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Swarms of koi swimming in Chengdu

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Giselle spots the first panda! Giant pandas are endangered with only about 1,500 living in the wild and several hundred in captivity.

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a red panda about to pounce on fresh bamboo. Red Pandas are distant relatives of Giant Pandas. Red pandas are an endangered species with only about 2,500 mature red pandas remaining in the world.

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keeping low to the ground

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Enjoying a snack

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watching the visitors

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a dinner party

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playtime

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Bill and Yuan Xiao

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kindergarten class

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A canal running through Lijiang

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Mosou weavers in traditional dress

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Much cooking in Lijiang is done on open charcoal fires, as seen here.

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Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in the distance

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Bill, Giselle, Anna & Thomas

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Jade Dragon Snow Mountain from the Moon Inn

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The Lijiang Orchestra is comprised mostly of 80+ year old musicians preserving traditions from before the cultural revolution.

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The Yangtze River is covered with fog as we begin our hike along Tiger Leaping Gorge.

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Small farms overlooking one of the deepest canyons in the world.

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a goat herder

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A scenic waterfall along Tiger Leaping Gorge.

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Women carrying heavy loads from the fields.

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On the Jade Belt Path, high above Dali.

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Monastery behind the San Ta Pagodas in Dali.

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Golden prayer wheels.

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Restaurants in Dali put their ingredients out for all to inspect.

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Workers riding to the fields.

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Woman in traditional dress.

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Undeterred by the burden on her bike, this woman rode steadily past us during our bike ride around Erhai Lake.

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Gravestones rising up the hillsides near Dali.

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Fishing.

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Erhai Lake

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This market is held weekly in Wase. Locals travel from nearby towns and buy food or other supplies.

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Potent peppers.

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market bounty.

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A heavy load.

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Aboard the ferry, about to cross Erhai Lake.

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One of the towers on the Dali city walls.

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Dali was in bloom, even in December.

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Blossoms

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Even large loads are carried by bicycle.

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Trucks with tractor engines strained mightily but were able to carry enormously heavy loads of bricks, rocks, or soil.

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Playing mahjongg in dali.

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We enjoyed the subtropical weather of Xishuangbanna.

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Waterlilies at the Jinghong Tropical Botanical Gardens

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We passed this village on a bike ride around Jinghong.

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More bikes overloaded with paper products.

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Yu'Yuan Gardens in Shanghai.

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New skyscrapers seem to sprout daily in Pudong, Shanghai.