The beautiful city of Lijiang in Yunnan Province, China

Lijiang (pronounced "Lee-zhong" is a happenin' place on the eve of Chinese New Year!

1/23/2001: The plane landed in Lijiang, which has strikingly clear air and an elevation of 8000 feet (2400 meters).  The driver for the Lijiang Guanfang Hotel (Bryan's employer) greeted us and took us to Lijiang, which is about a 25 minute ride.

The area is fairly flat, surrounded by mountains with farms all around.  The rising sun cast long shadows on houses and buildings, and smoke from fires lit to heat the homes rose from the houses and formed a thin, beautiful mist.

The taxi dropped us off, and the first person to see us was Bryan's friend Michelle, who is in charge of sales and marketing at the hotel.  She spoke good English, to the credit of her teacher.

Click here to go on and see beautiful, historic Lijiang Old Town: 800 years of Naxi culture.

The most unusual thing in Bryan's dorm is in the bathroom:  It's called a "squatty potty."  It's an oblong basin, about 1 foot wide and 2 feet long, flush with the floor.  You don't sit on it, you squat over it.

Asians maintain that this is the best physiological position for relieving oneself.  I don't know about that.  But I can say that nobody's ever going to fall asleep in an Asian john, of you know what I mean!

(Fortunately for me, the 5 star Guanfang Hotel provided me with a nice room with a regular potty, although I know that some parts of the hotel have squatty potties instead!)

Now just in case you're thinking that this is "roughing it", check out this: the toilet we found when we visited a farm later in the week. 

Click here to go on and see beautiful, historic Lijiang Old Town: 1200 years of Naxi culture.