Story Inn Lijiang

... that the traditions can benefit from the tourist industry and still remain a fundamental part of everyday life. So many traditional craftsmen/women are at work in the old town: silversmiths, weavers, coppersmiths, leather workers, engravers and painters. And lets not forget the saleswomen quietly getting on with their knitting or embroidery whilst awaiting the next customer.

The Chinese tourist seems to favour the organised tour. The guide carries a ...

... should be broken up with a stay at one
of the hostels in the farming villages along the route. The Halfway
House is a simple inn that serves up cold beer, magical apple pie and
the "Toilet ...

... with the rise of Tea & Horse Road, Shuhe town was a major producer of leatherworking in the region.

On my last day in Lijiang I planed on biking to Baisha and Yu He village which is famous for its Joseph Rock museum. However, the weather had changed from warm ans sunny to very windy and cloudy. So, I decided to take it easy, finish my book "Soul Mountain", eat more local food and just enjoy the scenery. The next day, I left for Dali.

... br>we walked some of the way but the heat was intense and we had to turn back but we had a good 6 hour walk. the scenery was amazing and being so high up was a new experience for me.

Jane's guest house was a nice place to stay but Jane is a bit annoying. as our visas are running out, we decided to go the next morning to Dali, on the bus for 5 hours.

Ultimately, the plan for Lijiang was to use it as a base for the Tiger Leaping Gorge trek which I'd been greatly looking forward to. However, my health issues and Lijiang's charms combined to convince me to stay a day here first. I'd checked into Mama Naxi's hostel, which is by far the most social place I've been yet (possibly the most dense population of westerners in China?) and was soon fairly comfortable and well fed. The hostel is ...

... monks, wise old men, a ninja-looking stone carver, and Chinese cowboys while being filmed, trying not to laugh as I repeated the two Chinese words I know (hello and thank you). I talked nonsense while they responded with their own jibberish/chinese. I wasn't impressed with the monks acting talents, but the 5 foot tall stone carver had some skills...and huge eyebrows! It ...

... on"], "category": ["PLACE"], "context": "snow capped mountains in the distance. The bus rides in China are some of my favorite parts of the trip, you", "metaData": { "exchange": "NGM", "geoArea": "9.3721e+06", "geoCountry": "China", "geoIsoCountryCode": "CN", "geoLocation": "(104.16565, 36.894451)", "geoName": "China", "geoPlaceType": "Country", "longname": "CDC Corp.", "name": "CDC CORPORATION CL-A", "type": "shortcuts:/us/instance/place/cn/countr y ...

... sowing seeds of wheat in the rows newly created by a reluctant buffalo. Peasant builders are putting up new buildings, adding stories, creating stone-inset courtyards. As the light starts to fade and the nip of autumn fills the air, we wait by a pond, and I watch the reflection of houses in the water. Small birds flit of the dusky air, finding tiny insects. The lake they say is shaped like a diamond, surrounded on all sides by mountains, including the 13 peaks of the 5500m ...

... the centre of the town and bears line each side. The tradition is for each bar to sing as loud as they can and try and out do the one opposite before asking for a retaliation (rough translation: you try, you try, die die die). In our honour they did Titanic, backstreet boys and 'I believe i can fly.....!! Met some fun students and a man who spoke as much English as i do chinese so we just toasted each other each time we recognised a word! Lijiang is the stopping ...

... 90cents) for two nights stay when it should have been 50! This was because earlier I gave him my old gray jacket that I didn't need any more because I bought a flash new Mammut trekking jacket for Tibet. My second day in Lijiang I really explored the Old Town. At one point I ended up on top of a hill, on top of the fifth-floor of a pagoda overlooking the entire region. Turns out Lijiang is sited on a plain completed surrounded by low mountains. I also fumbled my way into ...