China HK 2007: Lijiang, Yunnan Province - China

From Dali, we took a 3 1/2 hour bus ride toward Lijiang that traversed over what was supposed to be a "paved road" (it felt like the world's longest ass massage, and or, ass pulverizing), to finally arrive at the last stop on our tour.

But first, a few pics from my favorite rest stop:

Along the way, we stopped at this giant "imporium" that sold
all kinds of items: Gold, Silver, Herbs, sunglasses, etc... and
it was filled to the brim with all the other tour groups along
the route.

In the back were workers that were either carving jade,
sanding stone, or doing something between the two. We
watched them through the glass as they watched is, curiosity
all around, like some museum display.

I wish I had a wide angle to show you guys, but believe
me, it was like a shopping frenzy in there.

Ah, Lijiang. This is just a small square that is a fraction
of the overall old town that were were about to walk into.

As promised, more sidewalks that open into a river.
These gaps are much larger, so little-tiny bridges dart
the sidewalk, like we're giants.





Here's the perfect place to ditch your tour if you're not
happy with the one you're with!

Lijiang loves to kick it up a notch -- here, you can pose
on horseback as a Chinese "Davy Crockett".




I didn't worry about it much at the time, but I'm glad now
that there wasn't an earthquake or something or else
this crowd could get real ugly real fast. I'm also
happy that it was open air.


Like Egyptian Hieroglyphics, these are pictographs from the
Naxi language, and you have to guess the meanings from the
pictures. I think it reads "Beef Fried Rice, $4.99".



Here is Mu's House -- he was an ancient chief in the
old city. Let's take a look around his pad:






It only took a short climb up a hill, and onto the balcony
of a local hotel to get this view. Now THAT is a lot of tile...


And as the sun sets, the lanterns light up, and the drinks
and dancing starts flowing...







And so ends the first night of our stay in Lijiang. The next
day would be my 28th birthday, and boy, did the powers
that be have something in store for me...

Next Up: The Moment That Changed Everything