Executive summary by darmansjah
If Shangri-La really did exist in physical space, it
wouldn’t take much imagination to place it in the Meili mountains. At the start
of the fifth day of my journey, I look out on five colossal snow-covered
peaks-part of the Maili Snow Mountain Range-in the dim dawn light from the
Songstsam Meili lodge. Jia is warming her hands by a coal brazier. She pints to
the highest peak. “Kwagebo, a sacred mountain to Tibetan Buddhis.”
Its grandeur makes me think of Karakal, the icy peak in
Hilton’s Lost Horizon: “It was an
almost perfect cone of snow..so radiant, so serenely poised, that he wondered
for a moment if it were real at all.”
The Meili range marks the northernmost pint of my trip; on
the far side of Kawagebo lies Tibet, where grandfather Baird also roamed.
Fortified with a breakfast of barley pancakes and wild honey, Jia and I take
leave of the friendly lodge staff and head south toward the Upper Mekong
Valley, which will serve as our corridor back to the urban centers. Our road
takes us past an overlook punctuated with 13 gleaming stupas, one for each of
the Meili peaks. It will be our last unobstructed view of the sawtooth
mountains rising white and brilliant. We duck into a kiosk for incense and pine
boughs to placate Kawagebo. As I slide my offerings into a ceremonial oven set
beside the stupas, I say a prayer for my grandfather, hoping he found the inner
peace he was looking for in this remote mountain realm.
Two days later I bid farewell to Jia an continue on to the
cobblestoned town of Lijiang, once a celebrated stop on the caravan route
linking the tea plantations of southern Yunnan with the cities of Lhasa and
Kathmandu to the west. Its ancient Naxi architecture and stone bridges crossing
a lattice of canals have made Lijiang’s Old Town a World Heritage site and an
ever more popular destination for Chinese tourists. But I’ve come to pay homage
to the eccentric Austrian-American botanist and explorer Joseph Rock, a recluse
who lived for nearly 30 years in the tiny village of Yuhu, about a half hour’s
drive out of town.
Did those reports also act as a trumpet call for my
grandfather? I think of a letter that Baird had written home from these
mountains, telling of his recent purchase of pistols and hinting at the dangers
that lay ahead. The lost tribe he sought may have inhabited an idyllic
community of harmony and longevity; navigating the broken landscape was another
matter.
On our final afternoon together, Jia had quipped that she
was taking me to a “lost tribes” village, the sort of place grandfather Baird
would have gotten wind of. Our vehicle followed a track carved along the wall
of a gorge, the roar of the creek below us drowning out the gear-grinding
ascent. The track had leveled off at a ten-foot high wooden cylinder spinning
inside a scarlet pagoda. “It’s a prayer wheel,” Jia had said. “The water makes it
spin.” A narrow ditch was funneling rushing water beneath the wheel, where
small paddles kept the auspicious symbols of the Buddha in constant motion.
I stood by that relic from the deep past, when our forebears
still felt awe at such simple things as the changing of the seasons or the
blooming of a flower. A time almost, but not quite, lost. A soft bell pinged
with each revolution of the wheel and blended with the laughter of children
from a schoolhouse up the hill. The sun was beginning to set, throwing long
shadows across the glen.
I cast back to my very first night in Yunnan, when I sat
with Baima by the roaring fire.
“I believe that lost tribes could still exist in these
places,” he had told me.
As I turned toward our vehicle, it occurred to me that he
may have been right, that a lost tribe could be just beyond the ridge, in the
next valley over. And maybe, just maybe, my grandfather is there with them,
having discovered in this mysterious land the harmony and the unity in which he
so desperately wanted to believed.
The Insider
LAND OF PEAKS,
valleys, and monasteries, Yunnan is home the largest number of ethnic groups in
China. The gateway towns of Shangri-La
and Lijiang showcase area traditions
and cultures, but many interesting sites lie in the countryside.
When To Go?
Yunnan is known for its localized climates. Shangri-La is best visited from
late spring through summer, when days warm into the 80s F. Kunming, to the
south, has been dubbed “spring city” for its mild climate year-round. Regional
temperatures can dip, however, so bring warm clothing.
Where To Sleep?
Songtsam Lodges operates five cozy properties in Yunnan in a variety of
settings, including Shangri-La, that reflect the region’s diversity. Travelers
may stay at one lodge or choose a circuit package that visits multiple lodges
with guides for an easy introduction to this fairly remote and rugged part of
China.
Laomadian Lodge,
in the town of Shaxi, offers rooms in a gracefully converted inn and stable on
the ancient Tea Horse Caravan Road. Its Karma
Café dishes up regional fare-and brownies. Another interesting option in
Shaxi is the evocative Olde Theatre Inn,
an eco ldoge that occupies a restored courtyard building complex.
Zen Garden Hotel,
in the historic town of Lijiang, mixes antique furniture with modern
conveniences and will arrange tours to local Naxi sights.
What To See?
Shangri-La, formerly Zhongdian, is both a county and a town; attractions
include Yunnan’s largest Tibetan Buddhist lamasery, Songzanlin Monastery, known for its remarkable frescoes and its
resemblance to Tibet’s multi-tiered Potala Palace.
The venerable trading city of Shaxi, with its peaked wood roofs, ranks as one of the most
authentic caravan town along the storied tea route; its Friday market deals in
everything from livestock to tea.
Visitors flock to Lijiang
to see its old town, a World Heritage site. Also a highlight; performances by
the local Naxi Orchestra, which plays nightly.
Near the scenic mountain village of Shiyi lies Dongshulin Monastery, home to monks of
the yellow hat sect-and artfully restored prayer halls. This part of Yunnan is
famed for its black pottery, which
is baked directly in a pit fire. Master potter Sun Nou Qiling crafts his black
pitchers, pots, and more in the village of Tong Dui.
What To Read? Forgotten Kingdom, by Peter Goullart
(1955), is a memoir by a Russian-born explorer who advised Chinses industry in
the 1930s and ‘40s, and gathered his insightsabout both Chinses and Yunnanese
culture and thought in this must-read volume.
Oen of the most complete fossil deposits ever found is in
Chengjiang, outside Yunnan’s capital, Kunming.
Yunnan is considered china’s mushroom capital, with some 600
mushroom species, many edible.
Women rule in segments of Naxi society, thanks to an old
matriarchal tradition.
Peak Performance “A ritual in the Meili mountains is to rise
early to see Kawagebo, Yunnan’s most sacred peak,” says photographer Michael
Yamashita. “Usually, Kawagebo hides in a sea of clouds, so a photographer needs
luck. I have visited three times and snagged shots on each trip. This is my
favorite, with the first rays of sun highlighting the snowy peak and leaving
the foreground and clouds in shadow.”
Kawagebo, ringed by clouds.
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