Suitcase arrived

This morning, a courier that works for American Airlines finally delivered my suitcase.

Leaving China

Today, we flew out on Dragon Air from Chengdu to Hong Kong and then got on a half empty Cathay Pacific flight to Los Angeles. There, I said bye to my parents who were flying back down to San Diego. I flew on to Dallas and then to Nashville. Since I still wasn't felling very good, I didn't eat much on the flights.

Unfortunately, my suitcase didn't make it to Nashville. According to American Airlines, it was still in Dallas.

A day in a Chinese hospital

On September 21st, we were supposed to fly back to the U.S. Unfortunately, at around 3am, I felt sick and was in the bathroom until around 5:30am when I called my parents room telling them I felt really sick. We decided I probably needed to see a doctor, so the night manager at the hotel took us to a nearby Chinese hospital. After seeing the doctor and getting a blood test and stool test done, the doctor recommended some medicine and that I put on an IV drip to get rehydrated. I didn't leave the hospital until after 8pm.

I was hoping that I wouldn't have to squat in a squat toilet on this trip, but unfortunately, that's all this hospital had and in my condition, I had no alternative but to use them.

Last official day of the tour

In the morning, we visited the Giant Panda Breeding Research Center. Our timing was good because the pandas were quite active and eating. We also go to see baby pandas and lesser pandas (aka red pandas, aka firefoxes).

Afterwards, we stopped by a silk brocade factory and then had lunch. At this point, we went with Al and Terri to the airport to drop them off for their flight to Thailand (which just had a coup). My parents and I then headed back to the hotel and then walked around to find mooncakes to buy.

For dinner, our guide took us to another xiao chi (little eats) restaurant. We got there via pedicab.

Chengdu

In the morning, we drove about hour to Gongkar Airport to fly to Chengdu.

At Chengdu, we met our guide, Ray, checked into our hotel, the Yinhe Dynasty Hotel, and then went to the Sanxingdui Museum. This museum has many exhibits about the archaeological discoveries that were made in the area.

At 7pm, we went to see a Sichuan Opera performance. This performance included traditional opera, rod puppets, hand shadows, fire spitting, and face changing.

Afterwards, Terri and Al went shopping, while the guide, my parents, and I went to eat at a xiao chi (little eats) restaurant.

Last full day in Lhasa

Today, we were supposed to visit the Ganden Monastery, but some reconstruction was going on so our guide moved some things around and in the morning, we visited a tradition Tibetan hospital where a doctor told us a bit about Tibetan medicine.

For lunch, we ate at the Tibetan Lhasa Kitchen where I had steamed yak momo.

In the afternoon, we headed to the Sera Monastery. One of the main interesting things about this monastery is that the monks debate in a courtyard that can be seen by the public every day at 3pm (except for Sundays).

More of Lhasa

Our first stop in the morning was Drepung Monastery. It was once one of the largest monasteries in the world.

Next we visited Norbilingka, which was the Dalai Lamas summer palaces.

For lunch, we again went to the Naga Restaurant where I had a Yak and potatoes fricassee.

Afterwards, we walked around Barkhor Street to do some shopping.

For dinner, we yet again went to the Naga Restaurant. I had Yak bourguignon.

Lhasa

Our first stop in the morning was Barkhor Square in order to visit the Jokhang Temple. This temple is the spiritual heart of Tibet and contains many small subchapels.

Next we visited the Potala Palace. Everyone but my father made it up to the main buildings. Pictures are not permitted inside. Afterwards we visited a carpet factory where my parents bought a large wall carpet of the Potala Palace.

For lunch, we ate at the Tibetan Lhasa Kitchen where I had fried flat dumplings with yak meat. The rest of the day was spent resting.

For dinner, we ate at the Naga Restaurant where I had a yak burger and apple crepe. This restaurant is actually known for it's French food.

Samye Monastery

After an awful breakfast at the hotel, we checked out and took a very bumpy road to Samye Monastery, which was Tibet's very first Buddhist monastery. To take pictures inside, you had to pay 150 yuan (about $18) for stills or 1500 yuan (about $180) for video. Needless to say, I did neither.

We ate lunch at the monastery. I had yak and potatoes with rice and Tibetan black tea with salt.

We took the same bumpy road to leave the Samye Monastery in order to get on the main highway. At around 5:45, we arrived in Lhasa and checked into the Lhasa Hotel (formerly the Holiday Inn).

Tibet: Tsetang

We left our hotel in Zhongdian at around 7:30am and flew to Lhasa. Here, we met our Tibetan guide, Yarphel.

On the way to Tsetang, we encountered a speed trap and our driver got a ticket. A little after noon, we arrived a Tsetang and checked into the Snow Pigeon Hotel. It definitely wasn't as nice as some of previous hotels (water smelled funny, closet doors where broken, etc). For lunch, we could order our own dishes. Some of our dishes included fried yak momos and fried apple momos. Momos are Tibetan dumplings similar to potstickers.

After lunch, we visited Yumbulagang Palace, one of the first buildings in Tibet. Everyone in the tour group payed to ride guided horses up the steep path up to the building except for the guide and I. The main problem with the walk up for me was dodging horse droppings.

Our final stop for the day was Trandruk Monastery which is supposed to be one of Tibet's oldest Buddhist monasteries.

For dinner, one of the dishes we had was steam yak momos.

Zhongdian (aka Shangri-La)

In the morning, we left our hotel, the Paradise Hotel, in order to visit Bita Lake. A lot of wild animals used to be visible near the lake, but due to too many loud Chinese tourists, they aren't really seen much any more.

After lunch, we headed to the Ganden Songzanlin Monastery, which is the largest Tibetan monastery in southwest China. On the way back into the city, we stopped by a Tibetan household and then visited a market.

Tiger Leaping Gorge

From Lijiang, we drove about an hour to visit Shi Gu, or Stone Drum, which stands at the first bend of the Yangtze River. Here, the river is actually known as Jinsha.

On our way to Tiger Leaping Gorge, we got a flat tire. Since the lug nuts were stuck, our driver had to run to a nearby village to get some help to change it.

At about 1:45pm, we arrived at Tiger Leaping Gorge and met our new guide, Pasang, and then had lunch. Afterwards, we headed to a part of the gorge to see Tiger Leaping Stone. Because everyone else on the tour either didn't want to walk up and down the 300 steps or pay to have someone with a sedan chair take them up and down, Pasang and I were the only ones to make the trip down to see the Stone up close. According to legend, this is where a tiger crossed the gorge to escape from hunters.

We next drove about 2 hours to Zhongdian, which is now officially known in China as Shangri-La. The largest minority in the area is Tibetan. For dinner, we got to try some yak meat, barley wine, and some yak butter tea.

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Lijiang

We drove about an hour from Lijiang to a chair lift station at Jade Dragon Snow Mountain that would take us up to Yak Meadow at an elevation of 3700 feet. The station sold oxygen canisters for those who might need it. Unfortunately, the weather was very misty, so we couldn't see much.

On our drive town from Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, we stopped by a glacier river to see some yaks, and then continued on to Yuhu village to see the residence of Joseph Rock, an Austrian botanist who did a lot to protect Naxi culture. The streets on this town was covered with horse patties, so you had to be very careful about where you stepped!

Next, we stopped by Yufeng Monastery to see it's Camellia Tree of 10000 Blossoms and then to Baisha village to see it's frescoes and do a little shopping.

Before it got dark, we walked around Lijiang's Old Town and then had dinner.

Dali and Lijiang

In the morning, we visited Dali's most famous landmarks, the Three Pagodas, or San Ta. After that, we headed the Old Town area.

At around 11am, we drove about 3 hours to Lijiang. There we met our new guide, Jackie, and had lunch.

In the pouring rain, we visited Black Dragon Pool. If the weather is good, the area provides excellent views of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Unfortunately, it wasn't. We also went to the nearby Dongba Cultural Museum to learn a little about the religious culture of the Naxi minority people.

After dinner at the Naxi Family Cafe, we headed to Lijiang's Old Town in order to see an excellent Naxi Ancient Dance and Music Performance at the Dongba Palace.

Dali

Today we flew to Dali. At the airport we met our guide while in Dali, Zhao, and our driver that would be with us from Dali to Zhongdian, Mr. Su.

It took about 40 minutes to drive from the airport to our hotel, the Regent Hotel. After we checked in, we headed to the Dali Old Town in order to go to a bank since some of need to exchange some traveler's checks.

From Dali, we drove to the Bai minority villages of Xizhou and Zhoucheng.

At Xizhou, we went to see a Bai dance show. At the show, we we served tea. The first cup was bitter, representing life's hardships. The second cup was sweet, representing life's joy. The third cup was pungent with an aftertaste. The Bai word for "pungent" sounds similar to their word for "affectionate", and this last cup of tea represents friendship.

At Zhoucheng, we had lunch and visited a tie-die shop. From there, we drove back to Dali and got on a boat to cruise Erhai Lake and visit Jinsuo Island.

The Stone Forest

Today, we drove about 2 hours (not including stops) to the Stone Forest.

On the way, we nearly had a head on collision with a truck which had spun out of control on the slippery road. Luckily, our driver saw the truck coming and went in reverse. As as a result, we only got slightly clipped in the corner.

Shortly after our accident, we stopped by the small Sani minority village of Qixing, which means Seven Star village. From there, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant near the Stone Forest and then visited the Stone Forest afterwards and then headed back to Kunming.

While in Kunming, I bought some Pu Ehr tea cakes. This time of tea is tightly compressed into bricks or cakes and get better with age. They make interesting decorations.

Arrived in Kunming

We met our guide, Liu, at the airport and immediately went to our hotel, the Kai Wah Plaza International Hotel, to check in. After resting for a little bit, we met the other two people on our tour, Al and Terri, and then went to lunch.

After lunch, we headed to the Western Hills. There, we took a chair lift up to Dragon Gate Grotto. After walking down through the grotto, we drove to Hauting Temple nearby. From there, we heading back into the city and stopped by a flower market before returning to the hotel.

Leaving for China and Tibet

Today, I flew to Los Angeles, waited for about 4 hours, and then joined my parents aboard a Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong. From Hong Kong, we took a Dragon Air flight to Kunming in the Yunnan province of southwestern China.

The food aboard the Cathay Pacific flight was fairly normal. Braised beef and vegetables was the main part of the dinner, and an omelet for breakfast. The Dragon Air flight had dim sum for breakfast (har gow, siu mai, and turnip cake).