Yuk Meadow, Yulong Mountain
I met a cat on Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (玉龙雪山) in Lijiang. It was a cloudy day in July 2023, the second day of my tourism trip in Lijiang. We started the day early. Leaving the hotel at around 6:15am, we spent 40min to walk accross the hilly old town and get to the bus station. When we arrived, there was already a line forming, all heading to the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.
The Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is about 10 miles to the north of Lijiang City. The massif forms the bulk of the larger Yulong Mountains, that stretch further north. Even though it’s a snow mountain, we were not expected to see the snow peak since July is the hottest time of the year. We wouldn’t be going to the peak anyways. Like many Chinese tourism parks large enough to have several points of interests, they sell separate tickets to each location. We only got the ticket to Yak Meadow. As its name says, Yak Meadow is grassland on the plateau where herds of yaks placidly roam.
The bus came on time. After passing the park entrance, we switched to the park internal shuttle to continue riding up along the winding mountain road. Then after another ride in a cable car, we arrived at Yak Meadow.
Situated at 3800 meters above sea level, it’s a flat and open grassland. A wood trail led into the Meadow, and Ms. Cat lay right there on the deck at the start the trail. She seemed to be sleeping, with closed eyes and light breath, unmoved by the passing of human footsteps. I stopped by her side, and wondering where she was from and how she came up here. There was a vistor shop, but I did not see any residential structure on the Meadow. So it’s likely someone brought her up here and she lived on the highland, accompanied by crowds of tourists and their noise during the day and the solemn mountain at night.
I took a photo of the cat and walked on. There were a few Tibetan prayer flags on the Meadow, and the trail led to a Tibetan temple.
When I finished the loop, the cat was still there. She moved to the other side of the deck, standing, eyes closed, tail curled on the front leg. People walked by and she was not bothered. For a second, I extended my hand, but I took it back and continued on my way, left the highland and the cat.
Below is a poem for her by GPT:
Upon the Meadow’s quiet floor,
A cat sleeps where the yaks once swore,
Amid the peaks, so vast, so cold,
She rests, unmoved by tales retold.
No home, no name, just sky and stone,
She roams the heights, forever alone,
Eyes closed, with mountain breath she blends,
A timeless soul that never ends.