No Name Lijiang

... head back but did a short exploration of the bamboo forest trail which leads from near Tina's to Sean's at Walnut Garden. The bamboo forest is lovely, with young trees and rushing waters and birds to view. I went to the wood bridge, which is about 45 min from the main trail. Talking to a couple who has done the trail with their 13 year old son that day before, it was a bit hairy at some sections for which reason they recommend to not to do ...

... get older. Jens Damm presents on Taiwan's policy of multiculturalism and multiculturalism online. Damm examines how the Internet is used by different ethnic groups (Hakka, Aboriginal Peoples, Hoklo, Mainlanders, and other). He examines how new media affects collective/historical/cultural memory, comparing online and state sponsored multiculturalism, the eeffects of Web 2.0, particularly in the context of websites for Taiwan's 4 ethnic groups. Taiwan is 98% Han, which ...

... it did not seem likely that "internal politics" would interfere with my travels.<br><br>So after an exciting morning of marching around a stadium with Chinese and Australian flags sticking out of my hair (the flags were not my idea, but their position was, it was either that or wave them, which seemed like far too much effort), I was off to the airport. This time, being thoroughly sick of Jinan's cab drivers, I did the trip entirely by public transport. Sure it took a long ...

... only this time I got a spicy noodle soup (8 RMB) and Lisa got a fried rice dish (12 RMB). The soup was seriously spicy and I am still sweating when I think about it. It was also absolutely considering the price and I could barely finish it. I was really looking forward to the food of Sichuan and so far it has not been disappointing. I plan to find even spicier dishes in the days ahead. There is a restaurant nearby that specializes in serving rabbit's head ...

... gain from continue to bang our heads against the wall had dropped to zero. I truly believed this could be a HODR project almost exactly up until the point that we decided to pull the plug. China was never a place high on my list of places to go. However, when the earthquake hit, I could barely keep my feet on the ground in India and Nepal, the thought of doing this work in China made it almost unbearable to be anywhere else other than Sichuan. I have left China ...

... if this earthquake happened in Beijing or Shanghai people would go back to work the next day like nothing happened. But it happened in Sichuan, and everybody is having a great time skipping school and work, camping out, and playing mahjong and cards. Normally, the laid back atmosphere is what I love about Chengdu, but I need a license plate! The process of getting one would usually ...

... New Zealand or the recession-hit USA. Recently I got some glass windows put in my house and for a dozen sheets of glass, four large squares 1 m2, and two panels of thicker glass, the cost, including installation by the guy down the road cost a mere US$40. Which is about the cost some tradespeople back home charge just to come out and give you a quote. I learnt two new Chinese words today too - shir hway which means a bargain, and jern zai rern - a rip-off.

... our cups with &#24320;&#27700; as we saw fit and engaging in some one-sided cribbage games. Laurie has developed quite a liking for the flower teas, both rose and chrysanthemum ( ju hua cha: &#33738;&#33457;&#33590; ) while Kevin went for the regional specialty, a green tea variety, zhu ye qing. Before long it was time to head for the flight to Lijiang and of to finally and truly hike... (hiking interlude: see next blog) ...Before heading back ...

... a day. We just hoped for the best.. Nancy, a hell of a guide, dragged us around the city "Come on, come on", they are waiting for us. Yeah, the government paid everything and we had to smile in front of cameras, sign kids notebooks and act like celebs. Wierd, really wierd. But hey, free, and it was an experience. We where happy to go back to Chengdu, and pay for accommodation. I got sick, but we left the same night, for Xichang.

Continued from ; Tiger Leaping Gorge part 2 6th May 2004 We take a shared room adjoining a spacious courtyard. There are peculiar noises coming from underneath the room. We find ourselves above the pig pen. We are in dire need of showers and are shown down to a dark enclosure of approximately two square meters. A rusty shower head pokes down from above but there are no taps nor obvious means to operate it. That's because it's a bucket shower. The owner painfully crosses the ...