Get on the bus, go to sleep.
Get off the bus, go to pee
Get to the site, snap photos.
Get back home and it's all forgotten.
— Chinese saying about sightseeing

LIJIANG—It's tea time and the tourists are steaming.

They've come for a traditional tea ceremony in this remote village that claims to be the inspiration for Shangri-la, but there's no place in paradise today. It's overbooked.

"We're still waiting but there's nowhere to sit," an angry tourist complains to his guide. "We're tired, we're running out of patience and we want a rest. There's too many people here, let's go back to the hotel."

"Please be patient," the harried guide says. "I'm sorry that Lijiang is too crowded."

Holding his tattered yellow pennant aloft in a swarm of tourists, the guide looks like a vanquished flag-bearer in full retreat. Mutiny is in the air as the chorus of complaints resumes:

"Where are the toilets?" asks another of the exasperated tourists, all clad in identical yellow baseball caps and lapel stickers.

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