naxiland

This is the bus on our way from Da Li to Lijiang....

My sweet Giant

His Sweet Giant's btm! Leeeeetle squashed, nevermind, its only a four-five hour trip!

The dancers at their peak!

The home of the Naxi is something to behold.

We have seen much and travelled far but the sadness we experienced upon seeing this culture as it is today was very real. It is still awesome to see how much they love to dance and sing, that is something in their culture that I doubt will ever go away. Both men and women dance with great enthusiasm every chance they get. They are proud of this particular part of their heritage.

The Matriarchal hierarchy is not as apparent as in the former years, slowly but with certainty the men are rising up and taking the place of leadership in the communities. Though the rest of the Lantern folk still relate the Town of Lijiang as the “Men’s Paradise”. The women are still the really hard workers, that has not changed.A great amount of poverty is apparent all around us, and seeing this, understanding that is not simply a physical poverty but probably the results of a spiritual one, makes one understand the amount of work needed here.

Rooftops in Old Li Jiang Town .Water punctuates each intersection in the Old Town of Li Jiang - whereas in the new town... you gotta watch out for those bothersome holes in the ground with shlooshing who knows what flowing past!

As in most places here, the “teaching / Learning of English” is rampant! At every chance somebody wants to practice what they already know of English and get as much more of the language that they can. So … lotsa talking!