Day 114: Changning, Sichuan Province

We set off on our 3 hour bus ride to the Bamboo forest in the southeastern part of the Sichuan Provence. The bus ride ended up being double what we were told when we bought the ticket! Joseph got sick on the bus ride, which made the trip seem even longer than the anticipated 3 hours.

When we finally got inside the Bamboo Park, which is 120 sq. miles and home to more than 30 types of bamboo, we found the closest hostel and grabbed a room. Allowing Joseph to rest, we headed out to see one sight before the sun went down. We went to see the sight that gives this park it's name, the Bamboo Sea. It is given this name because the day fog settles in the small mountains that cover the ground, creating a sea of fog. However, the fog was so thick we could barely see the mountains in the distance.

We decided to walk around mountain and through some of bamboo forest. It was cool to see how time has worn down on some of these stairs. 

When we got back to the top of the mountain and tried to get a bus back to our hostel. Now that we don't have Joseph, it is a little more difficult to get things done. We figured out that the busses are no longer running so we had to make a walk back. When we got close, we grabbed some quick dinner before we rested the night away.

Day 113: Chengdu, Sichuan Province

Today, we had the intention of going to the Panda Research Center to get a good look at many different species of Pandas. Unfortunately, we didn't end up going. Since I got to China (Hong Kong included) it has been raining, so we are trying to plan our next move out of this province so we can get away from the storm. We decided to head down south and then make our way up to the Shaanxi province to get some good trekking... That is our plan as of now. We spent the rest of the morning calling and buying the necessary bus and train tickets for the next week or so. Got a lot of planning out of the way.

By the time the afternoon rolled around, we realized it would be too late to go see the pandas; by around noon they get really lazy and just lay around all day. So we decided to explore some of the concrete jungle of Chengdu. Not too much to see... We popped in an outdoor store and Joseph got a few things for the possible treks ahead. 

Afterwards, we just hung out at the hostel, and I read into a few possibilities as to what to do after China. For dinner, we went to something called hot pot. At hot pot, there is a large pot in the middle that holds a bunch of broth and spices; it has a pepper in it called mala, which has a slight numbing effect it is so hot. We ordered a variety of meat and vegetables and threw them in the pot to let them cook. About half way through, we had rid ourselves of any stuffed noses and were patting our facsd down with a small towel. Hottest thing I have ever consistently eaten.

After dinner, Joe and i went to a bar that the guy from Greenville, Matt, that i met in Hing Kong recommended. it was in the top of this tall apartment building with shops and restaurants at the bottom. when we got to the top floor, all we saw was normal apartments. Once we got to the end of the walkway, we saw a small room with an open door and a porch. There were a handful of young expats inside. it was a cool quiet bar were we could relax before we headed out tomorrow. Called it a relatively early night so we could make it to our early bus ride.

Day 112: Chengdu, Sichuan Province

We had a good part of the day to explore some of Lijiang before our flight to Chengdu. 

Our original plan was to go from here to the Tiger Leaping Gorge, a great trekking spot in the Yunnan province, but the rain in the area is pretty bad for the next couple days. We set our for brunch in the street food market; another helping of Yak meat on a stick (my mouth is watering writing about it). When we were grabbing our Yak sticks, this family came up and wanted to take pictures of us. They one by one put these old women in between us for a photo. It's like we are a celebrity in this country!

After lunch, we headed for the center of town and did some good people watching. I am not sure what it is but Chinese people love to wear Cowboys hats. Also, you would think it was raining with all the umbrellas people are using to block themselves from the sun. Women dress very elaborately to impress the men and they also wear some intense heals and platform heels. People are constantly sneezing very loudly or hoking loogies (both men and women). It is always makes Joseph and I laugh (there were even buckets in the bus to Dali from Kunming for people to spit in).

We eventually ducked into a cafe to read, drink some more Tibetan Butter Tea, and hang out until we needed to get moving for our flight. The flight wasn't bad at all and from the airport we took the bus to the closest stop to the hostel. At the hostel, Joseph and I met up with two of his friends that he had made while traveling; Tom, a guy from the UK, and Su, a Korean-American girl from NY.

That night we headed out to Bar Street, which was a street full of expensive bars. On our way, we grabbed some street food. The 'cook' was fascinated by us and took to me because of my height. Joseph taught him how to say, "how are you?" in English and let out a happy laugh to my response. 

Most of the bars were rather empty, so a guy from each bar was trying to get us to come in their bar. We negotiated the price and went to the lowest guy. After that beer, we decided to grab a beer from the convenient store and just walk around. What do you know, they had Pabst Blue Ribbon, one of the last, mainstream, American beers... Had to buy one.

Day 111: Lijiang, Yunnan Province

We went out to the main part of the town to grab some lunch, and there was plenty to choose from; a lot of street vendors selling a smorgasbord of finger foods. We first got Yak meat on a stick, so good.

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the town. Dali is full of tourists; however, they are all Chinese, I rarely saw a westerner. Many of the Chinese people are so amazed by a tall westerner with a beard. The girls will walk by and keep looking at me, I will then wave and say, "Ni hao" (hello in Mandarin), and the will wave back giggling amongst their friends. The men usually come up and measure themselves against me, "wooow, hahaha." I will admit, the Chinese people are very short.

Joseph and I decided we were going to grab a couple beers then call it an early night; he wanted me to choose the first bar. How did I pick it out, the one with the best looking girls outside of it... The bar/club was pretty hilarious. There was this stage with this guy singing on it (terribly) and everyone had these hand clapper things (hard to describe, see picture) and had them clapping constantly. They had all these crazy shows going on through out the night. There was a special during happy hour and we got a big discount if we ordered 10 beers, why not?

Lonely Planet told use that the population in Dali was 80% women, and it wasn't joking, there are girls all over the place. Joseph told me this is the first time in the three years that he has been living in China that he has seen a group of girls at a bar sitting at a table without men with them. Looks like a perfect opportunity to brush up on my Mandarin. Eventually, we had a group of girls who were at the table next to us join us. Luckily, the girl who sat next to me spoke a little bit of English but the language barrier was still pretty bad. To illustrate how bad it was, I told her that I started my trip in China in Shenzhen. She had no idea what Shenzhen was. It wasn't until Joseph said Shenzhen with the proper Chinese twist that she understood. So yes, communicating with a Chinese person can be difficult. 

As you can imagine, we decided not to call it an early night. A good night with a good friend, locals, and a table of beer; what more could you ask for in China?

Day 110: Lijiang, Yunnan Province

We got a good start to the day and had the whole day to spend in Dali before our 7:30pm flight to Lijiang. We set out and rented bicycles (not mopeds) and headed for the large lake at the edge of the town. Once we got out of the center of town, we started to hit the more rural area of Dali. Rice field upon rice field followed us the whole was to the lake. Each rice field had an army of old ladies farming the rice.

Once we got to the lake, we were rather depressed. Since the weather was still pretty bad, it was hard to see the mountains on the other side of the lake because of the fog. 

After we left, we grabbed some lunch at a nearby hostel. As I watch the people go by, I started to realize how old the old Chinese people are with their leather tan skin and arched backs. One lady stopped in front of the hostel and started heavily patting her mother's humped over back. Not sure why, I guess she was trying to relieve some of her mother's back pain?

As soon as we got onto the bikes, it started to rain again; we have been terrible at dodging the rain. We returned the bikes and headed back to the hostel to get everything together for our bus ride to Lijiang. 

We got into Lijiang around 11:00pm and got a cab to our hostel. Our hostel was in a great spot; close to the center of this small town and only foot traffic allowed on the streets. This place is what you would expect of an old Chinese town with the Chinese style roofs, big red lanterns, and narrow roads and alleyways. 

Day 109: Dali, Yunnan Province

As you can imagine, we had a rather slow start to the day; not to mention the weather was terrible outside. We eventually made it out to the center of town and walked around for a bit. As the rain picked back up, we sought shelter in a cafe and ordered some Tibet Butter Tea. It sounds weird, but this stuff is actually really good and was served to us in a small bowl and a large tea pot. Our conversations carried us through the afternoon as the rain perfectly complimented the hot tea. 

After the rain dwindled away, we set off to hike up some of the mountain that is behind the town. Of course, as soon as we started hiking, it started to rain again. We pushed through until we came across a dog that didn't take too kindly of us walking up this path. With a large rock in my hand, we slowly backed away and retreated to the hostel.

We rested up for a bit and then headed back into the town for dinner and some drinks. We stumbled upon a great place that served Yak burger. So delicious! Haven't had a Yak burger since Muktinath, Nepal. From what I have heard, Yaks only live at high altitudes, so I am taking advantage of this while I am here!

Afterwards, we headed back over to the Bad Monkey. We got our own table and enjoyed the live music; they even had a Chinese belly dancer who later brought out a sword and was dancing with the sword balanced on her head. Apparently, Chinese people can't dance, so it was rare to see someone who could dance as good as she could. 

A group of Chinese guys sat down next to us and began to talk to us Chinese people are very interested with westerners, especially if they can speak Mandarin like Joseph can, and they love to practice their English. They took some photos with us and were so excited to be with us. It was another good night, hanging out with some Chinese people. 

Day 108: Dali, Yunnan Province

So today was full of traveling. I jumped on the train and rode it all the way to the airport for my flight to Kunming. Every mode of transportation that I have come across in China is cheap.

Once I landed in Kunming, I caught a cab to take me to the bus station. The city of Kunming is surrounded by mountains and the city itself was flooded with apartments being built and industries pumping out smoke. One of the smoke stakes even had straight up yellow smoke coming out of it, that can't be good for the environment!

Once I got to the bus station, all these locals came up to me offering a cheap ride to Dali; seemed pretty sketchy, that's probably a way that a kidney or two disappear. So, I bought a bus ticket for a 5 hour ride to Dali. I was a little concerned about whether or not I was actually going to Dali because there was a huge language barrier. 

Didn't really have my eyes on the windows, I used this time to catch up on some reading. When I was looking out the window, we were surrounded by mountains under a dark cloudy sky. About halfway through, we stopped at a rest stop to grab some food and rest. I grab a stick of cooked potato slices covered in spices, pretty good. 

Once we got close to Dali, the sky was really weird. The mountains on either side of me trapped in the dark sky with the clouds' help; however, off in the distance, the sun was setting. So where I was, it was pitch black dark, yet the sky was bright in the vast distance. It was an amazing combination of weird and cool.

The bus stopped in the new town of Dali, where there is large buildings covered in LED lights. I knew that this couldn't be the place I was ment to be. My friend, Joseph, was waiting for me in the Old Town, so I had to figure out how to get there. With a huge language barrier and a sheet of paper with Mandarin directions on it, I asked around and got onto another bus to take me to where I needed to go. The bus was small and filled with a handful of people, yet it quickly filled up and had many people standing up shoulder to shoulder.

Once I got to the Old Town, I had no idea of where to go. I asked some guy where the address was on the sheet of paper and he pointed me in the right direction. As I was walking, I noticed the old man was following me. He is either trying to help and wants a tip or I am about to get jumped. He continually pointed me in the same direction as I gestured for him to go away. I asked a police officer for a better set of directions. He took me to the road where the hostel was supposed to be. I left him and the old man and headed down the road. I must have paced up and down that road 10 times with people at one end pointing me to go to the other end and vice versa. No hostel to be found. 

On the edge of the road was this temple thing with shops in the center. Luckily, one of them was still open and the lady spoke pretty good English. She took me in and called the hostel, and someone from the hostel came and escorted me back to the place. What a relief!

When i got to the hostel, it was great to see a firmiliar face. To think that I haven't seen him since our last encounter outside of a bar in Da Lat, Vietnam; at the time, I never thought traveling in China together. After I got settled into the dorm, we headed out with some Chinese guys who were volunteering at the hostel. We ducked into a bar called the Bad Monkey and we got a tower of beer and a pipe of shisha for the group. Eventually, Joseph brought out a deck of card and we played some drinking games through the night.