Along with fresh produce and homemade goods, the market also features meats: preserved, fresh, and living. Smoked and preserved meat like this were being sold outside of the shed along the alley. The butcher shed, a pavilion of about 60 vendors selling fresh meats. Not a freezer or pair of rubber gloves in sight, thisRead more
I don’t recall what this is… It’s the design above the doorway of a restaurant, I think. My first experience with the “Open Air Market” (Ancient City Zhongyi Market) in Lijiang was frustrating. I couldn’t find my hotel, and I wandered into the opening of an alley from which market vendors expanded out fromRead more
I had originally flew into Lijiang, but immediately took a bus to Shangri-La and I didn’t get much of a chance to see Lijiang until the evening I returned. Surrounded by granite mountains, deep gorges, and red clay hills, Lijiang lies within a 8,000 ft high level plain crossroads of established trade routes and minority cultures. The developedRead more
The next morning we wake up early to visit the temple and then eat before our flight back to Lijiang. It seems as though in the Tibetan plateau, things get off to a late start. 9 am and many things are closed. People are just starting their day. Before entering, we circle clockwise 3 times. TheyRead more
After the Monastery we returned back to Shangri-La old town and I set out on my own to explore the temple before the sun went down. Music is playing and people are dancing in the square. Turns out there is a huge temple on a hill right around the corner from myRead more
Shangrila breakfastat the hotel: pork noodles, pickles, milk, rice porridge, stuffed buns and an egg. The valley west of the city is sparsely populated and pretty flat. Primarily grassland, it is used primarily for agriculture. In spring crops of flowering plant light up the valley with color. At this time it was pretty barren.Read more
I flew from Chengdu to Shanghai to take care of some business (meeting with localization companies). The plan: work in the day, head out and enjoy Shanghai at night. I didn’t eat on the plane to Shanghai. I thought I would land and be in a packed urban environment with as many awesome foods asRead more
Japanese Food in China We head to a Japanese chain restaurant. This is beef ramen. Beef teriyaki kabobs. I have had teriyaki meats many times in the USA… this one really rocked my world. Authentic teriyaki is less sweet, more salty, potent. It coated the beef and transformed its flavor into a whole new experienceRead more
We walked down the road in late afternoon, passing by a few villages along the way. The sun is low, but enough light to get some decent shots… the issue is… in the mountains here sun is hot when you are in it, but the shade is ice cold. So, walking around in the day,Read more
The next morning we check out the map of the national park and realize so far we have seen roughly 25% of the must-see sights along the forked valley. We decide to grab a bus and skip past the area we saw yesterday. I’m starting to feel better. I don’t know the nameRead more
Jing snagged VIP tickets for the Chengdu Panda Rescue Base and Joni and I headed there early. Lucky for us, the place was not at all busy, and the shooting conditions were fantastic. Butterfly looks like a leaf. We head to the nursery building first to see the newborns. We then stopRead more
For my second trip to China, things are a bite more straightforward, more familiar, more comfortable. I replicate parts of my first journey for less culture shock when landing. I skip through Shanghai and land right back in Chengdu to meet with my good friend Jing and revisit my new favorite foods. This time, IRead more