Bougainvilleas burst just outside my room in this photo.

Last month I wrote about my first Mobile Studio in Lijiang, and that old adage is true: living in a new place gets cheaper every month.

While I was very happy at my last studio here, when I heard about the opportunity to stay in this boutique B&B run by a T’ai Chi fan and part-time antiques dealer, I jumped at it. She’s filled the place with Lijiang and Tibetan antiques, and her personality’s welcoming in lots of languages. Best of all, I’ve gotten an “artist discount” so am paying significantly less than last month, for a much bigger & more beautiful space.

From Chinese T’ai Chi masters to worldwide “visual anthropologists” fresh from a conference in Kunming, to the resident Korean t’ai chi instructor (who’s so dedicated to his art that he’s missing out on his baby son’s colicky first year) to Taiwanese documentary students, fellow visitors have all had extraordinary backgrounds. Then there’s my favorite resident dog named “Yes,” a skittish little thing, all wagging tail & ears.

Another plus is the walk home from my Chinese classes in Lijiang’s old town: rather than crowded streets lined with tourist shops, I pass private homes in a real, working neighborhood, yet most houses still boast the traditional roofs and architecture of the northern Yunnan region.

I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking for me. All of them were taken in and around my room & the complex where I’m living this month.

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