Nick's journey through China - Continued
From Dali, I caught a bus to LiJiang, home of the Naxi minority people (Dali is home of the Bai people). I was only there for one day and night, so I couldn't really see past the touristy veneer on the town, which was a real shame. There were some lovely old cobbled streets leading from the town square, but they were all lined with tacky souvenir shops. Still, some interesting people-watching to be done. As well as lots of old Naxi women in the traditional blue apron and hat, there here was an old people's singing group in the town square - the leader (guy in the fur hat) would sing an 8-beat line (just like humming, I don't think there were any actual words), and the women would chant after him. That night, I went to a special concert of traditional court music - apparently the old instruments and the skills of the people who could play them have been hidden away during the cultural revolution, so this is a very rare thing, a claim given some credibility by the fact that 99% of the audience was Chinese.
Next to Chengdu, where I resolved to stay put for a few days (I hadn't stayed anywhere longer than 2 nights until then). Went to see Big Buddha at Leshan, but he was a bit disappointing, quite "blocky". After that, decided not to do any big daytrips by myself, so went the next day with some other people from my guesthouse to the Panda Breeding and Research Centre, which was awesome. I took almost 2 rolls of film, although a lot didn't turn out due to poor lighting in the early morning. Here are some of the better ones of the grown pandas: 1, 2, 3, 4 and the babies: 1 and 2.
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