I am currently writing from Laos, where yesterday I saw a large group of Chinese tourists busy on 春游 (spring travel).  Several 房车 (RVs) were on the streets in Luang Prabang, not unlike some American tourists on tour.  The tourists’ cars (they drove)  要么 (either) were from 云南 (Yunnan)，要么 (either, see below) were from 重庆 (Chongqing), which could be deduced from the cars’ license plates displaying the license plate codes 云 (short for “Yunnan”) and 渝 (short for Chongqing).  While hiking today, I ran into a person from Yunnan whose acquaintance I made in Vang Vieng, and uttered 又见面了 (essentially [it’s you again!]).  Another interesting site to see was a Chinese woman at a tourist office holding a single 100RMB note wondering aloud, “他们听不懂我的话怎么办?” as this is a common concern among tourists, especially those pressed to 换钱 (exchange money).  The best indicator of the number of tourists was easily at the waterfalls, where nearly 100 tourists all 凑过来 (came/crowded around) to watch other waterfall visitors swing from a rope and jump into the clear water below.

春游 chun1you2 – Spring Travel (usually refers to trips made during Chinese New Year vacation)
房车 fang2che1 – Recreational Vehicle (motor home)
要么 ___，要么___ yao4me, yao4me – either ___ or ___
云南 yun2nan2 – Yunnan province
重庆 chong2qing4 – Chongqing
云 yun2 – can mean “cloud” on its own. also used as the license plate code for Yunnan province
渝 yu4 – symbol used on Chinese license plates to indicate Chongqing
又见面了 you4jian4mian4le – “it’s you again!” or “here we are again”
他们 听不懂我的话怎么 – ta1men2 ting1bu4dong3 wo3de hua4 zen3me ban4? – If they don’t understand what I’m saying, what should I do?
换钱 huan4qian2 – change money
凑过来 cou4guo4lai2 – crowd around, come over