Describe a place you visited to learn about its culture

You should say:

Where it was

When you went there

What you did there

And explain what you learned

Ok right then, well the place that I’d like to talk to you about is Lijiang, which is a small city in Yunnan Province. And you may well have heard of it, because it’s definitely one of the most popular tourist destinations in China.

But anyway, as for when I went there, well I guess it must have been around five or six years ago by now, and it was during one of my summer holidays, coz that’s basically when I had the most time to go travelling.

And I was there for about a week, so I did quite a lot. You know, I tried out the local food, I went wandering around the old town, took a few photos of course, and um, what else……? Oh yeah, in the evening, there was some kind of performance in one of the city squares which I watched, and it was very impressive indeed. In fact, it was probably the highlight of the trip. You know, there was dancing, singing, magic tricks and stuff like that.

Anyway, as for what I actually learned, well to be honest, I can’t remember everything now, because it was quite a while ago when I was there, so my memory’s a bit vague, but I’d say I basically just got a better understanding of the local customs and traditions there. For instance, I learned a bit about one of the ethnic minority groups which lives there. You know, I was able to see them dancing in the square, which I mentioned a bit earlier, and I also heard some of their traditional music. And speaking of the music, in particular, I remember they had an instrument which looks like a kind of pear joined to a flute. I’m not sure what it’s called, but it made a really nice sound, which was kind of soft and mellow, and I actually bought a CD of it to take back home with me, to remind me of the trip.

So yeah, that’s pretty much it I guess!

Notes:

The highlight of the trip – the best part of the trip (亮点)

memory’s a bit vague – I can’t remember very clearly

ethnic minority group – 少数民族

mellow -柔和

that’s pretty much it – 差不多就这样！