Finding Shangri-la. Searching for paradise on earth. With the help of dark chocolate & Marmite.
About this blog
Have you found paradise? I have. Kind of.
This blog is as much about staying put in one place, as it is about travel around south-west China's Tibetan borderlands of Yunnan.
I first traveled to south-west China more than 12 years ago, set up a project with Red Cross after a huge earthquake in Yunnan, and now am living in a large old house in the ancient old town where the quake occurred.
Most days I am here: hanging out with friends, gardening, sitting, thinking, drinking cups of tea and coffee, reading, writing, living.
Trip Start
Jan 30, 2007
1
812
Trip End
Dec 31, 2011
Loading Map
There are 812 entries in this blog
-
1
Buying a crane -
2
But is it art? Lijiang Studio exhibition opening -
3
Two crazy cyclists going into Sichuan -
4
Dividing the Year - Equinoxes, Seasons, Calendars -
5
Finding part of the beast - Elephant Hill -
6
Death, the Naxi and The Castle -
7
Climate change -
8
The dying art of bird-watching - Lashi Hai lake -
9
Sanduo festival for the mountain god of Lijiang -
10
Famous Dead Poets - Li He -
11
Full Moon - Madness, Mayhem and Murder -
12
Rampage through Lijiang old town injures 20 -
13
A person's home is their castle -
14
Unhappy childhood contributes to rampage -
15
Sweet n' Sour Day - Qing Ming tomb-sweeping day -
16
What's up? Are you in da house? Hip hop in Kunming -
17
Avalanche kills two on Meili snow mountain -
18
May holiday phenomena -
19
Ginger beer -
20
Mountains Rivers Show in Lijiang - a review -
21
Coffee anyone? Short blacks in Yunnan -
22
Guanxi - getting anything done in China -
23
Slavery - old and new -
24
The Great Wall - can you see it from space? -
25
Hitting the Wall -
26
Power to the people - hydro on the Yangtze river -
27
To Live - a book to die for -
28
Horse festival - Zhongdian or Shangri-la's big one -
29
Nauru - Journey out of China -
30
Fear and Loathing in Shenzhen -
31
Ronald McDonald meets Bruce Lee - Hong Kong -
32
How I robbed a man of my things - Stab City -
33
Would you care for pesto with that? Killing plants -
34
Going slowly - cycling Europe to China - & back -
35
Hard to swallow - why the fuss over toothpaste? -
36
Mid-autumn Festival and how to avoid Moon cakes -
37
The best music cafe in Lijiang? Water Nymph -
38
Demise of Sexy Tractor bar -
39
Around the lake - Lashi hai lake -
40
The Olympics - a high altitude spy report -
41
A former Santa on Xmas in a communist state -
42
End of year wrap -
43
Shenzhen by night -
44
How can anyone live in Hong Kong? -
45
In-depth exploration of Seoul airport -
46
Routeburn Track - warnings about fatal dangers -
47
Queenstown to Milford Sound - three buses & a boat -
48
This is just to say -
49
Where have all the people gone? -
50
Get your oats -
51
Heartland Tasmania - big day out in little island -
52
Round the Bend - Shigu - first bend of the Yangtze -
53
Smuggler caught with contraband into China -
54
Nothing new under the sun - hot showers -
55
A mountain of a man - Sir Edmund Hillary -
56
Murder, mistresses and flowers: Dragon Mt azaleas -
57
Waiting for the rain -
58
Don't try this at hime - party at my place -
59
Everyman's hardware dream? -
60
Himalayas in crisis? Or not? Environment & People -
61
Cloning experiment on show in south China -
62
Silence is golden: 1 May Labour Day in China -
63
Giving it a rest - Everest, Olympics, PR -
64
Things to make on a sunny day - bread and sandwich -
65
Best coffee in Beijing - and sad, funny story -
66
No Dogs - No Chinese - No French -
67
Naxi play football before Olympic Flame -
68
China visa - how to get one -
69
Going, going, gone - Guinness in Dublin -
70
Taking your room with you - camping urban style -
71
Youve been in China too long when . . . -
72
Going old gracefully -
73
Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan -
74
Clouds and toads - earthquake prediction or not -
75
Update on China Visa in Hong Kong -
76
Visiting the Daoist Doctor of Baisha -
77
Where can one get a decent cup of tea? -
78
More on the China visa situation -
79
Blessed are the cheesemakers -
80
Blessed are the cheesemakers -
81
Volunteers at the Sichuan earthquake in China -
82
Hold-ups in earthquake aid -
83
Staying for free all around the world -
84
Are you are moocher? -
85
Science behind recent quakes in China -
86
What about the pandas? -
87
China hits back with T-shirts -
88
Direct flights between Taiwan and China -
89
Not quite Tupperware or Amway - got yours -
90
More aftershocks -
91
Beer with chilli - chilli in beer - Chilli Beer -
92
How are earthquakes measured? -
93
Foreign aid after quake -
94
Greater freedom around earthquake -
95
Impact of quake on tourism -
96
China's earthquake response - faster than Katrina? -
97
Quake response -
98
More on earthquake response -
99
So that's why there was an earthquake! -
100
More rumbling on its way -
101
Quake helps China's Team Spirit -
102
Healing after the trauma of the quake -
103
Chan plans film about quake -
104
Hina passes test with flying colours -
105
Parents demand answers -
106
Insight into China post-quake and the US -
107
Sichuan earthquake victims relocated to Lijiang -
108
Update on visa difficulties for China -
109
Thanks but no thanks from China to Japan aid -
110
Getting the China visa -
111
Getting a China visa not difficult - says official -
112
Stone apologises - but angry Chinese -
113
Stone banned -
114
Is it worth studying Chinese to remain in China? -
115
The good and bad of China -
116
Helping or Saving? How are these quake workers? -
117
Is China a good place to learn Chinese? -
118
Finding an informant -
119
Rules for those coming for Olympics -
120
Taking risks riding a bus in China -
121
Taiwan to China flights for festival -
122
Stone not welcome - it must be bad karma -
123
The new world order? Or not -
124
Quakes build better ties between China and Japan -
125
How the quake is changing lives in China -
126
Coping with life after the quake -
127
Accountability after the quake -
128
Update on China visa situation -
129
Visa woes - stories of good and bad -
130
Another day, another visa story -
131
Taiwan visa run to Macau -
132
Olympic torch comes to Yunnan -
133
What's up with the flame? -
134
Walking and poetry: poetry and walking -
135
Jews in Shanghai? Read about it -
136
Going to Europe from China? -
137
Have tickets for Olympics? But can't get a visa? -
138
Getting tougher for the Olympics -
139
Finally, some caution about the environment -
140
So long Indians . . . China casts out foreigners -
141
Have new car - have new life - modern China -
142
I am Chinese therefore i like to shop -
143
Chinese sex life like the pandas - not much -
144
The Torch comes to town -
145
Fat American comes to Lijiang -
146
More on Lijiang and the Torch -
147
Approved slogans for the Games -
148
How many people i know carry the Torch? -
149
Who writes this Olympic PR? -
150
More truth about the Olympic Torch host city -
151
Can you be famous by driving a car round the world -
152
Two views of China in 2008 -
153
Another touching post-quake Olympic story -
154
Olympic torches goes to Tibetan area -
155
Using more than we should - China and the world -
156
Will tourism save Tibet? -
157
Walking - the therapy of place -
158
More on walking -
159
More quotes on walking -
160
Even more walking quotes -
161
Green walker gets stopped in his tracks -
162
Music from ethnic minorities - Lisu -
163
Zhongdian (Shangri-la) horse festival -
164
More visa problems for foreigners -
165
Tigher security pre-Olympics - foreigners out -
166
Asia misses out on cities with most beautiful . . -
167
Beijing - calm before the storm -
168
Where to get your China visa in Hong Kong -
169
Tibetan barley bread - tsampa bread -
170
New York's slowest bread - damn easy too -
171
A bad month in a bad year for China -
172
Most romantic places of earth -
173
What will the Olympics do to China? -
174
Eating Tibetan food in Beijing -
175
Is Beijing ready for the Games? -
176
Is Beijing ready for the Games? -
177
China hotel makes world list of new hotels- top 10 -
178
Oympic security in Hong Kong for Olympics -
179
Olympic security in Hong Kong for Olympics -
180
Another NZ export to the US - Greg Johnson -
181
Another NZ export to the US - Greg Johnson -
182
Indian take on pre-Olympics and China -
183
Is stealing from the police a crime in China? -
184
Love and marriage in China - foreigners paradise? -
185
Love and marriage in China - foreigners paradise? -
186
Fewer tourists? Why -
187
Tighter security in HK before the Games -
188
Openning the flood gates between China and Taiwan -
189
Hong Kong less of an 'expat' centre? -
190
Chinese air travel takes a dive -
191
Cheap flights between Taiwan and China -
192
More on visas and residency - for Chinese now -
193
Businesses down pre-Olympics -
194
China's climate change experiment -
195
George Carlin dies -
196
France goes down in Chinese eyes -
197
Solving trafffic congestion and reducing pollution -
198
Less climbers welcome on Everest? -
199
Changing Chinese diet -
200
Tibet re-opens to foreigners -
201
Trains to Lhasa from Chengdu -
202
Where can I find Blu-Tack in the Middle Kingdom -
203
China's most famous foreigner - from Canada eh? -
204
Four Strictly Forbiddens - do NY firemen also? -
205
Jesus in the People's Republic of China -
206
Passport and patriotism -
207
No business is bad business in China -
208
Tibetan town struggles for survival in 2008 -
209
Goodbye to those Polaroids - no more film -
210
China visas and China tourism - are you coming? -
211
Beijing and those Games -
212
Fuel surcharge pushes Chinese air travel higher -
213
Easy-peasy China visa - no problems -
214
Happy 87th birthday to Chinese Communist Party -
215
Foreigners leaving China to ? -
216
For better or for worse? Beijing's air -
217
Impact of visa policy on visitors to Yunnan -
218
Is the West 'bear-baiting' China? -
219
A Beijing welcome - what to expect? -
220
Olympics spirit shown by chicks in bikinis -
221
Pre-Olympic rant -
222
What to take to China -
223
Demonstration sports at Beijing Olympics -
224
China will win more medals than US this Olympics -
225
How to see the Olympics - some options -
226
Cheap sweaters - from China - no more? -
227
Rye bread - too easy or too hard? -
228
Let's go to the Rough Guided Lying Planet -
229
China visa extensions after 1 July -
230
New Silk Route - Arabs in China -
231
Let the slagging off begin . . Olympic trials -
232
Is China purging out all foreigners? -
233
Getting married in Beijing? -
234
Opening ceremony Olympic Games Beijing -
235
What? Socialist in China? Get off the grass -
236
Clean toilets for the Games? -
237
Beer festival in Dalian - 17-28 July 2008 -
238
Qingtao beer festival -
239
Beijing beer festival? -
240
Thousands defy death in tidal bore festival -
241
Beer festival in Guangzhou? -
242
Web citizen show their fury -
243
Is now a good time to visit China? Probably not. -
244
More on Tibet re-opening to foreigners -
245
Bar staff told to cover up - no miniskirts -
246
Economist magazine on Kunming -
247
How bad is Chinese beer? -
248
Will cheerleaders lift the Olympics? -
249
More wonderfully strange music out of Iceland -
250
How did the quake change China? -
251
Heavy rains across China -
252
Flight discounts in free-fall in China? -
253
China visa for Olympics - Beijing hits back -
254
Beijing is SO ready for the Games -
255
More quakes on their way -
256
Carbon-neutral eco-city planned for Shanghai -
257
Is China ready to host the Games? -
258
Volunteer English teacher - Yunnan - late July -
259
Things to know about the Internet in China -
260
How to travel by train in China -
261
Update on China visa situation in Hong Kong - new -
262
Update on China visa situation in Hong Kong - new -
263
Update on China visa situation in Hong Kong - new -
264
Mad about English - new doco about learning ENG -
265
How will the Beijing Games be dubbed? -
266
Best city in the world? Is it? -
267
Why Chinese don't queue -
268
Will rising petrol prices curb China's car growth? -
269
30 damn good reasons to watch the Olympics -
270
Earn half a million - dob in some foreigners -
271
Dog off the menu in Beijing for Games -
272
Will Beijing hotels be booked for Games? Or not? -
273
Lost in translation - single man seeks partner -
274
It's showtime terrorists out tourists in -
275
It's showtime terrorists out tourists in -
276
Games will test China -
277
Here's the house- but where are the people? -
278
Something to be bitter about -
279
Why are gas or petrol prices rising? Dumb answers -
280
Tighter Macau visa rules - but not for foreigners -
281
Opening to be rain-free: the army will see to that -
282
The best airport in the world is . . . -
283
Lightening those plane loads -
284
Sneak preview of opening ceremony -
285
Flights to be cancelled on 8 August -
286
How to survive a terrorist attack - read this -
287
Best free things to do -
288
Chinese young women required for doco -
289
The no fun games -
290
Bush to be honoured with sewage plant in his name -
291
No Tibetan flags at Olympics please -
292
China more unfriendly towards foreigners -
293
Want some Olympic tickets? -
294
Going to the Games? Take cash -
295
Advice on travelling to China for the Games -
296
Artists for independence -
297
Cheaper hotels in Beijing -
298
No businessmen or blacks. But lepers - YES -
299
Where to protest at the Beijing Olympics -
300
Blogs for the Games -
301
Foreign perspective on the Games and China -
302
Is China growing more unfriendly to foreingers? -
303
Is China growing more unfriendly to foreingers? -
304
Who blew up the bus in Kunming? -
305
Best beaches in the world -
306
And the most popular destination is . . . -
307
Questions not to ask . . or answer in Beijing -
308
Background to the Olympics and China -
309
Could protests upstage the Games? -
310
The most precious resource - water -
311
Beijing hunkers down for the Games -
312
Beijing hunkers down for the Games -
313
Cut price Beijing hotels -
314
What the hell are these Games about? -
315
Good security or paranoia for the Games? -
316
No dog, but how about seal penis? Beijing culinary -
317
Tourism numbers down in Yunnan -
318
All aboard the new train to Zhongdian and Lhasa -
319
Avril comes to Lijiang -
320
Lijiang old town to get the Atkins treatment -
321
Stabber gets 15 years for attacking 20-odd people -
322
Stabber gets 15 years for attacking 20-odd people -
323
Not really polluted China here in Yunnan -
324
No t-shirts allowed for the Olympics -
325
Cost of shutting down busineses to stop pollution -
326
Patriotic games -
327
Beijing says it is ready -
328
Why security is tight for the Games -
329
Games without fun? -
330
Games on -
331
Keeping China atheist -
332
Watching the Games with Tibetans -
333
Just how fake was the openning ceremony? -
334
No blue skies and US makes a statement -
335
It's all about money - why Beijing got the Games -
336
Insider's guide to China and the Beijing Games -
337
Eggs and tomatoes: those cheering squads -
338
A Beijing welcome -
339
Lockdown or opening up? Beijing for the Games -
340
Hungry ghosts and foreigners -
341
The lighter side of the Games -
342
Premature arrival of man's best friend -
343
Forget the Beijing Olympics - the tranny Olympics -
344
Greedy landlords miss out on gold rush -
345
Giving peace a chance? -
346
Happy Sheep accused of stealing swimming togs -
347
Winning some, losing some - the Games -
348
One person who left Beijing before the Games -
349
Chinese - Indian relations and borders -
350
Chinese - Indian relations and borders -
351
Spinning the Games -
352
The most annoying song -
353
Games over -
354
Religious freedom in China -
355
The Chinese Dream? The new world order -
356
The Chinese Dream? The new world order -
357
The Games in review -
358
Why people come to China -
359
New rules could force foreigners to stay -
360
Post Olympic analysis -
361
Tourism development in other places in China -
362
Luxury train to Lijiang - coming ready or not -
363
Where's the real China? -
364
Shangri-la - now in the movies -
365
New Tea=Horse Route book -
366
Search for Shangri-la or Shambala -
367
Trouble in Shangri-la - Zhongdian? -
368
Quake hits Sichuan and Yunnan -
369
Train not going anywhere yet -
370
What is the legacy of the Games? -
371
Are divorces easier in Hangzhou - for monks? -
372
China up or down after Games? -
373
Best lake in Lijiang -
374
Film attractions in Yunnan -
375
Lassie turns religious -
376
Tiger Leaping Gorge - with lots of water -
377
Earthquake update -
378
Finding inspiration in other places -
379
Another apologist for China's Tibetan policies -
380
Lugu lake - round the mountain goddess festival -
381
What to do on a rain day in Lijiang - with 2000 y -
382
Quake zone still recovering - Yunnan and Sichuan -
383
Where you should work if you want to make money -
384
Everything is getting better - the new religion -
385
Is China over its victim mentality? -
386
Is World Heritage Status a good or bad thing? -
387
When a travel video becomes an advertisement -
388
More foreigners learning Chinese -
389
Secret Hong Kong -
390
Classy white folk: are you one? -
391
What to bring to China? -
392
Sobering news on the beer front -
393
Photos from on the way to Shangri-la -
394
Does the West have a fantasy view of China? -
395
Hong Kong - going up or going down? -
396
Cruising: why taking a cruise isn't a holiday -
397
Why people didn't come to China for the Olympics -
398
Israeli-Chinese relations take a step back -
399
Vote for wonders of the world -
400
Avoiding travel scams -
401
Milk gone bad - greedy, greedy people -
402
Worst city in the world? -
403
Nipping across the border for a bit of shopping -
404
Aviation near misses in China - just one of many -
405
Visa restrictions for China lifted in October 2008 -
406
Taking milk very seriously -
407
Breast is best - and good for making money too! -
408
Tourism boom and bust -
409
On a mission -
410
Missionaries kicked out of China -
411
What the West thinks of China -
412
Things not to put in milk -
413
Avril Levine comes to town -
414
Music Borat might listen to -
415
Milk with your coffee? -
416
Capitalism in action in the Communist state -
417
Golden Week chaos -
418
Dog's life -
419
Less people travel for China's golden week -
420
Is Facebook a threat to society -
421
Peddling exotic crap in Beijing -
422
A new breed of tourist? From ClubMed to graffiti -
423
Those Chinese gymnasts were old enough to ? -
424
The gold medal for deception goes to . . . -
425
Following the White Rabbit: The Matrix of Fear -
426
10 places you must see in China -
427
Hunt your own panda -
428
Which would a dog prefer: bone or corn? -
429
Would you go so low to go on a group tour? -
430
Will the economic crisis be the end of travel? -
431
Lies in paradise? Shangri-la dreaming -
432
DIY: coffee roasting - easier than you think -
433
World's second highest airport to open -
434
Ecotourism the way to go for China? Yeah Right! -
435
Elephant no longer a drug addict -
436
Hold the chocolate penis and nipple spreads -
437
Best places in the world - its official -
438
How to be happy - or at least stay sane -
439
China Eastern back in Yunnan after pilot strikes -
440
Horror tales for Chinese tourists to NZ -
441
Six die in bus crash on Dali road -
442
What you should do in China -
443
More perfect days in classical China -
444
Travel Writing Workshop in Hong Kong -
445
Get Writing - creative writing workshop in HK -
446
Organised trip or do-it-yourself China -
447
Organised trip or do-it-yourself China -
448
Old missionary to eastern Tibet -
449
Is tourism 'national prostitution'? -
450
Places you must see - before THEY die -
451
They want it to rain men in NZ - man-drough -
452
Happiest places in the world >> ASIA -
453
Mapping human happiness -
454
Changing nature of Chinese tourists -
455
Naxi handicrafts from a village near Lijiang