Yunnan Nationalities Village

Today we spent went to the Yunnan Nationalities Village, just outside of
Kunming. How do I describe it? There are 26 minority nations in Yunnan,
and it's essentially a theme park with an area to showcase each one.
Yes, you read that right. It's very beautiful, but you can't escape that
you are at a theme park. No rides, but each village (each nationality
has a village) has things to look at, little shops, and shows. There are
people walking around to take your pictures, and places to stop and eat.
It's very Busch Gardens (though, a bit more racist...). The whole thing
was very surreal. We enjoyed looking around, and many of the villages
were so beautiful, with spots to stop and sit by the water (manmade
lakes) and amazing views of the stone cliffs (real). Hannah liked
walking around, and only slept through the last two villages we visited
(we didn't go to all of them - way too many to see with a sleepy 9 month
old, though I could see where you could easily spend an entire day
walking around and enjoying the shows). We were impressed both with how
many of my noodles she ate at lunch today (we got huge bowls of rice
noodles in broth for 6 RMB each...just under a dollar...and she ate more
than half of mine!) and how she managed to sleep through the dance show
that was unbelievably loud. I have video that I will upload when we get
home - the internet speed isn't good enough to do it from here!

Thank you, too, for all the birthday wishes and kind words. We are both
on the mend, and very thankful that we packed enough antibiotics to get
us through the rest of the trip. We'll celebrate my birthday for real
when we get home - I already have the best present anyone could ever ask
for.