At first glance, Lijiang looks like a Chinese theme park designed in the South African Casino style -cobble stone roads, little canals, young girls running around in traditional costume with jeans underneath and of course enough lighting to be visible from space. This was not the traditional old Naxi town I had read about and was looking forward to. But once you move out of the commercial heart of Old Town, it becomes another place altogether. This is the China t...

School Daze(d) and Confused... We have discovered the two crucial rules to volunteering: Rule #1: Make sure the place you volunteer is actually interested in having you there. Rule #2: Make sure the people you want to volunteer to are actually available to be volunteered to... So we began our "Project Goodwill" wanting to spread our goodwill and mix it with their goodwill to make the world feel well... good, you know? Off we went to Shuhe to teach ...

Life is difficult... my wife keeps giggling like a little girl and keeps saying "I'm so happy, I'm so happy" all the time. It's raining in Lijiang and my first bottle of Dali Beer is almost empty... I'll need to walk downstairs and get another one. And for some reason I can't type "lijinag" (see !?) - "Lijiang" correctly. Like I said - life is difficult. Quick backtrack for those still with us: We got the final visa (Schengen) aft...