From the New York Times:
The sudden rise of a travel industry here in remote western Sichuan Province has all the markings of a fairy tale, one complete with beautiful sisters and an errant knight who arrives from far away, changing their lives forever.
That was the past, though, distant by all of eight years. Today, the gorgeous hillsides here buzz with activity: the felling of trees to build the distinctive Tibetan houses, with their maroon and white trim, which are nowadays put into service as guest lodges, and the smoke-belching, horn-blowing buses carrying tourists who arrive each month in ever greater numbers.
The takeoff has been so pronounced, in fact, that some of the villagers of Danba are wondering whether their success might not one day soon recall another fairy tale, the killing of the goose that laid the golden egg. But that is perhaps getting ahead of the story. [Full text]
