Kunming, Yunnan: I've finally arrived! I've lost a few things along the way: my bags (between New York and Beijing), my lunch (thanks to an abalone allergy) and any confidence I had in my ability to speak Mandarin. But, more importantly, I've gained my first look at the culture I'll experience for the next three months and the excitement that comes with being in a new place with unknown adventures just around the corner.

Already, I'm confronted with a new world. The streets are crowded with motorbikes, all manner of beeping vehicles, and hundreds of bicycles carrying everything from huge bundles camellias, to a young yak and an entire flock of chickens. People are everywhere on the street, selling their wares, napping, spitting, doing Tai chi, you name it. Life is lived much more in the open here: shops are all open to the street and public places are treated like a living room. (Or bathroom, sometimes :) It adds a feeling of vibrancy to the air and makes things gritty and immediate, reminding you that life is all around.

Tomorrow I begin to make my way north into the mountains and to Shangrila. I'll stop first in the ancient Naxi town of Dali for a couple of days of eating banana pancakes (local specialty for tourists) and biking to the nearby lake. Next I'll travel further north to the tourist center of Lijiang just below Jade Snow Mountain (a sacred mountain that makes my heart skip a beat!) From Lijiang it's only another four hours by bus to Shangrila...

P.S. I get a kick out of some of the English I see around. I found this in my Kunming hotel room on a small card reading, "A Kindly Recommendation"

"Steamed stuffing Bun
The steamed stuffing bun is a traditional snack of Dian flavor. The skin makes use of low tendon flour power, and fully ferments, converting alkali, and cranking out the soft skin with the best lard. These have sweet and salty two tastes.
When the steamed stuffing bun comes out of the cage, the heat place was ajared, and looming the stuffing. Each the steamed stuffing bun fills up with a lustration white paper to avoid stick the cage. Tear the white paper, your can enjoy the absolutely best local snack."