Rainy Sunshine Hostel Shangri-La

... br><br> <br> <br><br> <br><br><br>Wasn't feeling great - had a headache from my poor nights sleep so had a massage for 58 yuan &amp; felt worse!!!! It especially hurt my quads - sore from all that uphill yesterday. So many nice cafes around &amp; decided to try a yak cheese platter - served with toast &amp; is warmed &amp; really nice. Went to Tara's ...

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... you can see that there is definitely a sense of looking after yourself and looking after each other. Around bus stations and in shopping areas we have of course met people trying to make a fast buck, but we haven't felt like the intention was to rip us off and they are certainly not intense about it. People are just trying to make a living. We have been thinking about the impact of Beijing on provinces such as Yunnan. The propaganda would have you believe that now ...

... plumbing is rare, and smoke from the open wood stoves that heat homes produces in these people more than their share of respiratory and other health problems. The development of tourist attractions enables rural residents to cash in on the travel dollars of China's growing urban middle class. With 1.6 billion tourists a year, China's domestic travel market represents a huge cash yak for the nation's economy. Diqing's bid for tourists has been anything but ...

... were carried up the mountain by mule train (how posh is that?) so I kept my hands free taking lots of pictures. At night we slept in tents, me and a few of the other girls stayed in an 8 person tent-- by far the largest tent I had ever seen in my life. The food was absolutely amazing-- they brought a huge wok and fresh vegetables for every night. It was truly classy camping. We did a ...

... Then a group of us watched a movie on the computer before turning in. The next morning Kristin and I got up early to catch the bus back to Zhongdian. We got some dumplings for the ride from a street vendor and headed off. The bus was not very crowded so we each took a window near the back to enjoy the views (and avoid the smoke). The mountains were gorgeous! About an hour into the trip as we were both off in space looking out and listening to iPods, the driver slammed ...

... they don't like Chinese people much. Recently though the government has told them to get close to the rest of China so that's OK then....", the conversation then becomes a meteorological discussion around the various climates of Spain, England and Zhongdian. It's cold, very cold. Not Virg cold (25 degrees) but Yorkshire cold (around 6 degrees). However, I'm stubbornly refusing to buy a pair of gloves for ...

... over and started to rain, so we retired indoors for the most of the afternoon. Thankfully, Matt had thought to bring along some cards. We all went our separate ways the next morning, as a few of us went back to Lijiang while others headed even further north to the edge of Tibet. The two day hike took us through some of the most amazing scenery I have yet come across in China, and I'm glad I had just enough time on my visa to come up here. & nbsp;

... absolutely amazing voices - kind of like yodelling, but not so annoying; an instrument one of the girls played, which was fan shaped and which she placed over her mouth, using circular breathing to make the sound; and the conductor, who was a real character, telling jokes in Mandarin and English and having the crowd in stitches at times. Lijiang is a lovely place to stay, and a nice relaxing prelude to the next part of the trip - the trek through the Tiger Leaping Gorge!!