May 10. Very scenic busride.

The busride through the countryside of southern Sichuan and northern Yunnan, connecting Xichang and Lijang via the Lugu Hu lake, is long but extremely scenic. It takes from 7:40 in the morning until about 10pm to cover the distance of about 300 miles through beautiful hills,  mountain passes, and alongside the majestic Lugu Hu. Sitting in a not too spacious bus almost from dusk till dawn would be nobody's favorite passtime - unless the scenery is really splendid. And believe me, part of the way that is the case here. The road winds around green hills practically all the time, allowing us passengers to stun at one of China's most impressive lakes.
Something happened on the way and we stop near a mountain pass at a little village. We get off the bus and wave at the locals. Some of them are waving back, others are too busy carrying a young pick into the barn where it might await, well, we all know. I try to ask the policeman what has happened and slam my fists together with an inquiering expression, to indicate a frontal collision. He nods and I confidently turn to Yeon, "there has been an accident."

Our involuntary break doesn't last long, and the rest of the way to Lijang we don't experience any difficulties. The town itself is nice and only two hundred meters walking suffice to end up in just the right family-run guesthouse for as little as 40 yuan (even though the sign said 280). I love com...nism.

May 9. Xichang.

We are stuck in Xichang and tackle a rainy afternoon writing in a strange upper class restaurant, taking in only one shared latte for economical reasons. It's a strange place and we can imagine many a Chinese businessman coming here to show off his spendthrift to the members of his class. It stops raining later so we walk a few blocks up to a restaurant I have seen earlier, when I went to the bank. The place offers some nice dishes that we order by pointing at pictures (that did, alas, not include dumplings).
We stay in a local guesthouse with a stubborn lock on our door and a smelly lukewarm shared shower, but the family who runs the place makes up for everything, as always.