Our home in the pumphouse on Er Hai lake

Our home in the pumphouse on Er Hai lake

Our home in the pumphouse on Er Hai lake

waiting for a boat on Er Hai lake

At about elevation 8000 ft in the pine forests of Cangshan (mountain) is quiet Wu Wei Si (Wu Wei Temple) where students train in ShaoLin GongFu ( Kong Fu ), TaiJi Quan, QiGong, etc ...
WuWei (无为) is an important concept of Daoism inclusive of knowing when to act and when not to act and natural effortless action with the aim of achieving a stat of perfect equilibrium or alignment with Dao and as a result an irresistible form of soft and invisible power.

Our home in the pumphouse on Er Hai lake

Cormorant fisherman

Making rice noodles an outdoor factory in a field

Making rice noodles an outdoor factory in a field

A 15th century temple dedicated to the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin, on Xiao Putuo island, Er Hai lake.

Sunrise on the top of JiZu Mountain (chicken foot mountain)

In a 3 am cold and star filled night I walked up the 11,000 foot ZiJu mountain. The many temples of ZiJu Shan have attracted pilgrims for 1500 years and it is among the five sacred Buddhist mountains of China.

JiZu Shan

JiZu Shan

JiZu Shan

JiZu Shan

Indigo tie-dying workshop at ZhouCheng

Stiching cloth: Tye-dyeing in China predates hippies 1000 years. While the Miao minorities in GuiZhou use wax to form patterns; the Bai minority workers at ZhouCheng use stitching to knot the cloth into beautiful patterns before soaking the cloth in wooden vats of natural indigo dye. The women we met doing this work were well into their seventies, had great eye sight, and have been stitching cloth for dying for over 50 years.

Our home near ZhouCheng

Fishing on Er Hai lake

In about 1350 the first Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang decrees to emphasize the promotion of Confucianism and train obedient people. During the Qing Dynasty period of the Emperor KangXi issued "The Sixteen Imperial Decrees" to carry out Zhu's decrees. In 1724 the following Emperor issued "The Sixteen DETAILED Imperial Decrees" to explain The Sixteen Imperial Decrees one by one. The explanation included the requirement for villages to erect KuiXing Towers and Theater Stages and as a result Ten such towers were erected in the ShaXi valley including this one in Siding Village Market.

Wild Monkeys have the run of Baoxiang temple (宝相寺) which was built at the end of the 13th century, when Yunnan was formally integrated in the Chinese Empire, after the Mongols invaded the country and much of Asia and founded in China the short-lived Yuan dynasty (1271-1368).
Guanyin and Maitreya, the smiling Buddha, are visible from the main gate. They on a passage which links two overhanging temples part way up an overhanging cliff over the main temples below.

It is a long hike down the Bao mountain from the ancient rock carvings on the other side, back to ShaXi

Our home in ShaXi

YunNan Short Legged Horses (YunNan AiJiao Ma) are bred sturdy as a rock to cross the mountains into Tibet

This gentleman and his wife gave us a great tour of their 100 year old house, which I have subsequently found written up extensively in a history book that I wish I had read before meeting him.

Buying Chillies, ShaXi market

BaiLongMa ( white dragon horse )

China must advance, minorities must prosper, population must be controlled

Xiao Bai Gui inspired Brian to become a cowboy

BaiLong Tan (White Dragon Spring)

On this day we rode 20km to BaiLong Tan ( white dragon spring ) which is a clear water spring providing fresh water to the ShaXi valley

Dai Zhong Wen inspired Brian to becomer a drummer

Duan Xiong Qui, Brian and Valorie

Duan Xiong Qui grew up in the guesthouse where we stayed and he is now the landlord. He is a lively and generous man giving gifts such as fresh carrots to everyone in town and for some reason wanted me to photograph him writing in front of his house. He said he is not yet retired and still works as a farm laborer.

Duan Xiong Qui, Brian and Valorie

YuLongXueShan

Frosty the man: when there is no carrot and coal for a nose and eyes, two mountain goat terds and a stick will suffice

YuLongXueShan