you around Yunnan.It was a family trip, probably the first for the last 13 years or so !
All in all it was pretty exciting, and I flew there from Hong Kong while the rest of the family flew from Kuala Lumpur. We met up in Kunming and then one of the first things we were brought to see was the karst forests.
The karst forests are actually rocks that have been moved up and through the Earth's crusts many many times. In fact on many of them, you are able to see the ocean line, where the water cut through the rocks. Yes, even though these rocks are now about 3000 metres above the current sea level, at one point, they were underwater !!
After visiting more parks and some temples in Kunming, later on the journey we went to Lijiang. Along the way, we were brought to visit the Tiger Leaping Gorge. So called because the massive water waves caused by the river smashing upon the rocks were likened to a tiger leaping ! It was fantastic how close one could get to the water, and many people were drenched by the spray, even though it was quite a walk down the mountainside to reach the river side.
Upon reaching Lijiang, we were all amazed at the wonderful mix of old and new. There were new golf courses and new shopping malls and new buildings but there were also really old stilt houses where they entertained guests and danced and sang and ate all night ! There was a big bonfire in the courtyard, and the hospitable locals invited everyone to dance along with them. I even got to take part in a customary wedding ceremony !
The last stop in Shangrila was perhaps one of the best ever. There was a big outdoor auditorium in one of the National Parks that we visited and there was a huge show on, put on by about 5-6 different native minority clans. It had beautiful music and was conducted by Zhang Yimou. Was so tempted to get a DVD of the performance, it was so good !!
Walking around in the native park later, it was amazing to see just how clean the water was, it practically glowed blue with healthy algae. The mountain air was crisp and fresh, and it was also really nice to walk among the clouds and just breathe in really cold air. There was a whole part of myself that wanted to just move to Shangrila and relax the rest of my life in front of the internet and get lost in the sea of natural surroundings.
If you just look at the bright blue sky, the white fluffy clouds and all the amazing landscape all around you, you would have to agree with me, that this is truly somewhere that everyone must visit at least once in their lifetimes !
All in all it was pretty exciting, and I flew there from Hong Kong while the rest of the family flew from Kuala Lumpur. We met up in Kunming and then one of the first things we were brought to see was the karst forests.
The karst forests are actually rocks that have been moved up and through the Earth's crusts many many times. In fact on many of them, you are able to see the ocean line, where the water cut through the rocks. Yes, even though these rocks are now about 3000 metres above the current sea level, at one point, they were underwater !!
After visiting more parks and some temples in Kunming, later on the journey we went to Lijiang. Along the way, we were brought to visit the Tiger Leaping Gorge. So called because the massive water waves caused by the river smashing upon the rocks were likened to a tiger leaping ! It was fantastic how close one could get to the water, and many people were drenched by the spray, even though it was quite a walk down the mountainside to reach the river side.
Upon reaching Lijiang, we were all amazed at the wonderful mix of old and new. There were new golf courses and new shopping malls and new buildings but there were also really old stilt houses where they entertained guests and danced and sang and ate all night ! There was a big bonfire in the courtyard, and the hospitable locals invited everyone to dance along with them. I even got to take part in a customary wedding ceremony !
The last stop in Shangrila was perhaps one of the best ever. There was a big outdoor auditorium in one of the National Parks that we visited and there was a huge show on, put on by about 5-6 different native minority clans. It had beautiful music and was conducted by Zhang Yimou. Was so tempted to get a DVD of the performance, it was so good !!
Walking around in the native park later, it was amazing to see just how clean the water was, it practically glowed blue with healthy algae. The mountain air was crisp and fresh, and it was also really nice to walk among the clouds and just breathe in really cold air. There was a whole part of myself that wanted to just move to Shangrila and relax the rest of my life in front of the internet and get lost in the sea of natural surroundings.
If you just look at the bright blue sky, the white fluffy clouds and all the amazing landscape all around you, you would have to agree with me, that this is truly somewhere that everyone must visit at least once in their lifetimes !
Fantastic !
