During the first part of our travels around China in March, we stayed in the Himalayan mountains with a unique Chinese minority group called the Lisu people. In fact, they don't speak Chinese at all. They have their own language, so we had to keep both Chinese and Lisu interpreters with us at all times.
For example, to say hello in Chinese, it's "Nin Hao", and to say goodbye in Chinese, it's "Zai Jian". But, in the Lisu language they use the same word for hello and goodbye, like the Hawaiians use Aloha. They say "hwa hwa".
Here's a picture of some of the folks we stayed with. Notice the breathtaking view (click the images for larger views)...
The fellow on the far left is John (the Chinese interpreter), and the fellow in the bright colored sweater is Philip. Philip is a good friend, is a local politician and served as our Lisu interpreter.
Here's a picture of one of the villages we stayed at (at around 15,000 ft above sea level in the Himalayas!)...
We actually stayed in two different villages while we were there. One of the villages was close to 5 miles away on foot, along goat paths, with full backpack, sleeping bag, and survival gear. Believe me, that was a serious trek, particularly for Americans not used to hiking at 15,000 ft.
And, here's 3 pictures of the view we had waking up to the roosters crowing and dogs barking in the mornings...
The house was built so that 3 sides were covered, with the one side completely open. So, even though we were covered from rain or snow, we were basically sleeping outside. The temperature at night was below freezing, so a good sleeping bag, steady fire pit, and layers of clothes was much appreciated. That was until you had to use the restroom during the night. Then, you couldn't do anything but suffer the cold and quickly find a good spot somewhere in the dark. Something actually growled at me in the dark during one of my restroom breaks. The only wild animals at that elevation (if you don't count Yeti) are bears and pheasants, and pheasants don't growl. Suffice to say I made a quick trek back to the house.
The daytime temperature reached almost 70 degrees Fahrenheit. We were actually sunburned.
It was funny. When I called back home to Ohio while in the mountains, a blizzard was raging and the kids' school was canceled, yet we were in the Himalayas with sunburn and we were warm enough to be cooling off by dipping our feet in the coldest stream I've ever felt. The stream is fed by snow run-off from the mountains.
That's our good friend Philip. He held up pretty well to the temperature of the stream. I stuck my feet in the stream and screamed like a girl.