Sichuan!! Today we're leaving for Sichuan ( Read more... )

The next morning, we returned to the same restaurant as the night before for famous Dali pancakes, which are more like a crepe. After, I went shopping with Lilly, Andrea, and Caroline and bought some pants that looked like Lilly’s that I have been harping on her about since last semester. I was still a little feverish (but taking ibuprofen to keep ( Read more... )

Mercifully, we did not have too early of a day, and we departed at 8:30. We headed to the Dayi Tea Factory in Xishuangbanna, which is Yunnan’s biggest Pu’er tea producer. Pu’er is the only type of tea that ages. Also, it often is packaged in the form of cakes, sometimes with intricate carvings on them. Unfortunately, since it was Chinese New Year ( Read more... )

One thing that I got sick of in Yunnan were noodles. Frankly, I am a noodle girl, I think I like them more than rice, but when we got them for breakfast, it gets a little ridiculous. Anyway, we went to a noodle place for breakfast. The next village (on 2/11) we went to was the Yi village, the ethnic minority I’m doing my project with. The day ( Read more... )

let's see if this works

[IMG]http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx285/akwan_in_beijing/Beijing%202010/IMG_5588.jpg[/IMG]

So the theme of our trip is long bus rides. On day three (2/9) we woke up super early to take the bus. It was meant to be a 4.5 hour bus ride, but it turned into 6. We made it to Zuofu village of the Hani minority group around 1:30. It was the first time that this town had gotten a tour group of our size, but it is the 3rd largest Hani village in ( Read more... )

...an epic failure. A dunce. A flibbertigibbet. Anyway, I have been promising my readers (if you're out there) that I'd update my blog about Yunnan. Yet it's been over two weeks since I've return, and I've only posted once about Yunnan. So again, justifying the whole "I'm a failure" thing. I am so sorry faithful readers (if you're really faithful ( Read more... )

So here we go. I start the massive postings about Yunnan. Again, I apologize for not posting earlier, but plunging back into school was pretty painful, and now things are sort of under control ( Read more... )

Happy Chinese new year! You may think I'm late, but actually the Chinese celebrate the new year for 15 days. It started on the 14th of February, and today is the last day. Right now, tons of fireworks are being set off outside. Many of them are very impressive, including huge ones that shoot into the sky and blossom, like the ones we see during the ( Read more... )

This was the first memorable phrase that I said during our long two-week trip to Yunnan. Basically, it was a whirlwind of an adventure. I think it's so special, I need to write about everyday. Unfortunately, that will be a lot. So I will not write today, since I am tired ( Read more... )