Lijiang International Hotel

... entrance and the small, fast-flowing rivers are a constant presence, running down the middle of the street over a series of minor waterfalls, or flowing down one side or the other, crossed by picturesque hump-backed stone bridges. The streets are narrow and cobbled and the buildings are . . . . well, that is really the problem. The buildings are a series of shops, restaurants, tour agencies, street after street after street. They all seem to be catering for ...

... Spirit in Xinjiang

... introduced the orchestra, some of the instruments and gave background information on the pieces performed (in Chinese and English). The oldest member is 88 and there are a few others in their 80s. I didn't get a lot of quality pictures of the orchestra so I am including a likn to a traveller's website who got some great shots of the members.
http://www.traveladventures .org/continents/asia/naxi-orchestra.sht ml

One of the things ...

... the climb. After pouring quail's egg, fish
ball slices, tremella, chives and rice noodles into chicken soup, we
waited for the guoqiao mixian ("across the bridge" rice noodle) to
smell. Outside of the wood-carved windows,
I spotted a black-and-white puppy, dozing off at a bar across the
stream. Throngs of tourists clutching The Lonely Planet travel
guidebooks stepped over the puppy to tuck into steaks or mugs of
Lijiang, Yunnan, China happysheep

... in 1963 by a research team from Beijing. We paid at 10:43 and had to wait for bus "S". At the information desk they suggested it would be an hour wait. We wandered around a bit and did not see any food that was too appetizing. There were drum sticks, packaged noodle soup, chicken feet, hot dogs on a stick and corn on a stick (it has a cob, why do you need a stick?). I wanted to get popcorn, but I would like salt and it had sugar. We ended up buying ...

... to see how and where the locals live. Finally we headed back to the hotel and rested before going to a traditional Naxi restaurant for dinner (some of the dishes were great and others not quite so palatable!) and then home to watch more Olympics and sleep. Thursday 14th August Alison: We had breakfast and then met our taxi driver at 10.30 for the ...

... to promise a guest house immediately in our vicinity. Of course, trying to find something for the first time always makes the journey seem much longer than it is, but it really felt like we walked forever, meandering away from the path we were supposed to take, and taking us further and further toward a destination that seemed nowhere in sight. Eventually we came upon some breathtakingly relieving traditional village houses, and after what seemed like a never-ending ...

Well, first impressions of China? Good. - The people are really friendly and keen to help you despite the language barrier. - I have not really felt anyone has wanted to rip me off as yet. It is quite refreshing to go into shops and find things priced up or be quoted prices which sound perfectly reasonable. - China is really advanced compared to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and even advanced compared to home in some respects. The buses often contain TV's and have ...

... First, I have to tell you this. Tonight was the Full Moon. And here in Lijiang the sun set around 7.30pm and the moon, up it came, orange, full and ripe. Now maybe you know the folklore surrounding the Full Moon. You know, the craziness induced by the full beam of the moon on earth. If if can influence the tides, how about the sea of blood in our veins? You've probably heard how the Full Moon can bring out the worst in people: more violence, more suicides ...

... away from the crowds. Chinese tourists are pretty unimginative, if its not a tour or with a group they won't go, so do anything independantly and your fine. Tourism in China is geered very much for the Chinese and only slightly changing to accomodate the few forigners, but thats good because they all stay in one place. So I took the night train to DaLi, I got to my bed only to find someone wanting to change with me, because their ...