Lijiang (Yunnan Province)

A larger version of Dali, a beautiful very old, well maintained town, but full of Chinese and western tourists, again it was full of cobbled streets selling hiipy stuff. I wanted to go to the Tiger Leaping Gorge...the deepest gorge in the world and with the Yangze River meandering in the valley below, but the road was closed due to landslides so couldn't go...was gutted, I'll have to come back here at a better time of year.

Anyway I wanted to get away from the crowds, so we went by bus to a village nearby, Baisha. Here the local people were of the Naxi minority. The Naxi minority is based on a matriachal system where women rule...My kind of place!!!
These were similar to the Bai but wore different clothes and spoke a different language. They lived in little clay houses, probably a few hundred years old. The people of a single minority all wear the same clothes, its like a uniform and they wear so many layers, it's a wonder they don't boil to death. But they were very friendly, I think I would like to stay here a lot longer.

These minorities were originally travellers/gypsies who had over the few 100
years or so settled in the Yunnan province but were still living very basic lives in simple houses with their main occupation being farming.