Southern China - Yunnan Gaoligongshan Nature Reserve
To Gaoligong and Tengchong
From Baoshan Airport we drove on a new highway heading toward Myanmar and Gaoligongshan Mountain Reserve on the border with Myanmar - a four-hour drive. The roads were new and in excellent condition.
A famous restaurant serving fish hit the spot. The fish were grown in pools surrounding the café. They were nicely spiced and grilled. The fish was eaten as a first course then many more dishes followed. It was a feast.
The area is known for growing coffee, dragon fruits, and selling expensive civet cat coffee (more on this below).
Farmers were selling roadside fruits - plums, guavas, and mangos. The mangos were delicious and fresh from the trees but the green plums were so sour.
Gaoligongshan National Park is near large agricultural plantations, where the forests have vanished. This is where rice, sugarcane, mango, and coffee are now planted. Shifting cultivation was evident from the look of the degraded hillsides.
Near the entrance to Gaoligongshan Nature Reserve is Baihualing, where they cater to bird watchers and other people who visit the park. It has an interesting mix of new and traditional houses.
We visited one old man in the village twhohas kept some old WWII relics in his home. Not much to buy but interesting to see what sort of stuff he was able to collect. We stayed at the park headquarters that overlooks the valley to the north.
Gaoligangshan mountains serve as a bio-diverse "hotspot" for many species of animals and plants. The upper area of the mountain is off-limits to tourists. Special permission is needed to visit. The area was designated as a Man Biosphere Preserve in 2000.
Early in the morning, we walked toward the distant peaks in the direction of Gaoligong. We walked on a winding road that was part of a lush jungle and part of shifting cultivation. So even though it is a designated preserve the quest for more agricultural land continues.
The sun came out briefly giving a glimpse of the massive peak above us.
A black eagle was soaring above and there was a beautiful waterfall. We wanted to go further but the rain came. It fell like a curtain, hard to see through or walk through it.
The park definitely needs more support from authorities to control encroachment and patrol the area to stop poaching of plants and animals.
Below Gaoligong is the Nujiang or Salween River basin. It flows over old lava beds and past ancient bridges, like the Shuanghong Bridge built in 1759. This is part of the old Silk Route.
On the way to Tendchong, we stopped by a coffee distribution center and sampled some coffee. They also sold civet cat coffee and showed a clump of coffee excreted by the civets. It looked disgusting. They explained that the civets were given 5kg of fresh coffee beans per day along with some bananas and other fruits. They live in small cages and are treated like chickens in a battery farm.
The regular coffee was quite good, but no civet coffee for us.
At the entrance to the old city of Tendchong, there is a big gate where some money has to be paid to enter. Like many places, we visited it was altered to be a tourist park or an exhibit of what used to be.
The library seemed real with a person actually reading the daily news, otherwise, it was mostly a tourist spot.
The old tea house was the ancestral house of people who no longer lived there. We sat for a long time while it rained and drank dozens of tiny cups of tea.
Lovely hotels were built inside the gates with lots of wood - maybe wood from Myanmar?
The Volcanic National Geothermal Park was amazing to visit. The entry area has some volcanic craters - not so interesting. But we drove on toward a gorge where there was a walking path that was very scenic showing the geological formations of the area.
Prismatic structured rocks and interconnecting fault lines are seen on the sides of the canyon sshowingup-lifting from volcanic action.
The Geo-Thermal Park was an altered site - impossible to say what it must have been like before being cemented and reconstructed for tourism.
The original nature of the place was unnatural and altered to suit tourists.
Most of the pools were man-made from the geysers to the cement-lined pools where even eggs and potatoes are boiled to sell to the tourists.
The flying tigers were an airforce unit that flew "over the hump" to fight the Japanese.
A photography exhibit from WWII and the war memorial in Tengchong took some time to visit but was worth it. It has a large area of graves, a museum, and an outdoor photo exhibition. It is called the Anti-Japanese War Memorial of the Chinese Expeditionary Force.
Photo captions and descriptions are in English and Chinese. There were maps of the area, with descriptions of the Stilwell road built by Americans going into Burma.
A famous restaurant serving fish hit the spot. The fish were grown in pools surrounding the café. They were nicely spiced and grilled. The fish was eaten as a first course then many more dishes followed. It was a feast.
The area is known for growing coffee, dragon fruits, and selling expensive civet cat coffee (more on this below).
Farmers were selling roadside fruits - plums, guavas, and mangos. The mangos were delicious and fresh from the trees but the green plums were so sour.
Gaoligongshan National Park is near large agricultural plantations, where the forests have vanished. This is where rice, sugarcane, mango, and coffee are now planted. Shifting cultivation was evident from the look of the degraded hillsides.
Near the entrance to Gaoligongshan Nature Reserve is Baihualing, where they cater to bird watchers and other people who visit the park. It has an interesting mix of new and traditional houses.We visited one old man in the village twhohas kept some old WWII relics in his home. Not much to buy but interesting to see what sort of stuff he was able to collect. We stayed at the park headquarters that overlooks the valley to the north.
Gaoligangshan mountains serve as a bio-diverse "hotspot" for many species of animals and plants. The upper area of the mountain is off-limits to tourists. Special permission is needed to visit. The area was designated as a Man Biosphere Preserve in 2000.
Early in the morning, we walked toward the distant peaks in the direction of Gaoligong. We walked on a winding road that was part of a lush jungle and part of shifting cultivation. So even though it is a designated preserve the quest for more agricultural land continues.The sun came out briefly giving a glimpse of the massive peak above us.A black eagle was soaring above and there was a beautiful waterfall. We wanted to go further but the rain came. It fell like a curtain, hard to see through or walk through it.
The park definitely needs more support from authorities to control encroachment and patrol the area to stop poaching of plants and animals.Below Gaoligong is the Nujiang or Salween River basin. It flows over old lava beds and past ancient bridges, like the Shuanghong Bridge built in 1759. This is part of the old Silk Route.
On the way to Tendchong, we stopped by a coffee distribution center and sampled some coffee. They also sold civet cat coffee and showed a clump of coffee excreted by the civets. It looked disgusting. They explained that the civets were given 5kg of fresh coffee beans per day along with some bananas and other fruits. They live in small cages and are treated like chickens in a battery farm.The regular coffee was quite good, but no civet coffee for us.
At the entrance to the old city of Tendchong, there is a big gate where some money has to be paid to enter. Like many places, we visited it was altered to be a tourist park or an exhibit of what used to be.
The library seemed real with a person actually reading the daily news, otherwise, it was mostly a tourist spot.The old tea house was the ancestral house of people who no longer lived there. We sat for a long time while it rained and drank dozens of tiny cups of tea. Lovely hotels were built inside the gates with lots of wood - maybe wood from Myanmar?
The Volcanic National Geothermal Park was amazing to visit. The entry area has some volcanic craters - not so interesting. But we drove on toward a gorge where there was a walking path that was very scenic showing the geological formations of the area.
Prismatic structured rocks and interconnecting fault lines are seen on the sides of the canyon sshowingup-lifting from volcanic action.
The Geo-Thermal Park was an altered site - impossible to say what it must have been like before being cemented and reconstructed for tourism.
The original nature of the place was unnatural and altered to suit tourists.
Most of the pools were man-made from the geysers to the cement-lined pools where even eggs and potatoes are boiled to sell to the tourists. The flying tigers were an airforce unit that flew "over the hump" to fight the Japanese.
A photography exhibit from WWII and the war memorial in Tengchong took some time to visit but was worth it. It has a large area of graves, a museum, and an outdoor photo exhibition. It is called the Anti-Japanese War Memorial of the Chinese Expeditionary Force.
Photo captions and descriptions are in English and Chinese. There were maps of the area, with descriptions of the Stilwell road built by Americans going into Burma.
Rice planting around Tengchong was in full swing with bundles of rice seedlings flying through the air.
Many shops sell jade and teak wood items. Please avoid buying things mined in Myanmar - this promotes the further destruction of Myanmar.
So Long!
Many shops sell jade and teak wood items. Please avoid buying things mined in Myanmar - this promotes the further destruction of Myanmar.
So Long!
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