The old town section of Lijiang is off limits to cars and motorbikes. The cobblestone streets are crowded with Chinese tourists, little shops and restaurants. It is similar in this way to Dali, but larger and, I would say, even more beautiul. Despite the number of people that flock here, it's a really charming place. It is impossible to keep from getting lost here because the streets are run in any and every direction many times turning in to a maze of alleys. There are beautiful canals carrying water throughout the town and old arch bridges to cross them. It looks like a movie set in its perfection; every night each shopkeeper reinstalls a series of identical carved wooden panels to cover the storefront. The town has been around since about 1200 AD and is home ... read more

Zhongdian is a small town high in the mountains just outside of Tibet. The population, architecture, food, etc. are Tibetan. In 2001 the Chinese authorities officially changed the name to Shangri-La (or as the Chinese say "Shangri-Li-La") to capitalize on their claim that Zhongdian is the basis for the fictional city in James Hilton's novel Lost Horizon. This is purely a marketing strategy to make it the next stop in the popular Dali, Lijiang, Tiger Leaping Gorge trail. Knowing this going in made the town an interesting study on how the Chinese economic mega-machine approaches tourism. Having said that, it was actually a nice place to spend a few days. The "old" town, which is partially authentic and partially expansion, was as close to Lhasa (Tibet) as I was going to get this trip. I took ... read more

Just outside Dali lies the Three Pagodas and a temple complex. I was hesitant to pay the high entry fee especially because the pagodas can be seen from a distance, but I amso glad I went in. I ended up spending over four hours going through the amazing temples and beautifully sculpted landscape. The middle, tallest pagoda was built in the 9th century and the two smaller pagodas were built a century later. They have gone through renovations in the last thousand years, but its amazing they are still standing. As you ascend through the series of temples, there is a tower at the very end. From the tower you can see that the temple complex is built in symmetry with the towers with Erhai Lake in the background.... read more

Kunming is more of a modern city than I expected. Riding in I saw the drab, industrial outskirts but there are very nice parts of the city. Unfortunately, I had to spend a couple hours per day trying to arrange flights for the end of this trip. I did make it to the large Green Lake Park in the center of Kunming. I was there on a Saturday and it was packed with musicians, artists and families. It was really like stepping in to a different world; I didn't see another foreigner until I got back to the hostel that night. There were so many little music performances going on, I could hear several from one spot and had to gravitate to the one I wanted to hear at any given time. There was everything from ... read more

There are a variety of hill tribe communities in the northwest mountains surrounding Sapa. The Hmong are the most prominent, but you can see Red Dao and Tay as well. Their costumes are very elaborate and beautiful. Many of them flock to the town of Sapa to sell their crafts. Because of the influx of tourists, many of these people have been westernized and speak some english. Its not uncommon to see villagers that look straight out of a period piece film texting or talking on their cell phones. Cheap no-name brand cell phones have flooded in from China, making them accesable to a lot of the people here. Note the pictures of the girls playing the horse boardgame at the restaurant table. They kicked my ass at this game and their all pool sharks. Very ... read more