Elvira Stein – Grafik, Illustration und Lettering

27.4.2016, Sketchbook

April, one year ago: photos from China

The weather. The lake. We were walking forever to get there, but it was worth it

Biggest surprise. Third wave coffee shop in Dali/Yunnan

One year ago I travelled to China, visit one of my dearest friends who left for Beijing six months before. When I left, I had managed to get all my work things done, but I was quite on the edge: my skin worse than it has ever been before, me hiding, overworked, and not quite a perspective besides leaving. (Also, being in the middle of growing out my two-coloured, short hair.)

I arrived early in April with an unbelievable feeling of: OMG it’s real, I am in Beijing! And while I still hated how I looked – I still can’t look at the photos of me from that time without pain – I had the best time travelling, discovering, and spending time with two of the sweetest people around.

Now, one full year later, and with my birthday yesterday, memories were so present that i finally had to go back to the photos and share a few. Makes me want to travel again ♥

Lettering love: handwritten signs in Dali

Miss you two!

Local breakfast in Shangri-La. Super cozy place, and simple food for our recovering bodies

Trying tea. Love the little ceremony, familiar to me from my wing chun classes (yes, we do tea breaks)

The desert airport in Shangri-La. As close to tibet as you get without going to Tibet. Also: Chinese representative architecture at its best

Coffee in Kunming, which is marketed as greenest city. True, apart from the endless suburbs

My feet, my nail polish, my saltwater sandals

A confucian temple in Beijing

The chinese wall. We did an awesome hiking tour there