Sunflower Beams: 束河古镇 (Ancient town of ShuHe)

Jumping from Xi'an, Shaanxi, to Lijiang, Yunnan.
We stayed at the ancient town of 束河（ShuHe) for 2 days.
ShuHe is a town along the 茶马古道（chama gudao, tea trade road) with a 1,600 year history.

Tea was exported from China to other countries along this route.
The one-way journey could take up to 2 years. Normal tea leaves would lose their fragrance after such a long time, so compressed 普洱茶（pu'er tea）, was exported.
For pu'er tea, the older the better. Pu'er tea leaves are usually compressed into discs the size of a plate.
The tea was transported on horseback or carried by men, in leather bags.

The hostel we stayed at. 60RMB per night - quite a deal!

At ShuHe, you're supposed to relax - 发呆 and 聊天。

We tried... but we weren't as good as the experts...

This is how you're supposed to do it!

And this, is how you should relax!

You can still find horses in ShuHe now, but they don't transport tea anymore, they transport tourists!

The layout of ShuHe town isn't in a grid pattern like modern cities. Houses and shops are built along the little river that runs through the town.

The river is surprisingly clean. People use the water for washing and cleaning.
A guide from the 纳西族（Naxi ethnic group) told us that children are taught from young to respect nature - they are not to pee in the river nor poop in the streets, otherwise they'll develop piles and/or boils!
Many of the natives are from the Naxi ethnic group.

Traditional Naxi meal - huge pot of 腊排骨（LaPaiGu, preserved ribs) with mushrooms.

Traditional Naxi attire. Married/older women have a special cloth worn on the back that is used for keeping warm (summer temperature is ~20 degrees). It can also be used to strap a baby to the mother's back.