The week in Yunan province has been rich with many different cultures, flavored, and landscapes. The closeness to Tibet and Myanmar, the presence of a visible Muslim population, and the various ethnic minority groups (Bai, Yi, Naxi) influence everything from cuisine to architecture. Having spent the past week in mostly rural areas, I have been impressed with the diversity of household crops-- cabbage, corn, potato, pepper, tomatoes, peaches, apples and dozens of...

The last four days I have felt very grateful for the invention of gortex-lined shoes. The rain stopped late this morning and I made a bee-line for the bike rental. The shopkeeper needed a passport for collateral and I did not have mine with me. Fortunately, it turns out my Boulder RTD (bus) card carries a lot of weight in Yunan province. I think it must have been a gesture of ground transportation provider solidarity. Getting the bike was easier than getting t...

Well, the inevitable "Chairman Mao's Revenge" gripped hold of my intestines and would not let go until I unleashed the mother of all antibiotics -- Cipro. I hate using that stuff because in addition to wiping out the bad tummy organisms it also trashes the good ones that keep me healthy. This is the paradox of modern pharmaceuticals. I am 100% recovered! Dali is another kind of paradox. An ancient city at the shores of a great lake... With a pizza joint on eve...

Mrs Li is a well know Naxi guide who i accompanied yesterday on a walking tour through Naxi and Yi minority people's villages. Both groups are strongly matriarchal societies in which the women drive economic life, tending to diverse crops (peaches, corn, wheat, apples, livestock) and household. According to Mrs Li men do very little which was pretty much what I observed throughout the day. That said, it may be that Mrs Li 's cultural assessment is colored by her ...

I walked the alleys and stairway streets of old Lijiang for nearly five hours yesterday and saw no foreigners. The old stone streets run alongside narrow irrigation canals criss-crossed by stone bridges. Everything moves at a pedestrian scale and pace as cars are not permitted in the old section. Everything is immaculately maintained, with clean public restrooms at every turn. This is not an inconsequential feature considering the amount of tea being consumed! T...