Guanfang Hotel Lijiang

... We found a quiet restaurant off the
main street and spent the whole afternoon swilling tea, pulling
vegetables from the stream and debating which dog was most likeable. Attending our friend's family
gathering was another highlight of our trip. Over the past few years,
most local residents have moved out of the small Dayan town to settle
in newly built apartment complexes. Our friend led us to an uncle's
house ...

... be too late
to change the destiny of Baishui Glacier No. 1. But President Hu, by
promising this week to try to cut carbon dioxide emissions per unit of
gross domestic product and to increase the share of non-fossil fuels in
primary energy consumption, signaled his willingness to act. China
can’t solve this problem alone, and President Obama’s scheduled visit
to Beijing in November presents an opportunity to forge a bilateral
alliance on ...

... culture secretary, was marrying his Chinese partner
Lucia in a pre-revolutionary ceremony.
"We went back to what a wedding would have been like pre-1949 - that
involved us going through the streets with a sedan chair carried by my
family," Hunt says, recalling how he had to undergo a series of tests
before his family could carry away his bride ...

... such an amazing view over Jade Dragon Snow Mountain that was impossible to catch on film. We sat & rested our weary legs & had a cold coke after our hard days walk!! ( we did around 20 km)






Met the rest of the people staying there, a group of Israelis, 2 mad aussies ( a husband & wife who climb mountains with ropes & hang off cliffs just like the ones we ...

... and yours truly. They asked me if I spoke Chinese and I told them just a little. They had already filmed about 20 minutes of our conversation, but they wanted a sound byte about our feelings about the number of people in Lijiang. Of course, once they got me started, I couldn't shut up about the millions of tourists in town. Unfortunately, they couldn't give me an air date for the show, but I guess my 5 minutes of fame came with a muted whimper on YunanTV. I need to ...

... a closer look (snap snap with the camera) and took off. We'd hired bikes for the day (this time they were kick **** with dual suspension, lightweight frames and disc brakes - still for only 70p!) so rode down to the nearby lake through the local villages. We were met with the usual barrage of Nihao's and Hello's but this time were also spat on, oh well. Each village had its only sleepy atmosphere were we saw such things as an outdoor pool tournament and the usual ...