Downtown Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province, and a hub for exploring. Exploring what? Huangguoshu Waterfall scenic area for starters, which includes an amazing bonzai garden, etc…

More of Huangguoshu Waterfall scenic area. An amazing place with multiple access points. Thus, there’s more than one photo…!

An amazing feature of the Huangguoshu Waterfall is the “water curtain” – a cave/tunnel (mostly natural?) that goes behind the waterfall!!! Top notch experience – recommended! This batch includes the rest of the walk which involved a second trip up the wonderful escalators…

In addition the Huangguoshu Waterfall, the scenic area includes two other destinations – a weird/cool zone of natural rock formations and another waterfall. Sorry for not having all the names, but check it out anywayz………

How ’bout those fish?! Below is the second waterfall destination, which includes a large pool below and a bunch of other stuff…

That last batch concluded Guiyang, having returned there, and this next batch takes us to the Miao Village, a very scenic – now touristy – small town in the mountains. Spectacular views from the hotel – very challenging to get to, yet strangely charming. ! But first, views from the train – also nice…

More of the Miao Village, another scenic area which requires a separate fee, and engages many in the current pasttime of getting photos taken whilst donning local apparel. this big batch includes a Friday night dinner in the square for the local senior citizens. Fun to watch at the same time yakkin’ with the kiddos…

See the maps above – did the whole town! Below, the first of three dinners (three night stay) at the same cool place – great people, great food, etc.

More of Miao Village (cat town?), sorry can’t get Google for a link (but you can/should?)…

Miao Village is famous for being lit up at night – see above! Below is a last walk through the narrow and particularly steep passageways in this interesting little spot in great big China…

Faces above? People & pigs? Note the skewered frogs & fish, and the downy mildewed tofu. Etc., etc…

Next? Avatar?

First up, one last batch from Kunming before moving on to Dali.

That means this one’s gonna be a doozy, ’cause there were four nights and as many busy days in Dali.

Enjoy the old town, again, with a nice dinner in an old house of a rich woman, cocktail street, and other night moves…

Next morning’s breakfast followed by a train ride and a taxi ride to the Spirited Silky Inn, on the outskirts of old Town Dali. Then, a walk around Dali, including a hang with some local bluesmen…

This batch starts with a “Visual Ear Cleaning” shop where you can watch your ears being cleaned, including a couple live snaps of the deed being done. Then, more of a walk down the main tourist street in Dali, ending with a shot of the Spirited Silky Inn’s interior courtyard – a splendid atrium with a big pond & smoke on the water…!

Next day, the first of three zipping around on electric motor scooters, a nearby spot on Lake Erhai where there were many folks getting pix taken, often in local indigenous costumes – a continuing theme in China these days…

The very impressive Chongsheng Temple in Dali. Actually, it is a large area on a hillside with numerous temples and shrines, just adjacent to somewhat more famous Three Pagodas…

More of the Chongsheng Temple complex which is just above the Three Pagodas, shown here mostly one at a time…

Later in Dali, the discovery of Angel Bar, a very cool corner spot next to and affiliated with the Carnavores Restaurant. Down the street were many barbeque restaurants on the street. Note the fun example of smart phone translation apps. Such a life saver, in spite of the occasional (often!) mistranslations. A lot more in and around Dali…

Above and below, the next day’s trip to another anciet town further up the lake (almost an hour by electric scooter). First in this next batch is an actual antique shop – different from the myriad other tourist spots, filled with cool antiquities. This batch also shows a local town square, off the tourist track…

Had to go to a peninsula that reaches into Lake Erhai. Then, stumbled upon another photo shoot area amongst some rice fields, but also feature a miniature train track set up. I’m trying to encourage this young man to stop smoking, but he just laughted at me. Back into Dali for dinner, etc…

Next day, a trip up into the Cangshan mountain via cable car. But first a trip into the local museum…

On Cangshan mountain and the seven dragon maiden pools, a cascade of waterfalls, and swimming holes (that you can no longer swim in).

More of Cangshan mountain, and the walk from one cable car to another…

Last batch of Cangshan mountain, etc…

Back in Dali, back to the Angel Bar for a great dinner, and a last stroll around town…

I wanted to go to Dali because Jeff Fischmann, Dan Leanse’s cousin, recommended it enthusiastically years ago. Years ago it might have been cooler, more funky, known as Dalifornia. Those days have passed, but it’s still pretty cool.

What’s next…?

Here’s a pretty rich batch of video clips. Some train windows, OK…?

Giant Tibetan Prayer Wheel in Shangri-La…

Dancing in the streets…

Walking to the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery at Shangri-La…

Making yak butter tea at Tibetan home…

Our Tibetan guide explaining some wares at the local market…

Roller blading kids outside the old town…

On the road…

Tiger Leaping Gorge (at a low water point in the year!)…

Escalator ride to down to the Tiger Leaping Gorge…

Trekking along Tiger Leaping Gorge…

Our local guide “Evan” explaining Tibetan philosophy…?

A birthday wish for Julian…

On the road again…

In and around Lijiang…

Dongba calligraphy…

Tunes…

That’s enough for now…

Back in Kunming, this time the city was on the itinerary and Langer (our tour leader) took us to Yuantong Temple. First tho, some evening pix, including a historically old tree in the courtyard of a hotel (and was this still in Lijiang?)…

A walk around Kunming‘s old town, including more edibles, a groovy dancing dude, more shops (an on-going theme), and a cute kid with a pet bug…

Kunming has an animal (pet) market, which may not be palatable to some, but seemed pretty humane. In addition to the doggies & kitties, birdies & fuzzies, there were some weird frogs, lizards, and a whole bunch of amazing fish…!

In fact, our tour ended in Kunming, and I stayed longer, checking out more of the town, including the city museum. This batch includes some dishes from the farewell dinner, but sadly not the diners – our little group of five travelers. But of course, I couldn’t resist taking a pic of the poster for the German Dental Implant Festival – a great reason for a festival, eh…?

Boom, here’s the Kunming Museum, a surprisingly vast variation of collections…

Really loved this collection of paintings by Wang Hongyun – colorful, meaningful, fun to consider…

More of the Kunming Museum, including an exhibit about the Flying Tigers, formed to help oppose the Japanese invasion of China between 1941–1942. They were led by Claire Lee Chennault, who had an interesting career and eventually married a Chinese woman, Anna Chennault, born Chan Sheng Mai…

Kunming Museum continued…

Kunming, the Spring City, is known for its Flower Market….

In and around Kunming…

Couldn’t get enough of those fish at the critters market…

OK! I’ll stop.

For now…

This post might have a rather jankety chronology on account of the fact that my image numbering crossed the 9999 threshold and restarted. Oh well. Everything did happen here in this authentic, no-AI, real(whatever)time trip to China.

This batch is of Baisha Old Town on the outskirts of Lijiang we visited and a Naxi hieroglyphic or Dongba calligraphy class we took. Pix include some local building projects, the Naxi home we visited, the calligraphy class itself, and pictures on the wall – including one of Joseph Rock – an Austrian-American botanist, explorer, geographer, linguist, ethnographer and photographer!

Here’s more of the Naxi house, and the Baisha Old Town neighborhood around it…

More Baisha Old Town…

An embroidery shop supported by the government to keep the art form alive…!

Lunch, etc. – thereabouts…

Took the train back to Kunming and went to Green Lake Park, met some kids, and enjoyed the scenery…

More of Green Lake Park…

I reckon this batch is from when our tour arrived in Lijiang – interesting shops, pretty canals, fat blueberries…

More of that (find me with “Evan”!)…

And, yes, yet, more of beautiful Lijiang, including a special visit to a tea shop thanks to our local guide “Evan” and some personal guidance from young police girls to a historic French restaurant, etc…

Wow, that’s a lot, and here you are? Again?

Blessings friend…

Tiger Leaping Gorge is a scenic canyon on the Jinsha River, a primary tributary of the upper Yangtze River. It is located 37 miles north of Lijiang City, Yunnan in southwestern China. It is part of the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas World Heritage Site. This first batch is just the very beginning of a two-day exploration…

Before going in further for our trekking, we visit the tourist viewpoint which included a four-flight escalator down to the river’s edge…

We came at the end of the dry season, so the river is at it’s lowest, and the landscape is rather brownish…

After the tourist spot, we drove to another lunch spot, after which we started the hike to our accommodation (which did turn out to be Judy’s)…

In addition to the magnificent views across the gorge, we saw some goats, various concessionaires, including a guy who sold me a crystal, and some nice plants at Judy’s…

That evening, took an extra stroll, visited the “Half Way,” and saw some refracted sunset light on the mountains…

The next morning, caught some sunrise glow, and continued trekking to the next village (via a waterfall, etc…)…

Some last views of Tiger Leaping Gorge before arriving at another lunch spot and our bus to Lijiang…

All the pix in this last batch in this post were taken by others, fellow travelers, and especially our tour leader Langer Wong…

Next up, Lijiang, etc…

First night in Kunming after a long day crossing the border from Vietnam, and a number of bus & train rides. First full day’s train ride to Shangri-La, more realistically known as Shangri-La: a clean & quiet city, “crossing the bridge” noodle soup, then train station & train, a nuke factory, farm fields & graves, stuff sold on the train, views out the window, and our arrival…

Walking into the “old town” of Shangri-La, our charming hotel, edible insects, statuary, yak skull, new lil’ buddy…

More of the “old town” Shangri-La…

The Big Buddha Temple in the old town of Shangri-La, a surreptitious picture of a 3D mandala, the giant Tibetan prayer wheel, and snippets of loveliness – flowering trees, prayer flags, and people posing…

Every evening in the main square in the Shangrila old town there is dancing! Also, discovered a lovely little coffee house and an interesting restaurant – the Green Island and the Karma Kafé – both serendipitous gems…

Next, we went to the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery, patterned after Lhasa…

The area surrounding the monastery – a few old relics and a few old cats…

Getting dressed up in the local garb is a thing! This batch also has some bling from the gift shop…

Back on the bus and heading to a traditional Tibetan lunch at local home – of rich people…!

The local market in Shangrila. Yak meat is awesome, bought some bells, and it’s good to see kids doing their homework…

Random shots outside the old town…

Yak meat hot pot at Langer’s favorite restaurant, plus a custom tour of the Thangka painting studio in old town…

Sorry I’m not adding more commentary, detailed information, and more links to sources, but the internet sitch is dodgy and time is of the essence. Thanks for checking it out…

Actually, this last stretch of Vietnam takes us into the first stretch of China! One Intrepid tour ended in Hanoi and another one began, this one starting with two days in Sapa, then the rest in Yunnan and Tibet. First up, our walk around Sapa, which seemed to have changed quite a bit in the ten years since I was here the last time, in a good way…

This batch focuses on the market place in Sapa, and ends with a BBQ dinner…

Too sick to go on the five hour hike, I did manage to go to the Sun World funicular and cable car rides up to Fansipan – the “roof of Indochina” and the highest mountain in the region – a spectacular new attraction that was not operational back in 2016. With a model village, Buddhist shrines, and other features of a theme park, it hold records for the longest/highest cable car in the area, and features a fantastic view from the summit – notwithstanding the crowds of tourists, etc…

Here are views from the top of Fansipan, etc…

Here are some of the shrines, views, and features of the Fansipan funicular & cable cars…

Some video clips of Fansipan, etc…

This last batch is a final dinner in Sapa followed by the next morning’s drive to the Vietnam/China border, including some first views of China from both a bus and the train, border crossing features, and our new guide Langer Wong…

That’s all of Vietnam ’26. I’m now in China with more connectivity than expected.

So, I hope you can expect more posts from the Middle Kingdom…!

More of Hanoi, the 12A&B Dien Bien Phu Hotel, breaking up a piano, art galleries, the Koto restaurant started by Jimmy Pham to help the street kids of Vietnam, and a pop-up barber…

A lot from the Vietnam National Museum of Fine Art in Hanoi…!

More of the Vietnam National Museum of Fine Art…

Yet more of the Vietnam National Museum of Fine Art…

The Hanoi Hilton, better known as the Hỏa Lò Prison, used by the French until they gave up, then the Vietnamese, and made more famous to Americans thanks to survivor John McCain…

More of the Hỏa Lò Prison. Note McCain’s photo as a young prisoner near the end of this batch…

Yet more of the Hỏa Lò Prison…

For simplicity’s sake, I’m putting some video clips at the end of this post…

First up, more than one showing the sitch along Train Street…

Next, tuk-bike back to the hotel…

Finally, cruising in Halong Bay…

Thanks for coming along (to Halong and beyond)…!

From Hué, we went to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, and first to the center of the government, Ho Chi Minh‘s mausoleum and thereabouts…

More about Ho Chi Minh, and some of the many school groups visiting at the same time…

Ho Chi Minh did not want to live in the presidential palace, and had a more humble house built nearby. Here it is, etc…

Perhaps some Buddhist advice about how to live? The eightfold path unpacked? More of many shrines, etc…

More officialdom of downtown Hanoi, etc. Note the cute kids who were filmed running into the arms of their parents (teachers?)…

My new favorite place in Hanoi (after the lake): the Museum of Literature – a shrine to learning – which includes a tribute to the great Confucius. I bought a scroll from one of the calligraphers – “Perspicacious” as I aspire to be always…

More of the Temple of Literature…

Back on the streets of Hanoi.

Train Street! And the cathedral, etc…

On the way to Halong Bay we stopped at a place that makes art out of recycled materials (lots of scooter tires)…!

I was sick, so did not attend the various activities, climbing, kayaking, and caving – and Halong Bay seemed dirtier and more overrun from 10 years ago…

On the way back to Hanoi, we stopped at a tourist factory featuring embroidery done by disabled Vietnamese…

Here’s a last batch of pix taken by other fellow travelers on our tour…

Next…?