As previously stated, Lijiang was our big favorite. Laid back, not too many must sees, nice hotels and restaurants, the Naxi Orchestra with its very old members and little streets. From Lijiang, we flew back to Kunming and home. Since this trip, Yunnan has become almost inundated with tourists – both Westerners and Chinese tour [...]
“Travel Tips & Advice on Yunnan Province”
Random Yunnan, China Thoughts – What to See…What do Do…
December 8th, 2007 
Sheila Simkin 
Posted in China, Yunnan Province 
Tags: adventure, Asia, china, destination, event, events, information, landmark, Lijiang, log, nature, Naxi people, sightseeing, travel, what to see, Yunnan 
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Wonderful Days Discovering Lijiang, Yunnan Province, China
December 7th, 2007 Sheila Simkin Lijiang is separated into old and new towns. The old town is where you want to spend your time. We would walk out of the Grand Lijiang Hotel (very comfortable with wonderful American breakfasts), continue straight ahead across the busy new town main street and three blocks away was the old town. The old town [...]
Posted in China, Yunnan Province Tags: adventure, Asia, china, destination, event, events, food, information, landmark, Lijiang, log, nature, Naxi people, shopping, sightseeing, travel, Yunnan No Comments »
Tiger Leaping Gorge On The Yangtze and Lijiang in Yunnan Province, China
December 6th, 2007 Sheila Simkin After breakfast, a drive from Zhongdian to Lijiang via Tiger Leaping Gorge and the First Bend of the Yangtze River. The Yangze runs…no surges…between the Haba Mountains and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain through one of the deepest gorges in the world. It was a dizzy view looking down and through this 16km/9 mile gorge. There [...]
Posted in China, Yunnan Province Tags: adventure, Asia, china, destination, event, events, hiking, information, landmark, Lijiang, log, nature, Naxi culture, sightseeing, Tiger Leaping Gorge, travel, trekking, Yangtze River, Yunnan No Comments »
Napa Lake/Napahai, Shuduhu Lake and Songzanlin Temple in Yunnan Province, China
December 5th, 2007 Sheila Simkin The entire region of northwest Yunnan has beautiful mountains, alpine lakes and grass meadows. In order to protect the local natural resources, several nature reserves have been designated in the region including Napa Lake (Napahai), northwest of Zhongdian. There are lots of wildflowers around this “seasonal” lake in June according to the guide, and we [...]
Posted in China, Yunnan Province Tags: adventure, Asia, china, destination, event, events, Gyalthang, information, landmark, log, Napa Lake, nature, Shangri-La, Shuduhu Lake, sightseeing, Songzanlin Temple, travel, Yunnan, Zhongdian No Comments »
Touring High Altitude Zhongdian/Gyalthang/”Shangri-La” in Yunnan Province, China
December 4th, 2007 Sheila Simkin Zhongdian, known as Gyalthang in Tibetan, recently changed its name to Shangri-La. Our new guide was an English teacher who had the worst English of all the guides. Very nice but his poor speaking ability made it difficult to communicate and get answers to some of our questions. He was knowledgeable about technical facts that [...]
Posted in China, Yunnan Province Tags: adventure, Asia, china, destination, event, events, Gyalthang, information, landmark, log, nature, Shangri-La, sightseeing, Tibetan people, travel, Yunnan Province, Zhongdian 2 Comments »
Stop At The Great Shaping/Shapin Market, Yunnan Province, China
December 3rd, 2007 Sheila Simkin Our Dali guide would ride with us to Shaping/Shapin Market and then as far as Zhongdian where we’d meet our new guide and spend three nights. Shaping Market is only held on Mondays…today… The Bai people from the surrounding villages of Lake Erhai, including Dali, come to buy and sell fruits, vegetables, poultry, animals, hardware, [...]
Posted in China, Yunnan Province Tags: adventure, Asia, china, Dali, destination, event, events, information, landmark, log, nature, Shangri-La, Shapin Market, Shaping Market, sightseeing, travel, Yunnan, Zhongdian No Comments »
The Mt. Canshan Area Of Dali in Yunnan Province, China
December 2nd, 2007 Sheila Simkin We took a chairlift up to the Zhong He Temple in the Cangshan Mountains for great views of Dali. You can walk up but it’s not easy to find the proper trail if you are alone. Ask someone. I found it interesting that the stock for most azealas grown in Europe was sourced from wild [...]
Posted in China, Yunnan Province Tags: adventure, Asia, Bai people, china, Dali, destination, event, events, information, landmark, log, Mt. Canshan, nature, sightseeing, travel, Yunnan, Zhoucheng No Comments »
Hanging Out In Popular Dali, Yunnan Province, China
December 1st, 2007 Sheila Simkin It was time to leave Banna and fly to Dali. Goodbyes to Sam (we’ll never forget the great food he ordered for us) and we were on the way. New guide, new driver, new hotel…The Dali Hotel in the old town. No link to this one and hopefully they are out of business. What a [...]
Posted in China, Yunnan Province Tags: adventure, Asia, china, Dali, destination, event, events, information, landmark, log, nature, sightseeing, Three Pagodas, travel, Yunnan No Comments »
A Day Trip to Menglong/Damenglong in Yunnan Province, China
November 30th, 2007 Sheila Simkin Back in our “nice” Jinglong Hotel, there was time for one more day trip to Menglong (about 70 kms/40+ miles south of Jinghong), only a few miles from the Myanmar border. Now 70 kms/40 miles doesn’t sound like much unless you’ve ever ridden on one of these “roads.” It takes hours to get anywhere. On [...]
Posted in China, Yunnan Province Tags: adventure, Asia, china, Damenglong, destination, event, events, information, landmark, log, Manfeilong Pagoda, Menglong, minorities, nature, sightseeing, travel, white pagoda, Yunnan No Comments »
Visiting Aini Villages On The Way Back To Jinghong in Yunnan Province, China
November 29th, 2007 Sheila Simkin Xishuangbanna is extremely tropical and consists of rainforests, plantations and rice paddies. The 13 ethnic groups make up a sizable majority of the over 500,000 population in Banna. The Aini/Hani people are the most common minority group in Xishuangbanna after the Dai. The Bulang, Jinuo, Wa, Lahu and Aini were the main tribes in the [...]
Posted in China, Yunnan Province Tags: adventure, Ainy, Asia, Bulang, china, destination, event, events, information, Jinghong, Lahu, landmark, log, nature, sightseeing, travel, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan No Comments »
