It's now hot. We've descended into the tropical part of the province, with palm tree lined streets and guys walking around with their wifebeaters rolled up around their bellies. The midday sun beat us down, and we spent the late afternoon drinking ice-cold cans of Chinese beer in the shaded area below our obscenely cheap hotel.

Jinhong is a lovely town, feeling more like Thailand or Laos than China. Tomorrow we'll spend the day exploring the surrounding villages by bicycle, and on Tuesday we embark on a three-day jungle trek into the hills near the Burmese border.

It's now time for some dinner.