California Native's Lee and Ellen Klein in the ancient city of Dali in China's Yunnan Province. Dali was an important stop along the Tea Horse Road.

“My grandfather dipped his silver bracelet into the water, to make sure it was not poisoned,” related Chen Dong Mei, her eyes sparkling as she told us stories of her grandfather who drove horses along the historical Tea Horse Road. Mei was our guide in Lijiang, an ancient city in China’s western frontier province of Yunnan. It is in this area that the Tea Horse Road began, thirteen centuries ago.

Driving the horses and mules from Yunnan, China, through the high mountain passes of the centuries-old trail to Tibet was a dangerous occupation. Bandits were a constant threat and it is said that they would poison the streams where the drivers obtained water for their campsites. The silver in the bracelets, which the ethnic Naxi people still wear, would change color when exposed to the poison.

Tea was introduced into Tibet during the Tang dynasty, and a trade developed where the Chinese bartered tea for Tibetan war horses. The Chinese stopped buying horses from Tibet in 1735, but the trade in tea continued to grow.

The road starts near the tropical city of Jing Hong, where the famous Pu’er tea is grown. It then passes through Dali, Lijiang, Zhongdian (in 2001 renamed Shangri-La, in the hope that the name will attract more tourists), and onward to Lhasa in Tibet.

A second route begins in Sichuan province, the site of Yacha tea production, and leads up through some of the most treacherous passes in the world to Lhasa. From Tibet, branch trade routes led south into Myanmar (Burma), Nepal and India.

Even before the Tang dynasty, in the 7th century, the trail was a major route for migration and cultural communication, and ancient tombs along the way have been determined to be almost 5000 years old.

The Tea and Horse Road again became a critical transportation link during World War II, when Japan blocked highways from China and Burma to India. More than 25,000 horses and mules were used to haul everything from sewing machines and canned goods to whiskey and cigarettes over the ancient trails.

Today, the Tea Horse Road is a special route for many indigenous people in the region, which includes the greatest number of ethnic groups in China. Naxi, Dai, Bai, and Thai all have mountains in the region which are sacred to their various religions.

California Native’s tours of Yunan Province follow much of this ancient route.

In Lijiang, China, the “Ancient Musicians” of the Naxi Orchestra again play the traditional music, banned during the Cultural Revolution.

The concert hall is unheated and cold, but the music is warm, beautiful and haunting. We are seated in one of the front rows of the hall, a beautiful building in the old town of Lijiang, located in a picturesque valley in China’s Yunnan province. Though it is January, there are plenty of tourists, most of whom are Chinese.

The Naxi Orchestra is made up of 20-24 members, many in their 80′s and 90′s, dressed in bright traditional costumes. Tonight, because of the cold, we catch glimpses of jeans and warm Western clothing beneath their silk brocaded Chinese gowns. They are playing traditional Chinese stringed instruments like the guzheng, guqin and erhu, accompanied by the dizi—the Chinese bamboo flute. Although they play some traditional Han music (Han are China’s largest ethnic group accounting for 90% of the country’s population), they specialize in dongjing, a type of Taoist temple music that has been lost elsewhere in China. The melodies evoke waterfalls, birdsong, and other sounds from nature.

Xuan Ke, the venerable Conductor, popular in China and worldwide, has a shock of dark hair and dark skin. Born in 1930, the musicologist and former village school teacher first learned about music from American Pentecostal missionaries. At the urging of his merchant father, he studied Western music at the Kunming Academy. He became passionate about exploring the instrumental music, chants and folk songs of the remote mountain villages in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Naxi Orchestra conductor Xuan Ke addresses the audience in the city of Lijiang, China.

After Chairman Mao Tse-tung’s victory in 1949, Xuan Ke became a conductor in Kunming. When the Red Army entered the city, his orchestra played Schubert’s Marche Militaire. In 1958, when Mao decided that artists and intellectuals could be a threat to him, Xuan Ke, who played western music and was fluent in English, was sent for “re-education” to a forced labor camp. He spent the next twenty years working in a tin mine. There he endured constant work and was tortured. Once the guards strung him to the roof beams by his hands, his arms extended in the manner of an orchestra conductor—or the curcified Christ. He still bears the scars and disfigurement on his hands and wrists. Many of the musicians in the orchestra suffered as well, but a good number were able to save their precious antique instruments from the Red Army by embedding them in walls or burying them in the ground.

After his release, Xuan Ke taught English and at the same time put his orchestra back together. Many of his friends had died, but some remained and the orchestra today is made up of white-bearded veterans and the young apprentices to whom they are imparting their unique knowledge of the ancient music. The orchestra has performed in more than twenty countries. At home, it plays every evening and the room is always packed.

After an earthquake struck Lijiang in 1996, the old town survived almost intact but the new town suffered a large amount of damage. It was then decided that all future building should be done in the same manner as the old town. In 1997, Lijiang, the only ancient Chinese city constructed without walls, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The California Native invites you to visit this fascinating area of China and attend a performance of the Naxi Orchestra.

This issues feature stories include:

REVISITING PERU’S NAZCA LINES

The desert markings, believed to have been made thousands of years ago, made little impression on occasional travelers who viewed them from ground level, but when they were spotted by aircraft in the 1930’s they caught the world’s attention. They have since been surveyed, mapped and studied. Only two questions remain—who made them, and why?

RAPID TRANSIT: COSTA RICA STYLE

Costa Rica has long been a favorite destination for both the beginner and the experienced river runner. With ample annual rainfall, mountainous landscapes, and plenty of road-to-river access, the country prides itself on being a whitewater paradise.

GHOSTS OF THE GALAPAGOS

Packing a pearl-handled revolver, a riding crop and three lovers, the Baroness Eloisa von Wagner Bosquet disembarked on the Island of Floreana, in 1932, and declared herself “Empress of the Galapagos.”

COPPER CANYON’S LOST TREASURES

In 1880, Alexander “Boss” Shepherd, the last territorial governor of the District of Columbia, packed up his family and, in the remote village of Batopilas, at the bottom of Copper Canyon, developed one of the richest silver mining operations in the world.

THERE’S MORE TO CHINA THAN BEIJING

Because the Olympics were hosted in Beijing, chances are that you learned more about China in 2008 than at any previous time. On the other end of the country, far from bustling Beijing is Yunnan Province—home to the largest variety of ethnic groups in China.

CALIFORNIA NATIVE ADVENTURES
The newsletter also includes schedules, prices and descriptions of California Native’s tours to Mexico’s Copper Canyon, Peru, the Galapagos, Patagonia, Costa Rica, Yucatan and Chiapas, Myanmar (Burma) and Laos, Bhutan, Yunnan, China, and Ireland.

But on a long trip, after days or weeks of eating the local dishes, I always develop a craving for the universal comfort food—pizza. And so, I make it a part of each of my journeys to try the local pizza, the one food, besides a ham-and-cheese sandwich, that can be found almost everywhere.

In Mandalay, Myanmar (Burma), we found excellent pizza at the Rudyard Kipling Bar & Grill. In LeJiang, Yunnan Province, China, after many days of Chinese banquets for lunch and dinner, in spite of protests by our Chinese host, we headed for the nearest pizza parlor and enjoyed our pizza and beer feast.

Traveling through Thailand, we discovered excellent pizza was at the Slow Food Italian Restaurant in Chang Mei, where the proprietor, an Italian expat in a wheelchair, greeted each guest. All of his staff were also wheelchair bound or disabled.

On a dark and stormy night, in a remote corner of Mexico’s Sierra Madre Mountains, Doug Rhodes, the owner of the Paraiso del Oso Lodge, outside of the little village of Cerocahui, in Mexico’s Copper Canyon, proudly served us what he declared was the “best pizza in Northern Mexico.” Kerosene lanterns lighted the dining room and the pizza was covered in generous portions of olives, which my wife, Ellen, hates, and had great difficulty trying to remove in the dim light. I, however, tended to agree with Doug’s assessment.

Last year, while visiting Budapest, Hungary, we enjoyed the pizza at Al Capone’s, a chain of pizza parlors in Eastern and Western Europe, which is now owned by Australian pizza giant Domino’s Pizza.

Wherever in the world we go we are not that far from home when we can take a break from the ethnic food and enjoy a great pizza. My favorite toppings are ham, pineapple, mushrooms and olives. What are yours?

This issues feature stories include:

CALIFORNIA NATIVES FOLLOW THE TEA HORSE ROAD
“My grandfather dipped his silver bracelet into the water, to make sure it was not poisoned,” related Chen Dong Mei, her eyes sparkling as she related stories of her grandfather who drove horses along the historical Tea Horse Road. The tea horse road, leading from Jing Hong, China, to Llhasa in Tibet, has been a major trade route for almost 5000 years.

THE BOWMEN FROM BHUTAN
Dancing about and shouting sexual insults at the opposing team, Bhutanese sports fans enjoy their favorite pastime, which is, of all things, archery!

COPPER CANYON TRIPS FEATURED IN NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PUBLICATION
A new book, published by National Geographic, features The California Native’s tours through Mexico’s Copper Canyon.

THE LADY OF GUADALUPE
Throughout Mexico, in churches, roadside shrines, restaurants,  and automobile decals, the Virgin of Guadalupe is a sacred icon for both Catholic faith and nationalism.

TELL THEM TO “GO TO XIBALBA”
It is the darkest place in Mayan lore, the underworld, the Place of Fear. It is ruled by the spirits of disease and death. And archaeologists believe that it actually existed in a series of underground chambers and passages.

THE MISSING SOLDIERS OF ALBERMARLE ISLAND
“The day was overpoweringly hot, and the lake looked clear and blue; I hurried down the cindery slope, and choked with dust, eagerly tasted the water—but, to my sorrow, I found it salt as brine.” So wrote Charles Darwin in The Voyage of the Beagle. Sixty-five years later, in 1904, eleven soldiers disappeared in the unforgiving landscape of Albermarle (Isabella) Island, the largest island in the Galapagos Archipelago.

CALIFORNIA NATIVE ADVENTURES
The newsletter also includes schedules, prices and descriptions of California Native’s tours to Mexico’s Copper Canyon, Peru, the Galapagos, Patagonia, Costa Rica, Yucatan and Chiapas, Myanmar (Burma) and Laos, Bhutan, Yunnan, China, and Ireland.

With the close of the Olympics in the host city of Beijing, chances are that you have learned more about China in the past few months than at any time before. Beijing pulled out all the stops to show itself as a modern city. Much of the pageantry surrounding the Olympics served to highlight the new face of China. Nothing compares with the Olympics when looked at as a stage that helps bring the world together. While Beijing remains a hot spot for travel, the rest of China is as vast and diverse as the sports represented in the Olympics.

On the other end of the country, far from bustling Beijing is Yunnan Province—home to the largest variety of ethnic groups in China. The California Native gives the following advice to those traveling to China:

China is a large country with a long history and diverse culture. In the last two decades, great changes and modernization have taken place there, but traditions in most areas still remain as before. It is appreciated when you respect the traditions, culture, local customs and taboos, especially if your tour involves more remote ethnic areas such as Yunnan Province and other areas inhabited by ethnic minorities.

Be friendly and sincere, polite and patient. Since China’s opening to the outside world nearly three decades ago, though they have become happier, more open-minded, and prosperous, Chinese people are inherently shy and modest. They rarely display emotion and feeling in public, and find plain speaking unnerving.

China warmly welcomes overseas visitors, and authorities are working in earnest to improve facilities and enhance the quality of service, but China is still a developing country. So, be flexible, show good will, and a readiness to understand, and enjoy your experience in this fascinating country.

Following are photos of signs that we have taken along our California Native tours of Yunan Province in China.

Although they don’t follow our idea of English, we are sure that the persons who made the signs speak English much better than we speak Chinese.

From a hotel in Dali:

From a hotel in Beijing:

On a street corner in Lijiang:

Sign leading to a temple at the top of a hill in Lijiang:

Sign at Leaping Tiger Gorge:

Sign at Wild Elephant Preserve in Jing Hong:

This sign was intended to warn visitors of slippery salt on the trail:

Traveling through China, especially in the more off the beaten path areas, is always fascinating. And rarely visited Yunan Province, spanning an area from the tropics to the Himalayan highlands, is home to more ethnic groups than any other province in China.

The initial offering from The California Native was a tour billed as “The Other Los Angeles.” This day-long excursion traced the route of the San Andreas Fault from the Mojave Desert to the San Gabriel Mountains without ever leaving Los Angeles County. The tour became so popular that colleges in three California counties offered them as part of their community-education programs. From this, the company expanded its offerings to include tours to the Channel Islands, Santa Barbara Wine Country, Death Valley, and other uniquely California destinations, as well as white-water rafting, ballooning, spelunking (caving), sailplane gliding, and other outdoor adventures. “My family has lived in Los Angeles for generations,” writes Klein in the company newsletter, “hence the name The California Native.”

Satisfying the growing client base led across the border to the development of The California Native’s most popular destination—escorted and independent tours of Mexico’s Copper Canyon. These tours feature the Chihuahua al Pacifico Railroad (labeled as one of the most spectacular train rides in the western hemisphere) and highlight one of the most primitive indigenous cultures still subsisting in North America—the Tarahumara Indians. The California Native has become a major source of information on this remote area of Mexico, and it’s guides are known throughout the area for their work with the Tarahumara.

Today, The California Native offers a wide selection of tours to Costa Rica, Mexico, Patagonia, Peru, the Galapagos Islands, Ireland, Bhutan, Myanmar, China, and Laos, and more destinations are in the planning stages.