Yunnan: Xishuangbanna - Jinghong, Day 2

DAY 6 (Thursday, February 7th, 2008): Xishuangbanna – Jinghong, Day 2
First let me explain the Xishuangbanna Autonomous Region: PARADISE. It’s right near the Chinese southern border and it’s within the Tropic of Cancer, so the weather was spectacular – we wore sandals and short-sleeves and it was glorious. We visited Manting Temple and Park – it was an absolutely gorgeous place and we rode a Dai bamboo boat on the lake. It was a lot more difficult that it looked, that’s for certain! We met Megan and Tracy for a birthday dinner at Mekong Café in Jinghong, and that made me feel a bit better. This café was super cute – the tables were very low and we took off our shoes and sat on floor pillows. It was open air and the summer-like air felt so great. The food took forever to arrive, but it was good when it did. We then raced back to the hotel to catch the bus to see the Dai song and dance show. The show was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen – it was simply spectacular. The costumes, scenery, music, and dance, all in the traditional style of the Dai people, were gorgeous. There was a part during the show when we all got soaked because it was a song from the Dai Water Splashing Festival, and so they gave us all water to splash each other with. It was a blast (there’s an after-photo on Photobucket). Afterwards I found an Internet café and I read all of my wonderful birthday messages, which made me feel a lot better. I then took a taxi back to the hotel and packed for the next homestay. The taxis in all of Yunnan are SO MUCH CHEAPER than in Beijing, I was in shock. There were fireworks going off literally everywhere, it was like a battlefield in the streets. Everybody had some kind of firework in their hands, even little babies. And they’d throw them right near other people – it was terrifying.