Lijiang

Having no idea what to expect of China we have been pleasantly surprised. We spent a few days in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, just getting used to the cold and full frontal language barrier. Kunming is a rather nice place all things considered, it's relatively pollution free and easy to navigate. Also, how can you not love a place with old people doing Tai Chi in the mornings and flying kites in the afternoon.
We braved another sleeper bus for the journey to Lijiang, and I'm just thankful that it will be the last one I will have to endure. This entire continent is not built for me. On arrival in Lijiang all lingering negativities from the bus trip vanished in seconds. Lijiang is probably the most beautiful town I have ever seen. Just think of a maze of cobbled streets, fish filled canals, antique homes, cheap beer, and good coffee. Just north of town the Tibetan plateau rises up from the plains of Southwest China, the Jade Dragon Mountain is how all mountains should look. Hopefully you can get some idea from the pictures, but somehow I doubt it. We spent a few days here just wandering around the streets, trying in vain to lose the myriad of Chinese tour groups. For some reason that we are yet to discover the Chinese still go around in huge tour groups with the stereotypical flag bearer. I don't see the point, if you can speak the language why do you need a helping hand to heard you around like cattle. The only explanation is if they can only travel in tour groups cause of some weird government big brother is watching thing.
We left Lijiang today and headed a bit south to Dali, another ancient town.