Writer and longtime Yunnan resident Colin Flahive joins me for a wide-ranging conversation about life, travel, and change in rural China through the lens of his book The Galaxy’s Last Ride: Shifting Gears in Rural China. We discuss Colin’s upbringing in Colorado, his early fascination with Asia, and how his first trip to China in 1998 became a formative turning point in his life. From studying the Three Gorges Dam to building a life in Dali, Yunnan, Colin reflects on more than two decades spent watching China transform at extraordinary speed. We also explore the motorcycle journey behind The Galaxy’s Last Ride, the cultural and geographic diversity of Yunnan, rural-to-urban migration, employing women from remote mountain villages, and the tension between preservation and modernity in China’s countryside. Along the way, Colin shares thoughts on friendship, love, storytelling, hospitality, and what he has learned from the people around him during his years living and working in China.