opportunity to make a public bus private or take a taxi was heartily pursued by our tour guide which made the whole tour more comfortable but less culturaly interesting. And so we travelled on our won tour bus from Dali to Lijang. Still roaming in the foothills of the Tibetan-Burmese Plateau we rose up into the hills north of Erhai Lake and towards Lijang. After a few hours driving the winding roads behind jeeps that double as learner driver vehicles we arrived on an empty four lane highway into Lijang which used exclusively solar powered street lighting.Lijang is also a UNESCO world heritage sight and is arguably slightly more picturesque than Dali, particularly at night when it is sublimely lit up. We checked into the
hotel and walked through narrow pathways down to the main square where you are again greeted by hoards of Chinese tourists. I was still feeling a bit hungover from drinks the night before and wasn't feeling in the mood. After a brief introduction form Anton, we wandered into the old town, hungry and looking for food. After 20min we found a restaurant next to the Jade river, which runs like a maze through the old town, and had some food. Afterwards, still not feeling good, and resenting the heat, I took a brief walk by myself before returning to my hotel room for some singing and solitaire. Sometime you just have to wait for these things to pass.In the evening the group reconvened and had dinner before heading of the the theatre. We went to see a show in the Lijiang Nationality Culture Exchange Center Theatre opposite a statue Chairman Mao. The Mountain Rivers show, takes stories and traditions of the ethnic communities in Yunnan province and turns them into Dance (China consists of approx 56 ethnic communities and over 35 different languages). The elaborate production takes the costumes and style a little to far out of context to be referred to as traditional, but it is an amazing show with lighting and dance production on par with anything I have seen in the west! For a fuller description see
I saw in China left me with high expectations for the opening ceremonies. There is an immense amount of talent in China and I expect this all to be on show during the Olympics. Of the most interesting stories told in the programme was from the Mousu people that do not h have marriages within their societies. Children are conceived when to people in the community agree to do so, and afterwards the two parties continue to lead seperate lives though the father still has regular contact with the child in a more informal manner (I have stated this very badly but you get the idea!). It goes to show how few things are truly universal.Going to bed, I packed a small bag of necessities for the following three days as we headed further north out of Lijang to Tiger Leaping Gorge. I had heard a lot about this place and was keen to go, without really knowing what it was. It is in fact a
valley created by an earthquake rather than erosion so that the mountains on either side of the river rise steeply for what feels like a few hundred meters. A spectacular view it is an area which is commonly walked and is still subject to landslides. Luckily we only had one minor rockfall throughout the walk. The gorge is divided into three parts; upper, middle and lower with at least the first two part delineated by a large rock sitting in the middle of the river where the tiger was said to have crossed. I am not quite sure if the crossing cause the rock to be there or the rock helped him but the name stuck. The first days we walked along the lower road, which is accessible by car and we were consequently passed by various trucks, buses and cars on the way making the walk less enervating. Interesting that the one sign on the road indicated that it was 'Tiger Jumping Gorge' while every other reference to it calls it 'Tiger Leaping Gorge'.The gorge is very photo friendly though the best views were left for the second day on the upper road. At the end of the afternoon Tina guesthouse appeared precariously perched on the side of the hill. It still meant another 1 hours walk before we got there. Upon arrival, Tina cam out and offered beer and I was seated and drinking before the rest of the group arrived at the hotel. It was a hot day in the sun and on the road and we were glad that we had arrived at our resting place. Not having many other place to eat in the area, we ate at the hotel before retreating to the lounge room for a group meeting in about what to do for Anton birthday the following day. Here we spent the evening trying to learn Happy Birthday in Chinese as well as adding intricate designs to the birthday that we had bought. This required the assistance of the singing waitress at the hotel and was achieved with mixed success. As a group we went to bed however after going back to the restaurant I was compelled to come a play with a group and thus spent the evening playing, drinking and having a good chat. Bedtime then.
The next morning we traversed upwards from Tina's guesthouse to take the high road back towards were we had come from the previous day. This unlike the first days track
was a real path that winded along the side of the mountains. Here we greeted the local mountains goat and the tourists heading in the opposite direction. Here the scenery became more beautiful as the Clouds cleared after morning rains gradually revealing more of the mountains during the day. I didn't look forward to the walk after discussing it difficulties the night before and with the rain overnight. However on the day the walk was easily completed and neither difficult or a dangerous as I had suspected. Our end point in the middle of the valley, gave us the opportunity explore another small village. Set high in the mountains this village seemed to have more wealth than was indicated by the agricultural products grown in the area. And upon further inquiry it revealed that many of the people in the area owned property which was used for mining the mineral 
rich ground. Bringing much more wealth. Returning to the guesthouse the way was block by a six year old girl with a stick. She was shy at first but after a bit of encouragement started to become quite active with her stick, almost you would violent and continued to try to block the path all the way back to the guesthouse, laughing all the way. It was surprising that we arrived back safely.
The guesthouse had more beautiful views, particularly from the toilet which was open to the elements. No need for reading material here. The restaurant provided a perfect
to celebrate Anton's birthday with the whole group and eventually with everyone who was staying at the guesthouse. Coincidentally a Chinese person who was walking with his friends was also celebrating his birthday. There was much joy and merriment, and bit of tap dancing, a failed psychic, some singing and an impromptu visit by a dolphin, at least that's what it sounded like. After many drinks the night got overly emotional and we all headed to bed, a few of us having to visit the bathroom before being able to rest. The next morning we descended back down the mountain and back to were we could catch the bus. An uneventful day. There, our guide, having pre ordered the bus we hopped straight on and headed back to Lijang where we stayed another night. This time we had spare time to experience some of the nightlife but I wasn't in the mood, so apart from banging some sticks on the table along with the rest of the crowd and the African drummers. The next day we had an all day bus trip back to Dali and then straight on to Kunming, which of course didn't excite the senses. Arriving back in Kunming I thought I might try and attack the night scene myself. However fate would have it that I couldn't leave my room mate behind and so we went out together. Though the walk took us longer than expected we arrived at the right street to be greeted by huge neon lights and more than a block of bars and nightclubs. In China nightclubs are more for talking with loud music rather than dancing and drinks are almost as expensive as in Australia. But the DJ's are miles ahead of anything that I have heard in my lengthy but non-illustrious nightclub career. After trying out to bars, and sharing cheers and handshakes with the locals we got in a taxi back home.
Another day in Kunming didn't quite provide enough time to do the things I wanted so I settled for some aimless walking, a stop at the bank and lunch before meeting back with the group in the afternoon to have an early dinner before flying to Guilin for the next stage of our trip.
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