Recent content by lightm

Last post as I am heading back to the US. Lot of work waiting for me to do. The first chicken I saw in this trip... It was in An Chang. The town in the last post. He's been tied as you can see. Then my uncle told me some interesting fact about chickens! (He was with me in the An Chang trip.)...

That is a quite accurate description. This is why I like it. This bazaar has been like this for hundreds of years. It is not fake. The tourism only enhanced it. Thanks!

My uncle, who is 79 years old, used boats as transportation to go to nearby villages for business 30 or 40 years ago. But gradually and inevitably, we filled in lots of rivers and built roads. Only some places are preserved. Yes I do. But maybe not home exactly anymore..., more like a place I...

May 28th (again). This is a different old town nearby (north of Shaoxing city center, closer to Hangzhou). It's called Anchang old town. It is more established, more genuine, attracts more tourists. It may not show on the pictures, but I do think it is a better place for visiting. Pig heads...

Oh Chipie! Her video, especially towards the end, reminds me of a Charlie choplin movie 🤣

May 28th: Being a tourist in my own hometown This is a new-ishly developed tourist site in the suburb of Shaoxing. An old fire station, built by Europeans apparently Inside display. Looks like similar mechanism to get well water. Town center A Taoism temple Free tea in the temple. It...

May 25th Saturday Early morning flight back home. Our airport is in Hangzhou, about 35 miles away from hometown Shaoxing. I stopped in Hangzhou to visit a friend. Below is the starting point of the grand canal. It goes all the way to Beijing, ranging 1100 miles, supposedly the longest...

Yes. I wonder how they like it. No doubt they took a HUGE hit during Covid.

May 24th Friday, car ride from Dali back to Lijiang. We visited the landmark of Dali: Three pagodas. It is very grand. I love it. The main pagoda was built during 800s, so it has been standing for more than 1000 years. It has withstand several earthquakes on record. The two other pagodas were...

Yes it is popular. People often go there if they visit Dali. If you want to have the best photo, you need to spend money in a coffee shop, restaurants, or hotels. These business places have the best perspectives for photos. You are asking really good questions here. I honestly don't know a...

May 23rd, Thursday, heading to Dali Dali is 174km (108 miles) south of Lijiang. It is built around a beautiful lake called Erhai. Thursday and Friday's tour is driving around this lake. This is in a town in Dali called Shuanglang. It is a beautiful town by the lake. In this photo local...

You technically can. People give you a stink eye. I have used cash twice. If you don't need change, then you are probably OK. If you need change, they often tell you that they don't have change and you are stuck... Occasionally business have change. Many big stores, especially stores in a...

Your Pu'er tea looks nice :-) I regret to say that my knowledge about tea is below average Chinese. I think it is largely due to politics. China is not in good relationship with many European countries or US, so these countries will advise their citizens not go there. According to some BBC...

I think one does need to be able to speak/read Chinese to visit there. I saw a big foreigner tourist group in the airport, so I think the best bet is to follow a tour group. There are MANY bars in Lijiang and I ran into foreigners quite a bit. Before Covid, or 12 years ago, when China was more...

It does stay very cool in the summer, especially with its high altitude. The town does not need AC. According to some conversation with the locals and observation, my guess is that the architecture is built throughout and has about 800 years of history. Some locals still live there, but more...