China: A Taste of Tibet

After two weeks of rice and noodles I was ready for a change. My boss and his family were going out to meet his brother's future wife and in-laws (apparently a big deal in Chinese culture). I, somewhat rudely, couldn't pass up the opportunity to tag along. What ensued was possibly one of the weirdest dining experiences I've ever had...

The night started by being crammed into a car with 6 other people for a good twenty minutes, only one of them spoke any English. After much nodding and gesturing we arrived at a Tibetan restaurant somewhere across town. This was a proper painting, not just a print out!

Before the food came, a group of traditionally dressed Tibetans brought out a huge horn. I wasn't quite sure of the significance if I'm honest...

After what seemed like ages, the food arrived. You have no idea how happy I was to see something that wasn't rice or noodles. We had a selection of potatoes, broccoli, cabbage, grains and mushrooms as well as some questionable pee coloured tea. It wasn't quite a kebab but it was an improvement.

When everything was done and cleared away we were treated to what I think was dancing. At the end the "dancers" came off the stage and into the restaurant to drag people up for a weird Chinese hokey-kokey around all the tables. I got dragged up and it lasted about 15 minutes. Not ideal after a big meal!

We were then treated to the weirdest fashion show I've ever seen and invited to take photos with the "models". I like the guy dressed as a lampshade.

To finish off the night we were treated to a solo performance from this guy who I like to think is called Chenrique (Half Chinese, half Enrique). He was amazing.

We were then shooed out of the restaurant, and to be honest I was ready for bed. Weekends are killer here!

China: 1 Day Lost in Kunming

My goal for today was to explore and get to know a bit of Kunming. My original idea was to just hop on the bus to the city centre and have a bit of a nosey around like I would in any normal European city. For some reason the fact that I was in the middle of China had slipped my mind - there is no proper city centre.

I was out for a grand total of 6 hours, I was lost for approximately 5 and a half of those hours. I did get some nice snaps though!

I stumbled across this market pretty early on. I would have gone in but I had my phone and wallet on me...

This was Green Lake Park. I managed to get a taxi there by pointing at a picture in my guidebook.

No prizes for guessing why it's called Green Lake Park...

Park entrance.

After spending a good half hour walking in a crowd and being a foot taller than everyone I found a place called "The French Café". The staff weren't French, neither was the food, but I did spy my first Westerner outside of school.

From what I could tell this was some kind of art gallery.

One of the many streets I was lost down.

No matter how far you go you can never escape Starbucks.

A shopping centre?

The Chinese translates directly as "Federal Ministry for Keeping Dale Silk out of China."

Good to see the Chinese have a sense of humour.

I'll be honest, I don't know what this was.

Pagoda with shops.

Another street.

A lovely gate. I was shattered by this time and needed to find a taxi quick.

A "genuine" Apple store.There's one on pretty much every street.

Shortly after taking this picture I managed to hail a taxi. He didn't drop me off where I wanted to be, but I can't really argue considering I speak hardly any Chinese so I just walked. Now I'm all dusty and my legs hurt.