Lijiang's Baisha Village is an old Naxi settlement, located north of old town near the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. When I read about the village there was a comment on the post explaining that if you are approached by an old lady who invites you into her house to share some tea, that its totally normal. So when I was walking through the village 3 hours later and this happened to me, I thought I would give it a shot.
She took me into her recently remodeled house and sat me down at an old wooden table with a pile of guest books on it. If there is such thing as a Naxi accent, I'm pretty sure this lady has it, I was unable to understand almost anything she said. Luckily she understood me when I asked if she had any beer(Ni You Pijou Ma?), she went into her kitchen, dug through some dirty boxes for a minute and then a large bottle of local Baijiu was dropped in my lap.
While we looked through the guest books together she also poured me some tea and filled up a bag of nuts and fruit for me to take along with me. What I could gather from the guest books is that thousands of people from all over the world come and have tea with this lady and she makes the experience nice enough that they send here letters and post cards to thank her for the experience. She force me to take several Baijiu shots through the duration of my stay until eventually I was eager to write a long than you note into one of her guestbooks.
When it was time to go I donated 20rmb to her in thanks for the hospitality, and to my surprise she forced the entire bottle of baijiu into my small walking bag before letting me walk out the door. While strolling around the village later I also dropped into Shali Bar to eat some traditional Naxi food, and a random cafe that had a home brew sign outside. The combination of the beer and baijiu got me drunk enough that I don't have a clear recollection of how I made it to the airport.
She took me into her recently remodeled house and sat me down at an old wooden table with a pile of guest books on it. If there is such thing as a Naxi accent, I'm pretty sure this lady has it, I was unable to understand almost anything she said. Luckily she understood me when I asked if she had any beer(Ni You Pijou Ma?), she went into her kitchen, dug through some dirty boxes for a minute and then a large bottle of local Baijiu was dropped in my lap.
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| Grandma Liu |
When it was time to go I donated 20rmb to her in thanks for the hospitality, and to my surprise she forced the entire bottle of baijiu into my small walking bag before letting me walk out the door. While strolling around the village later I also dropped into Shali Bar to eat some traditional Naxi food, and a random cafe that had a home brew sign outside. The combination of the beer and baijiu got me drunk enough that I don't have a clear recollection of how I made it to the airport.
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| Shali Bar Patio |
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| Stir-fried Naxi food being prepared |
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| Town square |
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| Home brew place |
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| Owner pours me some beer |
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| My own dark beer to go |
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| North of the village |
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| Jade Dragon Snow Mountain |
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