Lijiang

Airport to hotel was a 45minute ride but only cost a  tenner ! The hotel was chinese style architecturally arranged round courtyards but very modern in fittings which all worked - can be a lot to ask apparently. We decided to go for walk into what was the old town of Lijiang ( it was actually the village of Shuhe) thinking of a 10 minute walk but as soon as we got out of the back door of the hotel went back in time as we were immediately in it. The town is a pastiche really  but given the "what to do in an earthquake  routine detailed in the hotels info" you can understand why. The buildings are a mix of original features/materials & modern ones but it does have the most ornate police station I have ever seen ( photo to come) and a square where the locals light a bonfire each night & dressup to sing & dance. Lijiang's importance is due to its position on the "tea horse road" intoChina from India via Tibet & there is a small old museum dedicated to this which was very interesting. The town has numerous restaurants which are all very cheap if you can decipher the menu. The only problem is that beer appears to be limited to 3-4% and is short on flavour as a result.

A visit to Lijiang old town proper was similar to Shuhe except on larger scale with more yak meat outlets & banks/ATM's every 100yards to provide cash to spend on it & all of the other tourist shops which line the streets. Onward tomorrow to Chongquing.