Very interesting Peter!! Much better questions and mysteries than wiki-google answers! :)
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Dali to Lijiang New Road
The Bai language is probably the "key" to crack some mysteries there. At least it may give some more keys.
Does anyone know if the Bai language refers to Mekong as Ganges River? They probably didnt call it Lancangjiang anyway.
Erhai used to be holy. Tibetans still circumbulated it in 19th Century. And whole landscape around Dali was a copy of a Buddhist India. The real Jizushan for example is in India. But Shibaoshan is a Big Mystery. No Wikipedia helps here.
But Wikipedia also does help :)
Take a look at the picture there Blue.
In fact, elephants are painted on Shibaoshan too - indeed the elephant is an old symbol (and a symbol of Buddha too - particularly a White Elephant).
The snake/naga (on the picture) has been depicted living in Erhai in Dali Kingdom paintings.
Anyway....Im just fooling around! Ha. Sorry for changing the main topic here. But Yunnans Mysteries are more than a Golden Horse and they are very interesting. To dig up old hindu influences would be something - and whether Bai cheese is paneer from India still remains an open question.
Anyway..enough from here by now.
Too late. Went to Shaxi and they already have 8-12 cafe/coffee shops just like Lijiang Old Town. Now they are charging 20 Yuan to go inside the Xing Jiao Temple. I do not think it is worth 20 Yuan. Just trying to get revenue for more renovation projects.
There is only one bus each day to and from Jian Chuan to Shaxi. You can take a minivan with 6 other people or you can rent a taxi that will charge 120 Yuan for round trip.
There are no buses to Shi Bao Shan. You can rent a taxi for 200 Yuan and he will drive you to the 3 temples and bring you back to Jian Chuan. Takes about 3-4 hours for the entire trip depending on your walking speed.
The very fine Swiss town preservation project for Shaxi was a great idea and they did a very good job but it seems that small-scale tourist capitalism has won out. Still, it could be worse, and I think it probably will be.
I saw the exit that leads to Shan Gri La on the new highway to Lijiang off the Bai Han Chang Exit.
Does anyone know if there is a new highway directly to Shan Gri La yet?
Its already in the tourism market:
Dali-Shaxi-Lijiang (-Shangrila). Marketed by a handful major Chinese companies.
Poor locals. Just hold on to your houses still for a while and they will likely be worth a fortune. Then move. Provided the whole madness doesnt collapse, in a way or another.
As has been mentioned in the news, Kunming (and Yunnan) are pursuing to become major global tourist destinations. This is a major Yunnan governmental aim by now.
Anyway, anyone who has seen the struggle of the Chinese - even in the 90's - must admit they have well deserved holidays. But what a pity the Noise, crap and commercialization takes too much hold here. The "Tourism" with a big "T".
South-West Sichuan still holds some gems, but they are building an airport now there too - in the heart of South-West Sichuan - and soon you get a Dicos burger there and have Lama dance shows.
Like Buddha said: all things will pass - nothing is permanent.
I apologize for thinking Loud on the Mysteries of Shibaoshan (after a beer).
Now, Where and When was it for the first time Mekong was referred to as Mae Khong (Mother Ganges)? Wherein is the First mentioning of this particular name? (Probably not even Milton Osborne knows).
It could be in Dali. Simple as that. Since they had the Fake Boddhi Tree, Chicken Foot Mt, Pippala Cave - even used a Sanskrit name over their Kingdom (Gandhara). Of course, it could be Not. But it Could be.
It is said that when the Ming army arrived to Dali, they destroyed the local scriptures. Maybe The Secret of Shibaoshan went in smoke here too.
Maybe Mekong got its name in Dali. And Maybe Shibaoshan is related herein.
tourism with gouging charachteristiecs
@HFCAMPO
That exit leads to the same old road more or less. However, parts of it are new or have been repaved and make for a smooth drive without the horrendous construction like there was close to Tiger. However, it's the same old road all the way from the bridge you swing over on the way to Tiger and into Shangrila. Which is in decent shape and not delayed with traffic unless an accident or uphill on the curves to climb up to the plateau.