Daily Archives: November 17, 2005

Lijiang Old Town, Lijiang, Yunnan, China

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Despite the highways, the airport, and the brand-new buildings, the city of Lijiang still feels a lot like the legendary lost paradise. Set on a beautiful lake, surrounded by ancient villages, and inhabited by the Naxi people, the essence of this corner of Yunnan province has barely changed in the past century. Lijiang has becomes China’s biggest cultural attraction

This picturesque town is the historical capital of the Naxi civilization, a Chinese minority that numbers 300,000.

Lijiang is at about 2,000 m above sea level. Local resident are darker as they are exposed to more UV light than those staying near the sea level. I was at Lijiang sometime back for 2 days travelled from Dali. Journey from Dali to Lijiang by road was about 200km but it took nearly four hours through mountainous winding road.

The main attraction at Lijiang was no doubt the visit to the old town of Lijiang which as more 800 years of history. In this old town, everything was kept old style. The narrow road meant for only pedestrian was made of cobblestone. No cars, bike and just pedestrains.

Walking through the old town require at least half a day. At 2000 m above sea level, weather was cooling and I enjoyed so much here as there are so much to learn about this city and especially the culture of the chinese minority of Naxi people.

At the top of the hill is a park with a fancy pagoda and lots of big trees. I was told that pagoda is the tallest pogado in China erected totally with 100% of wooden material and stand at 33m high.

There are three old town at Lijiang and only one is opened to visitors and tourist.

I was at the old town the who of one afternoon and after dinner, I went back to the old town again and enjoy the night view of the area. Red lanterns hang everywhere and they are so beautiful at night.

“Old Town of Lijiang” was added to Unesco’s World Heritage List in 1997

I would love to be back to Lijiang in the future and hopefully have a chance to visit the Mosuo minority and pay a visit to the nearly Shangri La.

Some of the pictures taken during the visit to Lijiang are as follow:-


Lijiang, Yunnan, China, Lijiang Old Town

Lijiang, Yunnan, China, Lijiang Old Town

Lijiang, Yunnan, China, Lijiang Old Town

Lijiang, Yunnan, China, Lijiang Old Town

Lijiang, Yunnan, China, Lijiang Old Town

Lijiang, Yunnan, China, Lijiang Old Town

Lijiang, Yunnan, China, Lijiang Old Town

Lijiang, Yunnan, China, Lijiang Old Town

Lijiang, Yunnan, China, Lijiang Old Town

Lijiang, Yunnan, China, Lijiang Old Town

All pictures were taken with a Canon G6 Digital Camera.

‘It was the most humane option’

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‘It was the most humane option’
Malay Mail, 15 Nov 2005

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 On Nov 11, The Malay Mail front-paged a report that the SPCA put to sleep a cat and four kittens belonging to 12-year-old Anis Aliff Lam and her sister Adlinor, four days after the siblings sent them to the shelter.

The girls’ father, Aliff Lam Abdullah, claimed he was never informed by the officer-in-charge about the time frame for the cats to be put to sleep if no one adopted them.

However, an SPCA spokesman insisted that they had clearly laid down the terms and conditions contained in the surrender form to him.

SPCA animal inspector Sabrina Yeap told The Malay Mail that euthanasia was the most humane option. “The animals do not feel any pain. They are merely given a specific dose of anesthetic and drift off to a painless sleep. “If there was any other option, we would definitely have pursued it. But as of now, we have no choice as there is a severe lack of resources and space,” she said

As a large number of animals are sent to its premises, the SPCA puts 800 to 1,000 animals to sleep each month. She said there was a lack of resources and space at their premises.

Each year, a lot of cats and dogs surrendered to SPCA had to put to sleep due to lack of space and resources. The number of unwanted cats and dogs sent to SPCA far exceed the number adopted. The best to reduce the number of unwanted cats and dogs is the cut down unnecessary breeding and this can be achieved by spaying and nuetering your dogs and cats.

Klinik Kembiri operated by DBKL and SPCA offer spaying and neutering services at a very affordable rate. For dogs, the cost is only RM 90.00.