I arrived in Kunming in order to meet up with my Intrepid tour group to tour around the Yunnan province in Western China. Before coming to China, I wasn't sure how easy (or hard) it would be to travel in more touristy Eastern China, let alone Western China. I also wanted to do a 3-day trek through the Tiger Leaping Gorge so I thought it would be easier to just book a tour through the area. After doing some extensive research, I decided on Intrepid Travel, a reasonably-priced tour company geared towards responsible and adventure travel. First of all, I would like to say that for a tour company, I've been very happy with Intrepid and with their leaders, level of service and efficient travel. But I definitely could have done it on my own, especially after traveling through China for the last 3 weeks. I could have saved myself some money and had the freedom of traveling without a huge group. Well, I didn't know what to expect when I was doing my planning and it actually ended up to be pretty fun so I can't really complain. But a note to savvy travelers out there, you can do it on your own!
For the most part, I've been traveling with other backpackers around my age and its been a lot of fun, traveling, drinking and joking together. So I was pretty surprised when I met my group and saw the wide range of ages and nationalities. But everyone was really nice and all had interesting stories from their past travels so we all ended up getting along really well, which is hard for a 12 person group (many beers also helped!). Our leader, John, was also fabulous at breaking the ice and getting everyone together. Plus, being the only single female, I was able to get my own room the ENTIRE time. All the Intrepid groups get to stay in actual hotel rooms with doors, en-suite bathrooms (most of the time) and privacy but the single travelers have to double up. And, let me just tell you, after all these months of travel, its unbelievably nice to get your own room. Seriously, I don't think I've stayed in nicer places than on this trip! Its really important to treat yourself every once in awhile so it ended up being exactly what I needed. I actually laughed out loud when I saw my hotel room on the first day. It was a real room! With a bathroom and a TV! No dorm beds, stinky sheets or dirty backpackers. I emptied my backpack and spread my stuff all over the place. Bliss.
The trip was a 10-day trip through the Yunnan province, going through Kunming, Lijiang, Dali and, of course, the Tiger Leaping Gorge, which deserves its own post. We were moving pretty quickly so we really only had 1.5 days in each town but it was enough to get a taste of what it was like. Kunming is like any other large city in China with over 3 million people so I spent most of my time watching BBC World on my TV rather than exploring the city. At this point, I'm a bit big-Chinese-citied-out.
But Lijiang and Dali were both different stories. Both these places have a new and old part of town and the old parts were filled with cobble-stone streets, different architecture and various Yunnan minority groups like the Naxi and Bai people. Lijiang has mostly Naxi people and the architecture is Naxi with wood building and narrow streets. The city was struck by a 7.0 earthquake about 10 years ago but most of the old architecture survived, earning it a World Heritage Site designation by UNESCO. But what I like most was its laid-back, hippy feel. There were lots of Western cafes and tourist shops around but there was very little hassling or annoying shop-owners. I could actually walk into a shop and browse without being hassled by an over-eager salesperson. As a tourist, you come to really appreciate these things. Definitely, a completely different vibe than from the big skyscraper cities in China. It looked like Yangshao but without the frenzied touristy feel. I could actually sit at a cafe, have a coffee and just watch the day go by.
The view from our hotel in Lijiang. The water actually flows throughout the entire town, sort of like a mini-Venice though I've never been there (next world trip!). 
Shangri-la? Maybe, except I don't think there were hords of Chinese tourists there.
We had a traditional Naxi dinner at a family home. The one good thing about having such a large group was that we got to order so many different dishes! One of the best meals I've had.
Mmmmmm, chiles....
You could even send these flowers with candles to honor your ancestors in Lijiang. It felt very Karate Kid II when Ralph goes to Japan. My only complaint Lijiang was the incredible number of Chinese tourists. The Yunnan province is a big tourist draw for the Chinese and Lijiang was definitely capitalizing on it. At night, the picturesque streets of Lijiang would be filled with "authentic" Naxi dancing (complete with thousands of flashbulbs going off from the tourist cameras) and screaming people in restaurants. It was like party-central for the Chinese. But it was still a lovely town and a perfect place for me to relax and space-out (being a tourist 24/7 is hard work!).
I couldn't get myself to take a picture of the Naxi dancing but I did get a photo of them on a break. Their traditional dress was very interesting with this cape thing in the back. As much as I liked Lijiang, Dali was even better. The town has basically rebuilt over the last 5 years to "preserve" its cultural heritage but it lacks some of the authentic charm of building that are actually old. But despite the weird new-trying-to-be-old feel, it was even more relaxing and laidback than Lijiang since there were less screaming, partying Chinese on vacation (unsurprisingly, Dali is mj central of China. We got approached constantly with "smoke? hashish?"). There were great cafes, restaurants (Jim's Peace Cafe had the most amazing Tibetan food) and interesting shops. The best part though was actually feeling like I was in a small town where I could walk everywhere without being afraid of getting run over or pollution constantly blowing in my face (there were actually blue skies here!).
John, the tour leader, and I even decided to rent bikes and ride partially around Erhai Lake, the 7th largest lake in China. That was even better because we got to ride through villages, see farmers planting rice, kids playing in the water and agricultural life in China pass by. 800 million (yes, million) people live and work in rural China so it was great to see how the majority of the Chinese people live their lives. The Yunnan province also holds the greatest concentration of minority people outside of Tibet so it was great to see a mix of cultures and try different types of food (even yak cheese. SO GROSS.).
China has more bikes than any other country. So when in Rome, right? 
We got to ride right along side the lake and through these small villages.
An old sunken canoe? gate? in the water.
An old man fishing in the lake. Not sure what he caught here.
John, taking a break and enjoying the view. Our ride was very idyllic except when we met the main road and rode with exhaust billowing in our faces (cough, cough).In general, I like traveling through the countryside and away from the big cities so it was great to finally experience it out west. I got to see a completely different view of China, which is actually harder than you would think to find in this huge and varied country. My only regret is that I didn't spend enough time out here but I figure I will have plenty of time to relax and enjoy small-town life in SE Asia. I also ended up being very happy with my group. Its great to be able to meet so many different types of people and share such different experiences. Thanks guys, for such a great trip (I wish I had a better group photo)!! Sorry this post is so long but there's lots to write about!
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