t
o
n
y
a
n
g
'
s
 
w
e
b
l
o
g


after a breakfast of snacks in my hotel room, i got dressed (putting on my contacts for the very first time, trying to get an even face tan) and started walking up the green hill of southern daocheng. from the town i could see some sort of ruins on the hilltop and was determined to see for myself. trampling through alpine wildflowers with grasshoppers jumping out of the way with each step, i ended up taking 3 hours to reach the summit, panting so fast and hard it was borderline hyperventilation. i didn't bring any food, just some white rabbit candy, which i ate voraciously. turns out the ruins were just a bunch of extremely large boulders (size of houses). i sunned myself on a large rock for a while before watching some falcons battle with a couple of ravens. it was a windy day and the falcons would sort of hang in the air, suspended, then suddenly fold their wings and swoop down like a missile. it was pretty interesting to see, like watching one of those nature documentaries. in the distance i saw some dark rain clouds approaching and decided to go back to town. it took me just an hour to get back.

back at the hotel, after a hot shower, i took a nap for a few hours, waking up for dinner, sichuan-styled red-roasted yak.

i'm staying another day in daocheng. there really is nothing to do, but it's fairly relaxing in my hotel room (despite the fact that there's nothing to watch on television, even though there's 31 channels), and the girl at the front desk said she'd be able to get my zhongdian ticket for me so i don't have to wait in line.