150. YUNNAN

Yunnan has several old towns which, together with its Stone Forest, were the most memorable spots on this trip.
The so-called Shangrila was not worth the long ride so that can be left out in favour of Dongchuan Red Land or the Red Fields

 

The Lu Feng Dinosaur Quarry is quite amazing. It's built over the actual excavation site and its possible to see the half buried remains of fossils. They've dug up at least 110 fossils, many were whole skeletons and it's the only place in the world where one could view so many in one location...

The main entrance is unabashedly kitsch - no apologies....!

An interesting old church with an even more interesting ceiling - depicting celestial bodies and what appears to be the Sun smack in the middle. It's a scientific fact that the Sun is the center of the Universe in which all other celestial bodies revolve around but during Galileo's time his studies of the Universe with the telescope he invented got him incarcerated by the Roman Catholic Church when he proved the clerics wrong as they had preached that the Earth is the center of the Universe and the Sun revolved around it. 

Pssst.....the Sun is 'God' - you know what I mean.....they marketed someone as the 'Son of God' changing Sun to son - you know what I mean....so people like Galileo needed to be shut away or the clerics will be out of a job and the Vatican will have to close shop...if I had lived during that time I would be burned at the stake - you know what I mean...?

Pillars collapsed from erosion and earth movements...

.....a very ancient land...this huge gorge inside this cave was likely formed by water gushing through it...

What China has to offer are its spectacular natural sceneries of mountains, valleys, gorges, waterfalls. Every province will have these to offer and I'm a little jaded. In the case of Yunnan, it's the stone forest. This was my most memorable spot. The country does not have genuine ancient buildings that still stand most are either brand new made to look old or older buildings re-built such that it looks too new. It dosen't have old sculptures either, as a matter of fact, I've yet to see statues left over from some eras except perhaps the terracotta soldiers of Xian - that too if I'm not too late and they remain the originals that were dug up.

Terraces over water and in the bowels of the earth inside this huge cave...below...what's above earth is repeated under the earth where Mother has a whole eco system going on...it's almost like a mirror image...





 
























Of ice and snow - the tourism folks gave it this fancy name - Shangrila - but believe me, it's not worth the long drive. As Yunnan is ringed by mountains, it's enough to view them from elsewhere without having to go up to this peak. A better option is Red Land and its farms...
My pics below show how lovely elsewhere can be with its snowy mountains as a backdrop...
It was early Spring - still chilly...

The backdrop for this live performance was quite spectacular - the snowcapped mountains of Yunnan Province. The show depicted more or less the dances, costumes and music and horseback riding and tea growing lifestyles of their indigenous peoples...

Most interesting temple entrance...in fabric..like entering a tent...

I was attracted to this sculpture and its proportions - it's a scholar whose name I don't recognise

golden prayer wheel - I'm jaded with how commercialised 'Buddhism' is in China and getting more and more so elsewhere in Asia...

This is most interesting - a furnace in a temple compound, lovingly gift-wrapped, in the shape of a lingam, the Hindu symbol of Creation. This temple was apparently set up by their Naxi minority people...
The other 2 furnaces are a common sort but beautifully carved...in marble and bronze

Pounding peanut candy

Most residents in the rural villages are children and the elderly - the young people are working in the cities or overseas

This would be the commercialised version of the Naxi minority tribe ethnic costume

Their quaint Chinglish brings on a smile...every time...I would scream if they had used The Great Budapest Hotel...!

Naxi is a indigenous tribe. Yunnan is a mountainous border province, many tribal people inhabit the area and surrounding provinces and countries next door - Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar are neighbours. The tribes would have integrated into the mainstream by now with pockets of them still in the more remote regions

Spring's a good time to watch Mother's flower show...

Apple Blossoms

Tulips