Lijiang is a place of extreme contrasts as hords of affluent Chinese tourist with fat Canons with L-lenses dangling from their necks amble through the narrow alleys of this ancient city come outdoor shopping mall. The stores sell some interesting trinkets that show local color and the bars have women dressed in local tribal outfits dancing to get the crowds pumped up. Outside of town we came upon the giant fault line displaying the force that took down this town in an earthquake in 1996. Still the magnitude of the tourist invasion dwarfs the earthquake in its cultural and societal impact.
[corrected October 12: changed Shangri-La to Lijiang]