Hundreds of Big Spiders
Made it back, finally. The hinterland is doing fine, from my observations, although I speak in jest, as I didn’t even leave the Kingdom of Wu. I did, however, gain a bit more insight into the different dialects of Wu.
I am not a big photographer, and so will not be able to provide any photos of this most recent trip. However, seeing as how I am a bit out of sorts, here are some pictures from a trip to Yunnan last year.
Don’t click on the first pic if you got a problem with spiders. I tried to get a closeup but failed to take a clear picture. This is in Dali, and along the wall that you can barely see at the bottom left were several spots, each with absolutely hundreds and hundreds of large, black spiders. If you could see how lush and fertile that area is you would not be surprised by such a sight. Mother Nature is impressive in this place. While mosquitoes are rare or unknown I believe (I suspect it is not warm enough; another possible reason is that there is no standing water, every source of water is moving down the mountains), there are still going to be lots of bugs for these spiders to eat.
I hope they only eat bugs…
Next up, two pics from Lijiang, and I believe I should provide a bit of background.
Swimming up the Mountain
Both Lijiang and Dali are on plateaus at the base, or foothills, of mountains, so you can look up and the snow-capped mountain is right there. In Dali I especially remember, the mountain looks entirely obtainable, as if you could just hike up it is a day.
As a result, both towns have wide sluices, two or three feet deep, along the streets, as the water is constantly flowing by. This is one aspect that really adds to the feeling and sense of being there, with the burbling water a constant companion.
These fish are swimming in one of these waterways, right in the middle of Lijiang town. What is interesting about them is that they are not moving forward, and instead are constantly swimming against the current coming off the mountain. Below them, a step down in the sluice where the water drops about a foot.
Edge of the World
The fish seemingly never move that far downstream to fall through, and indeed appear to stay in precisely the same place, swimming away, for their entire lives.
I watched for awhile, and saw that they would swim over to the side and eat from the vegetation there, and then go back into the middle. I also observed a much larger fish which would make a round-trip of the small scene, swimming lightly and moving downstream to near the drop-off, and then swimming back, strongly, past the smaller fish, as if a general inspecting his troops.
I cannot properly convey the peace and tranquility of this whole area around Kunming. This is just one small scene.
Big Spiders? Do not Want!
Yeah they were looking a bit ominous. I kept my distance.