I want to thank Dianne Gardner for encouraging me to do this series and for all the effort she did in putting it together. I wrote the blogs in my usual tongue in cheek humor and nonsense and hope that you got some enjoyment out of it. Most of the 25 artists shared my joy, excitement and enthusiasm on this trip. For me it was extra special as I have made a large part of my painting career painting unique and exciting places around the world and China is truly one of my favorites. It had beautiful and unique scenery and wonderful, exotic people and villages to paint and photograph. Some of us plan on going back next year in the same area and also venture at least into the Tibetan area in the provinces of Yunnan and Seichuan. It is a bit difficult to get to some of the places, as first of all it is a long plane ride of 20 hours to get there. (I highly recommend Eva Air from Seattle to Taipei to Hong Kong and then Dragon Air to Kunming or Guilin. You can upgrade on Eva Air to a business class for around $250 and belileve me it is worth it! Coming back is an ordeal as it took most of us about a week to get back to any semblance of normal! You leave Taipei and get home a couple of hours before you have left! You will find China quite cheap for now, even with the dollar so bad all over. The area we were in is one of the most beautiful in China and that is in the Provinces of Northern Guangxi, Guizhou and norther Yunnan, particularly the Dali area.The food takes some getting use to, although in Dali, a beautiful city, you can get some great western food in the foreign section of the old city for low prices. You must have a guide or translator as few of the people speak English and as you can't rent a car, your translator or guide must have transportation which should be no problem. There are art stores in Dali, where you can get supplies and small bottles of turpentine for next to nothing. I took along some extra money as I am a small time collector of small time oriental antiques and such and you can get some really fine things for a pittance what you would pay here. Most everyone bargains and they will start high and I soon learned to start really low, they will roll their eyes, but they will know that you aren't going to go for some outrageous price and I had a real great time having fun with the bargaining and respected what they were trying to do. Go to have fun, keep a great sense of humor and you will have a real fine experience!! Thanks for taking the time to go through this fractured summary and going along with some of my nonsense. I hope that you get to visit this enchanting and quickly changing country sometime soon." Take care, Ned