The roads here are sometimes barely roads.
Bathrooms are pits in the ground.
Fur coats are a necessity, not fashion. In a nod to tradition, and for self-defense, some men travel with swords at their sides. Yet, thanks to modem connections and the efforts of local entrepreneurs, the Internet is trickling into back alleys and basements of the most remote regions of western China. In the monastery town of Xiahe in the Gansu Province, Internet users look out the window at the mule-drawn carts and the nomadic herdsmen who trudge along the town's one main street, oblivious to the information revolution. While the Internet may be a web of dreams, China is a country of stark realities.