I recently saw the movie Avatar and like most people, was awed by the visual effects. Another thing that awed me though was that I realized that I had been to Pandora before. It wasnt in some far away world, but instead in central China; Hunan actually, Zhangjiajie to be exact.

I arrived today to Urumqi (pronounced: Wulumuchee) and was welcomed by comfortable negative 6 degree celius weather, or about 21 degree farenheit for those in the states. Surprisingly, it is not as cold as I expected but I was a bit worried when I looked out the airplane window to see mountains covered in snow. Hopefully I will be able to handle it when I am out seeing the sights... first stop... Heavenly Lake tomorrow morning.