去云南旅游

In five hours I am leaving with 24 CIEE students and 3 teachers for the mystical, amazing, rugged southern province of Yunnan 云南!

At least, that's how I imagine it to be.  As I hit the send button to my Issues in Chinese Society professor, my mid term week has come to an end.  Now I understand why we don't take classes during exam week-- it's insanely difficult to balance prep work with hours of class and then studying for tests and writing papers!  Anyway, I CAN'T WAIT TO GO.  Please, just take a second and Google search 'Yunnan' -- these far reaches of China look like some of the most beautiful places in the world.  Since we'll be travelling along the Ancient Tea Horse Route (茶马古道), we will go from the lower valleys of Kunming City and the stone forest, to the Tiger Leaping Gorge (SO EXCITED), into the high mountains at Shangri-La (yup, they took the famous name from James Hilton's Lost Horizon), and the ancient city of Lijang.  I really hope that these areas are less chaotic and tourist-ridden than the east, but even so, I am undeniably grateful (and did I mention excited?) for this opportunity.  My bags are packed, and I'm ready to go, and I will probably be detached from any stable internet connection for 7-8 days.  I'll certainly try to post photos upon the return.  Now, to stuff my sleeping bag back into it's pouch...

Listening:  A killer Chinese playlist on YouTube.  This song is especially relevant, and beautiful! 《彩云之南》South of Rainbow Clouds (Yunnan) by Xu Qian Ya 徐千雅 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSSo9VVRCHc