Beautiful Yunnan

Yunnan Province is gorgeous and has officially skyrocketed to the position of my favorite province in China.

Honestly, if I were coming to China for 2 weeks, the one chance I had to come to China... I would fly into Beijing, spend a few days around Beijing to see the most important sights, like Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall... then fly to Lijiang, spend time in Lijiang (or Dali), then onto Guizhou's small minority villages - one is Xijiang, and finally onto Guangxi province to see Guilin/Yangshuo area. This is truly the China people envision when they think of China. (Have you see The Painted Veil? This is what I am talking about for the second/third part of the trip.)

Anyway, we are now in Guizhou Province - I think which is officially known as China's poorest province. The city we are in is surrounded by karst limestone hills, which makes for very beautiful and unique topography. Unfortunately, our guidebook warned us about the locals' love of dog meat. Consider me officially a vegetarian while I am here. Thank God for Pizza Hut!

Here are a few pictures from our time in Yunnan. I am disappointed that I was sick during the time we were in Kunming - I really, really wanted to see the red fields (东川红土地), but unfortunately, that wasn't meant to be. I am, however, feeling much better, thank you for your well-wishes, they worked! :)

These photos were all taken in the ancient city of Lijiang... yes Lijiang can be touristy but it's beautiful, has a special ambiance and is definitely worth a visit. It reminded me of Pingyao in Shanxi.







The countryside

This is the first bend of the Yangtze River


Naxi Villages




Tiger Leaping Gorge... yeah so the actual park was closed, so in typical China fashion, some guys trying to make money offered to take us to the other side...

We went, and came across this. Pretty sure this side was more dangerous than the closed side.... seeing as how half the road was gone and all....

Workmen working towards trying to prevent any (more) crazy landslides

The gorge

That's it for Yunnan. There was so much more amazingness to see, but like I said, I got sick and we had to rearrange our travel plans.

Feeling much better here in Guizhou! Though the weather report said a high of 80 and a low of 65.... I am currently freezing seeing as how I am working with a high of 40 degrees and we didn't pack anything warmer than a fleece!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway here!

Steph

Only in China

Why am I blogging from a hotel room, you ask? Why am I inside and not exploring Southern China?

The answer would be... that... I am sick. Again. I'll have you know, prior to moving to China, the last time I was sick was 2007. Moved to China and something is always making me sick! I blame it on the food situation... anyway... hopefully this will pass before we move on tomorrow. Night trains, while sick, are not fun. I know, because I was "lucky" enough to experience it the night before last.

Anyway, I was looking through some of our pictures from the last couple days and some were making me laugh.

This picture was taken inside a kid's playroom. Baowei Zuguo, 保卫祖国，means "Protect the Homeland."


I thought this was hysterical, seeing as how it was in a children's playroom, and the drawing is of a little kid carrying something like an AK-47!

And then around town, we saw some awesome signs and translations..



The same Chinese, two different English translations.

And I think we can all agree... shopping should be rational!

I was going to add a few more pics, but am suddenly feeling tired and am going to rest. DON'T FORGET to enter the giveaway!! Enter in the post below this one.

Steph

What, a giveaway?! Not Just Another Blonde in Beijing's China Treasures Giveaway!

School children walking down a street in Lijiang, Yunnan Province

HI everyone! Right now I am in Yunnan Province, China, and having an absolute blast. Everywhere I turn there is something beautiful to see! Yunnan Province is home to about 25 minority groups, and their influence is seen everywhere I turn. One of the things that has caught my eye the most here are the beautiful scarves being sold on every street. Weaving and dying is a tradition among the ethnic groups here, so the scarves here are really one of the area's special products.

According to an article I found online, "the embroidery and dyeing consists of many processes, such as brushing patterns, twisting and tying, soaking, dyeing the cloth, steam boiling, atmospheric drying, taking out stitches, rinsing and grinding the cloth, among which the knotting and dip-dyeing are main processes." From what I have read, all the dyes are naturally occurring and found in different plants and berries.

After walking through stall after stall of these beautiful, colorful scarves, I decided that because this area of China is so beautiful and unique, I really want to share part of this with one of my readers.

For this giveaway, I can't really say exactly what will be in the "treasure box" I send, because as of right now, I'm not entirely sure. I DO know there will be one of these beautiful scarves, dyed by a woman part of China's Bai ethnic group. There are also going to be other goodies, all of which are a surprise, and will be hand-picked by me. Think of it as a care package full of unique items handmade (mostly) in China.


There is more to China than the cheap manufacturing and crappy products so many of us associate with the country. China is really a special place and I am hoping to show that through this giveaway! I am hoping whoever wins this giveaway will walk away with a greater appreciation for this country.

Giveaway Rules

1. Must be a follower
2. Must live in the United States or Canada
3. I WILL ship to APO/FPO addresses
4. Tell me what colors you would want your scarf to be. I can't promise it will happen, but I can try!
5. Leave me your e-mail address, or another way to contact you

Deadline to enter this giveaway is Halloween, October 31st!

Good luck!

Heading to Southern China!

Alright ladies (and the few gentleman that read this blog),

We are off for a 2-week trip to Southern China! We have lots of adventures ahead of us, several overnights on trains, visits to small minority villages, rice terraces, and cruising on bamboo rafts down a river! Lots of beautiful scenery to see, and I will post a ton of pictures when I return. SO excited about this trip.

I'll be on periodically and may possibly get in a post or two while on the road... we'll see!

In other news... the one pair of J. Crew final sale flats did not fit. The left shoe fit, the right size was 1/2 a size too big. They will possibly let me return them. I mean, I've never had that problem before so I maintain that it has to be an issue with the shoe!

Anyway -

Take care everyone! Talk to you soon.

Steph

..but...Anthropologie made me do it!

For over 6 months I have successfully avoided Anthropologie, both in store (obviously) and online. Unfortunately, that has come to an end. After a friend showed me a new skirt she bought from Anthro, I decided to browse and see what Anthro was offering in terms of sweaters - you know... something warm... for winter.

Unfortunately, I didn't find anything that actually had a real, practical purpose... but I did walk away with the Facile Camp Shirt. It was love at first sight. I had to have it. I told myself "No, no, Steph, do not buy this shirt, this shirt will NOT keep you warm during a Beijing winter." I told myself "Steph, NO, you might move to Hawaii, you would have absolutely no use for a shirt like this in Hawaii." (Oh yeah, friends, there is a chance I might move to Hawaii after this! But it's just a possibility... If we move back to San Diego, I will have the chance to wear this beautiful shirt again... though I am not going to lie, we are really hoping for Hawaii!)

Last night, I successfully talked myself out of buying this shirt. This morning, I successfully talked myself out of buying this shirt. But after class, I came home and once again set out to find reviews and saw it on lovely K over at Vurbanity.

And so I bought it. Promptly. Especially because one size sold out overnight and I panicked and...yeah.


So it will be on its way to me shortly! The husband really loved the shirt and told me I should get it. Who am I to argue?!

The other thing I was looking for were a pair of simple, camel-colored flats. I had been eyeing Cole Haan's Astrid Ballet Flats, but kept holding off due to the price - $148. They finally went on sale at Neiman's, and I was able to snag them for just $66 - and free shipping (you know I love that!) They are also one of the Nike Air flats and are supposed to be comfortable - we'll see.


I'm hoping all my recent purchases will fit when they finally arrive! It would really suck to have to send back and wait on returns all the way from China. I especially hope the shoes fit... I am really hurting for flats! Hopefully at least 1 pair (of the 3 I bought online) will fit me.

I'm also anxiously awaiting a bunch of long sleeve shirts and long sleeve thermal shirts I bought from the gap... it's quickly cooling down here and my winter wardrobe is sad!

What are you guys hoping to, ahem - acquire - soon?

Steph