Now I know it’s a little late, but everyday is essentially an “International Children’s Day” (annually June 1st)!
One of Pullman’s special little guests tastes the great desserts and became a personal mini-chef! Quite a determined little one, I’ll say.
See here for the offer we added on the day of.
Bon. Très bon.
by Darwin Ma / Pullman Lijiang Resort and Spa Exclusive / 2011-08-03
Short Intro to A Dan, 阿丹, and a few things you can visit while in Lashi Lake, Lijiang
1 / custom request any wooden furniture, copperwares and household-design items you would like from A-Dan …
2 / visit his “Monthly Open Vacation Home”, also by Lashi Lake, occuring every 17th of every month, where there are creatures and friendly faces enjoying each other over a bonfire and friends. (More details below …)
3 / visit his home and have a tea, view his own personal museums and not-for-sale antiques (with his permission)
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A special interview and tour was made in mid April with Pullman Lijiang Resort and Spa … his blog is at blog.sina.com.cn/pangulj
A-Dan, 阿丹, (above) is a Taiwanese entrepreneur, artist and packrat out near Lashi Lake 拉市海, west of Lijiang. A craftsman for over 20 years and living in Lijiang for over 10, A Dan left business in Taiwan and opened several antique and woodcraft shops and displays around Lashi Lake. He is one of the many ‘foreigners’ who enjoys, founds, and now creates the beautiful, natural atmosphere in Lijiang’s lakeside suburbia. A Dan has his own private collection of antiques from Lijiang and the area, all a few decades old, all an interesting story between each item. He turned a hobby into a collection and into inspiration, forming his craftsmen handiwork for the masses. A-Dan took a retired wooden boat, the kind that was made from ONE TREE CARVED OUT, and turned it into desks and chairs …
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His Children
There is a common modern concept that children should attend schools and get a strong basis of education for the world. His two daughters, Pipi 皮皮 and Dandan 蛋蛋, 10-13 years old, do not. “I do not believe in the public school system, in any country, as it’s the same idea of the same concept. Children are burdened with schoolwork and are not playing around and not enjoying childhood. That’s not how it should be … My girls are playing away and making a memory that will last forever, in the living and breathing beauty of Lijiang … and just … enjoying . Why do we [parents, adults] need squeeze their time away from schoolwork and preparation for moneycollecting, and forget about just living?”
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The ‘Monthly Open Vacation House’ happens every 17th of every month. It is open to everyone, everywhere, filled with pigs, ducks, hares, a monkey, chickens, a farm, small dogs, large dogs, and several grandmas playing card games. It is one of the first things you will notice when going to Lashi Lake … and at no admission fee …
‘Why not?’ asks would-be capitalists … “Every year, there are only a few days to celebrate because of holidays, birthdays, national days, religious days, whatever. Why can’t we celebrate life more, and more regularly? So I made this wooden getaway for everyone to get away more often, rather than a ‘once in awhile’ … no admission fee, free drinks, dancing, music and just to have an overall good time … my treat to have your company to celebrate!”
“Why the 17th, you ask? Look at my business card. my phone number ends in xxxxxxx1717 [I lost this phone number!].
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You may contact us at Pullman Lijiang to take you to A-Dan’s house at ecomm-relay@pullman-lijiang.com or +86-1362-888-5532,
or email him directly (in Chinese) at pangulj@sina.com or call 1338-8884548.
Get Closer … to the people and places around Lijiang …
ADan’s ‘Monthly Open Vacation Home’ [above] in Lijiang, open to all guests to visit.
A small get together party is held every nigh of the 17th of every month …
A child rests against the wood. Roots cut away into what looks like three different mythical creatures …
One of the antiques, an old fashioned iron – don’t see those around anymore!
Lazy Pigs and Happy Dogs
classic motorcycle and a skulled marked by the Tibetans
… the following are some pictures from his blog, showing the ’17th’ celebration days! Let’s chill out …
by Darwin Ma & Pullman Lijiang Resort and Spa / 2011-08-03
will update more later, here or there, as the 17th passes …
Some updates on festivities:
The Torch Festival is coming up soon! See our earlier post here.
To Recap:
Sunday July 24th is the start of The Torch Festival in Ninglang 宁蒗, a little country village northeast of Lijiang, approximately 4 hours away and between Lugu Lake, where the Pumi Nationalities 普米族 celebrate earlier than the Naxi (see below). (Source: Pumi friend)
(Click for larger image)
While over in Lijiang, the Naxi people will be celebrating The Torch Festival 火把节 from July 25th to July 27th, in all the little towns, namely Dayan 大研古镇, Shuhe 束河古镇 and Baisha 白沙古镇 (though Baisha is not confirmed, it should be as it was an old capital of the Lijiang area).
The festival is largely for the Yi Minority, but that had carried over to other municipalities over history. The Yi minority are spread across northern Yunnan, but largely in southern Sichuan (the province northeast of Yunnan). Activities include bullfighting, pyroworks, nationality beauty contests, and other activities! The Yi people celebrate it on July 25th as well.
When the party is over, we’ll make sure to get some (hopefully!) nice photos to see what you may or not have missed!
Lucky you if you get to join us during this period!
PS Now I know it is not Lijiang, but Cirque du Soleil, Montreal-based, world-reknowned acrobatic cinematics for its creativity and charm, is visiting in select locations in China. Check them out (if you’re not in Lijiang)!
Cheers,
Darwin
Pullman Lijiang Resort & Spa
NOTES: July 25th 2011 Gregorian Calendar = 6th month, 24th day of the Lunar Calendar.
I previously described a small little place in Lijiang east of Lijiang old town (south south east of Pullman Lijiang) having an art gallery displayed until July 1st. Now, let’s investigate the residents further.
The Rhizome Art Gallery is also a popular and possibly only art residencies active in Lijiang. Artists from all over the world come to experience the natural surroundings and the culture of the many local tribes, or nationalities 少数民族 (ShaoShuMinZu).
Although some have already left their stay at the Rhizome,they all have a stretch of inspiration to the locals, and have learnt from them. They are involved in the community, but create a peace of their own in their works.
See more about these artists at http://rhizome-lijiang.org/en/residents.php or explore them yourself below.
Most of the links on the site do not work, but some require a simple fix. Go to the link by deleting the starting names.
IE http://rhizome-lijiang.org/en/www.giovannijubert.com
ShiJinDian`s wire motocycle
EDIT: here are links related to the artists who have or are at residence at Rhizome Lijiang, for your convenience!:
ALEXANDRE Philippe – FRANCE – raw craftsman – no personal website found…
ARRAOU Peggy – FRANCE – video – http://peggyarraou.com/
BRAULT Christine -CANADA – writer – no personal website found…
BURKHART Gary – FRANCE-USA – scientific – http://www.garyburkhart.fr (might be down)
CLAUSS Julien – FRANCE – music – www.cycliq.org/
DE MAAR Marrigje – NETHERLANDS – interiors – www.takeadreamforawalk.com/
ECHENIQUE José – LEON CANNOCK Alejandro – PERU – performance philosophy – enlachina.free.fr/
FRANCES-KING Caroline – ENGLAND – botany illustrations – botanicalart.wordpress.com/
JUBERT Giovanni – SPAIN – typography and calligraphy – www.giovannijubert.com
LEHBERGER Frank – FRANCE-GERMANY – ancient calligraphy – www.redbubble.com/people/franck-rene
MU Yun Bo 木云柏 (Lana) – CHINA – cartographic murals – no personal website found…
NG – FRANCE – nomadic artist – no personal website found…
SHI JinDian 师进滇 – CHINA – wire architect – Google him. Brilliant wire frames. (above) and here
SINCLAIR Peter – FRANCE – Road Music Project – petersinclair.org – locusonus.org – nujus.net
WEI Qingji 魏青吉 – CHINA – contemporary iconography on silk – here and hereCN and hereEN
TROUCHE Sarah, HERR Benjamin – Winter Story – FRANCE – performance artist, architect – www.winterstory.weebly.com
Also, there seemed to have been a previous art project via http://www.art-china-management.com/lijiang-studio-residency already ended, you may also check their work out as well!
Cheers to the art of the world,
Darwin @ Pullman Lijiang Resort & Spa
https://apullmaninlijiang.wordpress.com
ecomm-relay@pullman-lijiang.com
NEXT UP: Bunong 布农 and his horseride through to Lhasa.
Fire. The element that can destroy whole cities, the burning spirit of a dancing life.
For the minority groups of Yunnan and Sichuan, the Torch Festival 火把节 (Huo Ba Jie) is one that worships just that – Fire.
EDIT: Occuring on July 25th 2011, and every 6th month, 24th day of the lunar calendar, the Torch Festival is one to see.
[Remember the basic safety tips when travelling to remote areas:
– Get a local speaking guide.
– Stay indoors during the night. Safety is number one.
– Make sure you or your guides and friends bring medicines
– Safeguard your things!
– Boil your water, even if it comes from a bottle]
THE LEGENDS:
For the Pumi nationalities in Ninglang County (宁蒗, northeast of Lijiang 丽江市, Yunnan), the Pumi worship the Goddess of Fire, named Ang Gumi with a grand celebration for her kindness. As we have yet to experience the activity for our first time, the following is an excerpt from Cultural-China.com while we await the arrival：
On the day of Torch Festival, the Pumi nationality in Ninglang County usually holds sacrificial activities to praise the Goddess of Fire. It’s said that the Goddess of Fire worshiped by Pumi people is called Ang Gumi, who is originally the female ancestor of Mosuo nationality. For the sake of the happiness of her offspring and the neighboring Pumi nationality, she once stole fire from the Heaven Palace with her body being a torch so as to bring fire to the Mosuo and Pumi people. In order to remember her kindness forever, the Pumi nationality then made the day when fire was brought to the world as a festival to sacrifice the goddess.
On early festival morning, the people of each village will plant a huge pine tree symbolizing the Goddess of Fire. Then the trees are put up with small torches, the number of which shall be equal to the population of each village. In the afternoon, after animal sacrifice is offered to the “incarnation” of the goddess, the eldest lady in the village will light up the “incarnation”, while other participants will each get a torch from the tree and light it up. After that, led by the old lady, everyone will perform the Guozhuang Dance in praise of the goddess’s greatness. Then the people in groups will sing and dance around the village, field and mountain forest with torches in hand.
” Other activities like song and dance parties, horse races, bullfights, arrow shooting, wrestling, tugs-of-wars and swinging etc are also held during the festival. And there are trade fairs going on. In some areas, various religious rituals are performed to pray for a harvest.
In a horse race of the Yi people in Yunnan, torches are used to form multiple hurdles for riders to get through;
the Hani people in Yunnan traditionally attach various fruits to torches with strings. When the strings are broken after the torches are ignited, people scramble for the fruits for good luck.
For the Lisu people in Sichuan, the festival is an occasion for holding grand torch parades. Big torches are carried by the procession, which is like a fire dragon. If several processions from different directions meet, it is a tradition to swap the big torches with one another.
Dubbed “the Carnival of the Orient”, the Torch Festival is a traditional and age-old grand festival among some ethnic minorities in China.”
We will get back to you when the celebration happens, or join us when it does.
Sparks will fly ~
Darwin
thePULL: Get Closer Launch Event
(thePULL is a quick push for a quick line of info, a little teaser, taste-test or the PULL for Pullman Lijiang Resort & Spa.)
你们好！Welcome again!
Please see the following for more pictures of the Get Closer Launch Event!
Following the LONGTABLE DINNER (previously posted) under a beautiful sun, the event included:
Opening drum
Opening speeches by our General Manager and special representatives of the project,
Dongba Naxi priest Blessing Ceremony,
Naxi Ancient Music Performance 纳西古乐会,
Lighting the Pullman motto on the lake, to “Check In, Chill Out”
a large outdoor barbeque and indoor banquet dishes
interactivity with Dongba hieroglyphs
Naxi bonfire dance; and …
ending off with the best library in Lijiang for beers, liqueurs and wines from all over the world,
… in the night, a soft and a beautiful way to end the night. ~
~Cheers, and if there are any inquiries for events or weddings in Lijiang, just let us know.
More of the pictures can be found on FLICKR See the left sidebar! 
there's a bit of a shine while taking the photo as the event commences, it looks nice!
one of my favourite pictures of a stretch of bbq!
ancient naxi orchestra performing at the exclusive Pullman Lijiang
!!! quick quick !!!
From the website, the exhibit will display:
Mu Yun Bo alias Lana is an Lijiang native artist (Yunnan, China). He self-educated in art and for more than two years, Lana continues his colossal project: make a mural painting assembled by several wooden panels (approximately 110 x 70 cm each) which represent the Paradise, the past, the present, the future and the Hell of Lijiang: 30m of wook carving, and he goes on…
In addition, the François Lejault’s film “Dongba” will be show. François Lejault is artist, professor in Superior Art School of Aix-en-Provence.
address is at 云南省丽江市古城区 大研街道义尚村委会 文林村
(China, Yun nan sheng, 674100 Lijiang shi, gu cheng qu, da yan jie dao yi shang cun wei hui wen lin cun)
phone number: (086) 888 510 98 05
email contact: contact (at ) rhizome-lijiang.org
Cheers,
Darwin
@Pullman Lijiang Resort & Spa
Pullman Lijiang’s Get Closer Launch Event was held to show a few of our many potential ways to share us with the experience you want.
PART 1 / Firstly, the long table dinner was dressed along the Snow Mountain Road within the Resort. Following the road’s direction northbound, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain 玉龙雪山 rests on the horizon…
LONGTABLE OUTDOOR DINNER: possible for weddings, GET CLOSER events, fashion shows, lying around under the starry sky…
Click any picture below to have a larger image… Cheers!
More soon!
One of the few explorers and documenters of the Lijiang (Likiang, Lichiang, 丽江) history, Quentin’s quest through the west brings back some more history of Lijiang’s culture and Dongba life. His pictures are all original, different from those of Peter Goullart and Joseph Rock, but still relevant in showing the history of the area. Currently in use by the Rubin Meseum of Art in New York, the pictures currently cannot be extracted for public online display. So please visit the exhibit and post some helpers here to share the historic culture in NYC and beyond!
Although more modernized, much of Lijiang’s landscape is the same (and in colour!).
Quentin Roosevelt’s China
@ Rubin Museum of Art, NYC
Quentin Roosevelt, grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt went to the Lijiang area for 10 days and brought back multitudes of art and items from the traderoute center of the Naxi.
May 13 to Sept 19 2011.
Location: Rubin Museum of Art, 150 West 17th Street New York City, NY 10011
Contact: Tel: 212.620.5000, Fax: 212.620.0628, Email: info@rmanyc.org
(See site http://www.rmanyc.org/naxi for more information about the display and giving an introduction on the history with New Yorkers)
(Excerpt below is from The Villager.com, a community media outlet for the New York area – Cheers!)
Quentin Roosevelt’s China: Ancestral Realms of the Naxi
How much did you get done during your last 10-day vacation to a place you’ve never been? In 1939 — the height of the Sino-Japanese War — 19-year-old Harvard art history student Quentin Roosevelt (grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt) set off for the remote region of Lijiang, China, in search of the mysterious ancient culture of the Naxi. After four months of travel, he reached the mountainous region on the Tibetan border and spent 10 days assembling what was to become one of the most complete collections of Naxi art outside of China. Culled from that collection, “Quentin Roosevelt’s China” is the most comprehensive exhibit on religious art of the Naxi ever assembled. Roosevelt’s art is displayed alongside the collection of legendary botanist-explorer Joseph Rock (the first Western explorer to extensively study the complex religious and linguistic traditions of the Naxi). Ceremonial funeral scrolls, ritual cards and ceremonial manuscripts are among the pieces on display. Through September 19, at The Rubin Museum of Art (150 W. 17th St., btw.; 6th & 7th Aves.). For hours and admission info, call 212-620-5000 or visit rmanyc.org.
Get Closer.
Pullman Lijiang Resort & Spa
June 1st marks International Children’s Day!
Make sure all the young one’s get a little extra treat and love for the day. 🙂
From us at Pullman Lijiang, come between 6-930pm and we present a grand, exciting BBQ buffet dinner FREE for the kids under 12 and parents @ 288 RMB per person (Subject to 15% service charge).
Please call 0888-5300-111 ext 7510 to reserve your space.
Get Closer.
Cheers (to the children!),
Darwin
thePULL @ Pullman Lijiang Resort & Spa 