Internet in Asia...

So, as I mentioned in my previous post, the Internet is very tricky to navigate here, not just because most everything is in Chinese, but also because many social sites are blocked, i.e. Facebook, twitter, YouTube, and apparently some blog sites too. Not sure if any of you have have heard anything about possible unrest and media crackdown here but apparently it's been mentioned, mostly because of the revolutions in Egypt and Libya. We haven't heard anything but in Vietnam we had to use a proxy server to get on Facebook, and that was a recent development. Here, however, there is no way around the system that we have discovered. We don't plan on trying too hard though so if suddenly I'm unable to blog don't be alarmed, we just may have to wait it out. If the Chinese government is really watching us as closely as I think they are I don't want to cause any problems. So right now I'm blogging from my phone because I couldn't get on through the computer. I don't know why, but oh well.

Tonight we are taking an overnight train to Lijiang, which is in the northwestern part of the Yunnan province, and therefore close to Tibet, which I am really excited about. Obviously going to Tibet is severely frowned upon so it won't be in the cards for us, but just being close to the border means we get a taste of the culture in the surrounding small towns. Plus, we'll be in the mountains, yay! After that, the plan is to fly to Chengdu in the Sichuan province. Lack of prior planning has left us realizing too late that the southwest of china takes several weeks to navigate in full because of the spread out towns, huge mountains, and a general lagging behind in travel convenience compared to the north. So anyway, once we get to Chengdu it should be easier to take trains and buses on a regular, normal schedule.

Today Brooke and I went out exchange the memory cards we bought on accident for SIM cards for the phones we bought in Vietnam. We bought cheap phones so we can communicate if we get lost, and to call hostels and other places for reservations if need be. Yesterday we wandered into a small electronics shop with hopes of buying Chinese sim cards and since the language barrier was so extreme and our phrasebook navigation was poor we ended up with three memory cards that obviously failed to make our phones functionable. So Brooke and I took those back today with a note written by one of the hostel workers asking if we could return them, which we could, and the nice lady showed us where we could find teal sim cards. That was another language barrier adventure, but the woman who helped us was extremely patient and even took us to the small shack on the corner to help us buy the right card. The electronics store she worked at didn't sell them after all, I guess. That was very entertaining, and now we having working Chinese cell phones! A girl at the hostel even put them into English for us, which was a relief.

Alright, typing on a tiny screen with my thumbs is getting tiring, so I think I'll sign off. We are going to dinner soon, and in a few hours we board our overnight train! Keep us in your thoughts as I really hope we are able to sleep well and safely. I feel very safe here though, I have not had any moments of unease yet, or true anxiety of my personal space as I have had in other places. I suppose as we near the big cities the general amount of people will be much greater and most claustrophobia inducing, but we will deal with that in due time.

Ok, lots of love!! Xoxo
Maia