We arrived in Lijiang two days ago.  Lijiang is an ancient old town located in the middle of the Himalayan Mountains.  Let me just say that this is exactly what I thought of when I think of what China would be like.  Our hotel is incredible.  It is right along the river that runs through the entire town, it is mainly outside with entirely wood architecture, it has paper lanterns hanging throughout the hallways, etc.  Our tour guide led us around the old part of the town, which was near our hotel and still right along the main river.  There are a lot of intersecting streets, and there are not really street signs to lead you around. 

Everywhere we turned had mini shops: jewelry shops, drum shops, paper shops, food stands, souvenir shops, and many many more.  This is definitely something that Lijiang thrives upon, as many of the locals seem to be working these various shops.  There are different town squares, and after the old town, we found ourselves in the “new town,” which had bigger buildings, cars, drivable streets, and more.  The first thing I noticed about Lijiang is its culture.  During the day when we talked around, the entire town was incredibly peaceful.  There are not loud noises like a city; instead, it feels like one town living together under the mountains.  The locals were incredibly friendly, and everyone seems to genuinely enjoy their jobs at their various shops. 

It really made me think of how we live in America, and I do not believe most would be able to live in Lijiang.  Everyone in America likes to keep themselves incredibly busy, though 8-5 jobs, school, technology, and more.  Most people in America use the town or city they live in to complete these types of tasks.  In Lijiang, it seems like everyone is working together to better the culture and to better Lijiang.  It is by far the biggest example of a cultural community I have ever seen, and in turn, one of the coolest places I have ever been in my life.

Some other things we did in Lijiang were shopping at the various stands and visit a jade jeweler. Jade is very big in China, and the shop we visited was the real deal (including the expensive prices).  While extremely beautiful and rich with history and meaning, the jade jewelry was far too expensive for my travel budget (sorry Mom, Marissa, and Emily!)  However, our tour guide and professors were able to barter a lot with the workers, and a few of the girls on my trip bought some jewelry for almost 65% off the original price. 

Lijiang completely transforms at night into a town bustling with energy.  We went to a cool bar where a woman taught everyone how to play the djembe and you would play along with a band while drinking.  As a drummer, I greatly enjoyed this. I wish we had these in America, where the bars have virtually no personality.

Lijiang is by far my favorite part of the trip so far