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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.

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By Towards the Unknown
December 26th 2009

(No) Christmas in China (?) Asia » China » Yunnan » Kunming

Christmas MoreFun

It appears that the Chinese people DO celebrate Christmas. Date is the same but everything exept that is of course the other way around. In MoreFun, long time before Christmas, people were preparing everything. Decorations, planning the whole Christmas party, discussing about the menu, printing posters and invitations. Everything had to be on a high level. And it was. From 7 PM to 9 PM "Christmas dinner" and from 9 PM "Christmas coctail party". It is hard to describe the amount of meals, cakes, fruit and coctails. I can only say that my hot wine also was on the "Christmas table". [View Full Entry]

Yang Jin Bo doing bartender tricks. One...

By wheresdave
December 25th 2009

The great "walls" of China ... Asia » China » Yunnan » Yuanyang

hekuoDecember 24, 20092699

Merry Christmas to all. I hope this blog fines you all doing well. I left China yesterday and I am back in Sapa, Vietnam right now. China was an interesting trip. It is such a large country that I barely saw any of it yet I spent a lot of time “traveling”. I spent 36 hours taking two train rides and about let see, hmm, 50 hours in buses and I a very small part of China. The people in China seem genuinely nice and they don’t appear to try to rip off tourists (Vietnam should take note). The weather was [View Full Entry]

By jpetey75
December 23rd 2009

Kunming and going home Asia » China » Yunnan » Kunming

monica in the kunming hotel

The next day we headed for Kunming, which as another long bus ride. Absolutely nothing exciting happened on the bus ride, and the landscape was flattening out so nothing spectacular to look at either. As we approached Kunming large buildings started popping up all over. By the time we got to our hotel we were in the middle of a very industrialized, relatively dirty city. From the beginning none of us were impressed with Kunming, it was our last stop so it was kind of disappointing, but we were all tired and about ready to head back to Beijing. Kunming had [View Full Entry]

By jpetey75
December 22nd 2009

Lijiang free day and arrival in Dali Asia » China » Yunnan

the man tried to sell this puppy to us

The next day was a free day so we got to sleep in, which was good because we didn’t get home until 6am from our massages. At about noon we went to a place called the Sexy Tractor to eat. I won’t go into details, but it was terrible. It was suppose to be Western food but it was the worst imitation I’ve had yet, it was also slow and cold, which never usually happens. I thought food coming out fast and hot was a China thing, but my experiences in Lijiang with slow food makes me think it is just [View Full Entry]

By jpetey75
December 21st 2009

Arrival in Lijiang, our local guide and free sweet wine Asia » China » Yunnan » Lijiang

miniatures

The Lijiang airport was tiny, Monica said it reminded her of the Duluth airport, which I have never been to, but it should give some perspective on the size. We took a bus to our hotel, it was dark but we could see big valleys and mountains, and a lot of stars, it was already clear that Lijiang would be very beautiful. When we arrived, men with tricycle trailers took our luggage through the alleyways to our hotel. The area we were in was the old city, it kind of reminded me of the old city in Jerusalem, just random alleys [View Full Entry]

By jpetey75
December 21st 2009

Lijiang, Busing through the mountains Asia » China » Yunnan » Lijiang

cable cars up

The next day was the worst bus ride ever. We had to go up the side of the mountain, which I kept having to convince myself would be worth it. The driver drove fast and the curves had no walls so I thought we were going to fly off the ledge every time we turned. Finally we arrived at the place where we would get on the cable car. On the way up James told me that the mountain we were going to look at had never been climbed all the way to the peak, they call it a virgin peak. [View Full Entry]

By Blubba
December 20th 2009

Lijiang Yunnan Asia » China » Yunnan » Lijiang

Stone Forest

I meant to continue this blog..shortly after the Kunming/Dali entry....but I think I put it off because there were so many pictures to upload. Between the 5 of us, we probably took over 500 pictures! So bear with me, we were there at the beginning of October, I will try and remember all of the happenings. After Brad and Angelina dropped us off at the entrance of the Old City of Lijiang, we walked around trying to find our hotel. We were situated right in the centre of the ancient city. It reminded me of what I pictured of China before [View Full Entry]

By merrillrose
December 14th 2009

I Visit Wa Village in Southern Yunnan. Almost Faint with Happiness. Asia » China » Yunnan » Jinghong

19-Hour Sleeper Bus

Many people think of China as a land where the dominant characteristics of society are homogeneity and obedience. This is true, to a point. For example, when I asked eight-year old Chinese students to write laws for an imaginary country, two of the most important laws were "protect national secrets" and "carry an identity card." But China, especially southwest China, is also home to an impressively diverse group of ethnic and cultural minorities. The only problem, of course, is reaching these places, and transportation in China can be a headache. The mo [View Full Entry]

By lihaugodden
December 11th 2009

大理－ Dali Asia » China » Yunnan » Dali

Ben Taking in the View

After our first night in our gorgeous hotel in Dali, we woke up early to take a boat cruise on Erhai Lake. I was really excited because I was ready to lie in the sun and be on the water, but what I didn't expect was the boat. Instead of a small leisurely boat, which is what I expected, we were faced with the monstrosity of a gigantic cruise ship. There was not much room to find sun, and we spent a good amount of time indoors. During the first leg of the trip we attended a performance called "Three cups [View Full Entry]

By lihaugodden
December 6th 2009

丽江－ Lijiang Asia » China » Yunnan » Lijiang

Tea Horse Road Museum

We arrived in Lijiang much after dark, and the air was cold, but also crisp and clear. Finally, after 3 months in the smog and city lights, we could see stars. It seemed gorgeous. We checked into our hotels, which were small compounds in the ancient city of Lijiang. Our rooms surrounded a courtyard, and they were fully equipped with squatty potties, but were missing heat. It was freezing in our room, especially at night, but we had heating blankets, which were lifesavers. During the first day in Lijiang, we attended a lecture on Dongba culture, which is a culture that [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Asia » China » Yunnan