I'm in Deqin in November, exactly what my professor told us not to do.  But I've got some altitute meds and some mittens, and tomorrow set out to hike to Kawagebo, one of the holiest mountains in Tibetan Buddhism.  It has never been summitted, just like the rest of the Beautiful Snow Mountains, which form an intimidating ridge against the Tibetan Plateau .

It's beautiful here.

the road from Lijiang to Shangri-La takes you up into the mountainous highlands, where the cows turn into yaks and the landscape goes from cute to terrifying as your bus makes death-defying passes on roads clinging perilously to the rock face.  But that's nothing compared with the road from Shangri-La to Deqin.  When you're not stopping for a yak crossing or for one of the million photo/bathroom breaks demanded by Chinese tourists, you're wondering how it is that you've reached the edge of the world.  It's desolate.  The cliffs are a straight drop.  The earth is brown and red and purple, until there is only rock and snow.

one man picked himself a snack of a twig with some berries that he brought onto the bus.  I glanced back at him a few hours later to see him filling a surgical mask with the peel of his orange, which he strapped to his face.  I will never understand Chinese people.