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I touched down in Chendu for which the literal English translation is perfect metropolis. ‘Perfect’ though is obviously from a Chinese point of view. It is basically the same as any Chinese city….. characterless sprawling grid of freeways, buildings put up in haste. China is embracing the western life while remaining a communist state which basically means it’s ‘out with the old in with the new’ on a scale you just cannot imagine. It’s hard to put a date on but I would say nothing in these cities is over 20 years old whatever was there before has been demolished and replaced by this formulated urban sprawl.

Little Trouble in Big China

Stucros
2006-01-13 18:46:19

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China. From talking to other travelers we both thought that we’d enjoy Dali but what we found was a new ‘old town.’ Literally it seems the success of Lijing has spurred on the Dali people to build their own ‘Old Town’ out of concrete? It also seems to have become a western backpackers rest spot. There are Video bars and western food… reminded me of Thailand. I wouldn’t recommend t to anyone!!!!
Probably the only highlight was packing up an overnight bag and heading off on some bikes. You don’t travel great distances but riding through these small villages is delightful. Kids

a smile on every corner
come running out screaming at you and we even got invited in for a snack by a family.

From Dali it was back to Kumming to pick up some Laos visas. We didn’t really want to stay in Kumming long but when we were approached TV scout to appear in a Chinese TV Series we just couldn’t resist. After negotiating various requirements for my trailer we set about on a day of filming. The show is about Chinese and American Police trying to catch drug dealers and the scene we were filming was a New York court case. I was in the jury and although there were no speaking lines I was right behind the witness box so should be in a few shots…… I thought I do many things in China but appearing on a TV show was not one!!!!! It goes out on CCTV (Chinas version of the BBC) so anyone that has it please look out for me!!!
The day filming let us a day behind so another very very bumpy 15 hour bus ride we arrived in Jinghong. Given the success of all our bike outings we opted to spend our only day here doing another one.

you can't handle the truth
However our confidence got the better of us and chosen destination was 35km down Mekong river….. little did we know this would be this would be up and down the side of the mountain. The village was very well know for a water fight and that sounded the ideal refreshment from our journey. So not knowing what to expect we headed along. Basically the whole thing entailed getting kitted out in some traditional dress parading around a big fountain with a hareem of Asian minxes then jumping in the fountain and having a mass water fight with them. The whole thing was a little bit of a Chinese tourist trap but again we were the only westerners so it just didn’t seem too bad. I really have no idea how many pictures have been taken of me this whole trip but on this day alone there must a few hundred. The Chinese find it very funny when you indulge in their culture and dressed in our traditional attire it seemed only natural to pose for their pictures only thing is once you start you can’t stop. Easily one of the best days of the trip and hats off to keys

as there are not many travel companions that with only five hours sleep would get up at 8am rent some bikes, cycle 35km, do a water fight and then at night head out drinking till 2am.
So China you made me feel like a superstar and I’m sure we’ll meet again but you’re changing so fast I don’t know if I’ll recognise you.
Anyone thinking of coming here make sure you do before 2008!!!!!

......... Time to hit Laos