Shigu is a small village about an hours drive west of Lijiang (see map
below left). We made a day trip here to visit the First Bend of the Yangtze, the
Stone Drum and a Long March Memorial Monument.
The village itself is pretty uninspiring. What makes a visit to Shigu special is
its location at the 'First Bend of the Yangtze River' - the very spot
where the great river ceases its seemingly inexorable course southwards towards
Laos and Vietnam and performs an extraordinary U-turn (in the space of a few
hundred metres) to flow northwards and therefore back into the Chinese
heartland. If this amazing piece of 'river capture' had never happened the
Yangtze would not be the mighty force (the world's second longest river) it is
today. Here (above right) Katie and Freda discuss their sighting of a bloated
pig carcass in the muddy waters.
The Monument to the Red Army, commemorating the ferrying of 18,000 Red
Army soldiers across the Yangtze on April 24th 1936. The bronze statue of
soldier and peasant ferryman is an interesting representation, not only of the
event during the Red Army's Long March, but of the government subsequent
relationship with the people...
The Stone Drum (L) - a marble tablet of beautifully incised writing
commemorating the victory of a Naxi-Chinese Army over an invading Tibetan force
in 1548. A Naxi mini-orchestra of two (L) performs at one end of the Iron
Rainbow Bridge.
Freda poses on Shigu's 300 year old chain suspension bridge - The Iron
Rainbow Bridge.
Shigu saved its most memorable tourist attraction for last. As we were leaving
we met the Crazy Goose Head-Balancing Lady...slightly scary, but a
fitting end to our visit!
Tea on the balcony, back in Lijiang at our favourite 'hotel', the Tea Horse Naxi
Family Guesthouse.
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