Shaxi Ancient Town: A Well-Preserved Village in Rural Yunnan

old cha-ma-gu-dao It is a horse-tea road Which is a trading route Between Yunnan, Sichuan region and Tibet And by then, han people Traded tea from Yunnan Through Sichuan to Tibetan area And in exchange They got horses back The trade has many different path Shaxi was one very important stop And due to the prosperous trade Many people used to live here There are a lot of traditional dwellings So nowadays, still You can see a lot of old houses I just packed my luggage I've left it in the hotel And now I am going for a walk In the old town The couplets are

so beautiful The painting and then calligraphy Here too, it's a painting This is a liquor store I don't know whether it's because of tourism Or because of tradition There couplets are quite artistic So one side is calligraphy And the other side is chinese painting I can't walk through it it's an dead end Orchid And it's real, it's not plastic A lot of construction is still going on I guess it's because for preservation purpose They are renovating or rebuilt the broken houses But they still use the tradition style I think no one is living here It's empty

now That's a cupboard For thi kitchen Some more cupboards This must be the stove This is a ketchen area And there is also a 2nd floor It's actually quite small Hello doggy A cherry tree What I like about Shaxi is that The tradition has been very well preserved Look at those carvings Those old paintings And old door Although it's touristics Although there are a lot of guesthouse Whatsoever But somehow there is a very nice balance Between modern and traditon A good day for the daughter to marry So this family had a wedding May I ask what are you making?

This is ... (I didn't understand because of her accent) For food? It has to be dried first After it is sun dried? yes It is called rice.... (Didn't understand) Rice... It's for the buddha Oh for buddha For worshipping (Didn't understand) I see, it's a offering to the buddha Yes, for the buddha Their food No wonder it's red Is it your house? There are 2 families here We share Dried mushroom There are so many different kinds Can I have one hot americano? Sure Thanks It's wood carving Bai carpenters Are believed to be the best carpenters So now this is a

restaurant But one side is carving Carpenter studio It's quite incredible, isn't it? So that's their work And before carving They have to paint On the wood This square used to be a market And it was also the spatial center Of the town I think today it still is This is an open theater That is about 300 years ago And facing it is a buddhist temple Because Bai people also practice buddhism And they believe that, when there is an opera The buddha shall enjoy it With the people There are 3 courtyard So now in the 3rd one Further in the back It's the temple

The Buddhist temple So just imagine 300 years ago When the caravan arrived here They exchange some of their goods In the market And then they sit under the big tree And watch an opera And they had a tea in some of the shops Or stay over night in a caravanserai Xi-guan-tuo-cha Xi-guan-tuo-cha is a famous tea kind Mainly produced in Dali In the past, the tea was made into Tea bricks like this It's easier to transport And it's easier to store The restoration of Shaxi starts in 2004 by Swiss-led architectural team Together with local government The project

is a success Today it is a pleasant surprise Lies in-between Dali and Lijaing Honestly before coming here I didn't have high expectations Because I have been to so many traditional villages in China in my life But so far, I have to say Shaxi really went far Far beyond my expectation And it's the most beautiful ancient town That I've visited in recent years And sometimes when you walk into the alleys You will have nice surprises Such as a carpenter workshop A nice cafe An old traditional house, etc. Now it's time to leave It's about 3 o'clock now I hope I

can reach lijiang Maybe around 5 pm What a beautiful spring weather This part isn't so great I hope the road will get better soon Jianchuan county one duck meat jerky Two Those, please 5 yuan Thanks Now we are officially in lijiang The full name of Lijiang I think, is lijiang Naxi Autonomous county （not prefecture） Now it's going up again And when going up I can really feel that This bike isn't so powerful The maximum speed that I can go Is around 50 or so Depending on how steep the slope is There is mountain ahead of me I am wondering which mountain

is that 50km away from Lijiang The traffic is getting slow There is a long queue of cars So I am just following this car Where are you going? Baisha Go ahead So there is traffic control This is Baisha (old town) (Baisha is one old town in Lijiang) Again stone roads That's the Standard practice of old towns International youth hostel I think I was here maybe 10 years ago, or 8 years ago The average elevation of Lijiang is 2300m And look there That's the holy mountain of Naxi people Yulong mountain And that peak is more than 5500 m And tonight I think this

is my room I booked a room with a direct view to that mountain Are you alone? yes You can order a rice dish. Pepper pork rice please Ok. Take a seat Oh, wait I want to change, I want rice noodle That's faster Ok, I want chicken rice noodle Can you give me more vegetables absolutely thanks My dinner again I ordered rice noodle For some reason I don't know why I have been ordering the same food I promise you next time I will change something different I am going to enjoy my dinner now I hope you enjoy this video If you like it Please gives me a thumb up

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