Shan Shui Mu (山水木) Guesthouse
Before our departure from Phuket, Libing booked us rooms at the Shan Shui Mu Guesthouse in the Ancient Town of Lijiang. July and August is peak season in Lijiang for Chinese tourists. All hotels and guesthouses are fully booked and priced ridiculously high. He was able to get the rooms for us from 380 Yuan to 250 Yuan, which is CAD$50/night. The guesthouse is located right beside his restaurant, The Blue Papaya.
Shan Shui Mu means, Mountain, Water, and Wood, reflecting its location on a hill, surrounded by water canals, and made up of wood. It is a small and quaint house with eight rooms. Albert and I shared a room with 2 beds. David, Ben, and Rafael took single rooms; Dominik and Xenia stayed at a guesthouse 1.2 kilometers away, which they had booked some months ago.
The owner of the guesthouse had arranged for two cars to pick us up from the airport, and brought to the edge of the old town, where automobiles are not allowed within. From there, we walked about 700 meters to the guesthouse. The owner, a young 45-kg Tibetan woman named Jingtso, who didn’t let on that she was the owner until some days later, carried David’s bag on her shoulder to the guesthouse. David was very appreciative of that because his bag didn’t have wheels, and he was tired from lack of sleep and oxygen in Lijiang’s atmosphere. We had flown out of Phuket at 9:40 pm, and had landed in Kunming (capital of Yunnan Province) at 1:30 am. We had to hang around the airport until our flight to Lijiang at 6:45 am. There weren’t many chairs at the airport, so we had to go to one of those expensive restaurants where a bowl of 10 yuan noodles sold for 50 yuan. There was also a lot walking to do at the airports, so all of us were quite tired.
At the guesthouse, we were greeted by Dorjee, the husband of Jingtso. I asked if he was the owner; he said he was just a worker. Dorgee was overwhelmed with how handsome Rafael was, and wanted to set him up with some girls he knew. He asked Jingsto to make some calls, and within 30 minutes, there were a bunch of girls surrounding the guys. They were friends of Jingtso; some lived in Lijiang, and some came out of town. Jingtso bought boxes of beer for everyone. They were a pleasant and friendly bunch. Later that night, the guys, except for David, Albert, and I, went out with the gals to the local bars at the end of the town. Apparently, the Chinese patrons at the bars bought drinks for my guys all night long; a bunch of Caucasians, a rare sight for many Chinese tourists, became a novelty at the bar.
Click the picture below to see images of our guesthouse.
Click the picture below to see images of the girls who came to visit us.
Lijiang Then
I first came to Lijiang in 1993 and fell madly in love with it. It was quiet and populated with just a few thousand locals. It had thousand-year-old houses and cobblestone roads. There were no street lights; but the roads were brightly lit by the moon and the trillions of stars above the unpolluted skies. They were so bright that I would see my shadows on the streets walking at night. From my brother’s home where I had stayed, I could see the peaks of the Jade Dragon Mountain covered with snow. I could smell flowers wherever I walked. There was not a single car in sight, except for some tractors that the farmers drove to bring their vegetables and fruits to sell in the open market. I had found my paradise! I immediately wanted to buy a property here and settle down; however, at that time, it was not only complicated for a foreigner to do that, but even for a local. When China fully converted to Communism in 1949, land was taken from landowners and made into communes. After Chairman Mao passed away, the new Chairman, Deng Xiaoping, began to make changes to China in the 80’s; one of which was returning properties to the original owners. However, only the houses were returned, but the land was Government owned, and leased to the house owners for 70 years. In the 90’s, the people were not sure if they could sell their houses and leases, thus, I was unable to acquire any until 2006.
Lijiang Now
In 1996, there was a major earthquake in Lijiang, which made news world. It was then that UNESCO discovered Lijiang and enlisted it as one of the world’s heritage towns. It also brought attention to the Chinese citizens, many of whom had never seen old China in their lives. Ancient homes and streets were torn down in major cities long time ago to build high-rises to accommodate the ever-growing population; thus, the young generation had grown up only in tall apartments. When images of Lijiang were broadcasted throughout China, the young population began to visit it during their holidays. It has now become the main destination of travel for the Chinese. It is no longer the paradise I had discovered in the 90’s, or even when I had lived part-time in the 2000’s. When we walk out of the guesthouse, it is like coming out of a football stadium after the game. The ancient streets are narrow, allowing just two or three people to pass each other. We are all walking shoulder to shoulder. Suddenly, there is pedestrian traffic jam because one of the tourists decides to become a model and get pictured amongst a cattle of tourists in the foreground and background. It has become fashionable to dress up in ancient Ming-Dynasty attire in the streets. I must admit that the Chinese girls look much more beautiful and sexy in them than in Western attire; however, they could do without the selfies and phones in their hands.
Click the picture below to see images of Lijiang now.
Jingtso went out of her way to take care of us. She got her housekeeper to cook us breakfast every morning, even though that was not included. She also cooked a feast for us one night. For other meals, we’ve been going to Libing’s restaurant next door. Libing had arranged with the restaurant manager to let us have as much coffee and tea as we wanted, for free. The food was discounted.
A day after our arrival, Bernhard from Germany, flew in to join us. I’ve known him since 2014. I’ve stayed with him and his mother in Germany a couple of times, and they were extremely hospitable.
Lijiang, Away From the Maddening Crowd
We trained at the guesthouse courtyard every morning and afternoons. One morning, we decided to train at the Black Dragon Pool Park about 3 kilometers away. We left early in the morning. It was nice walking through the ancient town without seeing the sea of people that we’d see throughout the day. Click the picture below to see images of our quiet walk through the Ancient City.
Black Dragon Pool Park and Elephant Hill
We took cabs to go to the Black Dragon Pool Park. There was a Ancient City 50-yuan tax that everyone had to pay for using its facilities. Dave and I were waived off the fee because we were senior citizens-one of the perks of being over sixty! In the park, we saw many seniors exercising, dancing, and practicing various martial arts. The Black Dragon Pool Park is located below the Elephant Mountain–named after its likeness to one. It has nearly 12,000 steps to hike to the head of the elephant’s head, which is 2,700 meters high. Initially, I was going to stay at the base of the mountain to accompany David while the young fellows made the hike; however, David volunteered to climb it. The first flight of stairs took the wind out of us; however, our adrenalin kicked in and we got a serge of energy to carry on. David said that he’d make it to the top even if it’d killed him … and he meant it. We passed three pavilions before reaching the final one. That was a great achievement for the two seniors! Even the young fellows were panting.
Click the picture below to see images of the climb.
Sonny in Canada
One of the reasons for coming to Lijiang was to visit my aging half-brother. He’s 85, and had recently suffered from a stroke; however, he has recovered quite well. He has two sons, Songtao (Sonny) and Haitao (Hilton); both married with families. Two days after my arrival, Sonny flew to Toronto. For the past 20 years, he had been trying to get a visa to enter Canada to visit our family, but was rejected every time. He finally got it when I was just coming. We’re all very happy for him.
Wing Chun Exhibition in Lijiang
Sonny’s wife, Lianfang (Lilian) works as a program coordinator for seniors. She took the opportunity of our visit to create an event for us to meet Lijiang’s Taiji group to exchange ideas. She also invited guests and the local media to cover the event. Fortunately, some of us brought T-shirts with my school’s logo and were able to get everyone in them; but we didn’t look as spectacular as the Taiji group that had very nice flowy and colorful outfits. I was asked to give a talk on our martial art and group. The leader of the Taiji group then gave his speech. We were then asked to give a demo of our art. We began by doing the first two forms of Wing Chun. Then I showed them some drills that we do. Finally, we spared amongst ourselves. I then sparred with Ben, who was the tallest, heaviest, and most skilled of all my students. The audience clapped every time my attacks penetrated through Ben’s guards. For the finale, I blindfolded myself and spared with Rafael … which prompted oo’s and aa’s every time I hit Rafael lightly. We certainly impressed the audience and the Taiji group.
Next, the Taiji group performed a long form, which was impressive. The seniors were very flexible and smooth in their movements. The 40-some performers were mostly women; some of whom were exceptional. Then there were three individual performers; one man did the sword form, a woman did the Chen-style form, and a woman did a racket-ball dance.
At the end, we met together to discuss about our arts. I offered them to try to imbalance me or my students from the standing position. The men couldn’t move me; however, a little woman did. She got praises from me and her peers. They all thanked us for coming.
The next day, we were celebrities because the news of the event went online and in the Lijiang newspaper. We were getting “Hello,” from people we passed in town. Of course, our T-shirts were giveaways of who we were as well. Click the picture below to see the newspaper article.
Luncheon with Lilian
One afternoon, I took my students to visit Lilian to have tea and show them her house. She instead, with the help of her friend, cooked us a grand feast. My students remarked that it was the best meal they’ve ever had so far. After the meal, we hung around the garden that Sonny had built slowly over the last 10 years. He had several bonsai trees which Dominik thought was amazing. My students wanted to know why Lijiang houses have cat-statues on the top of the security walls with their butt facing the inside of the walls. The explanation is that the cats would eat the fortunes floating in the air and drop them inside the house.
Click the picture below to see images of our visit.
A few days after our arrival to Lijiang, Andrew from New Zealand, joined us. The last time I saw him was four years ago when Zee was teaching his group in Christchurch. Since Zee moved to Bangkok, Andrew has officially taken over the training group. He’s come over to upgrade his skills.
Gathering of Family and Friends
I also got a visit from a friend from Shenzhen named Zhou. We first met 8 or 9 years ago through my nephew Hilton; however, we’ve been communicating regularly in the past 6 years on social media, connecting him with business in Canada. He flew over specially to visit me to spend a couple of nights in Lijiang. On the same day of his arrival, Hilton treated us to a meal of donkey meat in hotpot. The guests included another nephew of mine, the son of my late half-sister, his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter, who came from another town. I hadn’t seen them for 10-15 years. Amongst my students, only Rafael, David, Bernhard, Andrew, and Albert came. We all had a great meal and time.
On August 6, my students and I moved to a serene village by Lashi Lake. The blog of which will follow next. I will also be updating this blog with videos of our training in Lijiang.
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