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Wonderful days in Dehong,Tengchong and Gaoligong mountains, YunNan
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13th-August-2023
Shanghai, Sunny Hot, 36C
and,
8th-September-2023, Shanghai, Sunny, 31C
and,
16th-September-2023, Shanghai, Rainy, 26C
Written on Mackbook Air 11.6 (2014) ssh & tmux to otaku.sdf.org
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I was lazy typing recently, we went to YunNan Province, southwest of
China in late July, I started the phlog on 13th-August, but then
was on other projects, until today(8th-September) I could sit down
type them down.

## Dreamed for long and finally got a plan!
---------------------------------------------

We wanted go to YunNan for long! first of all, the countless
wonderful foods, secondly, there are more than 20 ethnic minorities
so that with rich culture, lastly, the mountains and various
species. 
In May this year(2023) we decided will go and booked the flights
and hotel, even there were 3 times flight change that causing by
the airline, we finally made this trip!
 

## Experienceing temperate climate to tropical
-----------------------------------------------

Due to booking reason at begining of wanted connected trip, our
flight was from Shanghai to Tengchong via Kunming. And after landed
in Tengchong, we took a taxi to Mangshi (capital city of Dehong),
it's about 100km away. Altough we will later on came back to
Tengchong for a week and then fianlly flew back to Shanghai via
Kunming. 

Anyway the taxi trip from Tengchong to Mangshi is amazing,
Yunnan is totally another world to our eyes, and that 100km is also
a quite change on the climate, they are about 7 degrees difference!
Mangshi/Dehong is much hot because it is on the south and lower
altitude, and we could see the vegetation change as well in such a
shot time, when close to Mangshi/Dehong, it is getting tropical:
there are mango trees, dragon fruits, etc...

And we also saw the highest suspension bridge in Asia: Longjiang
Bridge, which is about 280m above the river, while the tower is
about 170m up to sky. There is also sight viewing area under the
bride which is the highway Service Area. That's really stuning
experience when you see the around 500m monster lay on the endless
mountain lines.

## Dehong Dai & Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture 
---------------------------------------------

Mangshi City(capitcal of Dehong) is typical tropical climate: mango
trees, palm trees, etc., and most dominant people there are Dai and
Jingpo ethnic group, and they believe in Buddhism, there are two
major Pagoda, Goden and Silver. So Mangshi is like you are in
Thailand or Myanmar, anyway it is just 100km to the board of
Myanmar.

Dai Ethnical people are famous for their festival like
PoShuiJie(Water-Splanshing festival), is in Mid April, in that
festival, people splashing water to each other, the more of water,
the more fortune you get.

Dai food are very nice as well, Dai ShouZhuaFan(hand pilaf),
SaPie(a kind of special sauce cooked out of cow's bitter liquids in
stomach, with raw beef dip in), this is really a challenge mentally
to most non-Dai people.

There are many other wonderful foods as well, like ErKuai, ErSi
which are made out of rice, like glass noodle but much nice taste,
especially with like beef soup.
One interesting thing i found out is, Dai people never use vinegar,
because they have a better natural replacement, Lemon!
 
Dehong is one of the most early place planting Coffee tree in
China, thanks to the altitude of the YunGui plateau mountains. Thus
very good coffee from Dehong, I tasted myself in the street and it
is super!

Dehong is close to Gaoligong moutain, and due to its special
location: High Altitude in Low Latitude area, the species are
tremendously rich, plants and animals, as well as fungus, which if
you cook inappropritely or eat wrong type, you can be sick like see
illusion or dangerously death.


## Tengchong and the vocanic mountains
---------------------------------------

We stayed in Mangshi/Dehong only for 3 days, then we went back to
Tengchong, now that reverse experience as we had days ago. The inn
we stay is called ZongLiDaYuan, it's kind of a family run inn, the
house is 100 years history back to 1910s or so, two floor, totally
wood, remained the outside and inside look to be like 1910/20s,
renovated with morden electric applicance, though. It's said the
house was used for some time in 1910s by a famous government vice
Premier named Li GenYuan as office. 
This is not in the Tengchong city downtown, but a acient town
called HeShun, 3-4km away. HeShun having about 600 years history,
and with its rich mixed culture of minority with Han Culture, which 
was brought to this border place at Ming Dynasty by military solders 
and their families.

And HeShun is also famous for their Horse Transporation (MaBang) in
the old times like Qing or old China (R.O.C time), they transport
teas etc., from Yunnan to inner China or import other goods from 
Southeast Asia like Myanmar to YunNan, I.E. Jade.

Tengchong is famous for its vocanic terrain, there are in totall
more than 90 vocanals, and the basins formed from that, and most 
of the towns are now located in those basins. HeShun is one typical
case, it's surrounded by several vocanic mountains, which are with
wonderful sights.
There is actually a vocanic park in Tengchong, unfortunately we
didn't go, you could see there several vocanal mouth in that park,
and in good weath(non-rainy season), they have ballons you could
take to view on the top, they said that's fabulous.

We did hiked to one of them, DaYingShan Mountain, that is alive
vocanal, the recent erruption is about 400 years ago. Altitude 
2600m, relative height 640m.
On the road to top, you can see the black basalt stones, the plants
are rich of type, there are rapsberry, mock-strawberry, which are
eatable, on the top there are some very flat plateau, and very top
of cause a basin or lake type. We tooked food with us, canopy etc.,
you can imagine what a wonderful afternoon on the top of a vocanal
with all endless mountains shadows in the far, even Myanmar is in
sight, just a few mountains away.

Associated with vocanal, there is hot spring, it is in a separate
place, a national park though, we went as well there in other day,
man, you can smell the sulfur while the hot steam or water popping
to the ground. I even tried to boil some eggs, well cooked in 7-8
minutes!

## GaoLiGong Mountain
----------------------

GaoLiGong Mountain is laid in a very straight North-South direction
and in such a low Latitude, so the plants and animals are so rich
and unique there, most of the mountain are under full protection,
peope can't go there, even the national park area that allows
visitors go to, this probably is the only place restricted to
forgeiners for access, only very few case if there are national
academic sumbit time, those are allowed. Not sure this is true or
not, but this is what the local guide told us.

Inside the mountain, you could experiencing very rapid climate
difference in a few kilometers, the lower altitude are like
tropical where you can see mango, but when you goes up the
temperature drops, the plants are quite changed, and (we didn't go)
going further top, there are snows.

It is has quite some unique spechies to the world, like Giant
Squirrel, and they said including untold spechies in the deep of
the mountain.

While actually the trip from Tengchong city area to GaoLiGong
Mountain where visitor are allowed to go is really stunning!
Tengchong is in higher altitude, so those days the temperature is
around 25C, and you won't see any tropical trees. the route to
GaoLiGong visiting site is like a V, firstly go south to the
earlier mentioned LongJiang Bridge where is low in altitude
already, and you can already see mango trees. After crossing
LongJiang River, moving to east to next river called NuJiang
River(also called Salween in other countries), alongside the
NuJiang, going up/north to higher altitude, and you will see the
difference on plants within that 50-60km distance, from tropicall 
to subtropical or temperate. From full of mango lemon to slowly
disappearing, changing to corn etc.. plants as the altitude goes
higher.

The hiking in GaoLiGong was amazing too, they said in the past, the
Horse Transportation also go similar road to get over the
GaoLiGong, very narrow roads, only horse and human can go, no cart.
Along the hiking, we actually going down to lower altitude where we
see Palm trees, then giant waterfall which is about 100m high,
having a lunch break at the site of water fall, then going up,
other part of the circle road back. While supprisingly we saw Hot
Spring! and suitable temperature where we dip our feets in to relax
there. and eventually they found a hotter spot to boiling eggs! The
local guide is also teaching us on the plants, what are eatable
what not, as well as many natrualist knowlege, after the day, we
ended at a resteraut for Dai Pilaf, the foold was shaped to their
avatar peacock (the ancient times they were called peacock
dynasty), not to mention how delicous they are!


## One of the best in life experience in YunNan
-----------------------------------------------

Tobe honest, I regard this as my best experience in my life, the
landsights, the food, the ethnic group people, the unique culture
like Dai in DeHong and also the mixture culture in Tengchong. I
definetly shall come back again, and again for deeper experience
there in YunNan!

I'm not a native English speaker, hope you forgive the language
faults or grammar mistakes and enjoy the reading!

16th-September-2023
Peter