China

It is one incredible experience after another. We thought Cambodia would be hard to beat, and then we arrived in China. We were based in the city of Lijiang, a charming surprise because this was the time we were scheduled to go to Tibet. That trip was cancelled, of course, because of the unrest in the ocuntry.

Lijiang is in the mountains of the Yunnan province which is located in the southwest of China. A city of 2 million people, Lijiang is home to the Naxi people. Throughout our time here, we learned much about these people and their lifestyle. We visited the beautiful Black Dragon Pool Park and the nearby Dongba Research Institute where we had the opportunity to meet with a Dongba, or holy man, who graciously answered all of our questions about his life.

We traveled to the majestic Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, the southernmost marine glacier in the Northern Hemisphere which is always covered in snow, for a presentation of Impression Lijiang in the highest natural performance field in the world. Performed by 500 actors and 100 horses, this performance blew our minds. The actors are local farmers and they perform 365 days a year, two performances a day. They were originally volunteers, but are now subsidised by the government. The show was created by three well know Chinese directors and involves song and dance over a stage that is several levels high and is backed by the Snow Mountain. Spectators are given seat cushions, bottled water and ball caps as they enter and sit on stools or benches at the foot of the mountain. As we sat there, the wind would occasionally whip so hard we had to hold onto our hats, but the sun was beating down so we were warm and cool at the same time.

Our day ended with a stroll through Lijiang's Old Town, an enchanting network of ancient wooden homes and small spring-fed canals that wend their way along the narrow streets. My camera is getting tired, and I have to keep running to catch up with my friends because I keep finding more lovely spots that must be photographed.

We left lovely Lijiang to journey to the city of Kunming where we would meet the rest of our group that had visited a different part of China for a few days. Once in Kunming, we journeyed to the Stone Forest , a limestone karst outcrop located south of the city. The pillars in this forest were created by the sea hundreds of millions of years ago.

While in China, we ate most of out meals at huge round tables where they kept bringing out dish after dish. We ate yak, turtle, rabbit and varieties of things that I really didn't want to ask about. The night we arrived it was my birthday and we invited four couples to join us for dinner. We told the staff to just bring us food...and they did. The plate of chicken feet didn't get much play, but the large whole salmon was a hit. I was pleased, and surprised when they brought a beautiful birthday cake for us to share. This was my second cake of the day as the flight attendants had presented me with a cake on the flight in to China. And thanks to Dave for making this day special.