One thing you never realize while growing up American is that all the things you are exposed to are just replica of real things thousands of miles away. So when you arrive in a place like Dali, China, it takes a while for your mind to comprehend that this is the real deal. This is all authentic China. This is not an amusement park, not a theme park, not a Hollywood movie set, this is an actual true town that looks like this:
Pretty, right?