Lijiang

Saturday 12 June: It's fabricated Disneyland style tourism again in this UNESCO World Heritage town, most of it rebuilt in antique style. A living museum packed to the rim with flag and umbrella-following Chinese tour groups who all want to be photographed next to the reproduction waterwheels - who cares if they're new?
Every house frontage is a hotel, guesthouse, restaurant or shop selling tea, yak meat or tourist tat. There are photo-shoots with pretty girls modeling backless tops over a backdrop of ancient rooftops, and there are more water features than you can shake Charlie Dimmock at.
In the shadow of Snowy Mountain, Black Dragon Pool is a classic Chinese dinner-plate scene and I climb up 1,000 steps to the summit of Elephant Mountain to get an overview.
Monday 14: Farewell to the comfortable youth hostel, it even has electric blankets, goodbye to the statue of Chairman Mau and it's a double-decker sleeper train (54th mode of transport) south to Kunming.
Photos of Lijiang.