Yuanyang market

Out at 8 walking up street to look at various stalls where the weekly market had been set up. Different ethnic groups wore different outfits, some quite elaborate. . Food area really busy with scooters trying to manoeuvre between the throngs of people, mainly women, . with baskets on their backs, into which the vendor placed the purchases. It was colourful, noisy and chaotic.

. Then we had a long 5 hour drive via the terraces then back the mountain road we’d come on Saturday. We had a short photo stop at Red river which fliws to Vietnam, whose border is not far away.

Got to Tuanshan, a traditional walled Yunnan village within a bigger town. Modern bus park etc. Our notes said it was inhabited by the minority Yi people but it’s actually all Han. It was once prosperous from trade with the Yunnan Vietnam railway there. Tin was mentioned. There were old houses with neglected courtyards, meeting houses etc. Mist survived the Cultural Revolution, being already poor and rural.

We drove on to our base for the next 2 nights a short distance away in Jinshui in a very palatial hotel which has no lounge and unfortunately no bar.

Alter a walk around the ‘old’ town we stopped at a local eating place which served a speciality Crossing the Bridge noodles, which is a soup with tofu strips, rice noodles, spring onions, bamboo shoot slices and a lot of mint. It cost £1 for an enormous tureen, for one person, which of course was too much. It was fun to sit outside on the street on little mauve plastic stools, being photographed by passing locals.