Background: For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight.
May 14th 2008Asia » China » Yunnan Just a quick note following the earthquake in Sichuan province 2 days ago to say that Matt and I are both fine. We did not feel the earthquake although we are about 1000km from the epocenter - about ... [full story]
May 11th 2008Asia » China » Yunnan AT THIS STAGE NO PHOTOS - HAVING PROBLEMS WITH VIRUS ON MEMORY CARD. WILL RECITIFY AS SOON AS POS, AND THEN WILL RE-PUBLISH.
Due to a couple of comments from concerned mothers and ex-housemates I f ... [full story]
May 5th 2008Asia » China » Yunnan » Kunming After being abandoned my good friends, (sniff) I thought I'd better enjoy the one and only day that was scheduled in Hong Kong. The only problem being that without Carl to do the map reading, I was de ... [full story]
May 4th 2008Asia » China » Yunnan » Kunming Nearly two weeks into the trip and all is going well. No injuries or illness yet (touch wood) and I think we have adjusted well to the considerable culture difference from back home. This involves Chi ... [full story]
May 3rd 2008Asia » China » Yunnan So over a week has past with Matt and I riding together and we haven't bitten each others heads off yet which is good. And as you'll see from the summary below we have had some hard days, which have ... 21 photos[full story]
April 29th 2008Asia » China » Yunnan » Tiger Leaping Gorge The Tiger Leaping Gorge was... gorgeous :-)
Yes, I know its an easy one...
Friday, April 25th
I left the little guesthouse at 9 in the morning. The weather was mild and cloudy. I couldn't see ... 17 photos[full story]
April 26th 2008Asia » China » Yunnan » Jinghong Hi all. It has been at times busy, at times relaxing but altogether a very varied 10 days since the last post. A quick tour:
tuesday: 3rd day of Lao New Year. - more celebrations in Luang Prabang
... 30 photos[full story]
April 22nd 2008Asia » China » Yunnan » Lijiang Ce soir, j’ai poussé l’aventure gastronomique un peu loin. J’étais au centre de la vieille ville de Lijiang et après une journée à vélo. J’ai choisi un restaurant fréquenté ess ... [full story]
April 24th 2008Asia » China » Yunnan » Lijiang Folks, Friends, Family ... how are you doing ? Hope everybody is doing well and the approaching spring will spoil you with its first warm sunbeams. Well, depends on which part of the earth you are rig ... [full story]
April 21st 2008Asia » China » Yunnan "no bus at 11,only at 2 o'clock" the guy in the bus station told me, but Chai, my teacher friend in Maande said there should be one, and adviced me look for it at the bridge area. And we did find it t ... [full story]
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