China pics!

I continue with my series of pictures that should have been posted months ago, and in order, by offering you, humble reader, these images from my few days in China. Namely the laid-back, welcoming city of Kunming, my most excellent first port of call, and then the old town of Dali, where I had my first taste of the Chinese domestic tourism industry.

Pictures after the jump:

Kunming... looked nothing like Kathmandu.

It was rich! and shiny! No one trying to run you over! (it turns out this was unusual for China as well, but I wasn't to know that just yet)

Just a street.

A guy whipping his top.

I loved this park, it was so calm and peaceful.

The lights all came on as I walked around it.

And tiny petrified animals supported the fixtures!

Scooters and bicycles have their own subterranean intersection, away from the cars.

This buddhist temple is supposed to be quite famous.

The best part of it was the hundreds of variously sized and shaped turtles in the water surrounding the main shrine.

Golden warriors strut the roof.

Deep-fried goat cheese, dipped in Sichuan Pepper (left). The taste was... unexpected. It's making me salivate just to think of it.

Oh, and this was amazing. So spicy, and delicious.

The town of Dali was really pretty, but it always seemed more like a museum or a theme park than an actual town.

One of the antique shops just had stacks and stacks of these old comic stories. I bought three: A traditional Chinese story, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, all in Chinese.

China's Stargate hasn't been used in Millenia.

I watched a silversmith craft some jewelry from scratch. 

He melts the silver...

Then lets it harden again. Isn't it shiny? Later he shaped and polished it. The End!

There was a flourishing garden on top of Dali's wall.

And people lived there too.

I went cycling up the lake to see what could be seen. What could be seen was an old town with some traditional architecture.

Like this place.

And this hostel.

Rural scenes in China were always good for photos.

And the lake was brooding and dramatic. Note the incoming rainclouds.

I found this tiny temple on the lake. They ripped me off for admission, but then I climbed their tower, so I guess we're even.

The weather gets closer. I was 2 hours from Dali by bike.

I got soaked. And so I stopped at a road-side restaurant for some noodles and to dry off. Then I left and got soaked again. It was a good day.