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Teeming with geographical, ethnic and biological diversity – plus some of the best food in China – Yunnan has always been one of our most popular destinations.

The charming small towns of Lijiang, Dali, Jinghong and Shangri-la and the Naxi, Bai, Yi, Dai, Hani and Tibetans who live there have provided our clients with unforgettable travel experiences and new insights into China.

These popular places aside, Yunnan is brimming with countless lesser-known destinations that are also well worth a visit. One of our favorites is the former trading outpost of Shaxi in Yunnan’s northwest.

Blessed with blue skies, sunshine and cool breezes year-round and located in a verdant mountain valley with no airport, tall buildings, car traffic or noticeable pollution, Shaxi is almost too good to be true.

For centuries Shaxi was a busy trade hub linking the Yunnan and Tibet portions of the Ancient Tea and Horse Caravan route. Traders coming up from the south on the route would bring tea, cloth, alkali and daily necessities, while Tibetans would bring yak furs and traditional medicines.

In addition to being a convenient halfway point for Yunnanese and Tibetan traders, Shaxi also had an important commodity of its own: salt from the nearby Misha salt wells.

The majority of Shaxi’s residents belong to the Bai ethnic group, who are known for their hospitality and their green thumbs. When the caravans were passing through town, it was not uncommon to see the different faces and costumes of the Yi, Lisu, Han, Naxi, Hui and Tibetan ethnic groups, especially in Shaxi’s main square, where goods were sold.

The caravans could have as many as 40 or 50 animals, mostly mules with some horses. Just as important were the muleteers, who were usually responsible for 10 animals.

The caravan routes died out around 60 years ago, eliminating the main source of revenue for the economy that had thrived in Shaxi. The town reverted to reliance upon agrarianism and has passed the decades quietly, missing out on benefits – and drawbacks – that other Chinese cities have experienced since the late 1970s.

Now, just as quietly, Shaxi is experiencing a renaissance of sorts through tourism. The local government has spent quite a bit of funds on cleaning up the old town for visitors and has done a surprisingly good job of it.

Without any advertisements, few shops and no cars, plus several dozen well-preserved old Bai homes, in many ways Shaxi feels frozen in time.

That’s not to say that there’s nothing in the old town, there is a small handful of cafes and restaurants there, as well as one of our favorite new boutique hotels in Yunnan, Laomadian.

Laomadian is a compound of several old Bai homes that has been tastefully renovated by A Fang, an extremely welcoming Taiwanese woman who has long been interested in the history and cultures of northwest Yunnan.

Just a few doors up from Laomadian is the courtyard home of Ouyang Shengxian, a 70-year-old Bai man whose father and grandfather were some of the last of the muleteers.

We spoke with Ouyang on a recent sunny Shaxi morning in his 100-year-old home, where he recalled the days of visiting caravans for us. As he told us stories of the old days, with visitors from afar and banditry, we felt extremely fortunate to be able to sit down with a man who is truly a link to a bygone era.

The history and people of Shaxi alone make a visit worthwhile, but there are also plenty of natural attractions.

The crystal-clear Heihui River flows just outside the old town, with paths on both sides that are ideal for strolls in the sunshine. There are several photogenic bridges along the river and several small towns dotting the valley.

Up in the hills surrounding the valley, there are plentiful hiking options. If you have the time, we highly recommend any of the two- or three-day treks in the hills, which will take you through several Yi villages.

If you’re shorter on time, Shibao Mountain is a great place to spend a morning or afternoon before hiking back downhill to Shaxi. The mountain is home to Buddhist grottoes that miraculously survived the destruction of the Cultural Revolution and are some of the most important artifacts connected to the spread of Buddhism into China from India via Tibet. These grottoes are highly treasured – visitors are not allowed to take any photos of them.

Interestingly, there is also a large indentation in the stone near the grottoes that locals say resembles a human vagina. It is a tradition for pregnant women from around the valley to pray to it with the hope that they have a smooth delivery.

After checking out the grottoes on Shibao Mountain, we hit one of the trails that leads back down to Shaxi and the surrounding valley. We scanned from one end of the valley to the other and were unable to see a crane or any other construction – this is nearly impossible in today’s China.

Work is underway on a new highway that will make Shaxi more accessible to the outside world – all the reason to visit Shaxi sooner rather than later. The local government has declared its dedication to sustainable development and is working with international NGOs to that end. We hope that for their sake, and the world’s, they can manage to preserve Shaxi’s pristine beauty for generations to come.

Our journeys are great ways to enjoy the beauty of China’s countryside as well as the dynamism and history of its cities, but they are also unique opportunities to meet inspiring and unforgettable people.

During a recent visit to Shangri-la, we were honored to meet Lobsang Khedup, a Tibetan monk who is not only working to help impoverished youth from the Tibetan regions of Yunnan, but who is also helping preserve the 1,800-year-old tradition of thangka painting.

Thangka painting is the traditional Tibetan style of painting deities using paint made from local minerals. Deeply imbued with the ethos of Tibetan Buddhism, this painting style focuses on the facial expression of the subject. Ideally, the longer one looks at a thangka painting, the more subtleties emerge from the deity’s facial expression.

A native of Shangri-la, Lobsang is a thangka painting master. An average painting takes him around a year to complete. The high degree of detail and difficulty of thangka painting combined with advancements in printing and copying over the last century have resulted in a dwindling number of thangka masters.

Lobsang started the Tibetan Thangka Academy in 2008 and now has 16 students from the countryside who are studying under him and another master.

Students at the academy not only study the art of thangka painting, they also take classes in Buddhism and English. Their education is provided free of charge, with funds provided by the Shangrila Association.

“When painting, your feelings are the most important,” Lobsang told us in his study. “But you also need knowledge and wisdom – without education you cannot paint.”

In addition to teaching its Tibetan students the art of thangka painting, the academy offers classes to the general public in both thangka and traditional Chinese painting styles.

Lobsang has done such a good job of preserving the dying thangka art that the Shangri-la government has commended and supported the academy. We admire Lobsang not just as an amazing painter and socially minded individual, but as someone savvy enough to navigate the difficult political landscape in his home.

On the ‘Roof of the World,’ the sky is the limit when it comes to exploration. Given Tibet’s diverse cultural, historical and religious marvels, it is no wonder that travelers from all over the world flock to this intriguing plateau.

 

High-altitude autumn landscapes in Lhasa, the region’s capital, provide the perfect backdrop for all-age discovery. After a decade of visiting the area, we have a few favorite sites in the area.

Of particular note are Ganden Monastery and Sera Monastery, two of Tibet’s ‘great three’ university monasteries. After touring the different academic centers within these ancient centers of study, don’t forget to visit Sera’s printing center to create your own prayer flag.

 

If you’re looking to get out of Lhasa to witness religious life, head to Pabonka Hermitage – now part of Sera Monastery and located northwest of the city.

Feeling a bit lightheaded from the altitude, or simply curious about local remedies? We suggest that you visit a Tibetan Traditional Medicine hospital to hear healing secrets directly from a local Tibetan doctor.

Finally, on your way out of town en route to Shigatse, carve out time to learn how to make incense with a local family.

In eastern China, it’s easy to think that the country’s provinces to the West – namely Tibet, Xinjiang, and Qinghai – are a world away.

 

But, recent developments at the Shanghai Expo are bringing these two regions of China closer than ever. During Tibet Week at the Expo, a new tourism agreement signed between Shanghai and Lhasa, Tibet’s capital city, confirmed that visitors will soon be able to enjoy “luxury train travel and short-stay trips” between the two cities.

To accommodate increasing visits to the plateau province, government officials, local tourism bureaux and travel agencies will collaborate on increased Tibet-bound tourism. Officials are discussing more efficient train stops and connections, airlines are developing more routes from Shanghai, Xi’an and Xining, and travel agencies are in talks to promote more 3-5 day trips to the area.

Shanghai, a perennial tourist favorite, will also share its tourism knowledge and expertise. As Tibet is one of our favorite fall destinations, we are excited to see what this agreement will mean for western-bound tourism here.

China travelers, stay tuned for developments pending the outcome of this cross-country travel agreement.

AsiaTravel prides itself in taking its clients to unspoiled, unseen corners of the country, but we also recognize that we wouldn’t know about these places had it not been for the efforts of the old-school explorers that came before us.

One of those explorers is Joseph F. Rock, an Austrian-born American botanist who worked at different times for the US Department of Agriculture, Harvard University and National Geographic magazine from the 1920s through the 1940s while based in western China, primarily Lijiang.

We were reminded of Rock today when we stumbled upon a review of the book Joseph F. Rock and His Shangri-La by Jim Goodman. We read the book a couple years ago and found it fascinating, despite already having been familiar with Rock’s story.

Rock’s story is the stuff of movies. He traveled in a large caravan of men and mules across rugged inhospitable terrain and was often the first white man who had set foot in many of the places he visited. Rock hobnobbed with the local elite wherever he went, but preferred to dine alone, eating European food prepared especially for him by his private chef.

Rock wrote extensively in his diary about his adventures in Yunnan, Sichuan, Gansu and Tibet, and Goodman adds good background to his story with his thorough knowledge of the people and places of western China. Rock’s photos of these regions are an invaluable archive of this area as it once was.

One of our favorite parts of the book is when Rock first comes across Minya Konka the spectacular mountain in western Sichuan known in Chinese as Mount Gongga. Astounded by its massive size, Rock miscalculates the mountain’s height and reports to his editors at National Geographic that it is higher than Everest.

His doubtful editors prove him wrong, and the proud explorer and scientist is humbled, never again to let his emotions get the best of him in his work.

It may not be taller than Everest, but Minya Konka – and nearby places such as Kangding, Yading and Shangri-La – are awe-inspiring nonetheless. Our Western Sichuan to Yunnan journey takes in all of these unforgettable destinations. As the seasons prepare to change, this part of China is at its most spellbinding.

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Photo credit (for first photo): Arnold Arboretum

To find out how to find your own Shangri-La in Western Sichuan and Yunnan, contact us today.

The following post is an excerpt from Catherine Bodry, a writer for AOL’s Gadling Travel Blog.

Gadling’s last stop on Yunnan’s ancient tea horse road was Shangri-la, China, a high-altitude Tibetan city named after the mythical town in John Hilton’s “Lost Horizon.” Full of snapping prayer flags in high-altitude sunlight, the town has only been called Shangri-la since 2001, when a successful marketing venture changed its name from Zhongdian to appeal to adventure-seekers. Most Chinese still refer to it as Zhongdian, though it’s worth noting that its Tibetan name is Gyalthang.

Shangri-la’s residents are mostly Han and Tibetan, and it’s common to see red-cheeked Tibetan-Chinese dressed in traditional clothing. The architecture, especially in the countryside, is uniquely Tibetan: large, square, three story homes house animals on the ground level, with human living quarters above. New homes are still being built in this style. Wood stoves (frustratingly drafty) occupy space in every restaurant, home, and guesthouse, often with the staff huddled around them.

Things to see and do

Like Dali and Lijiang, Shangri-la has an “old city,” with the usual cobblestones and new-old architecture, as well as a very Chinese “new city,” full of traffic and electronics shops. The Thangka Academy is a center in the old town for Tibetan culture and learning. Students, usually orphans, are taught the ancient art of Thangka, an intricate style of Buddhist painting of deities. Foreigners can study Tibetan or meditate here.

Though Shangri-la’s narrow, old-city streets are pleasant for a wander, it’s the town’s surrounds that make the trip worthy.

The Songstam Monastery houses monks of the yellow hat sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It’s the biggest Tibetan monstery in China, and certainly worth a visit. Besides monks and temples, you’ll see juniper burning in the mornings, pigs snuffing around the dusty grounds, tourists snapping photos, and a hodge-podge of colorful buildings built on several levels.

The monastery was built during the Qing Dynasty in 1679, and now houses 700 monks as well as 11 temples. In the tea-horse road days, the monastery stored tea, waited for the price to rise, and then sold it for a profit. The complex was destroyed by the Red Guard during the Cultural Revolution and has since been rebuilt, though remnants of ancient mud walls still linger.

Beyond the monastery is Napa Hai, a lake and wetland with misty mountains backing them. More than a dozen Tibetan villages surround the lake, which is also home to black-necked cranes. We rented mountain bikes from one of the many bike rental shops in town, and road the often-muddy, sometimes treacherous roads out to the lake. A new highway being built ought to smooth the ride out significantly.

To read full posts from Gadling’s trip to Yunnan, click here.

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Contact Catherine Bodry at catherine.bodry@weblogsinc.com. Photos by Gadling.

I didn’t know what to expect at Mr. Liang Congjie’s memorial service, or specifically, how to dress for it. In any event, I put on a full black outfit, a bit on the formal side and found my way through the neighborhood in northern Beijing. There were no Porche or BMWs lining the narrow alleyway, the building was simple – Beijing Science Activity Center.  Once inside, a few young volunteers greeted me. They are the typical volunteers of Friends of Nature, college graduates, and passionate environmentalists. The whole low-key nature was just perfectly fitting to see off Mr. Liang Congjie.

The surprise came inside the memorial hall.

First of all, there were many more older people than I ever expected.  Secondly, people were wearing their daily outfits – quite a few women were in their brightly colored cotton coats (–棉袄),  a typical winter outfit for northerners from the country side. Somehow, that surprised me because environmentalists in China are such a niche group of people that people usually associate them with the active college grads whose lives are not inundated with the needs of a car, house, kids, etc., and sometimes, idealistic intellectuals who still continue to dream into their old ages. I had no idea that Liang’s grassroots movement was truly grassroots based. These are common Chinese you see everywhere – no formalities of dressing for the occasion.

Then one of these old ladies spoke up. “I am from Xinxiang, Henan.” From the moment she spoke, she started to cry. She recounted how Liang helped her to start grassroot organization to protect the environment in her village, and how Liang coached her on how to speak with government officials, how to motivate her followers. (Now, her organization had more than 10,000 members.) As she talked, she became more emotional, by the end, she was practically wailing, with many in the audience were crying silently as well. I used to see this kind of wailing at funerals for relatives in the countryside, but wasn’t a bit surprised here.  It simply seemed the right way to say goodbye to such a leader.

More than 300 people were there, who had come on their own – many by buses, by taxies – but the goal was the same. They were here to celebrate Liang’s life and find a sense of camaraderie among us all. Liang is the last of three famous Liang men important to modern Chinese history. Liang’s Grandfather was Liang Qichao – the one who attempted to assist the emperor in setting up a modern democracy in the 19^th century, and Liang’s father was Liang Sicheng – the founding father of Chinese architecture and also the one who fought against the demolition of Beijing’s old city wall in the 1950s. Liang himself was the one who fought to protect Yunnan Snub-nosed monkeys, Tibetan antelopes, and the environment. All three of them fought in losing battles, but all three believed that the losing battles were worth fighting as they woke up the nation, woke up the people.

There were many people wanting to speak at his memorial, so I didn’t want to fight for stage time, as my personal interaction with Liang was fairly limited. But, I think it’s important to share what kind of a person he was.

I first met him in late in 1999. A few of my conservation friends wanted to take me to meet him, so I did. His office was humble and simple, and so was him home, but somehow, seeing him in his home was simply inspiring – reminding people once again that you really don’t need all the fancy stuff in life, but focusing on doing something meaningful is more important.

Soon I married an American journalist, and I wanted him to meet Liang and his wife. So, we invited them to my house for dinner. My husband was cooking and he was fretting over the fact the cucumber that day wasn’t that good. Liang arrived, my husband and I were both a bit formal as he was a very well respected and well known scholar so we didn’t know how to treat him appropriately. Casually, Liang strolled into our kitchen, picked up a piece of cucumber and took a bite.  My husband looked at him sort of nervously and asked, “how is it?”.  Liang simply said, “不好吃” (“not good”). Then we all laughed. That broke the ice. He was straightforward, and immediately, we were talking like old friends.

Then, my dear husband’s roasted whole chicken was ready. He cut off two drumsticks, and two pieces of breast meat, put them on separate plates to serve. To my horror, he served the guests the breast meat and reserved the drumsticks for himself and me! In China, drumsticks were the best part and always served to the guests! Liang looked at the plate and simply said, “美国女婿还没训练好.” (“American son-in-law still needs more training!”)  That became the legend joke in my marriage. We went on to discuss many issues related to the environment and US/Chinese relations.

I guess the point of me sharing this is to say, Liang is such a personable man that he didn’t become a crusader environmentalist that turned people off, but instead, he brought these serious issues to our daily lives, made the issues accessible to everyone.

I took a cold shower Monday morning, because it takes about 10 minutes flushing out the cold water before the hot shower comes on. I wasn’t brave. I simply did one little thing to pay my respect to Mr. Liang Congjie.

 

While many countries are talking about the travel possibilities afforded by high-speed rail, China is busy turning those possibilities into on-the-ground realities.

On January 11, two new high-speed rail lines will connect Shanghai to two of southwest China’s most dynamic and interesting cities, Chongqing and Chengdu. The two new lines will put China closer toward its stated goal of 42 high-speed rail lines totaling 10,000 miles (13,000 km) in operation by 2012.

Shanghai had its stepping-out party during last year’s World Expo, but many people are still unfamiliar with Chongqing and Chengdu.

Famous for its sweltering heat, spicy hot pot and beautiful women, Chongqing also has a thumping nightlife, a thriving art and music scene, photogenic old alleys in the city and a Ming-era town on its outskirts.

China’s capital during the darkest days of World War II and now misleadingly called the world’s largest city, Chongqing is a proud, dynamic metropolis in the midst of a major transformation.

In many ways Chongqing feels like a new Hong Kong being built in Sichuan. Its large size, vibrant economy, deepwater port and the combination of mountains and water have similarities with Hong Kong, but the people, culture and cuisine are primarily of Sichuanese pedigree.

Chengdu has a flavor of its own, whether you’re talking about people, food, or culture. The former capital of the Shu Kingdom and the home of the mysterious ancient Sanxingdui culture, Chengdu has called its own shots during much of history. Its independent and proud spirit is still reflected in its people today.

Seated at the western end of the fertile Sichuan Basin, Chengdu has always been a city of abundance, which historically allowed its people plenty of free time. No wonder the city is known for its laidback teahouse culture and has produced many of China’s most famous poets and writers.

Chengdu is the epicenter of one of China’s spiciest regional cooking styles and is a must-visit for those of us who travel with our mouths. The Sichuan cuisine found in Chengdu restaurants is authentic as it gets: fresh ingredients and intense flavor combinations featuring the red chili and the mouth-numbing Sichuan pepper make the city an unforgettable culinary experience.

There are plenty of fascinating travel options in and around Chengdu, from the Sanxingdui Museum to the national giant panda breeding base, from the world’s largest seated Buddha at Leshan to the monkey-filled Buddhist holy mountain at Emeishan. Chengdu is also the jumpoff point for trips into Sichuan’s mountainous Tibetan highlands to the west and beyond to Lhasa.

If you’re considering a China trip this year and would like to spend time in Shanghai as well as exploring the country’s wild west, you may want to consider crossing the country at ground level rather than in the sterility of a plane cabin. Contact our travel experts today to find out how you can fit new transportation options into your upcoming China trip.

With the advent of the New Year comes the annual slew of lists of what to look for in 2011. Publications have picked their top travel destinations for the next year, and several prominent ones have turned the spotlight on new high-end accommodations in lesser-known spots in China. At AsiaTravel, we have been very much focused on the same trend…

That China is making appearances on such lists should come as no surprise. China currently ranks as the world’s fourth most popular travel destination and it is expected to topple the United States and France out of the top slots by the end of the decade (or even sooner).

But it’s not just trips to Beijing and Shanghai that will drive that growth. The New York Times and The Financial Times have cited Hangzhou, Pingyao, and Lhasa as the places to be in China this year, and there is a common thread linking the three. These cities have long had the historical and cultural pull to draw tourists, but now they also have high-end hotels where those tourists can hang their hats at the end of a long day of travel.

The New York Times mentions Jing’s Residence in Pingyao, the ancient town’s first boutique hotel, and a wave of big names setting up shop in Hangzhou, including Shangri-La and the Four Seasons. The Financial Times highlights the St. Regis Lhasa, which represents that chain’s first push into Tibet.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Ken Green, president and managing director of Windham Hotel Group’s Asian-Pacific region, emphasizes the exact same trend; one of the five travel trends he predicts for 2011 is “High-end Products in Smaller Cities.”

“Everyone wants to be in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing,” he says. “But hey, Hangzhou, Changsha, Chengdu – those are all great cities to visit.”

Zhao Bei, AsiaTravel’s new Assisting General Manager, agrees.

“That’s something we’ve been talking about for some time here at AsiaTravel. You always have to be innovative in the travel industry, and our newest initiative, The AsiaTravel Collection, represents our own efforts to combine comfort with more adventurous travel in China.”

With so many worthy destinations away from China’s bustling east coast, we’re excited to see where 2011 takes us – or more importantly, where it takes you!

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Devin is a member of the operations team in AsiaTravel’s Beijing office. Contact him at devin.corrigan@wildchina.com. Photo by Landison Longjing Resort in Hangzhou.

The following post is an excerpt from Catherine Bodry, a writer for AOL’s Gadling Travel Blog.

Once an important market town on China’s ancient tea-horse road, Shaxi is one of seemingly very few Chinese villages that have retained their original feel. Quiet, with cobblestone lanes and courtyard homes, Shaxi is currently undergoing a “remodel” to restore and preserve its historical market square, inner village, and, eventually, ready the entire Shaxi Valley for tourism. Though only a few hotels and shops currently smatter the tiny village, there’s no way a town like this will stay this quiet for long. You’ll be rewarded by visiting soon, as the vibe is sure to change after the completion of a new highway nearby.

Gadling was lucky enough to visit Shaxi in November on a trip with AsiaTravel, during which we traced parts of China’s tea-horse caravan route.

Shaxi sits roughly between Lijiang and Dali, and was a halfway point for tea and horse traders traveling between southern Yunnan and Tibet. The town experienced its prime from 1368-1911, when it flourished as a way station along the tea-horse trading route. When the last of the caravans passed through in 1949, Shaxi settled into relative isolation. In 2001, the World Monument Fund added Shaxi’s market square to its Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites, as the square had its original theater, temple, and guesthouses. All, however, were in danger from neglect and the potential of shoddy restoration. In partnership between the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and the People’s Government of Jianchuan County, the first phase of the Shaxi Restoration Project began in 2006, and the village is readying itself for more visitors.

To read full posts from Gadling’s trip to Yunnan, click here.

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Contact Catherine Bodry at catherine.bodry@weblogsinc.com. Photo by Gadling.