Hi everyone, I am actually back in the states with unblocked internet, yay! I haven't posted in so long. Partially because I have been super busy, and partially because I feel that when I post, my time in China will sure to have finished. Thus, I waited. And then procrastinated. And then just didn't want to do it. But, alas, I (think I) have ( Read more... )

So I have returned from Sichuan! It was such a relaxing break, it was a nice change from Yunnan. So on Sunday, as you know, we took a 25 hour train ride down to Chongqing, which actually is not in the Sichuan province, but it’s quite close and a while back was the same province. Anyway, it was pretty uneventful. I sat around and read, played an ( Read more... )

Here are just a few pictures I took during the Yunnan trip ( Read more... )

When we got up to leave on day 13 of our trip, we were happy to get out of there, although some were grumpy because they were unable to shower. I tried to take a shower, but it was pretty miserable so I made it quick. We were driven to another large hotel in order to eat breakfast. The hotel we went to had a beautifully decorated interior which ( Read more... )

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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... )

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... )

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... )