Beijing, XinZhou, NingWu, Taiyuan, Yunnan Kunming, Dali, Lijiang, Tokyo

Oct 9 - Tokyo. Unagi meal. Breakfast at Toyoko Inn. 

Oct 10 - Land in Beijing, airport pickup. Shopping mall. Flush toilet sensor on floor. Mango sashimi on sushi. Peking duck sashimi. Velvet table cloths, changing plates and heated dishes.

Oct 11 - Mutianyu Great Wall. Helped a stranger find his lost cell phone. Beihai park. Yogurt, stinky tofu, lamb skewers, desserts. Houhai, Nanluoguxiang. 

Oct 12 - Sanlitun taotaoju dimsum brunch. Train to Xinzhou.

Oct 13 - shopping at 东大. All you can eat lunch. Xinzhou Ancient City. 老豆腐，羊杂，酸奶。

Oct 14 - 五台，必胜客

Oct 15 - 宁武，芦芽山，冰冻，悬挂棺材， 岩石到骑骡子，cliff 村庄，情人谷. Stunning! I'm afraid of heights riding a mule down a mountain.

Oct 16 - 平遥古城。 镖局。票号。Pushy tour guide.

Oct 17 - Dumplings. Hope does her portraits. 

Oct 18 - WUT airport, morning market

Oct 19 - fruit store

Oct 20 - felted animals. Ordered fish from Meituan.

Oct 21 - 古城 马面裙， freezing cold

Oct 22 - Visit Yiyi's new apartment. 古城 with Tingting.

Oct 23 - Haircut outside. Plan trip to Yunnan

Oct 24 - Sign contract for 6 day tour.

Oct 25 - Lunch with gugu. Individual hotpot. 忻州古城 mom and yiyi

Oct 26 - Oct 31 云南 lots of things that just didn't make sense. Loud tourist and loud shopping complex with sales staff all using microphones.  Tour guide that are from the local ethnic group non Hans who have an inferiority complex. Hotels with weird layouts that have no hooks or place to put dry clothes when showering. Hotels with hot springs that are located very far with very old amenities. Strange fellow tourists. Hotels that are very hidden away and hard to locate. Airports with little heating.

Day1
起始地乘机 heat blasting at the doors→昆明接机→入住酒店→入住昆明携程 4 钻酒店 2 rooms
Day2
石林（不含电瓶车，含换装）treated as tour attraction by foreigners→车至楚雄→楚雄长街宴+彝乡恋歌 火把节→入住楚雄携程 4 钻酒店***new hotel
Day3
车至大理→生态廊道 erhai is quite polluted （换装+骑行）→大理三道茶表演 bitter tea, sweet tea, and aftertaste tea +扎染体验（一件白 T 恤）banlangeng is green mixture but produces blue dye→大理古城→ fresh flower cake is best. so many fruits I've never seen. Some are not so good. If the seller doesn't say it's good then don't get it. 入住大理携程 4 钻温泉酒店 sketchy poor amenities individual rooms on first floor. The night sky is so clear with bright stars.

Day4
新华小镇 tourist shopping attraction →车至丽江→玉龙雪山风景区-云杉坪索道→《印象·丽江》→蓝月谷→丽江古城→入住丽江携程 4 钻酒店. Met Hope in the snow mountains hiking. Would not allow guests to go back to the hotel to rest due to traffic. Hotels have no elevator. stairs only. 蓝月谷 is stunning. naxi group has their own pictorial language.  
Day5
束河古镇 better than 丽江古镇 smaller and less people→双廊观景台→汽车回昆明→入住昆明携程 4 钻酒店 poor attitude from service staff and caught a cold. 
Day6
游客集散中心 loud and multi floor shopping complex →送机. Extreme fog in WUT and had to land in Taiyuan. Waited forever for the luggage. temp hotel in Taiyuan.

Nov 1 - Train from Taiyuan to Xinzhou then Train to Beijing. Bye to family in Xinzhou. Big meal with 舅舅's family. Laundry and sleep.

Nov 2,3 - Tokyo. ANA turbulent landing. Motion sickness and cold. Rotating sushi. Shopping mall by Oimachi station, Shinagawa area. Japanese women are nicer than Japanese men. Almost everyone who was helpful were Japanese women. Luggage storage, airport staff, hotel staff, taxi driver. Women like to wear loose fitting clothes and longer skirts. Everyone seemed young in Japan. It's a very organized and polite atmosphere. I can see the similarities in behaviour between the Japanese and Taiwanese.