Zhang Mei: Surprising Changes in China Travel After Two Years of Covid

Yongning, a small town outside of Lugu Lake in Yunnan, seems stuck in the 1990s. Trucks roll through the only street in town, Yongning Lane, throwing a thick layer of dust onto the women in colorful ethnic costumes walking their grandchildren to school. Zhamei Temple, a Tibetan Monastery at the northern edge of the town, houses a beautiful collection of 500-year-old frescos, but there are no tourists, only pigeon calls and the fluttering of prayer flags.