Nujiang, Yunnan—China's Last Paradise

When I was in Lijiang in mid-November—itself a most popular tourist destination—I learned from a few 'natives' that there is another river valley nearby that is even more remote and pristine—Nujiang ("Angry River") which comes down from the Tibetan Plateau running parallel to and then into Burma to become the Salween that drains into the Andaman Sea of Thailand over 1,700 miles.

Nujiang is one of the three rivers that run through upper Yunnan, the western-most province of interior China. Lancangjiang which runs into Laos to become Mekong covering 3,000 miles, the sixth longest river in the world, and Jinsajiang which runs into the Yangtze River, the most important river that runs through China' heartland covering nearly 4,000 miles. The "Three Parallel River" area covered with deep gorges and snowcapped mountains is the most bio-diverse in China—inhabited by twenty six ethnic minority people, some remaining in near-aboriginal existence.

On November 28^th, I take off in a 4WD with a couple of friends. Little have I suspected that it take us three days to cover 500 miles at times over unpaved, winding mountain roads to reach Bing Zhong Luo, the entrance to the "natural protected area". With the village within sight, we are greeted by "Nujiang's First Big Bend" where the milky-blue river makes a 360 degree turn.

In the village, we locate Ding Da Ma ("Big Aunt Ding"), the old woman of the Drung tribe who is both the caretaker of the local Catholic church and a popular B&B inn. After a simple lunch of corn bread cooked over open wood fire inside a lowly-clung room which serves as kitchen-sitting room combined, we take off on a hike on the former 'tea-horse old road' which used to carry tea by the "horse gangs' from central Yunnan into Tibet, Burma and India trekking over couple thousand miles—now, a paved motor road.

Our next destination is Qiu LaTong ("Autumn Peace"), a village inhabited by a mix of Nu tribe and Tibetans, an eight mile hike that turns into a six-hour trek over winding road along the Nu River. We are happy to reach Mr. Yu's home in which he serves as B&B for visitors. Mr. Yu is of Tibetan origin and converted to Christianity. We share dinner over open wood fire with three fellow travelers, drinking tea and white liquor, chatting happily late into the night. Conditions are most primitive—out-house for convenience, no running nor hot water for baths.

The next morning, we go back to the bridge crossing which is the beginning of a section of the 'tea-horse old road' carved out of vertical rock cliffs a hundred feet above the swift-running Nu River. After an hour's gentle hike, we reach Wu Li ("Misty Lane"), a small village perched on a gentle slope over the Nu River. We find the house of Mr. Luo of the Lisu tribe and a retired teacher of over thirty years. Over the years, he had taught more than a thousand children, now scattered all over the valley. His daughter-in-law, a Tibetan converted to Christianity, cooks us a meal of rice, potato and egg plant—all organic, of course.                                     

In the afternoon, we drive up a steep gorge on one of the tributaries where a dam is being built. This is one of the poorer areas due to shortage of farmland. We visit a school for young children of Grade 1 to 3. Of the 120 school children, 90 are 'boarders' as their homes up the valley are too far away for daily commuting. The country has since implemented compulsory, free education of 9 years including free boarding. The children, as best as we could see, are adequately fed and dressed—healthy and happy.                                                         

It is another two-day drive to reach Da Li where we spend two more nights, then taking a bus to Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan, ending our most memorable tour. Some of the salient points that impress me the most:

·         though a tourist attraction, it remains relatively unspoiled by tourism—due to its relative inaccessibility;

·         peaceful intermixing of a total of twenty six ethnic minority groups (Nu, Lisu, Bai, Drung, Tibetans) in numerous villages along the banks of Nujiang and its tributaries;

·         deep-rooted religious tradition—most of all the inhabitants regardless of ethnic origin are Christians or Catholics including many converted Tibetans as the valley is dotted with twenty or so churches, one of the choirs of a local church singing hymns in the local Lisu dialect being most famous;

·         mild climate year-round—subtropical, dry, 4-17 C in early December shielded by snowcapped mountains, with plenty of sunshine and frost-free days so vegetation is plentiful (bananas and sugar cane nearby the valley floor; oranges and walnut on the higher grounds).

Now, this entire area of "Three Parallel Rivers" is under threat by construction of big dams for development of hydropower. Controversies are raging since 2004. Many indigenous inhabitants have already been dislocated due to inundation caused by the big dams—let alone the destruction of the habitat and the biodiversity. These 'dislocated persons' remain in dire poverty—as they have been deprived from their means of livelihood of farming and animal husbandry.

Tiger Leap Gorge, the world-renown and a protected natural relic, on Jinshajiang is now under threat of inundation by a big dam that is planned downstream, and of reduced water flow caused by big dams to be built upstream. It is estimated that if the construction of these big dams are allowed to go ahead, they would dislocate up to one hundred thousand indigenous inhabitants, mostly ethnic minorities.

Cyrus K. Hui, December 7, 2009 at Yunnan