Things had certainly changed in various ways. To put it positively, it was evolution; to put it negatively, it was becoming trite.
Whether one preferred the rustic countryside tourist destination of Dali or the bustling, glamorous Lijiang—a World Heritage site—was a point of contention even among backpackers, but now both towns had become quite similar.
In Dali, just as you might see in Arashiyama in Kyoto, a tacky souvenir district featuring traditional-style buildings had sprung up, while at the same time, craft beer shops, trendy cafes, and renovated boutique hotels had also appeared. It was true that the culture of Japan from its high-growth period through the 2000s was rushing in all at once.
If it’s like this in the countryside, Shanghai, where I stopped on my way home, was already far too sophisticated; there was almost nothing left of that bustling, anachronistic Asian charm. Just as foreigners want to skip Japan's big cities and go sightseeing in the countryside, the only way to find the "Chinese" charm of China is to head to the rural areas.
The City of Dali
Dali Ancient City is surrounded by gates and walls that look like something out of Mitsuteru Yokoyama's "Romance of the Three Kingdoms." As the home of marble, this city was a scenic ancient capital nestled between the 4,000-meter peaks of the Cang Mountains and Erhai, a large lake over 40km from north to south. It used to be a place only for backpackers and locals, but today the ancient city area is packed with Chinese tourists.
Although Dali has become a tourist-oriented place, you can still catch glimpses of local life at the time when school starts in the morning. Street stalls catering to locals are out and bustling. An older woman in traditional Bai ethnic clothing sells farm produce.
And everywhere I went, schools were built to be grand and magnificent, which made me feel this country's passion for education.
You can hike up the Cang Mountains in a single day, but this time I tried walking the trail midway up the mountain from one end to the other. In the past, this was a place that had no railings, and it was often said that people would fall to their deaths.
After that, I visited the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple. The main pagoda is 69.6 meters tall. It is one of the tallest Buddhist pagodas in Chinese history and is designated as a top-level national scenic area. Built in the 9th century during the Tang Dynasty (around the time the Heian period began in Japan), it is said that this is the only truly ancient building in Dali, a city that has been devastated many times by earthquakes and wars.
To Lijiang in the Pouring Rain (160km)
I got up at 5 a.m. and headed toward Lijiang through the still-dark scenery. The trip from Dali (elevation 1,975m) to Lijiang (elevation 2,400m) was planned to be about 160km, but I was worried because I had no idea what the total elevation gain would be.
Shortly after setting off, by the time I reached Xizhou Ancient Town (village) north of Dali Ancient City, it started raining as the weather forecast had predicted. The atmosphere of the deserted early morning was nice, but I had a long way to go, so I put on my rain gear and left early.
Just as I thought that, I saw a morning market in Dali Shangguan about 10km away and made another detour. The fact that only the women were working efficiently hadn't changed from the old days. The market was a special occasion, and many people were dressed up.
I climbed the mountain pass on the Dali-Lijiang Road (Provincial Highway 221) steadily while it rained hard at times. It might have been close to 3,000 meters in elevation, but I had no way to check.
After riding about 100km, I stopped at a town called Heqing for lunch. I also took a look at the market there. This is also part of the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, but the ethnic clothing I saw had a slightly different flavor.
I crossed a small mountain pass and reached Lijiang while riding on the shoulder of the highway. The roads were very well paved and easy to ride on, and cars made sure to steer clear of me. I had the impression that it was easier to ride here than in the countryside in Japan.
Lijiang
Lijiang, the royal capital of the Naxi people, which boasts an even older history than Dali.
It has been a city commercialized as a World Heritage site for a long time, and as expected, it was crowded with Chinese tourists. The city area has also expanded, and it has become such a massive metropolis that looking for "Xiangxiang" is out of the question.
What is interesting about the Naxi people is their use of Dongba, a hieroglyphic script for ceremonies, and the fact that it is a female-dominant society where women decide all important matters. The concept of "laurel forest culture" was once proposed because of its many commonalities with ancient Japan.
The first inn I visited was full, so I stayed at the Lijiang Old Ban Zhang Youth Hostel on the edge of the Lijiang Ancient City area. I considered a tour to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, but gave up because the forecast was rain every day, so I couldn't expect any views. Instead, I headed by bicycle to Baisha Town, where old streetscapes remain, but it started raining heavily halfway there and my camera was submerged in water.
The next part is the highlight of this trip, but since I only have crappy photos from an iPhone 6 and a RICOH THETA, please go to the site yourself to see the actual stunning scenery.
One of the World's Largest Gorges – Tiger Leaping Gorge
I left Lijiang around 6 a.m. It is about 80km to Tiger Leaping Gorge. I descended once to the Jinsha River (Yangtze River) and then traveled upstream along the river. I went around the west side of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (5,596m), but it was covered in clouds the whole time and I never saw its peak.
It's hard to convey in a 360-degree photo, but this large, roaring river narrows to a width of 30 meters at Tiger Leaping Gorge and flows down a drop of 200 meters.
Post from RICOH THETA. #theta360 – Spherical Image – RICOH THETA
Tiger Leaping Gorge, where the river flows as a muddy torrent through a tiny gap between the 5,000-meter peaks of Haba Snow Mountain and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, was breathtaking.
Upper Tiger Leaping Gorge has been developed as a tourist spot, and there were many Chinese tourists with selfie sticks, but Middle and Lower Tiger Leaping Gorge further on have a simpler, old-fashioned layout.
In other words, just like the trail in Dali where people die, these are the kind of shockingly dangerous Chinese landmarks you sometimes see on TV.
At the entrance, a toothless Naxi grandmother collects entrance fees and babbles at you in a mysterious language. When you listen closely, it seems she's saying in broken English that it's dangerous today because the rain has made the water level high.
I answered "OK!" and spent an hour desperately descending a route that was practically a cliff with only iron stakes driven into it. Combined with the fatigue from the ride, my legs were swollen by the time I reached the water's surface.
I jumped onto the wet rocks at the timing when the water wasn't coming. There was no one else around. Don't push your luck, because if you fail, you die.
The road along Tiger Leaping Gorge is a scenic winding road with gentle ups and downs that feels great. The valley ends after about 16km, but the road continues on the east side of Haba Snow Mountain, and it looks like you could enjoy the next 200km or so while passing sights like White Water Terrace. It's a shame I couldn't ride it this time; it would have been worth coming here just to ride this, skipping Dali and Lijiang entirely.
There is a trail a few hundred meters above this road on the mountainside that local residents use as a passage for daily life. It seems it takes over 15 hours to walk the whole thing. There are several guesthouses along the trail, and they open up their rooftops so you can relax in the middle of a stunning view.
On the way, there was a crossing where the water came up to my thighs, and I helped some local women cross it.
Most of them were white backpackers, and I was happy to find that the atmosphere of the old Dali, which hadn't been overly commercialized, still remained here.
To Shangri-La, the Gateway to Tibet
The road from Tiger Leaping Gorge to Shangri-La (elevation 3,300m), about 130km away.
Maybe because I was caught in the rain for so long in the first half, I didn't feel very well, so I gave up on the eastern route around Haba Snow Mountain and headed to Shangri-La by the shortest distance. I had no idea what the course profile for this day would be, but there was a 4-5% climb for about 50km in the first half, and I had to get off and push my bike many times.
On the way, I met a local young man who was also aiming for Shangri-La. He didn't speak English, but we talked as best we could and rode together for a while. There were also Chinese hikers aiming for Shangri-La on foot. I wonder if reaching the gateway to the Tibetan region is a status symbol.
Anyway, the long, painful climb continued, and after passing what seemed to be a highland area, it was a downward trend for about 60km.
There was an illustration of a Tibetan Mastiff at the tea house on the pass. Once I started the descent, the Tibetan vibe became much stronger, and the shape of the houses along the road changed. Every house was huge.
Utopia? – Shangri-La
Shangri-La, the central city of the Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. This pretentious name is a new one, changed from Zhongdian in 2005. It lies at the eastern edge of the Tibetan cultural sphere. I remember notes in guesthouses used to say things like, "How to enter Lhasa by land, where it's forbidden, by mixing in with local residents!"
Songzanlin Temple, a massive Tibetan Buddhist monastery towering in the suburbs, was built by the 5th Dalai Lama, who unified Tibet, just like the Potala Palace in Lhasa. Even today, 500 monks live there.
Unfortunately, the town center had been commercialized in exactly the same way as Lijiang and Dali. Even the things being sold were the same, and as you see how the capital is being invested, the seemingly glamorous tourist spots start to take on a social character.
The way to enjoy this city is likely to use Shangri-La as a base for trekking, riding, or mushroom picking in the surrounding area. Just by riding a little, you can see promising trails under the vast grasslands and clear blue skies.
I had finally started having fun, but this was it for me this time.
I felt as if I had come to the frontier by riding along what was once called the Tea Horse Road, trying to escape the wave of urbanization, but it was hard to outpace the speed of a rapidly evolving China. The high-speed rail (or something like it) I rode and the highways are being extended further from Dali, and they are in the middle of building a massive bridge over Tiger Leaping Gorge. The route that took me about a week to ride will soon be accessible by a train ride of about two hours, and the city of Shangri-La, which James Hilton depicted as a model for a far-off utopia, will become a tourist destination that anyone can reach easily.
And that is also the result of China's control over ethnic minorities like the Tibetans and the promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative. The reality of surveillance cameras and speed cameras installed everywhere, credit information via ID cards, and internet information censorship was something that strongly left an impression of today's China. Seeing not only beautiful scenery but also the social landscape is the real thrill of travel, but it seems that the culture shock of encountering an unknown culture for the first time can only be obtained by going to ride in the grasslands of Shangri-La or beyond Tiger Leaping Gorge. I want to go myself, but I also look forward to other people's rides and hikes that will show us what lies ahead.
Today‘s Bike
-BIKE SPECS-
| Bike | Rew10Works | Breakaway CX |
| Component | Shimano | Ultegra & Alfine |
| Wheel | Chris King Velocity |
Chris King SS Hub Aileron Rim |
| Tire | SimWorks by Panaracer | VOLUMMY 700×38c |
| Bag | Porcelain Rocket | El Gilberto Frame Pack |
| Bag | Porcelain Rocket | Mr.Fusion V2 |
| Bag | Porcelain Rocket | Nigel |
| Bag | Porcelain Rocket | Mini Slinger |
| Cage | King Cage | Manything Cage x2 |
| Cage | King Cage | Kargo Cage |
| Phone mount | QUAD LOCK | Out Front Mount |
King's SS hub can hold two cogs (or three?), so combined with two front chainrings, it's set up as a dingle-speed. I manually changed gears about four times.
I kept tools in the cargo cage under the bottom bracket. I had my bicycle transport bag and down jacket in the Manything cages. Food and batteries in the front bag. A plastic bottle and snacks in the Slinger. Other things were inside the bags, including clothing. The bottle under the bottom bracket was for extra water. I did use it all at times.
The frame bag isn't waterproof, so I put things in plastic bags before storing them. Everything else was perfectly waterproof and didn't let water in, even during heavy rain.
-RIDE ROUTE-
TEXT & PHOTO by Monjya