Up the Yangtze and back again (Asia Trek pt 24)

The overnight train to Yichang, finally took me out of the tropics and in to the food and industry belt of China that revolves around the Yangtze river. A river whose economic impact has a long history, and a major role in Chinese industrial exports to the rest of the world today. But it is but one part of the industrial and agricultural production of China, which exceeds the rest of mainland south east Asia in scale and sophistication and has left a significant scare on the landscape where ever you go. Even in the mountainous areas of southern China, which are less affected due to limited access, have been significantly worked to facilitate the agricultural production, most spectacularly brought out by rice terraces which are now a major tourist attraction. It looks as though this level of development is leaving the natural environment hurting. But it is not just the farmers that are to blame as the huge growth in construction and the transport routes that criss cross the country to facilitate internal and international trade. This is also eating up agricultural land (i suspect reclaimed by the government) with farmers hanging on and continuing to use very small sections of land in the middle of road construction sites to continue growing crops. On the whole China is busy, busy building and growing and it is not surprising it is driving the world economy.

Arriving in Wuhan by train and then transferring onto a bus which took us up the Yangtze river to Yichang, was the first really large scale city I traveled through. A massive concrete jungle split by the Yangtze delta into three different parts, one dominated by government, one by business and one by industry. Traffic jams here are as bad if not worse than anywhere in the world and even the use of electric buses cannot resolve the problem or pollution. This was also Anton's current home town. The smog and concrete made the city look less than impressive, though the first crossing of the Yangtze is always impressive, like crossing the Mekong in Vietnam. The 1 and half hour drive to Yichang is not worth noting, but the arrival at our hotel was particularly notable. Again our lazy tour tour guide arranged to have us dropped off near the hotel instead of the bus station. This probably happened while talking with the bus driver to keep him awake after his head started dipping. The road where the hotel was located had been turned into a construction zone and the adjacent building flattened. All except for one household which seemed to be holding out against the march of progress. So we ambled along the dirt road, around construction debry's with our heavy backpacks to the hotel. Another over priced and not spectacular three star hotel.

Yichang is not a city with sites and is little more than the starting point for tours up the Yangtze river and the three gorges. The Yangtze runs along the side of the city at about twenty metres below the shore line level. Leaving a large concrete sloping wall exposed on both side from which the locals fish and observe the passing water. Along the shore there is also part where after dark the people coalesced, had a small fair, and sent fire lanterns into the sky. Weary after such a lot of travelling and shopping for three days food we rose to our lofts and watched the late night workers do further destruction on the paper walls that posed as buildings.

The following morning it was up early, some quick fresh hand made noodles at a street stall, before hopping in a taxi to the dock. Getting on the boat was easy enough but the boat itself was less than impressive. The boat had seen its fair share of use, the cabins were small and weathered even in first class, and poor Anton as tour guide had to pay for his own room other wise he just gets a piece of floor somewhere. The boat is also aimed at Chinese tourist as opposed to the wealthy westerners, that come past, so that we and a few other represented the western world on the boat.

After setting into our cabins we endeavoured to go to the foredeck and were promptly refused entry as it was a VIP zone. A quick word to Anton and ten minutes later we had new passes giving us access to the foredeck were we watched the city of Yichang pass by. Going back to the aft deck we got a look of looks from the Chinese population and a whole group of them burst out laughing when they saw my hairy legs. I didn't really appreciate that as at first I didn't know what they were laughing about and then be came very self conscious. I am sure that was not their intention though.

The Yangtze river is of course the site of the infamous Three Gorges Dam which is the largest dam project in the world. There is plenty of information available online about the size and scale of the project and so it was with anticipation that we progressed upstream. At first you pass through the locks of a supplementary dam which was built to test the larger three gorges dam, and see if it was possible to dam the Yangtze. Apparently so!

A further 30 min upstream you approach the locks of the dam, which sits on the other side of a small hill to the main wall. As we went through the lock the boat was quite quiet as the rest of the passengers left to have a guided tour of the Dam (our guide advised us not to take the tour as it was in Chinese and not very interesting) So we went with the boat through the five locks of the dam with 5 other boats simultaneously. Each lock is a couple of hundred meters long and 40 to 50 meter wide. The locks raised us from 56 meter to 145 meter above sea level as we progressed through the first four locks. The fifth one has been built but not in use as the last stage of filing the dam occurs in 2009, which will raise the water level to 175 meters. I could write more about them but I think the pictures say enough. The thing is huge. The only thing that disappoints is that due to the supplementary dam you can't see the full extent of the height of the front dam wall. There has of course been much criticism about the dam and it impacts but it remains a stupendous piece of engineering.

Finally passing the the final lock several hours after we had entered the first, it is interesting to note that even with this delay it is quicker to put trucks onto boata, ferry the through the locks and upstream to Chongqing than it is to drive there directly. One of the sub projects of the three gorges dam is to improve the road infrastructure along the Yangtze to facilitate increased trading up and downstream
(the other is a pipeline transferring water to Manchuria a few thousand kilometers away.)

Well after sunset the rest of the passengers invaded the boat again and we retired to our rooms for some card games and chit chat. The next morning we cruised further up the river stopping at various point to allow the Chinese tourists to get off to tour the various temples on the way. Anton had advised us that it wasn't that interesting and it also gave us some time alone on the boat, at which point Anton also discussed China with us. At one such stop for a few hours we lamented the fact that we had an Ipod but no speakers to attached to it. But somehow through a sequence of events that I can't remember we managed to get hold of a Megaphone on the boat. With this tool in our hands and a little bit of sticky tape we manage to create our own PA system. Which proved to be quite effective and we held our own little party with this improvised contraption for the rest of the day and night. There is a video of us somewhere, partying on the back the back of the boat.

During this time we also proceeded through the three gorges. The three gorges are three consecutive regions of the Yangtze where mountains and cliffs become prominent on both side of the river. The area is too moutainous to house large cities so there is a lot of natural forest, some farmland and many temples and traditional buildings. Of course there used to be more in the region as many buildings were destroyed before being submerged in the lake formed behind the dam. The area is quite beautiful and one of the gorges appears on the 10 yuan note. In some sections you can see coffins placed on ledges high in the cliffs that have been there for thousands of years. Some of these will be submerged in the final stage of the rise of the Yangtze, and work is apparently being undertaking to remove these coffins to protect them. This process is apparently being undertaken in accordence with the wishes of the traditional communities in the area from which they arose.

The one additional tour that we did take was into the mini three gorges as Anton advised that not only is it interesting but will be totally a submerged after the final stage of the dam is complete. This involved transferring to another boat which took us up a side river for a few hours. The whole time we were given information in Chinese about the gorges and everybody packed the outside decks to see things. Anton filled in a few bits for us he thought was significant. At the entry to the mini three gorges we transferred to small 20 person boats to head up the small gorge. The small river with cliff and steep mountains on either side is beautiful but apparently it is already not as impressive than it was before the dam was built. More entertaining was the very enthousiastic guide, on our small boat, who sang for us and also gave us the opportunity to dress up in traditional clothing including spear and sheild for a photo opportunity. Some of the Chinese took up the opportunity but we westerners balked at the prospect. Turning around and heading back down the mini three gorges, we where greeted with the singing by three staff from the main boat who had left before everyone else to prepare for their performance. Sometimes the tourism here seems very contrived.

On the return trip to the main river, the Chinese were encouraged/told to stay on the downstairs floor of the boat where product were offered for sale with accompanying commentary, and occasional singing, all projected through the ships PA system. After about 30 min of this it became rather annoying and wearying, that the only option was to wait outside on the upper deck in the light rain, to escape the noise. The deck was now empty which meant that it was much easier to appreciate the scenery.

Returning to the main boat we headed further upstream to a city were we had dinner on
shore. we ate fish, which was hot and very delicious, though not to the taste of all. Returning to the boat, we prepared for the long haul back to Yichang. Originally we would continue further up the Yangtze to Chongqing, however the earthquake prevented us from going as the government closed the area for tourism. So we saw many of the sites that we saw on the way up the river and travelled through the locks a second time. Much of this time we talked, played cards, amongst ourselves and with some of the locals.

We returned to the same hotel, still in a construction site that we stayed in before and went out to dinner eating some snail, which again were very spicy, messy and worked up a considerable sweat. The after a little free time the youngn's of the group went out to a nightclub across the road and sang 'Country road, take me home' with the locals. Early in the morning Anton decided he wanted to take two of us to Karaoke and so we left the other to find a karaoke bar. Unfortunately the prices in the area were two high and so that plan quickly fell from the table. and instead Anton became hungry again so we went out for another late night snack. More delicious spicy fish and bbq lamb skewers. Mmmmmn! I love the late night Chinese snack!

Cycling and Eating in Yangshuo (Asia trek pt23)

And so we came to one of my biggest disappointments of the whole trip; a flight. The tour required a flight from Kunming to Guilin in order to keep the travel time down, so after travelling ten of thousands of kilometers by land and sea o make it to China, I had to catch a domestic flight as part of the tour. My aspiration of at reaching Beijing or Europe by land was finally destroyed in practice.

But not one to dwell on these things, I settled myself down for the flight which included some of the worst Airline food I have eaten in a long time, but otherwise as
uneventful as flights tend to be. Arriving in Guilin we again hopped on a private bus for a three hour drive to Yangshuo, passing the immense crowds of dutch people that seemed to be everywhere! A mere kilometer from the airport we ascended onto a rough dirt road before reaching a proper road about ten minutes later. Something tells me it wasn't the main road to the airport. As night fell we could see the faint outlines of the limestone karsts that the region is famous for. However by the time we reached Yangshou there was little left to see but the street lights of 'foreigner street', where we stopped at a restaurant for a late night snack and beer.

After a good night sleep in my own room, we awoke for a days cycling around the region. The area has similarities to Halong bay, but instead of the water the area surrounding the karsts is flat farmland used principally for rice. the area is flat which makes cycling easy. Making your way through back roads and villages is charming, though you never feel like you can get away from the people (a more general problem in China, surprisingly!) as there are buildings everywhere. Along the way a guy was teasing a yabby with a stick, and people cruised down the Yulong river on a Bamboo raft complete with rainbow coloured umbrella. While it looked very appealing, not enough people in our group were interested enough to partake. We continued cycling through more rice fields before arriving at our final destination; Yueliang Shan - otherwise known as moon hill. Actualy a few hundred meters before we arrive a group of Chinese ladies passed us in the opposite direction, before they all stopped turned around a followed us. I thought they had just figured out the directions of where they wanted to go and changed direction. But no! the ladies followed us for business! Moon Hill is a limestone karst that has a spherical shaped hole right through it, making the shape of a moon from a distance and good viewing platform for the surrounding region. Walking to the top we were warned by our guide that ladies (who followed us), with eksy on the shoulder, would follow us all the way to the top of the hill, offering drinks all the way. The further up the hill you go the higher the price, though this can be bargained back down again. On the one hand you can view this as excellent personal service, however most tourists find them annoying. I assured the lady that tried to follow me that I would not buy anything as was promptly left alone. However another person in the group did not have as much conviction and was followed all the way to the top. Two people in the group decided to play a game with her and started walking up in a very fast tempo. She tried her best but could not keep up. but rather than give up she continued, and caught up with them near the summit.

At the top we rested as is was a sweltering hot day and the walk took it out of us. Unfortunately we saw another tourist give the lady that followed him a handsome tip without taking a drink. Hopefully not too many people do this otherwise they might get the impression tourists are a fountain of free money rather than just a fountain of money. We took in the views and walked around the summit area before descending. By this stage I sympathised with the lady who had walked up the mountain, and was thirsty so I bought a coke, negotiating the price back down to a reasonable price. The descent was much easier that the ascent and quickly we were back at the bottom for a quick lunch before cycling back to the city.

Back at the city we had registered to do a cooking course. Anton handed us over the the cooking lady and we negotiated the meals that we wanted to cook. After this we walked to the local market. This market was similar to many others I had been to in Asia, with food laid out on heshan carpets on the floor, and meat hanging in the wet markets, but to one of our group who was a first timer. this was a shock to him and he asked me if I had seen this kind of market before. I said that this was the standard manner of trading agricultural products in south east asia. this took him by surprise and needed a moment to deal with it. What was unique in this market was that you could purchase dog and cat and other animal which were hanging there and live animal could be seen in small cages against the wall. this was also and little confronting for me, but it is the way it is.

We picked up a few vegetable and headed back to the restaurant, to the rooftop kitchen to commence our cooking. the three meals included dumpling, Gong Bao chicken (chicken chilly and peanuts) and eggplant. we started with the dumplings and after mincing the chicken set ourselves to work with the folding of the dumpling with moderate success. Some clearly more talented than other. Mine were somewhere in the middle. Next the eggplant, which was the first time I had cooked eggplant successfully, under the watchful eye of our trainer, who was a mother and had never undertaken cooking training in her life. Still the food turned out very pleasing. Last of all we cooked the chicken, on of my favourite dishes in China which we consumed alongside the dumpling, which had subsequently been steamed by the Chef. By the end of the afternoon we were all fat and happy and dinner was not really on the cards as nothing more would fit.

That night we ended up in another night club with Anson, entertained by a good quality DJ. I spent most of the night rolling dice in a rather simple drinking game, while others in the group started dancing with another group of locals. They eventually got invited out to do some karaoke, but I was enjoying myself too much to go, so I passed. And luckily too because and hour later Anson got hungry as he does often in the middle of the night and invited the last two of us to go eat some seafood with him. So we came to this little streetside restaurant at 1 o'clock in the morning and Anson ordered some sublime BBQ oysters (I think?)for us, as well as some other food which was delicious. While we waited we got talking to a couple sitting on the table next to us. After a bit of cultural exchange they left offering their left over oysters (as above?) to us which we consumed with joy as they drove of in some brand of expensive car. Again well fed is was time for bed so we headed home satisfied.

The next day we awoke early checked out and went for a cruise on the Li river. While beautiful in itself it was similar to much I had seen so I spent the time recovering from the night before and catching up on sleep. In fact the more interesting part of the trip was the short walk through the village needed to get to the pier. There were a variety of small businesses particularly those specialising in making fans. Also many local people coming to and from the market from the surrounding villages gave the area a lively yet untouched feel, which I found particularly interesting. But the heat was too strong that I had to retire to the bus for some respite.

Back in Yangshou, where I was finally getting a feel for the layout we had a few hours to arrange things before we left. From there we caught the overnight train north to Yichang, leaving the southern part of China.

Lijang and Tiger Leaping Gorge (Asia Trek pt22)

The following morning we all hopped aboard a private bus to Lijang. The tour is advertised as using public transport, however we had a lazy tour guide so every 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 This and other shows that 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.

Border Crossings, tours and streetside games (Asia Trek pt 21)

So I waited and through the convenience of Facebook was able to meet up with Nelleke and Marga who accompanied me into china. This was the border crossing that I was most concerned about on my travels and the feeling was compounded by the difficulties in obtaining a visa which had resulted in the telling of a white lie. Anyway with tickets purchased, we made our way to the proper bus station, after being taken to the wrong bus station (we wondered why the price was so cheap!). Here we borded a minibus that was labelled in english and Chinese. Here the great adventure to China began.

After leaving the Bus station on the fancy new road, smooth and easy, the bus was pulled up twenty km before the border and an officer came through and checked everybody's passport. One person obviously didn't have the right paperwork and was asked to leave the bus and was left behind. As we proceeded to the border more and more concrete buildings appeared and the wealth gap between Laos and China emerged. The bus stopped and we all got of to get our exit stamps for Laos we proved easy with a 1 dollar fee. Back in the bus we proceeded to the Chinese border which felt like a metropolis in comparison to where I had been. Multi-storey buildings start appearing on a regular basis and signs in Chinese start increasing. We reached the border and got off the bus and for the first time, I had to have my bag searched. This made me nervous as I hadn't thought at all about what was in my bag and whether it would be legitimate to take into China, including a bottle of Metholated spirits. But the Officer could find nothing objectionable, after smelling the methylated spirits and the three of us were allowed to pass . Surprisingly the officers on the border were very friendly and greeted you in English and spoke English to you. You were questioned multiple times as you progressed through the border crossing and like other border crossing in South East Asia the procedures and processes to get through took some figuring out. But without any major dramas we three crossed the border safely and headed on to Mengla.

Arriving in Mengla a few hours later we then transferred to a bus to Jing Hong, however getting cash to pay for the bus proved difficult. None of the banks accepted foreign cards and the only bank that exchanged travellers cheques or cash would not open for another 2 hours; we had to leave ASAP. So we returned to the bus station where a man was offering black market exchanges. After 10 minutes of dealing we eventually came to the conclusion that trading Euro's would provide the best outcome for us and so we go hold of some Chinese Yuan to pay for our ticket. The lady behind the counter pointed us toward a bus which took us to the correct destination. On the way we stopped for lunch in what looked like an old commune building. And inside while the kitchen looks initially like a very unhygenic place, but a second look at the serving of the food revealed that everything was on polished stainless steel. Lesson 1: the Chinese are generally very hygenic around food.

Arriving in Jing Hong we were coaxed to stay in a hotel next door to the bus station (very convenient!) which had a room with three beds in it for a reasonable price. After obtaining more cash to pay for the rooms we settled in before walking the night markets. After eating some very spicy fish soups on the street for dinner (Mmmmn, at least I thought so!) we headed towards a park were hundreds of locals had congregated (a scene that is repeated across china), with people talking, selling goods, dancing and playing and singing traditional songs. Here we also got a few friendly hello's as we passed. People generally seemed in a good mood and were friendly towards us; something that I had been taught somewhere not to expect. Not sure where? We continued to walk through various streets before returning to the hotel, buying a pack of cards and playing cards on the street, much to the intrigue and amusement of local passerby's who quickly gave and audience. I think generally they though our game was simplistic and boring particularly as there was no money on the table.

The following morning back on the bus to Kunming to arrive one day early for the 22 day tour to Beijing. Enough time for me to have a look around town. Kunming the regional capital of Yunnan province. A city that rides entirely on electric motorcycles. In the whole time I was there I saw 2 petrol motorbikes. the bus trip was scheduled to take nine but took 12 and arriving late in the evening we were not sure if Nelleke and Marga could catch a connecting line to Dali, their next stop. But again the friendly staff at the bus station pulled out all stops to make sure they got a ticket and made it onto the right bus. I left the bus station and hired a private driver, for the same price as a taxi, to take me to my hotel, where I spent the night in a hotel room with two japanese tourists.

The following morning I changed room to the one booked by the tour company and spent the day walking the streets and observing the large contrast of giant shopping centres that would rival anything in Sydney and the small streets and houses where families still live together in a simple life. The Islamic district that is mentioned in the Lonely Planet of 2007, had been turned into a construction site and there were only two streets left which didn't contain a lot. I also sat in the main square in the middle of the city where I was approached by two Chinese girls, but as son as they found that I couldn't speak Chinese, they promptly left. I was refreshing to meet young women that just wanted a conversation with you and not anything else. The whole was city had a very good feel about it and on my way home I stopped to watch a game of Mah Jong and was promptly invited to play. The group of younger Chinese were quite surprised that I could play, and after I sat down, I even managed to win a few rounds. This even though they could not speak english and I could not speak Chinese. Particularly the pictures stone where hard as the numbers were not written on the stones. But nearing the end of the day I had to return to the hotel to meet and greet the tour leader and rest of the tour. I said my goodbye, though we didn't understand each other and moved on. A great beginning!

The tour group consisted of seven people including me, which was a nice size for a tour group. It consisted of a German, now living in Switzerland who spent the month wrapped up in relationship issues, loved his hat, but was a mean tap dancer .
A young Australian girl that could eat like no woman i've ever met and could be employed as a smoke detector. A middle aged Australiam male who worked as a truck driver, recovering from a chest infection and quiet was his middle name (he was somehow there but not there.) A English woman that toured with tours, takes life as it comes and with whom I shared a lot of laughs. And lastly and middle aged australian couple that have been backpacking the world together for years, enjoyed cryptic crosswords, and spent most of the spare time by themselves. Of course there was me and the Guide Anton. Anton was a complicated character who enjoyed the drink, his parents had issues with the Chinese government post Tianamen square and subsequently spent time in Canada and the parents of his girlfriend refuse to give approval to the relationship for lack of money. I spent a few late night in the nightclubs and bars with him and was impressed by his love of country and hospitality. His daily instructions to us included the memorable, "Get your stuff, get your belongings, don't left anything behind." So it was with this group that I spent the following 22 days from Kunming all the way to Beijing.

The first day in Kunming there was nothing on the schedule so as a group we went to Green Lake Park to watch more Tai Chi and Aerobic, getting shoes polished before heading to the student district to find an english bookstore, successfully. After this we returned to the hotel to eat the locally famous "Over the bridge Noodles" which is served with various tasty condiments including chickens blood, with the group. Our first serious foray into Chinese food. The Yunnan food uses a lot of seaweed and chilli in their soups giving at a very complex and unique taste. The chicken's blood turned a few people off but over all it was very nice but far too much to eat. We would find out that this is quite normal in China as we always had food left over. In the afternoon we proceeded to Walmart, to prepare some snacks for the overnight train to Dali. Man I hate shopping centres and this was was one of the worst!

On the overnight soft sleeper to to Dali we had a very comfortable trip and arrived in the early morning full of verve. The train arrives in the new city, so it is another 40min bus trip to the old city which contains much of its city walls and old interior though as it is a UNESCO World Heritage site is one big tourist park. We stayed in a guesthouse just outside of the old city and served 'Internet Coffee' and had a pool
which Anton enjoyed for a midnight swim after a bottle of Vodka. While the other ate breakfast in the hotel I walked down the street I picked my usual breakfast of noodle soup for less than a third of the price. Then we walked into the old town a picked up our bicycles and cycled through the old town before heading in the direction of Erhai Lake, though the rice fields. We had joined with another group so now there were about 20 of us. Our group was lazier so we spent most of our time at the back particularly as one of the group had sore hips and struggled for much of the way. As we got close to the shore of the lake we entered another village with small cobbled street and through my lack of attention lost the rest of the group ahead of us. So a small group of us missed the opportunity to visit a locals home, who wasn't home at the time anyway. We were told to head to the pier and 15 minutes later the rest of the group appeared. By this stage I was already starting to feel like one of the rat pack and was taking every opportunity to make some space for myself.

After reconvening we all got on the boat to the other side of the lake were we would continue cycling through some more old villages before eating lunch and having some free time. The whole region is very picturesque as a large mountain range descends onto the lake and much of the old regional architecture and dress remain intact. The Chinese government is also taking efforts to protect the environment by charging a protection tax for everyone that boards a boat on the lake and fishing is only permitted for six months of the year leaving the boats lonely and unattended on the shore. Lunch was the usual good feed and afterward we spent an hour walking through the streets. Upon peeping through one of the doors, I saw a whole load of a suspicious green plants with five pointy leaves, commonly found in Amsterdam. As I would find out later the is a substantial industry in Dali.

Walking through some of the smaller passages an old lady was just leaving her house when she saw us. She then turned around locked the second lock on her door before walking away. I guess that would be normal if you see a hoard of tourists from foreign lands coming at you. At one point I managed to lose the crowd and ended up being the last one back on the boat. The return trip was fateful. We were meant to dock in a village far north of Dali and then cycle back, but the low water level and growth of weeds meant we were unable to get to the shore, so we continued to the next point were we also could not moor. Finally we docked were we left from but were now a few hours behind schedule, by which stage some were not in the mood to ride back, so they hailed a bus from the main road while the group cycle back. Not easy or pleasurable with the strong headwind and a moderate incline at the which broke the hearts of some who walked it. But we all made it, took photos of the Three Pagoda from the outside to avoid the fee and returned our bikes to the store. We where then left to ourselves for dinner and some drinks in the nightclub district, where local singers performed for the non-existant crowd.

The group had settled in by this stage and everyone was getting along nicely, and I was becoming lazier by the day. The following day I was interested in getting away on my own, and planned to head to a small village north of Dali as it was said that a small festival was going on. However two others decided to join me and after walking to the wrong gate because I got my North-S-E-W confused hailed a bus from the side of the road and travelled to Xizhou. Arriving on the edge of town we were greeted by Ponies with cart offering lifts and other city chaos. We walked into the town which was ripe with activity, though I could never really make out a festival. Walking down one of the market streets, we passed a small hairdresser and with time on my hands decided to have an impromptu haircut. Indicating to the old man waiting in the shop that I wanted a haircut he called to someone outback. Out came a middle aged lady with short hair whom I guess has recently migrated from Vietnam. Friendly she was not, but certainly willing to rip me off. We negotiated and with the help of the German, Tobias managed to negotiate a price. However never let a nearly bald man negotiate for you, for somewhere along the way the hairdresser had got the idea that I wanted my hair short like him. So I could only look on as watched my hair disappear at an alarming rate with inconsistent quality of hairdressing technique. It was too late to pull out as she continued to cut, and shave and cut, and shave until I was left with about 3mm of hair left on my head. Not what I wanted, but if I wanted a real haircut, I should
have gone to a real hairdresser! Left left on good terms and with hair freshly cut and washed we proceeded through the market street. At the end of the street we came to a small square with lots of stalls with food to eat and locals dressed in traditional clothing. I order some noodle with the deft use of my fingers while those with me looked on with skepticism. To old ladies on the same table started smiling and talking about us and eventually for reasons I cannot remember she pulled out her pension card with a photo and age. we found this quite charming so I pulled out my drivers license and showed it to them which they found amusing. And so we communicated a bit, with the help of Tobias, our personal translator. I asked if I could have a photo but they refused. they will live on in my memory though. It was reaching the end of the day so we headed back and like usual the bus found us rather than us it and so we were back in Dali in a flash.

We ate dinner as a group again expertly ordered by our fearless leader Anton. Marga and Nelleke who had spent the previous days in Lijang joined us halfway through and we had drinks together back at the hotel with the tour guides and others from the group. At the end of the evening we parted again vowing to meet up again at some stage. In the same way I will meet up with you, my beloved readers again.