Xiefei is right. Try the copy shops near university main gates, the ones with crowds at 8am

Here is some info: www.chinadiscovery.com/yuanyang-tours/weather.html

Many say after spring festival when the terraces are flooded and before they are planted. The water at sunrise and sunset reflects the sky and any colors you are lucky to have.

That is when I went but the farmers were burning last years left over plant material making a lot of smoke, not so good for photos.

Best is to hire a car and driver to get to the various viewing spots.

This link has a review "3 Days in Yuanyang Rice Terraces (元阳梯田)" which will give you a good idea, with photos, of what to expect.

Best to set out before dawn. I liked to use a tripod to capture the light changing but it is crowded and people kick it as they try to take the same shot. (I switched to a really good mono-pod which I highly recommend in Chinese crowds) I took more tan 4K photos in 4 days. Bring extra memory cards.

Also, during the day time, consider markets. In Yuanyang, the local minzu, Yi, Hani, Eastern Dai, make great and colorful photos. The faces, old and young, are beautiful!

U.S. Embassy in Beijing has issued a "Security Alert – Heightened Risk of Arbitrary Detention."

china.usembassy-china.org.cn/[...]

In Part: "Event: Exercise increased caution in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) due to arbitrary enforcement of local laws for purposes other than maintaining law and order. This arbitrary enforcement may include detention and the use of exit bans."

U.S. citizens may be detained without access to U.S. consular services or information about their alleged crime. U.S. citizens may be subjected to prolonged interrogations and extended detention for reasons related to “state security.” Security personnel may detain and/or deport U.S. citizens for sending private electronic messages critical of the PRC government."

Finding a position that would satisfy as ACCA work experience is problematic. I am sure to work as an accountant in China requires that you be licensed. Without sufficient university credit and passing some testing requirement, in Chinese, the odds of getting a work visa is nil.

I inquired about a China accounting license but the response was vague enough to make me conclude the answer was negative. I have multiple degrees. Math, Economics, Accounting, MBA, am a CMA and passed the California CPA exam in my first sitting but never worked for a CPA firm. I taught US, UK and China GAAP as well as IFRS. This was not enough for a license.

Your best bet would be to try to hook up with a major accounting firm in Beijing or Shanghai.

Conversational 普通话 is grossly insufficient to deal with the Chinese vocabulary of Accounting.

Also, now may not be a good time to be going to China due to the virus situation.

I find the new GoK a lot less interesting. While it is easy to lay fault, part of the reason just change and tighter regulation.

Personally, I enjoyed the give and take in the forums. But when posts get surreptitiously "tidied up" I lose interest. Imposed harmony is boring. Neither am I interested in being controlled. But times change and so does the environment. I do find extreme amusement in the irony of a Situationist cracking the whip (Yeah, I had to look it up).

I miss Scally's writing and am a big fan of Jim Goodman. I did get a hoot watching a cooking video of

云南菜 getting stir fried in olive oil.

Expats are a strange lot as it takes a certain unusual perspective to live your life with each foot in a different boat. After 20 years in Asia conformity of U.S. life is dull. But then, I bought a home close the California beach which has been closed for the common good.

To those still getting the urge to post here, I strongly urge a sense of situational awareness be developed. Mind your words and topics as not all are welcome.

To Vera and Tiger: Nice try but when the road gets too narrow, it is hard to maintain traffic levels. Expats like us, me, are a different breed resistant to being pigeonholed. We don't confirm well and move on when squeezed. Too much unwelcome change and we are gone.

GoK served me well for a half dozen years. Best of luck guys.