Yuányáng Rice Terraces

I spend two days walking the hills and dales of the Yuányáng Rice Terraces and am pleased to report that in spite of the brochures advising me that the development of rice paddy tourism was imminent it is still a quiet and laidback area of China with small villages dotting the hillsides and people just going about there business herding the water buffaloes and farming the rice.
It was quite pleasant to see a bit of China that didn't have thousands of people standing in front of each sight and indeed while I was walking about I never saw a single other tourist.
The rice fields are apperently being nominated for inclusion on the UNESCO world heritage list and I am not suprised. Starting at 200 meters altitude they go all the way up to 2600 meters with some paddies the size of a soccer field while others aren't much larger then a single square meter.

Fake iStore (part 2)

A note on my earlier story on the fake iStore. Just before I left the city council in Kunming declared that they had closed down three fake Apple stores.
Unfortunately they somehow missed the two largest ones on Jinbi square and in the main shopping street leading off from there.
Ah well maybe their bribes were all in order.

Fake iStore

The shop in this photo has become moderately famous over the last week. Together with a similar one, both in highly visible areas of the main Kunming shopping district they have turned out to be fakes.
Someone went to a real Apple store either in China, there are ones in Beijing and Shanghai, or the USA and copied them wholesale from the shop front and layout to the shirts their staff wear.
The merchandise in the one I had a look at appeared to be fake as well or perhaps factory seconds. I doubt Apple would normally let shoddy workmanship like that out of the door though.
Steve wont be pleased.

Now how did this happen?

One of the young women running the guesthouse referred to me this morning as Uncle Coffee while she was talking to her friend behind the counter.
Surely my habit of ordering two cups at the same time for breakfast has nothing to do it.

Cooking

Rice & Friends is a new cooking school set up by a lovely young lady named Luxi. She speaks perfect English and has set up her cooking school in the court yard of the house she lives

Jasper and Senne from Denmark were the other two aspiring cooks and we were taught how to make a tofu salad that dispelled my long held belief that tofu is tasteless and should be generally avoided. Then we did an eggplant and garlic dish that was something I will definitely have to add to my repertoire back home. To finish it off we cooked a stirfry chicken dish with chilly and a sesame oil sauce.



I will post some photos as soon as I can persuade my computer to talk to the Internet again. This message is send from my telephone.
Edit 22/07/2011 Fixed

Seen on he street

Chinese

I know it doesn't amount to much but while I was out shopping yesterday I managed several times to put my newly learned Mandarin to good use and was able to hear and understand prices as well as tell people what my shoe size was when buying a pair of sneakers.
I was rather pleased with that.

A rainy day in Lìjiāng

The trip to Lìjiāng takes an hour by train or four hours by road. Needless to say the locals know this and make sure that they book their train ticket well in advance. The rest of us take the bus.
The trip is scenic enough going through forests, fields and mountains. Unfortunately the reason for the duration of the journey is that a large part of the road is unsealed while a new highway is under construction. As it had rained all night and still rained during our bus ride that meant large mud puddles everywhere.
Lìjiāng is a bit like Dali with ancient buildings under construction, lots of hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops. It does look more genuine though. There are narrow cobble stone streets, little bridges and small streams everywhere. It looks like the set of a Chinese period movie.

Lìjiāng is 2400 meters above sea level and this is the first time during this trip that I am actually cold. I think I'll have to look for a jacket or a sweater tomorrow. As my sandals are beyond repair as well, a new pair of shoes is probably in order as well.

A walk through the hills.

The Cang Shan range is right at the back of Dali and I decided like thousands of others that today would be a nice day for a stroll.
To get going you take a gondola from Dali to Zhōnghé Mountain and then just follow the path, which is the only fully paved mountain trail that I have ever come across.
There are only very gradual up and downs with seats and little shade shelters every few hundred meters.
Hiking for the seriously lazy!



On my way up I got talking to a chap with the somewhat unusual name of Forest, who was here on a holiday from Taiwan, and we decided to tackle the trail together. Like myself he liked to walk rather then amble and we covered the 11.5 kilometer distance to Zhōnghé Temple in just over two hours.
To get down the mountain is as easy as getting up only this time you take a chairlift.
Another nice days walking.

Dali

I am currently in Dali which I was told was a quiet laid back town in the mountains. Well it's near the mountains alright. I's also the most touristy little town I have been into years. Sure most of the tourists are Chinese but they are tourists all the same. The old town is scenic but wall to wall souvenir shops and restaurants. I'll see if I can get up the mountain tomorrow. Apparently there is a nice walk along one of the ridges.

The photo is a pagoda that was build about eleven hundred years ago and one of the top attractions in town. The entry fee is over $20 so I just took some photos from the outside.

Another day in Kunming

We walked and walked and walked. I have the blisters to prove it. Matt had to get some onward travel to sort out so we walked around to look for travel agents.

Instead we found a pagoda.

With a young skater in front of it.

And after a long day we had noodles and watched the lights go on in Jinmabiji square.

I am still really enjoying myself out here and hope to do some more sight seeing before heading to Dali on Sunday.

Vietnam Visa

My visa for Vietnam arrived this afternoon as promised and tomorrow I'll be moving on again.
Probably Chiang Rai tomorrow and the border with Laos on Monday. I anticipate to be about two weeks in Laos before going to China.

Visa

Much to my surprise my visa for China arrived without a hitch. It is tenable for three months and valid for a one month stay, so that is progressing as planned.
Quite good service from a company that goes by the name of Pilot Purely.
Go figure.

Visa

I have applied for my Chinese visa this morning the procedure was about as easy as it can get.

1. Go to travel agent in the hotel courtyard.
2. Give him to passport, photos and money.
3. Sign bottom of Visa application form.
4. Come back on Friday evening to collect visa.

I must admit I am a little apprehensive about all this but I have dealt with this agency before and never struck trouble before. So fingers crossed.

Watch this space!

I am currently waiting for my flight to Bankok where I expect to be for a few days to sort out a visa for China. Then it will be north to the ancient monuments of early Thailand, east to Laos then north again to China. After a loop through southern China I hope to return to Bangkok via Vietnam and Cambodia. This first part of my trip should take about three months.
After that I'll fly to Nepal for some trekking before heading back to New Zealand for some rest and relaxation and undoubtedly some work.