Dali Butterfly Springs

Tuesday August 20th

We were supposed to have this tour the previous day, but we ran out of time, so we had it this day. Unfortunately, the "butterfly" in butterfly springs did not live up to its name, so we couldn't emotionally scar Jiayin for life.
Me with the Golden Flower girls. They were all over the place charging 5 yuan a picture. I had to pay and I didn't even dress up. I want a refund!!
It was a long... long walk... too early for a walk.
Time to re-enact Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Everyone was putting their hand in the running water... dunno if it was supposed to be for good luck or something, I had tuned out the tourguide by this point. One of those necessary look nice for the camera in a pretty place moments. Can you believe i used to hate cameras?
4 Hour Busride to Lijiang

Yes... I said four...
But it was alright
It could have been more
But new roads were built
To shorten the way
It could have stolen
More of our day
But even if so
I did not mind
Four player Mario
Passes the time
It's nice to relax
Be close to my friends
I secretly wish
The ride never ends
We were there so early that the shops had not even opened yet. But then again, Master Zong would have killed me if i bought one of those cool rock landscapes.
LIJIANG - TUESDAY AUGUST 20

I remember the tourguide saying that Lijiang is one of the places Shangri-La is believed to be based on. I'm not sure if i remembered that correctly, but after touring this place, it might as well have been Shangri-la. It was idealized beauty. The city, especially Oldcity Lijiang was awesome. And the mountains that we would tour the next day were incredible. It was a city hovering thousands of feet about sea-level, so if you ran short of breath, you weren't sure if it was a physical response to altitude, or an emotional response to what you saw. Alright, i'm done with the corniness.
Touring Oldcity Lijiang

We stopped at the Hotel to unpack and unwind a bit, but then they offered us optional tours... as long as we returned to the Hotel by 6PM for dinner. I decided to follow the tour through Oldcity. It was a maze of cool shops, alleys and dead end streets. Everything was mad cheap, but the tour guide told us to do the shopping on our way back. And that is how the adventure begins....
Another nice hotel in Lijiang
In the beginning, everyone pretty much stuck together... it was a follow the blue flag moment... literally, look at the flag...
...there were Naxi women in their traditional blue clothing...
...Our tourguide had much to say... but honestly, she was a little scary... i was scared of her. Here, she was talking about the Naxi language and their writing system...
There were many sights to see... birds in cages, various shops, even Italian cafes, even an Adidas store.
...Susan, on the other hand, was not scary like usual... Must be a yin yang balance thing. ...The water ran pretty clear and there were lots of bridges, walkways and paths in this maze of a city... it all seemed quite inconsequencial... for now...
Big Estate, Mansion, Governer's Residence... or something...
...honestly, i had no idea what this place was. I think i remember the tourguide saying that it was from some wealthy family or something. At this point of the tour, we had the option to tour the estate, to go back to the hotel on our own, or to shop... but be back in an hour to be bussed back to the hotel. Scotty and I decided to continue on the tour cause... it's China... might as well.
...On our adventure, I encountered a vicious beasts... ...so did Scotty... but we were somehow able to survive...
Behind the facade of shops and tourism, there were actually people living their everyday lives here.
Alex, Scotty, Me, Bill, and Phillipoo
...water adds symmetry and beauty... until you see what's floating in it sometimes... The whole complex was what you expect to see when you think of China.
Random Memories: Porno Techno, Bill's fortune, French Movie
...We went into the highest building, which happened to have a religious function, so no pictures inside. But I took a picture out the window to see where we have been...
...From there, we walked all the way back to the entrance of the estate... then were given a choice... to continue the tour to the pagoda on the hill, to follow a tour guide back to the hotel, or to go free and shop and find our way back ourselves. Me and Scotty decided to shop, cause there was an instrument shop that caught our attention on the way there. And also, i wanted a bell...
So we walked on and on down streets that all looked the same. We were definitely lost, sometimes crossing paths with other lost souls in our group like phil, bernie, and alex. Me and Scotty were constantly debating whether or not some landmarks looked familiar. But I insisted that i knew the way, and told scotty to trust me... he did. I actually followed the currents of the river to get back to the entrance. We eventually escaped Old city... but i never got the bell... so sad.

But that was half the adventure, from there, we had to get back to the hotel in just over an hour...no problem, so i trusted Scotty who insisted he knew the way. He remembered seeing our hotel when we were on the hill. So we walked on and on... for half an hour. We ended up at another hotel that only looked like ours. So we kept on walking... on and on...until we literally reached the edge of the city. There were no more tall buildings and shops, i wish i took pictures. At that point, without much time to make it back... we set aside our egos and hailed a taxicab. Costed only 6 yuan, and we got back to our hotel in less than 10 minutes
keep the change
Later that night... Bowling. Once again, the hotel we stayed at had a bowling alley. And once again, I had one of the lowest scores. For a while, i was actually doing well, so i ended up with a respectable 75. I even had a strike... BAM!!! ...pose. And once again, Phil paid for it. Thanks Phil.
Rocky is stealing my wushu bowling moves.
Master hu with his crazy bowling style.
Later that night, Me, Timmy, Scotty, and Lindsay became members of the Chinese soccer team.
Guys, i decided to split Lijiang up.. so that i you can enjoy these pics sooner, and so that i can do my homework.