Chunquan Hotel Xichang

... to xichang...ha.
I sort of wanted to stay in Chengdu for the holiday so I could just be lazy and study and practice guitar...but I was committed to this trip and so I went. We got there and found a hotel. (We= Eric, Thibaut and myself) We started out to find a place for dinner and then suddenly I got that funny feeling in my belly (you know the kind that's like...hey better find a toliet and fast ...

... than 2,000 years is what the two aspire to protect. But in real life, both chose to compromise their ancient customs to make their modern lives easier. Erqing not only sees his wife and his two daughters almost every day but also takes them out occasionally. Duoji married his Mosuo girlfriend and acquired an official marriage certificate. Almost 15 years after the previously secluded tribe residing in the outlying areas of southwestern China ...

... people stop in their tracks when they see us bowling down the street towards them ....................the staring will only stop if you flash them a smile or a "HELLO" .............then their shocked look is replaced with either excited laughter or a shy giggling retreat. Beyond the stares we have been welcomed into this city with open arms.................really made to feel like guests......we have been looked after and fussed over to an embarrassing degree ...

Before I start recollecting the next part of my journey I have to comment a little on my life currently in Chengdu. Yesterday on my way to tutoring, I saw this man carrying a box big enough for a refrigerator on his back, like a pack mule. It caused me to do a triple take on how this small man could carry such a large electrical appliance on his back, presumably up the same, if not similar, flights of stairs that I had to climb up. I see things like that all the ...

As many of you have probably heard, Chinese New Year happened recently. My first two weeks back in China were assaulted with red lanterns, luck signs, and cows on every store wishing me "新年快乐" or Happy New Year! Since for this Spring Festival (as it is known in China) I had a week off from school, a classmate and I planned a trip to the southern parts of Sichuan province and some parts of northern Yunnan province. We had everything worked out ...

... Rock, from where the legendary tiger leapt across the Yangtze at its narrowest point, my guide explained that accompanying me was just a short and welcome break for her. With her absentee husband away working she was the only person on her farm planting and harvesting the wheat, corn and vegetables and tending to a menagerie of two horses, six pigs and a few chickens and ducks. Nowhere else is woman power more pronounced in this southwest province of China than in the small ...

... financial aid of five million Yuan, were sent to the quake-affected areas. More than 2,000 people in Huili were mobilized to join the relief operation that was hampered due to heavy rain late on 30 and 31 August. Ministry of Civil Affair's assessment team arrived in Panzhihua of Sichuan and Yuan Mou of Yunnan on 01 September. A total of 10,000 tents were allocated to Yunnan to support the local displacement. In total, more than 15,120 tents, 20,000 quilts and 15 ...

... people are all trying to get someplace else. Add into the mix that China is experiencing snowfall that they haven't seen in 50 years and it makes for some pretty interesting traveling. Fortunately I'm in no hurry to get anywhere.....the only thing I'm worried about is whether the Super Bowl will be on T.V. here. I'm setting my alarm for 7a.m. just in case. I may try to go back and fill in a few gaps, but for now I'll charge ahead ...

Fearing the temporary lack of electricity at Sim's and the snow(!) of Chengdu, I decided to take a short trip to the south of the province with Greg, a fellow long-term guest of Sim's and a fluent Mandarin speaker. This use of this was almost immediately obvious, as, on arrival in Xichang at 3 in the morning, he managed to negotiate us a free night in our chosen guest house. Xichang is a small provincial town and really quite unexceptional, though the small ...

I just walked into a hutong of sorts, with lots of random goods for sale including a large selection of cookware and plastic household items (bins, stools, buckets, etc). Kunming, like many Chinese cities, is demolishing like crazy and putting up modern buildings in its place-- the downtown here could be any American shopping district, expensive, pretty devoid of architectural character, impersonal. I have the feeling most Westerners would feel that the "old" parts of ...