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Zhongdian
We arrive in Zhongdian in the afternoon of Saturday, August 16. We all find a hotel to live in, and then take a bus to a Tibetan village and temple on the outskirts of the city. Great, yet another temple; pretty boring. I'm getting pretty sick of seeing Buddahs and monks by now. I especially hate how people who are already very poor come to these temples and lay so much money before these expensive statues.
The Tibetans aren't as nice as most Chinese in my opinion. For example, if you take a photograph they will try to get in it, and then demand payment. When we try to walk on the path up into the hills, Tibetan boys run out wielding sticks, blocking the path and demanding payment of 1 RMB per person. We give up and go home.
The food is wonderful in Zhongdian and there's lots of neat Tibetan stuff to be bought for cheap; other than that there's nothing here that interests me. I get pretty bored.
Hills Hike
The next day we hike in the grassy hills and see some yaks. Then I take a long taxi ride with Linn and Leah and Wang Yaoqiang to go see a lake. It is quite a beautiful lake, with lots of forest around it. The forest looks so similar to the forest in the Olympic or Cascade mountains that I almost think I'm there. However, I've never seen wildflowers like the ones here in the US. They come in so many bright colors and elaborate shapes. My friends don't like the rain, so we don't stay long.
In the evening I buy some stuff to give to friends back home, as well as a little Tibetan vase to give to Xiujuan when I get back to Beijing.
The next day we decide to leave Zhongdian and go to Deqin, to see the big mountians in the west of Yunnan. While waiting for the bus we walk around Zhongdian for an hour and buy some more things. We come upon a man on the sidewalk selling delicious soft tofu. He doesn't provide bowls, so we use my camp pot, filling it up to the brim for only 1 RMB (twelve cents US). Then we add a little sugar and Linn and Leah and I gobble it down. It's warm, sweet, and delicious.
Deqin
Our bus to Deqin leaves at noon. The man and his girlfriend don't come, so now there are only seven of us. The entire trip is on a winding road high up in the mountains. The road eventually reaches an elevation of 4500 meters (14,800 feet). It's certainly a scenic ride, but a couple of little kids on the bus get sick from the altitude, and throw up; it's pretty disgusting.
We arrive in Deqin in the evening, and immediately hire a small truck to take us to Feilaishi, a little village perched high on a mountain with an excellent view of Meilixueshan (“Beautiful Snow-capped Mountain”), the famous peak, highest in Yunnan, and worshipped by the Tibetans as a god. However, the mountains are in the clouds as usual, although we can see the glaciers coming down off of them.
We spend the night in Feilaishi.
