Lijiang Old Town

September 8, 2016China 2016ancient, canal, china, food, hotpot, ice cream, kodak, lake, Lashi, lijiang, mountain, nightlife, old town, park, restroom, shrine, tea road, yunnan Gallery

A beautiful morning in Lijiang old town.

This is the view from the hotel.

Looking down on the courtyard of the hotel. This is where the owners play cards all night and keep me awake.

The street in front of the hotel.

Heading into old town

This canal comes from the mountains and leads to a beautiful park. Expensive to get in. Tomorrow I pay a local to sneak me in for a fraction of the cost.

Brunch

Lijiang old town is known for its amazing food courts. This small one was located on the south end of the town. It’s about 25 vendors all pushing hard to sell their goods.

I liked this dim-sum-like sampling of items.

Bamboo rice

Pork pork buns

Some weird jelly things shaped like fish

I ended up getting these. I can’t really say what they all were. Only the leaf-wrapped bamboo thing was savory. the rest where sweet rice and bean paste stuff. All pretty good though.

In need of something salty, I got this amazing fried rice – one of the best I’ve had.

Wandering around Old Town

Slop bucket.

always an exciting time at the Moon Inn…

Tea Road Trail – Horseback Riding

I signed up for an Tea Road Tour – I have read about the Ancient Tea Road… a trade route at the dawn of the tea industry when Yunnan was the world’s center of tea production.

I grabbed a van to to range and signed up to mount a horse an take off with a guide. No cameras allowed while riding the horse. My horse was… a real jerk, biting and trying to knock me off. It was one of those Tibetan horses–pretty small.

Feeding some nuts to my horse. The crunch he was making was pretty satisfying.

My guide and his horse.

Back at the ranch, which is on lake….Lashi- I’m pretty sure this is Lashi. It’s beautiful!

Dongba Script

The restroom at the ranch.

I have actually used worse.

😮

The Best Hotpot Ever

Back to Old town and conveniently down the road from my hotel is a place that some websites have claimed is the best hotpot in town.

It’s a small family run shop and you can see they are growing their own greens right in the restaurant.

Pan-fried cake – delicious.

Spicy sliced tofu.

And the pot– not done like the usual hotpot, while it’s cooked at the table, the owners toss int he ingredients. As a base, we have some chili broth, pork on the bone, and veggies.

It takes a while, but once it gets going, the aroma is mind-blowing.

Once, cooked, toss in some greens and get eating. No more pics- I was too busy eating. This was indeed the best. I will be back.

Old Town in the evening

Old Town gets busy when the sun goes down. It’s loud, crowded and flooded with tourists… but there are some nooks that are dark and quiet, away from the chaos. You have to hunt for them a bit, but there are plenty for those that seek them.