Epilogue: 30 August
I've been back for about a week now, and I'm slowly getting used to Shanghai again, though it is a bit difficult to get used to working again. I'm so tempted to just laze around at home in front of the DVD player and pretend I'm still on holiday. It does feel quite good to be back and see my friends and old haunts again -- god knows I've missed the coffee-shops and food here.
 My second time in Dali was just as good as the first...hanging out with friends, relaxing, buying up more cheap souvenirs. I even found a fantastic restaurant, Stella's Pizzeria, that sells just about every kind of food you could want, including Mexican, Indian, Italian, and Chinese, and more amazingly, does them very well. It was with heavy heart that I left Dali for Kunming, where I stayed for another day or so. It was nothing special, just the same as last time, though rather fewer dragonflies than before. I presume they've bonked themselves to death. I still didn't get round to seeing the Stone Forest, (Shilin) just something I'll have to leave for next time I suppose.
 The train ride back was better than the train ride there, mostly because this time I wasn't stuck with the family from Hell. That, and I finally figured out how to turn down the intercom announcements and muzak. I'm still bemused about how popular Kenny G and the Backstreet Boys are over here, though not quite as bemused as I am by the enduring power of Michael Learns to Rock, which, mercifully, I didn't hear too much of on the way back.
All in all, it was a pretty good holiday. Even though I didn't really achieve much tourist-wise (like seeing many sights), I feel a lot more refreshed and Shanghai doesn't seem quite so bad now, though it'll be interesting to see how long it takes for my home to once again drain me.
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I arrived back in Dali last night after a disappointing stay in Lijiang. Sure, some parts of the experience were nice, like dancing around a bonfire with the locals and hanging out with Molly and co. at the Solong Tibet Cafe. The latter led to me getting kitted out in full Tibetan dress for some photo ops...I felt so Chinese! Unfortunately, most of the time it was staying at poor quality, over-priced hotels at night and trudging street after street of tourist trash shops during the day. Truth be told, it wasn't entirely souvenir shops. Every other shop carried dried yak meat...in addition to their usual wares, resulting in some pretty strange combinations -- yak meat and jewellery, yak meat and silver, you name it, yak meat came as a side dish. The whole time I was there I was mostly pining for Dali, as were my new friends. I'd actually consider moving to Dali if I didn't have so much going on in Shanghai. It's just so laid back, but with a fair few lively bars for when you want to go out on the town -- probably the best place I've found anywhere to just drop out for a while. Hmmm...I get the feeling I'm repeating myself. 
