Paradise Lijiang and Back to Tatting and ATCs and a Challenge

I'm back to my crafts, trying to catch up on swaps, trying to finish the Alphabet ATC swaps with Sherry (USA) and Mari (South Africa). These are not new designs as I have finished until Z for the alphabet swap in another group. It's not easy to think of different critter design in tatting for alphabet U to Z.

I join a new swap for the year - a birthday ATC swap! It will last the whole year, right from January till December. Tahlia (USA) is the first birthday girl in January. She love peacocks, so a tatted one is going her way right now.

Mary Green of Green Paper has an on-going monthly challenge, Green Paper Collage Challenge - to create a piece of art using at least part of each of the three images provided. I'm not one into vintage prints, this is the first time I created art with these vintage images. I intend to print them on black and white and added colours by tatted motifs. Here's my ATC "Ravishing Red" created for the January challenge:

Continuing on my China trip in December ...
Day 2 (7 Dec) PM: The car journey from Dali to Lijiang (丽江) took 4 hours. Vast mountains and green farms dotted the way.

We reached Lijiang in the late afternoon. After checking in Guanfang Hotel (官房酒店), we roamed the nearby streets and went to the supermarket for some titbits and drinks.

Day 3 (8 Dec) AM: Behind us was the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (玉龙雪山).

The Yunshanping Meadow Cableway and a ski site have been built on the mountain. The total length of the cableway is 2,968 meters, with a vertical difference of 1,150 meters, supposedly one with the highest altitude of its kind in the world. We decided to skip the stop fearing the cold.

Yunshanping (云杉坪) is "Wuluyoucuige" in Naxi language, which means the place for lovers to die for their love. The Naxi tribe living here believe the Jade Dragon Mountain can protect their love from being ruined by worldly conceptions.

Lijiang county of Yunnan province is the main region where Naxis resides. The Naxi minority created a very unique culture of their own - rich and diverse, with their own music, art, and their thousand-year-old pictographic writing system which is similar to hieroglyphics and considered the only existing pictographs in the world today. (See the pictorgraphic words on the wall in the photo above?) They also has their own religion which is a hybrid of the Tibetan''s and Han''s religious beliefs.The main feature of Dongba religion is in their ancestors and nature worship. Dongba which stands for sages, are responsible for passing down the Dongba culture to successive generations. The Naxi culture is derived mainly from the Dongba culture hence their art forms such as music, dance, painting etc. are a replica of the Dongba''s culture.

At the Dongba Valley (东巴谷), a cultural village showcasing the Naxi culture.

A pine tree (云南松) - I love it against the sky.

Jade Water Village (玉水寨) is located at the foot of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. We were there when everyone was getting ready for a national inspection team to inspect the place.

A sacred spring is situated in the center range in Jade Water Village. Its water source originated from the snow mountain - pure and fresh snow melted water flowing through a distance of about 2400 meters before it reaches the Jade Water Village. According to some legend, the mouth of the spring was where the Jade Dragon came out to inspect the plain of Lijiang, hence this spring was named as "Sacred Spring".

When this spring runs down the range, it forms three tiers of waters. The first tier was known as "Appearing Dragon Waterfall", the second tier the "Playing Dragon Waterfall" and the third, the "Farewell Dragon Waterfall", hence the name of "three-tier water".

The natural scenic spot makes it a favourite ground for wedding shots, even in winter!

It's no wonder people calling Lijiang a paradise!