Day 9- Liquiang

We were up early, but luckily, we didn’t have to pack up since were staying another night at the same hotel. We were taken to ranch where we were given the choice of going boating or going horse back riding. The horses to me looked really sad and not cared for well, so I joined the older members of our group on the boat and for a nice, leisurely walk around the ranch.

We then had another not so great meal for lunch and were taken to a place where we had to watch a demonstration on some amazing tea. Then, we were taken to a scenic spot where were able to take picture. I taught Joyce and Cindy how to take videos and on their cameras and we all became directors!

Then, we were taken back to the city where we could either continue with the tour guide or go find our own way around the city. Since it was Cindy’s last night with us, we decided to go out on our own. Also, the city of Liquiang is said to be the “Little Venice” of China, and we had to go explore that!

The “Little Venice” of Italy doesn’t really look too much of the pictures I have seen of Venice, but I could tell that the creatures were going for that look. The area had cobblestone roads and there was a human made little creek that wove throughout the stores, bars and restaurants. We shopped and took picture for a few hours. Every time Joyce got out her camera, people would approach me to ask to take a photo with me. It’ll go down as my one chance to feel like a celebrity! In that late afternoon and early evening, I was the only “Western” person I saw there, but later on in the evening, we began to see more foreigners.

We had a fantastic dinner of local food where I learned that Yunnan food is delicious! I actually felt full for the first time in days! We tried to find a bar to sit down and listen to some music and have a drink, but even beer was at 50 RMB that is pretty outrageous since even the most touristy places in Beijing the beer never goes above 20 RMB unless it is imported. We skipped the bars and got Gatorades instead and toasted Cindy.

We went back to the hotel so Cindy could get her bags and then Joyce and I took her to the train station. Joyce and I came back to the hotel sad that Cindy wasn’t with us.