Lijiang

Our horrid bus ride from Kunming had the single benefit of arriving on time--to the minute--in Lijiang. Unfortunately for us, our arrival time was before that of the opening of our hostel, so, after some waiting and banging at the gate, we were let inside to rest in a recently vacated room until ours was ready.
The hostel was the best we'd seen, (and indeed, the best we would see for the rest of our time in China) being clean, comfortable, quiet, cheap, with good facilities and a friendly and helpful staff. This, and they made a delicious breakfast, served in a lovely courtyard, as well as offered a traditional Chinese dinner for the price of a cup of coffee.
Located on the edge of the charming Old Town, this hostel proved the perfect starting point for a day out wandering the ancient streets, admiring the architecture, and enjoying the various local dishes. Here, in a city of falconers and food stalls, Naxi natives and water wheels, we finally got a sense of ancient urban China. Sadly, many of China's ancient buildings and structures have been destroyed (all part of Mao's idea for a 'New China') leaving most of its cities looking the same, which to say, Westernized and dull, with little to differentiate them from a thousand other cities found around the world. Lijiang's Old Town, however, managed to escape this fate, and still allows travelers the opportunity to step back into China's past. We walked its labyrinthine streets until the paper lanterns reflected red in the waterways, then found our way back to the hostel to prepare for our trek into Tiger Leaping Gorge.