Xi Shan

The morning began as usual with a trip to the Cafe Swan Lake for breakfast. I am developing a breakfast routine of watermelon and a croissant, followed by more adventurous breakfast offerings. Green stuff and white stuff. The beginning of the day's conference was to be a group photo. So, the participants and course lecturers assembled for a photo on the hotel grounds.


Huz stands out as the crouching man in blue.



 Today, I have travel companions in Dr. Hans Koch, German and a founder of this European-Chinese Veterinary Training group, his friend Jean-Jacques from Luxembourg, and Dr. Elissa. I had misspelled her name in a previous blog, but I am now better informed! We decided to head up Xi Shan and stretch our legs a bit. We were also joined by Shui Chian and her mother, who speaks no English, but is very spry.
We took a car to the foothills of Xi Shan, and there caught a Gondola that takes you about halfway up the mountain. And then, we began to climb.


Going up!



Xi Shan's face is decorated with temples and early palaces "to prevent sunstroke" of the royals. In the 1781 a Taoist guy got it in his head to carve stairs and build a temple. This he did over the next 13 years or so. No surprise, he eventually fell off. The Chinese made a romantic story about him throwing himself off the side of the hill when he broke a bit of his statue, and then his fiancee, waiting all these years for him to finish his pet project cried enough to fill Dian Chi and then she died, making the foothills. This does not explain why the hills were there before the guy got it in his head to carve stairs. But, romance does not always make sense, eh? The project was completed in 1835.


There were lots of stairs, built over many years, but some of the older sections were one person wide (or two Chinese persons)



The day was overcast, but cleared slightly as we climbed. Temple of Heavenly General (taoist) , Temple of the Divine Parents (Parental)....Hall of this, Hall of that, and between them all? Stairs. Lots of them.


It got no clearer until this afternoon, when we were off the mountain. Kunming city stretches as far as the eyes can see in all directions. Massive. And yet, a small city by Chinese standards.



Considered the Jewel of the side of Xi Shan, Dragon's Gate (Long Men)  is fairly close to the top. The cliff face was carved by the Taoist guy and his spoon to make a way to get there. When you look out the openings in the carved tunnel, you see straight down to the lake. Bad idea to look.


You can just see Elissa's foot disappearing at the end of this section of the tunnel. On crowded days I would not like to navigate the open area that dips low! And, this was not built for tall persons.



Dragon's gate itself is somewhat subdued when compared to the bright temples we have seen. But, considering it is part of the cliff....makes it a bit more remarkable. When we arrived at the temple, there was an old Chinese couple having their picture taken. He kept looking at me, and then shambled up and asked "Where you from?" I replied "America". He said "Us too! We are from Atlanta. In Georgia." They had grown up in Cheng Du, and were back visiting family. I think they speak better English in the states, as they were somewhat hard to understand. But then, I think I speak better English in the states too. I find myself saying sentences with different syntax, perhaps to make them more easily understood.


Dr. Elissa and me on our way through the last section before reaching Dragon's Gate. You can see in the back ground the pavilion like arches jutting out of the cliff.





The actual temple carved into the cliff. Dragon's Gate.



In this heavily staired, somewhat taxing hike up the cliff face, had many differences from a similar activity in America. There is very little to keep you from killing yourself. In the U.S. we seem to think it is the responsibility of the park to keep you from falling off a cliff. In China, self preservation is supposed to be at work. Heels. The women here often wear heels. I mentioned this with our translator, Louise, who is always in tiny black ankle boots with a 3" heel. We walked all over the Golden Temple Scenic Area of Interest, and the rest of the Kunming city tour with her in heels. But she is not alone. There were several women hiking around Xi Shan in heels. Up and down. Heels, tights and dresses, often topped by a fashionably cut short trench. I'm pretty sure you go hiking in Colorado, you won't see many hikers in heels. Props to these gals, as I like to wear heels, but not to hike.  Also, more than half the people climbing around the hill are elderly. Old. Some of them look really old. But not incapable at all. We did the 698 steps at a park in Georgia's hills, and saw no one older than about 50 or 60. Now, looks can be decieving, so perhaps some of the Chinese people that look about 90 are merely victims of growing up in a communist regime that did not hand out wrinkle cream. But I don't think so.


Older gentleman rubs the turtle carapace for luck. He is about 4' 6" tall.





The Pavilion in the Sky. I am above the clouds!



After this wonderful climb, I was ready to poke around Sanqing Ge, a villa of a Yuan dynasty prince, but my guides realized we needed to return for Dr. Elissa's scheduled lectures. I thought to turn around and go back down the way we had come. They had another idea.


Going down! Where are my skis?



Xi Shan, well worth the trip!