Central and East Asia - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 280

the way you can get off at
various stations to stock up
on provisions sold by women
from the surrounding villages.
Normally they offer fresh
vegetables and fruit from their
gardens, dried fish and various
homemade rolls, dumplings and
cakes.
Cheaper than flying, many
times more fun and at a
fraction of the environmental
cost, the Trans-Mongolian
really is the epitome of the
adage that it's the journey that
counts.

Need to know The best place
to start researching is W www.
seat61.com. The weekly Trans-
Mongolian train leaves Moscow
for Beijing every Tuesday night.
Fares start at around £220 one-way in a second-
class four-berth cabin or £345 in a first-class
two-berth. You can get tickets far cheaper than this
(perhaps from as little as £150) if you buy them in
Moscow but you'll have to be very time-flexible and
patient. Real Russia ( W www.realrussia.co.uk) is an
efficient British/Russian agency that can organize
the trip and process visas.

portion of the income these generate on projects
such as micro-hydroelectricity and improved
health services. Guests can also choose to stay in
the twenty-bed Wenhai Eco Lodge, a renovated
Naxi house powered by solar energy and biogas.
Some of the best trekking in China can be
found in this region that stretches between
Wenhai Lake and the thirteen peaks of the
Jade Mountains. The slopes that surround the
lake are covered with the rhododendrons or
azaleas for which the area is most famous. Snow
leopards, red pandas and black bears also live
here, but they are all pretty elusive. Unmissable,
however, are the tens of thousands of migratory
birds such as whooper swan and black stork that
flock to the lake each year.
Wenhai village is more than just a base for
setting off on walks, though. As it takes five
hours on foot from Lijang, the nearest village
accessible by public transport, getting to it
makes for a trek all of its own.

The Moon-Embracing Pavilion
at the Black Dragon Pool Park
in Lijang, with snow-capped
Jade Mountains behind

373 go tRekking in noRtheRn
Yunnan, China

The village of Wenhai, on the shores of the lake
in Yunnan that shares its name, hasn't changed
much since Marco Polo visited seven centuries
ago. Dark wooden Naxi houses, their tiled roofs
warped with age, line its cobbled streets. Women
in loose-sleeved gowns and bright waistcoats laugh
together in doorways, and husks of corn hang
drying from racks, ready to be ground for flour.
Keen for tourists to visit but not wanting
to lose the village's soul, the villagers have
established several homestays, spending a

Need to know For details of treks,
accommodation options and how to get there see
W www.northwestyunnan.com; T +86 (0) 139
8882 6672.