Lugu Lake

By Jian Shuo Wang on 2005-05-01 09:39 · Lijiang

Lugu lake may not be great place to relax. Many people came here for walking, either walk around the lake (in two days) or march toward Daocheng. It takes 7 days… For me, an inn (typically combined with a Cafe) is good enough.

The lake, birdeyes from the top of the mountain.

The Mosuo Wangshi Inn I stayed.

The computer and Internet facility in the Inn.

Lake view from the window of the inn

What impressed me most is, it may be among the most Internet connected villages in the country. Almost every inn provides Internet access (some with wireless coverage), so I can use my own computer to send out the 14 pending emails from my outbox (via VPN) and upload the pictures above to my server. The connection is ADSL… Meanwhile, accompanied us along the way are the China Mobile and China Unicom radio transmission tower. I never experienced “out of service” on my mobile - GPRS also follows me.

IF the transportation is better, and there is enough policy support, the west part of China has the potential to be a software base - the infrustructure is ready, maybe what we lack is 1) education and 2) Funding… When I took the boat in the lake, it gives me the feeling that it is very much the sailing in bay area. I do hope one day, the west part of China raise up to be another bay area.

The owner (a couple) of the inn came from Chengdu. The husband came from Chengdu and was a teacher for Computer Science in Tianjin. He is in his 40’s. He bought a house with 100 years of history from the village, moved it to be lake side within 3 days and opened this inn and cafe about one year ago. After that, he settled down by the lake. The music of the bar is great. Last night, during the dinner time, the music was an album from Sara Brightman…

He said he had run after many dream but turned out to be very disappointed. So he settled by the lake. “Have you found what you want here?” Asked Wendy. He replied: “Still not”. Maybe it is all about “Enjoy Doing or Being Able to Do”.

13 Comments

Jianshuo, was the first lake picture taken by you?? It's absolutely gorgeous!! you're right, i was browsing through the pictures before reading the text below, and the first thing that struck me with the pictures was:

1) the wooden hut

2) then a picture of you and a COMPUTER in that hut.

i'm amazed, and impressed!!! what i'm curious with is: how did the owner move a house aged 100years ago within 3 days?!? wow!

— fei · 2005-05-02 00:26

Dear Jianshuo,

i have booked my tickets to Shanghai and made reservations at the hotels...but when i saw your beautiful pictures!!! there's absolutely no doubt in my mind where i'll go for my next holiday!

Thanks for your great blog!

— ros · 2005-05-02 10:15

Jianshuo,

It seems that's one of those rare places where not soo many people in China! How much does the inn cost? Thanks!

-David

— David S. · 2005-05-02 14:08

Lugu Lake is a huge tourist destination, but typically only for short time stayers who then go off to some of the other great places to visit in Western China. Internet exists here for all of the tourists and because of the one person from the village who wrote a number of books about it, married a foreigner (ugh, can't remember her name?). Its the case there because of tourists, but having electricity, let alone internet, is rare in many villages in the Western part of the country. The picture of you in the wooden hut using computer is really cool, though.

Enjoy your holiday!!

— boran · 2005-05-03 00:41

Excellent pictures! Just wondering if the traffic getting there is convenient or not?

— jqian · 2005-05-03 04:46

你终于去了

— hippy · 2005-05-03 22:02

Hippy, yes. I finally went there.

jqian, there are flight from Shanghai to Lijiang (transit via Kunming). Lugu Lake is only accessible via cars. It took about 5 hours to get there. The road is not bad.

For other questions, please check my later entry on Lugu Lake.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2005-05-04 00:42

Hi, Jianshuo, did you live in Zhaxi's (扎西) wooden house in Luoshui (落水)? He is a very interesting and famous guy.

Pay a visit to 湖畔茶居. the boss is a initiator of a volunteering program. I think you may know this program.

— hippy · 2005-05-04 22:30

All the pictures were taken by me with my small camera. I agree, the place is great. Here is more details about the trip: http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/20050502_lugu_lake_part_ii.htm

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2005-05-04 22:54

boran, the person from the village who wrote books about Lugu Lake named Yang er che na mu (杨二车娜姆）, a singer and a fashion star. Sometimes you can find her at fashion shows. Acturally, One book of Yang I read was not written by her. Someone else recorded what she said. Anyway, she is beautiful. And it is ture that after publication of the book, Lugu became known, even famous later on. But the living style of those originals was changed a lot and the culture we go there to persiut is disapperearing due to so called civilisation. The envioroment there have been destroyed to some extent.

— flora · 2005-05-08 11:38

indeed goood =)

— Anonymous · 2005-10-31 11:03

HI!! MAGANDA..KAAKIT AKIT YANG MGA YAN!

— nica · 2007-07-24 19:57

Hi Jian Shuo, Thanks for this great post! I really enjoy reading it!

I've got two questions for you, hopefully you can answer them for me:)

1. In your first paragraph: 'Lugu lake may not be great place to relax'. Do you actually mean that or is that a typo? Why is it not a great place to relax?

2. 'IF the transportation is better, and there is enough policy support, the west part of China has the potential to be a software base – the infrustructure is ready, maybe what we lack is 1) education and 2) Funding…

The owner (a couple) of the inn came from Chengdu. The husband came from Chengdu and was a teacher for Computer Science in Tianjin. He is in his 40′s. He bought a house with 100 years of history from the village, moved it to be lake side within 3 days and opened this inn and cafe about one year ago. After that, he settled down by the lake. The music of the bar is great. Last night, during the dinner time, the music was an album from Sara Brightman…'

Are the couple involved in any software ventures on the side? How would you gauge the difficulty of writing softwares or doing startups from the region?

Thanks!

— Tabris Chen · 2012-11-23 18:20