Arriving in Lijiang and it’s wall-to-wall humans; I think the entire population of China has descended upon this small town for such purposes of tourism as: Purchase of useless tat, giving money to the many singing children on the streets, drinking Coffee more expensive than London and adorning long “Tai Die” skirts sold by the truck load. It’s a tourist trap of similar magnitude to the earthquake that caused so much devastation just over a decade ago. Take the fees for attractions for example; if you want to visit anything even vaguely historic, including a pinch of culture or effervescing scenery – an 80 Yuan “Protection fee” is required. Precisely what for is dubious, when considering the unabashed inflated prices (50pence for a Yunnan coffee in Dali versus £3.80 here), and additional entrance fees for all sights on offer. No other “historical” city has such a fee, either.
And with five fluent Mandarin speakers on tap, so it was that we managed to dodge this fee of nonsense and visit every attraction free of charge: Except for the last, which I will detail for everyone else on the planet to read and avoid the 15 Yuan we each paid to two local ladies for assistance getting in. The British wheeler-dealer in me loves getting sommat for nuffink, or finding something not nailed down, so I’m ‘avin’ it and I couldn’t help but grin ear-to-ear after we’d successfully navigated the barbed-wire, slippery muddy floor and dodged patrolling guards to enter the Black Dragon Lake for free.
If you really want to go then here’s how, but before you do you’ll need some equipment:
- GPS Device of some description (something that can locate to within 10m and will accept coordinates as way points, or you can look it up on Google Earth)
- Hiking boots or at least something with grip (sandals/flip-flops won’t cut it)
- Good timing and patience
Here are the way points you’ll need – in order – to skip past ticket checking:
- 26°53.529, 100°13.873
- 26°53.559, 100°13.914
- 26°53.475, 100°13.941
- 26°53.480, 100°13.957
- 26°53.449, 100°13.981
- 26°53.430, 100°13.979
The ladies that escorted us took half of the group straight in, but with some of us not even remotely resembling locals (all permitted free entrance), we were forced to nip around back and duck under pre-cut and opened barbed-wire. I’d already started chuckling by this point, though having rained most of the night and morning, the ground under foot was particularly slippery and as Byron fell flat on his arse leaving a brown mark of hilarity, the guide struggled to silence my laughter. With the path used so regularly that the ticket point at the South of the Lake (more of a large Pond really), almost pointless, it’s an idea to tread carefully and keep low and quiet. Once you’re ready to pass through the second barbed wire point, ensure you’ve crept up to it unnoticed as guards do patrol; skip through at whichever opportunity you find.
If asked where your ticket is here’s the trick; make the Black Pond your last stop of the day. Visit Baisha village and Suhe first (neither requiring the protection fee either), take some pictures and display them as evidence for the fee, and simply say you’ve lost or already disposed of your stub. With so much scamming directed towards me of the last two months, I’ve a strangely elated feeling giving the Chinese some of their own medicine. That’s how we do.
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