After visiting the monastery for much of the day, Sean and I took a bus back to Shang-ri-la and decided to explore the Old Town. Although it's pretty touristy I thought it was a lot of fun. The cobble stoned streets are narrow and maze like and each corner turned can surprise you with a view of different temples and prayer flags. Seeing locals in brightly-colored traditional costumes and signs written in Tibetan made it feel like we weren't in China anymore.
Every night there is dancing in the square from 7-8pm. This is not a tourist show but rather a nightly common tradition in many Chinese towns. Older locals gather in a pre-determined spot and dance to music with steps and movements that everybody knows. This kind of thing happened in Changzhou as well especially on beautiful spring and summer nights. When I asked students why the older generation loved to get together and dance answers ranged from saying that they weren't allowed to do it before so now they wanted to enjoy it to saying that they just wanted to do it to have fun, be social and get some exercise. In Old Town, however, it has become a popular hangout and everyone gathers around to watch or the more daring simply join in.
Sean and I watched for a few minutes but preferred to walk around and check out some of the local yak products. We sampled spicy yak jerky and aged yak cheese and tried some of the local wines - everything was delicious and fun to try. It felt really good to just walk around in the chilly mountain air and take in the Tibetan-influenced sites. Sleeping that evening in the hostel was the quietest I had experienced for months and was, much to my deep satisfaction, unaccompanied by mosquitoes.
Post a Comment