Life on a Giant Rock in Rural China 🇨🇳

Don't worry, I'm really going down because it looks quite scary. Hi, good morning everyone. Welcome back. Right now I am in Baoshan Shidou Cheng, a small village that is built entirely on stones. And right now I am in one of the small guest houses. And this morning we have a really really amazing view. So let me show you shortly. This is the village I've wanted to visit for the past few years. I first read about it in Lonely Planet. The guidebook described it as extremely remote. And I've always had a thing for remote villages. Back then the road was still under construction and everyone told me it was extremely difficult. At the time I had only just learned how to ride a motorcycle. And was on my way from Yunnan to Tibet. I briefly considered it. I felt it was slightly too early in my YouTube career to die, so I skipped it. And this time the road is mostly paved, yet winding. The drive here wasn't particularly spectacular, so I wasn't super excited. But when I finally got close, it was quite special. The houses are stacked layer upon layer along the hillside. Remind me of a giant beehive. We just picked a random guesthouse. And our guesthouse is very basic. I got quite some mosquito bites. It was very hot inside at night. And our neighbor played some loud music at 7am. So I didn't sleep well at all. And that's why Flo hasn't appeared on the camera yet. He's still catching up on sleep. Flo, let me give you a room tour to start the morning. This is our yesterday's room. It has a surprisingly sitting toilet. And a standard room. Again with a view. This family has one, two, three, only three rooms for the tourists. This is their living room. That's the garlic. This is a regular garlic. And this is the brunoise. It's just one piece. They taste the same. I came here to check into the room. But the owner had a different plan. He introduced me to the coffee machine. And said, our machine is Delong. It's American. And our coffee is Ili, Italian. Apparently this coffee was the real deal. Because according to him, it's much more reputed than Yunnan beans. And Cantonese tourists truly appreciate them. Pretty. So here is their kitchen. Where they cook and enjoy tea. And here is a viewing platform with splendid views. This is their courtyard. With lots and lots of potted plants, flowers. Very, very pretty. And here there is another room. Oh, wow. It's another kitchen. Oh, this is their larou. It's a salted pork. Salted pig feet. And it's full of salt crystals on the surface. Drink some water. And here there are some white beans. So now let's check this village out. Hello. It's coming to us. Xichengmen, this is the only gate to the village. And the reason the village is entirely built on this piece of rock is that in the past there were lots of fights between the tribes, among the tribes. And since this is the only gateway, it's easy to safeguard the village. To protect them from the attacks of the bandits. This dog is soon becoming my best contact in the village. Naxi people is an ethnic group that primarily live in Lijiang. And the full name of Lijiang is Lijiang Naxi Autonomous Prefecture. But Naxi people also spread across Sichuan province. Especially in the region near Yunnan province. I remember about two years ago, I visited a village called Eya Dazhai. It's also primarily Naxi people. They have their own script, which is called Dongba Wenzi. Thank you for waiting for me. So if you look at the couplet here, you will see they have a different writing. Those are the old Dongba Wenzi of the Naxi people. They are pretty much like pictures. For example, like this. This one looks like a mouse. This one looks like a cow. And that one looks like a horse. Your retreat. She is fairly fast. Let's get her another one. Okay, it's the third sausage. You are a fast eater. You finished one in just two seconds. Good dog. So those are their houses. It's made of stones. Oh, that's a baby dog. That's a puppy. Oh, it comes from there. Xiaobai. Lie down. I'll get it for you. It's comfortable, isn't it? You are a happy dog. Happy dog. Puppies are the cutest animals on the earth. What are you doing? You are so happy. Okay, I have to go. See you next time. It's coming from the other way. You are fast, huh? You are fast. This is the baby. This is the mother. Okay, I have to go. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Nice to meet you. Excuse me, can I visit here? Can I visit here? Yes, but you have to pay first. Okay. 6 yuan. Okay, 6 yuan. The ticket costs 6 yuan, but according to our guesthouse owner, it is 5. He also briefed me over breakfast. This old house used to be public, but somehow through a process that nobody seems able to explain, it became private property. And now she apparently has raised the price. This must be a tragedy for her neighbors. Anyway, I came to this village hoping to learn more about its culture and history, but the local politics is mesmerizing. Hey, little brother. This is a noodle restaurant. Would you like some wine? What kind of wine? Gaoliang, wheat, and corn. How many degrees? About 50 degrees. 50 degrees? Try a little. Okay, I'll try a little. This is a winemaking room. Just a little bit will do. Okay. Thank you. Not bad. The alcohol content is quite high. This wine is from Nianjiayu. Ah, that's the Jiu Tong. The wine is heated, then the water is poured on top, and then it is steamed. That is what they used to distill the wine. That's the old-fashioned stove. They burned the fire. According to her, this is their old house. Baoshan Stone City is called like a town of stones. It's not only because the entire town is built on stone, but also, you know, the bed, the kitchen, everything is made of stone. That's the old grinder. That's for water storage. That's their old kitchen. Oh, they also drink soy milk tea here. These stone tables and stone stoves are apparently not the finest examples in the village. According to our guesthouse owner, the village chef owns a much more luxurious version, which immediately raised a question. How luxurious can a pie of rocks actually become? But then again, our guesthouse owner also told me stories involving mysterious political connections, local rivalries, and even a luxury house in Lijiang. At this point, I have absolutely no idea what's true and what's not. He's two months old. It's their new house. Okay. They also have a nice, rather nice courtyard. They also have the garlic, soybean. And here, there is a viewing hill. Very soon, my third dog friend showed up. And just like that, we had a new guide. What would he take us this time? It's coming back to us. Good boy, good boy. What kind of plant is this? So this big tree, I think this is the Szechuan pepper. Because it smells really Szechuan peppery. Smell it. Ah, yeah. Smell it. Oh, wow. It smells like numbing my tongue. Can I eat it? Try it, try it. Oh, yeah. It's crazy. It's like the hot pot. This is the hot pot Szechuan pepper. I never imagined that it's grown on a big tree like this. I only took a very, very little bite of the Szechuan pepper and my whole tongue now feels numb. Do you want to try it? Do you want to eat it? Good dog, bad dog. Finally, the dog took us here. Tianshan Café. Wow, it's a very, very nice courtyard. Oh, look. This is a coffee bean tree. Ah. Oh. Even though the children have moved away, the house is filled with little modern conveniences. My guess is that the owner's son, who lives in Shanghai, helped set everything up. Life here isn't luxurious, but everything has its place. This village is tiny and there isn't all that much going on. The village chef, who also happens to be the wealthiest, is apparently living in Lijiang these days, which means we missed our chance to see the village's legendary luxury attraction, a giant stone stove built entirely from local rock. A real tragedy, I know. But the locals pointed us towards a hiking trail nearby, and since we'd already made it all the way here, we figured we might as well go for a walk. So, under the relentless Yunnan sun, we set off. The sun in the river belly is so strong. Lots of cactus trees, proving that the climate here is quite warm. We're now in the river valley, so I can feel the heat being trapped in the valley. It's a proper hiking trail. As we made our way through a forest of cacti, I found myself thinking about just how strange and fascinating Yunnan's climate can be. On our way here, we'd been seeing the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. It's 5,000 meters peak still covered in snow, yet down here in the river valley, the air was dry and hot. The cacti seemed to grow everywhere, and it felt like somewhere in southern Spain. We're walking through this narrow passage, and it smells like poop. And if you look clearly, it's actually all the poop. Maybe goat poop, or cow poop, or horse poop. Are you scared? A little bit. Actually, it's kind of scary. Oh, wow. You are right. I think I'm also afraid. Man, don't worry. So I'm really going down because it looks quite scary. But I'm going to stick my camera out of this. I think I'll just stay like this. We also have another dish. What he's making now is xiao chaorou, a very typical dish. So it's pork with chili, seasoned with soy sauce. It's a very savory dish. After the hike, we got a hot pot with local pork and some vegetables. We got this as a gift, according to the owner. It's called nasi bread. Since the whole village is very steep, our parking lot is almost at the bottom of the village. There is no proper road. Now we are walking slowly to the parking lot. This is also the end of today's video. We hope you enjoy this beautiful, beautiful remote village life. Thanks for watching. We'll see you in the next episode. Bye-bye.