Bird'S Nest Hostel Shangri-La

... a night each. Passed Wolfgang in the street &amp; caught up &#8211; he is staying there as well. Caught number 1 bus to the bus station &amp; bought our tickets to Lijiang tomorrow for 40 yuan each. The local bus system is so easy &amp; buses come every 5 min &amp; you just put 1 yuan ( 20 c) in a box &amp; get change if you need it.<br><br> <br><br>Then ...

... activities to promote local tourism in the<br>first five months of 2009. <br><br>Statistics show that from January<br>to June, the number of the visitors from abroad rose to 211,800, up 30<br>percent over the same period in 2008, with revenues topping 100 million<br>U.S. dollars. <br><br> In recent years, Deqen has spared no efforts ...

... 1491; &#1489;&#1512;&#1497;&#1499;&#1492; &#1499;&#1495;&#1493;&#1500;&#1492; &#1493;&#1490;&#1491;&#1493;&#1500;&#14 92;.<br>&#1505;&#1489;&#1514;&#1488; &#1489;&#1497;&#1511;&#1513;&#1492; &#1497;&#1508;&#1492; &#1513;&#1488;&#1504;&#1497; &#1488;&#1493;&#1505;&#1497;&#1507; &#1490;&#1501; &#1514;&#1502;&#1493;&#1504;&#1493;&#15 14; &#1513;&#1500;&#1497;, &#1500;&#1512;&#1488;&#1493;&#1514; &#1513;&#1492;&#1499;&#1500; &#1489;&#1505;&#1491;&#1512;. &#1488;&#1494; &#1492;&#1508;&#1506 ...

... Everyone we have met has been exceptionally kind, friendly and helpful and in fact that has been our greatest pleasure travelling in Yunnan. From patient bus ticket counter clerks, to bank clerks who have put us in taxis to their other branches (when Amex sent us to the wrong one to pick up travellers cheques), travel agents driving us to ATMs (its strictly cash only), to giggling restaurant staff making recommendations and eagerly examining something we are pointing at ...

... could spoil the natural beauty and dilute the Tibetan culture of Diqing. But local authorities pledge to tread lightly. Logging in the region was halted a few years ago to preserve the alpine forests, and heavy industry is off the table, said Qi Zhala, the Communist Party secretary for Diqing. Ecotourism, farming, mining and hydropower are the "four pillars" of the region's economy, Qi said. Promoting environmentally sensitive tourism, already 20% of ...

... rooms, the meal we had the night before, plus 6 beers, when the 7 of us drunk 2 or 3 each. The next day was a 6 or so hour walk to Halfway House, which had stunning views to the mountain on the other side, even the toilet had a great view. Although the owners weren't as friendly here they followed the local custom of massively undercharging for the amount of beers we drunk, which was nice. After that it was ...

... our Irish friends and their English and South African friends were on our bus as well. Foreigner central! The scenery throughout the ride was amazing! We started at over 3000 meters and climed to over 4200 at the highest point. The bus was stopped twice for passport checks- possibly because the Tibetan border was closed until May 1 due to the unrest. Lots of people smoked on the bus. Ah, cultural differences. On Kevin's recommendation we planned to go to Fei Lei Si to get ...

... Potala that. However, there are no Tibetan people. The town should be named after Disney, not paradise, because its like a big amusement park. Nevertheless it is nice to be somewhere with running water and an altitude closer to 3000 than 4000m. I never know how to finish these blog entries so I'll leave with some useless information about Buddhists in Litang - those who don't get the honour of a sky burial just get chucked in the river and fed to the fishes.

... her job. Upon presenting us with half-frozen beers which promptly erupted in an icy mess when opened, her response was: "You opened them, I don't care". Nice. Service with a scowl. The second day was shorter, but possibly more tiring. After an easy couple of hours along rocky paths, with the occasional waterfall thrown in for good measure, we took the 10 kuai path (why this fee wasn't included in the park entrance ticket, I don't know ...

... the Himalayas a few years ago. Anyway we sat and drank his health tea, and then he examined some of us (looked in our eyes, checked our pulses) and prescribed some tea and medicine to take to heal us. (I wasn't examined by him but most of the others in the group were - I am not sure if they have started taking their medicine yet!) We then walked for about an hour along a road that connected Bai Shan to another Naxi town called Shu He. The walk was through fields of ...