Dear friends, the reason why I’ve been silent for a while is that I got a gig playing with an orchestra (as part of the orchestra) for a contemporary composer’s concert, and have been rehearsing everyday at the Central Conservatory in Beijing. I’ve learned a lot of very interesting things over the course of the 5 days period, it’s been tiring but … concert tonight!

这是一座在一位当地胖金妹笑容里微带些苦楚的话语“我们丽江也要感谢93年的大地震。”出现的城市。最早，我是在《好想好想谈恋爱》里面看到她的。那时候，她看上去平淡朴素，美丽而真实。

现在，我坐在Well Bistro, 这家我们这4天每天都光顾的一家西式咖啡屋里，也许是古城里少有的很安静的一家，坐落在一个小巷里的，当年忽必烈曾经饮过的古井边。我们喜欢这里的音乐，当然还有那种古城里白天黑天都难得的安宁。

我是一个二十有几的女孩，可是在我眼里的酒吧一条街是最不吸引人的地方。主流文化和原始古朴好像是舒曼一个脑袋里面的Eusebius和Florestan. 我们只能感谢主流文化让更多的人认识丽江，给这里的人们带来更多的富足和进步，可是那逝去的古朴却是永远找不回来了。这种古朴不仅仅是古城里的居住环境和民风民俗，更多的是那种没有铜臭的浮躁和喧嚣。走在街上，看到满街来自暴富地区的游客，除了金钱没有其他追求的年轻人，他们是来这里体会那种独特的文化么？那些根本不屑把香烟吐在别人脸上一脸横肉的男人，随意提出要和男人做爱的年轻女孩，一件物品开价天高的生意人，告诉我抽烟喝酒是因为闲着没事做的纳西年轻人，让我感觉到这座古城特别的空虚，特别的陌生。

每每举起相机望进取景器的时候，我看到的总是灰色。常是犹豫地按下快门，留下一堆不想处理的影像。

再美的景色没有美丽的内心都是灰色的。我很高兴至少我听到了纳西族放开嗓子在林子里喊出的山歌，我看到了在下了2,3天雨以后出现的双彩虹，经历了一些骇人耸听的见闻。我现在很想让我的指甲长长的双手碰到钢琴。我还想念4年前的西藏。

明天晚上启程，回到昆明。

I drank too much white wine with the Naxi people the other day, threw up all night and stayed in all day yesterday. Other than that, Li Jiang hasn’t been giving us the best of the best by showing us a cloudless and rainless day for the past three days. Today, the sun had finally came out at dusk, but tomorrow, we are headed to Shangri la!

We are told that it will be cold and the air up there is thin (4000m of altitude). I was suggested to carry a can of oxygen when we go hiking. Sound slightly burdensome, but we’ll see what happens. If the weather forecast is reliable, for the next two days in Shangri la it’ll be rainy.

The inn we are staying at in Li Jiang Old City is beautiful. Outside of our window we can see pretty much the whole town because we are situated on the slope. Here are some pictures for now, and wish us the best tomorrow and the day after!

June 1^st

5:45am: waking up

Now, waiting at the airport to board on the plane.

I have heard a lot about Yun Nan and the cities we are going to be visiting, my father has also repeated told his traveling stories there while showing me the beautiful pictures he’s taken. Still, I’m not quite sure what to expect.

It is such a coincidence that my friend Ben will also be going to the same cities as us in Yun Nan. We are going with different traveling groups, but perhaps we’ll meet in Li Jiang in three days or so! We first met in Toronto and haven’t seen each other for about a year, it’d be such a pleasure to see him in the beautiful town of Li Jiang.

5:39PM

Almost 12h since we woke up! Sitting in the cafe called Lampone by Cui Hui Park in the capital of Yun Nan province, Kunming, writing a brief update.

Plane ride was around 3h, today I was told by Kun Ming natives that it’s an especially hot day. Everywhere seems to be greener and slightly more moist. I cannot help but to notice the beautiful girls strolling on the street, and the dominating number of motorcycles over bicycles on the streets as well as in the parking lots for bikes.

We’ll be leaving for Da Li at 7pm, then spend the night there. Tomorrow we’ll tour Dali.

Our first dish here in Kun Ming: Bamboo beef.

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A corner on the street.

For the same reason why Torontonians don’t go on the CN Tower for fun and New Yorkers don’t hit the Statue of Liberty on the weekends, real Beijingnese don’t usually drive for an hour or two to see the Great Wall. But actually, maybe that’s not entirely true because I remember going there at least twice in my childhood, so when I revisited the Great Wall today, it was a whole new experience.

Now, there are about three major sections of the Great Wall around Beijing, namely Ba Da Ling, Mu Tian Yu and Si Ma Tai. The one we went to today was the Mu Tian Yu. The Great Wall at Ba Da Ling is known for its majestic beauty, and Si Ma Tai is especially steep at many places and difficult to climb. So I guess Mu Tian Yu has got a little bit of both.

It rained periodically today, as a result it was very cool and breezy up there. The same reason why you would revisit an old book or an old piece of music, the feeling you get everytime you come back to it is very refreshing yet inspiring.

It seems that Eric and I will be heading to Yun Nan province in two days. We may be visiting Li Jiang and Shangrila, as well as Kun Ming and Da Li. We haven’t really packed, and it seems like we both don’t know what to expect until we get there!