The Ai Lao range is China's most vibrant evergreen forest, with vegetation
covering more than eighty percent of the mountains, comprised of hundreds
of species of plants and more than seventy kinds of large arboreal trees,
including several
varietals of Camellia sinensis. The highest peak is around 3,000 meters.
There are also
vibrant ecologies of animals: everything from Bengal tigers and leopards to
bears, rare
birds, cobras and monkeys. Yunnan is a lush and vibrant province, with
fertile soil,
mists and fog and crystalline waters that flow down from the Himalayas to
the West.
Ai Lao is mostly situated between the two most important of these "Nine
Dragons,"
as the major rivers are called: the Lishi/Yuanjiang and the Lincang. There
are eight
traditional villages in Ai Lao and seven tribes. They have all cooperated
for as long as
they can remember, most recently working together to build their own roads,
electrical
grid, water treatment facilities and schools.
Our first fifteen-hour bus ride, called "Getting to Know Each Other."Our Ai Lao cake, available now, called "Mountain Gate."Auntie Ai and her niece.
