Art, Travel & Life!: July 2016

Lijiashan, Shanxi, China

Lijiashan is a remote cave-dwelling village on a mountain about 20 minutes outside of Qikou. There is nothing commercial about this place and luckily hardly any tourists. The occasional rental jeep drove up and a handful of Chinese tourists got out, walked around and went back to Qikou. I first walked up here the day after arriving in Qikou. Luckily the last 10kms uphill was an easy ride in a car with a hospitable local man who stopped and offered me a ride. It was early morning, only 8 am when I arrived, and the walking that I did do made me really ready to eat breakfast. There were no restaurants or shops or anything up here, but a lady came out of her home and greeted me. I asked her about breakfast possibilities, and she immediately invited me to eat. Breakfast was a fabulous Chinese fare, overlooking the spectacular yellow loess cliffs that the yao dongs were carved out of on the other side of a gorge from her high, courtyard verandah. She served me zhou (rice porridge), pickled cucumber salad and a boiled egg and some fa gao (steamed slightly sweet cake-like bread ).

Yao dong owner, Lijiashan

Yao dong where I stayed on Lijiangshan...$12(Can.) a night including 3 meals..

After wandering around landscape which I considered even more spectacular than Qikou, I was wide-eyed with wonder at this ancient place. I felt as though I were in a fairytale and that little hobbit like people might emerge any minute from the caves of varying shapes and sizes which blended so naturally into the landscape.

There was no doubt in my mind..I would return the next day to stay here, and explore this magical village and experience the varying lights of the day from morning to night.