Number One Most Beautiful Tourist City on the Planet!

The Southwestern city of Yangshou has been our home for the past few days. We have seen it by bike, bus and boat, down two rivers and across numerous villages. We have been surrounded by Chinese tour groups and European backpackers alike (though the Chinese tour groups have been far more prominent). We have visited minority villages of the Yao and Zhuang people, traveled down the Yulong River on a bamboo raft, and had a private outdoor lesson to learn the basics of tai-chi. It has been a VERY busy couple of days in this relaxing place...

We're essentially in a vacation town, so it's obviously geared toward tourism. From what I can tell, everything in China is overhyped, so it's the Number One Waterfall and the World's Best River and the Most Beautiful Laser Light Show in Asia. Chinese tourists seem to believe the hype-- it's like the whole country is a 12 year old girl, desperately wanting to fit in and do whatever everyone else thinks is cool. This proves problematic for Western tourists who only want to see something that is actually worthwhile, not just because it might happen to be the Tallest Banyon Tree in China (because really, who cares?).

So, while the scenery is gorgeous, being here is draining. We're trying not to fall prey to anything, but at the same time, we're trying to stay true to the grant that paid for us to be here, which is all about studying minority cultures. We're certainly studying culture-- everything we do, from ordering breakfast to walking down a street, proves that-- but the "minority" part is hard to do without a guide, and even then it's hard to know what is authentic and what is just put on for us.

We're trying to squeeze in some time at a beach to truly relax, so we might cut short our stay in China and head to Thailand's beaches ASAP. It's possible we have had enough culture for awhile-- at least until we head to India...