Mandarin Immersion (Part 21)

This entry is part 21 of 40 in the series Mandarin Immersion

June 4, 2023

Mandarin Immersion (Part 21)

By Simon J. Lau

I made it to Lijiang, home to the Naxi people. These ethnic minorities are thought to have migrated from Tibet and established the Kingdom of Lijiang. They were conquered, along with their neighbors, by Kublai Khan and incorporated into the Yuan dynasty. Lijiang was an important stop along the Silk Road, where it was the center for silk embroidery, and the Ancient Tea Horse Road. The ancient city, known as Old Town of Lijiang, was famous for its urban waterways and bridges.

Upon arriving at my hotel, the hotel owner had issues digitally submitting my personal information to the local authorities. As part of China’s surveillance and security apparatus, foreigners are required to have this information submitted to local police at each new stay. No problem! The hotel owner, a very confident middle-aged woman, dragged me around town to photocopy my papers, then dropped them off at the local police station. This took us over an hour, and it didn’t faze her one bit. Mind you, my accommodations were only $19 USD per night.

This was maybe not worth it for her, but definitely not worth it for me. 😅 However, I’ve heard of this happening to foreigners in China in the past, and it was interesting for me to see how this process worked in real life, even if this were only the front-end process.

In the evening, I took my hotel owner’s recommendation and checked out a folk bar. These bars have more of a local flavor to them and are known for their live music. The bar I went to was among the most popular in the area. It was lively and very packed.

When word got around that I was a foreigner (there are very few foreigners here), one of the workers came by to speak with me. He then invited me to join him and his friends at their table. Not one to pass on an opportunity to hang out with locals, I agreed!

They were an animated bunch. However, I couldn’t tell if the two guys seated next to me were hitting on me or just very friendly. There was a lot of touching, especially hands on my knees. I didn’t feel uncomfortable, per se, but I didn’t want to give off the wrong vibes. When I saw an opportunity to make a graceful exit, I thanked them for inviting me to join them. I then bought them more drinks and closed out my tab. It’s important to me to be gracious when people are being kind, even if there may be some misunderstandings.

Finally, I wanted to share a photo of dinner! The oysters, in particular, were fabulous! The local beers were also good. This has been a very good start to my Lijiang trip so far, and I’m excited to see what new surprises these next few days will bring me. More to come!