Eventually we arrived in Jishou where we boarded our favourite form of transport to take us on the hour journey to Dehang. After searching the peaceful village for accommodation we finally found a small inn that was literally perched on the riverside next to the arched Jielong Bridge, with lovely clean rooms and (shared) bathroom.
Dehang is a Miao village based in the middle of a 164sqkm geological park, made up of towering karst peaks, familiar terraced rice paddies, and clear, flowing rivers - yes you read it right: clear rivers.
We relaxed a bit and then wandered the village, pausing to watch the women weaving on traditional mills and men sitting on the bridge making bamboo baskets. We enjoyed having time to appreaciate our surroundings and browse the markets without having to rush away to avoid the persistent shopkeepers. Along the way Adam took his turn playing the big drum at the town open-air theatre, where we plan to watch a show tomorrow.
We found ourselves paddling in the river before venturing across stepping stones and past kids playing with 'double-happy' fireworks (banned in NZ) - much to the envy of Adam who has vowed to purchase some and have his own display as soon as possible! The sheer quantity of wildlife here has blown us away - especially frogs that jump in front of us and into the river every metre or so along the way.
In the evening we set off on a walk through the countryside, where we were soon engulfed by the karst peaks on both sides while we wandered through fields littered with traditional haystacks (a pole where straw is stack upon), along the paved (of course) path that zigzagged along the Yuquan river. We eventually found ourselves in a small gorge and when we came across an increasing amount of stairs, Liv decided to rest by the river and Adam decided to run to see what was ahead - when he didn't return for a while, Liv knew he had taken it upon himself to run all the way to the top of the peak, where he took in the view from Tianwen Platform (Questioning the Heavens Platform), returning to Liv exhausted and sweaty.
Upon hearing of the waterfall not far from where Liv was resting, she decided to go up for the stunning view! After his expedition, Adam's efforts were rewarded with a swim in the jade dragon pool, the absence of togs was not going to keep him from the lure of the water! 
We made it back to town just in time for complete nightfall, and though it was only 8pm when we headed out to find dinner we found that most of the village had shut down for the night! We managed to find a restaurant still open, where we met Dennis and Megan, an American couple who have been teaching in Japan, and chatted the night away. During the discussion we found out the walk we had undertaken was in fact in the Yuquanxi Scenic Area - and was the largest of all the walks in Dehang - this meant that the next few days would surely be relaxing, and hopefully clean away the travellers' dust.Adlbing it in a riverside paradise.
We spent the next 4 hours happpily watching the kids congregate to skateboard, rollerblade, and bike - basically just wheel around - while the parents kept a close-ish watch on the kids and the grandparents sat and gossiped amongst themselves. The kids, some as young as 5, stayed out playing around until we boarded our train at 11.15pm!
We spent the next 6 hours completely amazed by the scenery, lost in our own thoughts (mainly because we couldn't talk through the engine noise!) - our only communication was when one of us decided to move from their viewing position allowing one of the others to take it up and vacate theirs! The hydrofoils are predominantly a local transport method, so we were the only ones out enjoying the view, and everyone else was inside watching t.v.
The highlights were travelling through each of the Three Gorges - we knew when the next gorge was coming by reference to the towns along the way. The first gorge was Qutang Gorge, an 8km long gorge (the shortest), which arrives dramtically, and we were suddenly engulfed by towering rock cliffs. This gorge is also the narrowest point along the way - shrinking to only 100m and causes the river flow to speed up significantly. 
After a short break from towering cliffs we got to enjoy the scenery of the low-lying lands. The next gorge, Wu Gorge (nick-named the Gorge of Witches), began shortly after our stop at Wushan town - Wu Gorge is 40km long and consists of 12 major peaks which rise almost 1km high on both sides of the river, including the Goddess Peak. The difference from Qutang gorge is that Wu Gorge is much greener - a nice change from the brown water of the Yangzi (the Lonely Planet refers to the Yangzi as the world's longest sceptic tank - though we prefered not to think about that!). 
After a total of 5 hours on the boat we came to Xiling Gorge, the longest of the three at 80km - the differentiating factor of this gorge were the mist-covered peaks. 
This gorge leads to the final destination of Yichang - where the monumental and controversial Three Gorges Dam rests. Since 1919 people have tried to figure out how to utilise the river's power, but it wasn't until 2006 that the US$75 Billion Dam (the world's largest) was completed, amongst much controversy: the dam will back up the Yangzi river and flood more than 2 million peoples' homes resulting in mass relocation - that's half the population of NZ - and more than 8,000 important archeological sites will be lost. However, on the other side, China is in the middle of a power crisis and the dam will provide up to a tenth of China's power needs. The dam is built to withstand an earthquake measuring 7 on the richter scale, although we were slightly distressed to learn the dam already has 100 cracks running from top to bottom - if it collapses Yichang (where we're sleeping tonight) will be wiped out within an hour - awesome. Despite the size and expectations, when we arrived the dam was clouded in fog and pollution and we were less than impressed - especially after our trip through the very impressive gorges.
Arriving at Baoding we were awestruck by what was before us - the rock carvings were in a remarkable state considering their age and the environment that they exist in . The carvings and grottoes are enormous and with such detail that clearly took years to complete (it is estimated that these particular ones took 70 years between 1179-1249) - this area was made a UNESCO protected site in 1999. The intriging aspect of Baoding Shan is that the artists had a preconceived plan and incorporated the natural features of the environment into their work - such as the "Nine Dragons Bathing the Prince", a rock carving that utilises a natural spring. We spent hours taking in the sights, of particular note was the 31m long and 5m high reclining Buddha depicted entering nirvana.
The other highlight was a cave that housed the oldest of the carvings - entering the cave the temperature drops like entering another world. The carvings were blackend by time, in contrast to the ones outside, and are so revered that we couldn't get photos - guess you'd better come and see them for yourselves! 
The detail and the symetry of the carvings really blew us away, especially when we thought about the equipment they would have been using - we wondered if people these days would have such perserverance. One tiny mistake could blow decades of work!
After the carvings we ambled along the streets and through the stalls where we made a few small purchases - Liv got a gorgeous wee turtle pendant carved out of a two-toned rock, which she wears around her wrist. Adam bought a little sumin' sumin' for a certain little bro.
Finding our hotel today was the easiest yet, only upon arrival a piece of paper was shoved infront of us that stated:
We eventually boarded another bus, which doesn't really matter considering buses here are generally under 20 NZ cents, unless of course you happen to hop on an aiconditioned bus and then the price doubles! We headed back to town for tea at another cheap street kitchen and after almost 7 weeks on the road we finally cracked and treated ourselves to the familiar taste of a McDonalds sundae.
Feeling a little despondent, we headed straight for vege dumplings to cheer ourselves up. Sometimes travelling feels like just going through the motions, doing what you're 'meant' to be doing, however, we know by now that the adlibing way doesn't always mean getting our way.
To fill the time we spent the next few hours at an internet cafe and went on a snack hunt, where we found some more delicious local bread stands that are scattered all over the city.
On the way down we were treated to similar views passing over old bridges spanning the river and eventually found ourselves at Jade Green Lake, which turned out to be a section of the river more gorged than the rest and had been damned up to give the illusion of lake - nevertheless it was an enjoyable boatride across!
As we continued the descent making brief stops at one of the many track-side woks where there we treated ourselves to chilli potatoes on sticks and vege patties! These are fantastically delicious and filling, our only regret being that we didn't get more.
We read that the front of the mountain is extremely busy so we went straight to Hou Shan (the back of the mountain!). All we can say is, if Back Mountain is quiet, then the front of the mountain must have been so full it was impossible to move. To say the least, climbing this mountain is VERY popular in China. Once you're lost in the mountain wilderness, you truly feel like a million people have walked up the same track as you, which is true in this part of the world - even this bridge looks like it's been there for a million years:
Our other mountain climbing option was Emei Shan, a famous Mountain also close by. What lured us to Qingcheng though, was the promise of 20km of 'hiking trails' and a more natural environment - however what we found, yet again, was a paved stone path and MANY steps, leading us the entire way! So we fell in line and walked, not quite the adventure we had planned on. They were definitely right about the environment though - it consistently provided us with spectacular views of the surrounding mountains where mist settled around the peaks.
Though the mountain, like many other Chinese tourist attractions, is made accessible to the masses by way of multiple cable-cars, we earned out medal from base to summit - we literally earned a medal! The monks at the temple engraved the date and "Adlibing" on the medal for us! 
We had intended to stay in Youyicun Village for the night halfway up the mountain, but on arrival were met with lots of people wanting us to stay in their accommodation - and with the hope of ripping us off completely - we wondered if through their smiles and laughter they were laughing about how much they could milk us Laowai (foreigners) for!! We were quoted up to 200 Yuan for rooms we knew were more likely around 50. Where we settled down for the night we paid 40 yuan, and though it was very basic it did us just fine.
Once at the statue we were blown away by its presence - the statue is carved into the cliff face and is 71m high - to give some perspective, one of his fingernails is bigger than an averge person, and his big toe is 8.5m long! The mammoth task of carving it was started by a lone monk in AD 713, and it wasn't finished until 90 years after his death - and we could see why! Looking up at the Dafo, we realised it was worth the 5 hours of bus-tripping and nearly 2 of walking to get here.
Adlibing it with the Grand Buddha.
We also made our way to the temple vegetarian restaurant where we ate dumplings, veges, and meatballs (even though it was a vegetarian restuarant in a Buddhist temple, Liv still had to check that the meal was meat-free - it was). The meal was absolutely delicious and served as a late birthday treat - as at Lugu Lake our dining choices were limited to the basic hostel cafes!
We finished the afternoon walking through the streets of Chengdu, all with their own unique charm. We stopped for icecream and made the mistake of purchasing before asking the price, which led to a ridiculously priced and less than tasty treat. We then made our way to the the big Carrefour supermarket to stock up on travelling supplies and chocolate for Liv. This expedition proved to be much less enjoyable than anticipated (noise, crowds, kids peeing in aisle rubbish bins, and almost being charged double for our cheap peaches), and although we walked away with two bags full of supplies, the store had taken some of our good mood!
Catching up on the blog (experiencing the typical computer issues that come with computers being in Chinese - means photos will come later), we now plan to have a light tea and settle in for an early night with a dvd in our room - we told you it was luxury!
We waited for an hour for the bus, which never came - we were unsure which direction we were to be heading, but by chance a lone Israeli cycled past and informed us that Yanyuan (our first destination) was 'that way' down the road we were on. We have found talking to the sprinkling of tourists we come across whenever we can cital for successful adlibing travels. Eventually we accepted an offer in a minibus to a nearby town, where (so the driver told us) we could catch a bus to Yanyuan. We followed the lake-side road, passing through small villages that were remarkably different than the Mosuo villages we had seen on the Yunnan side of the lake. Our venturing off the beaten track, along the road that doesn't exist on the map, rewarded us with sights we might have otherwised missed.
On the bus, we continued our trip into the semi-unknown, arriving in Yanyuan, with only a few "slight" delays. One of the more comical delays we have come across so far, occured about 5 minutes into the trip: after a shout from a passenger the bus came to a standstill and a phonecall made - it wasn't until a motorbike came racing up to the bus a few minutes later with the passenger's cell phone and charger that we understood the delay. Everyone has cell phones here, no matter how remote we are, there are always people on their phones!
We made it to Yanyuan with no time to spare, and after a short tuk-tuk ride to the bus station we were on our next bus to Xichang, without a chance to rest or eat! On this bus ride we passed through more of the stunning scenery that often reminds us of home, up and down and zig-zagging around mountains and through valleys. We had a brief stop where Adam managed to get a small bag full of fried potatoes and chilli (depite being thoroughly ignored by everyone he spoke to) filling a small part of the huge gap in our stomachs! The highlight of the Yanyuan-Xichang journey was coming around a mountain-top bend and looking down to the wide plain below, on the opposite side of the valley two descending ridgelines met, at their base a gap provided views of a lake which was nestled in the in the middle of the jaggered mountains that surrounded it. Had the bus not been bumping and winding its way around we would have tried to capture the beauty in a photo.
Clambering up a steep path cut into the hillside, we got ourselves in a prime postion for the sunrise - one of the good things about being the first to rise and the first up the hill meant we got first pick! There were many many boats arriving - some too late to see the sun rise begin. We enjoyed the next hour on the hilltop, taking way to many photos, before retreating back to bed to let Liv sleep! 
When we woke, we gobbled down noodles and pancakes (an interesting mix we know) for breakfast, before heading to walk around the lake to find a spot to relax the day away ...
After hours lazing in the sun, watching the lake and the boats pass by we headed back, but this time avoiding the track (where we would no doubt have to fight the bulls again) and waded around the lake edge keeping a close eye on the snakes in the shallow water, where they tend to hang in the seaweed.
This was all Adam needed to hear and in the blink of an eye he dove into the pristine lake (despite the rain and the impending lighting and thunder storm). 
Seaweed lines the lake edge, but about 5 metres in there is a shelf that literally drops into the depths (the deepest point is 93m) of the crystal-clear lake.
