Lijiang courtyard, 2009

Wonderful shot there Colin, really makes me want to travel and experience first hand.

right on, what a cool place. (and photo)

Love the feel of this, but for how long is this going to stay? Sometimes, looking at those pictures of high-rise city quarters being constructed all over China, you wonder what will be left...

You're thinking of the Beijing hutongs. This area is very touristy and one of the places where China's priceless heritage is appreciated (even if for tourist dollars)...Lijiang's Old City is in no danger of going anywhere.

(Lonely Planet had a great story about how it came to be appreciated - there was an earthquake in the area about 20 or so years back, the "new and improved" city was demolished, but the old town was almost unscathed. It's now a UN World Heritage Site, IIRC)