June 15, 2008 - Return To Kunming, China Then to Kolkata, India - All in one day!

Only two flights leave Shangri-La everyday for Kunming and we were on the second one. Arriving at Kunming airport, we were greeted by our former guide, Banks, and we discussed some ideas for a city tour. After putting our luggage in the “left baggage” area for the day, we headed to the flower market, but first Banks took us to the adjacent coffee market.

Yunnan Province is considered the best coffee growing region in China; however, coffee is not the huge beverage attraction that it is in the States. This coffee market is trying to change that. At the first coffee tasting station, we tried their house blend served in a small plastic cup, and we were told to keep the cup for tasting other coffees throughout the market. One coffee was flavored with coconut while another one was a blend of tea and coffee. We think this particular blend is an attempt to convert the Chinese from a tea drinking society to a coffee drinking society. As we snaked through the store’s maze, we drank several more coffee blends and nibbled on different thin wafers, such as one flavored with scallions, which was similar to sour cream and chive potato chips. Interestingly, Nescafe has recently signed a contract with the coffee growers of Yunnan Province.

Across the street is the flower market where we strolled through aisle after aisle of beautiful flower arrangements. Red, yellow, pink and even blue roses were everywhere, and cost a mere two dollars per dozen. We saw men stripping the thorns and extra leaves from the stems as young women carefully peeled off the outer petals to give them a fresh appearance. The rosebuds were covered with a soft mesh for protection and the whole process was quite labor intensive. Large fresh flower and dried flower arrangements in intricate designs cost only $4.00. We couldn’t begin to describe the beauty of the many displays throughout the market, but the three of us agree that we have never seen its equal anywhere.

We waited for a heavy rainstorm to abate and then headed to Lake Dian situated in the middle of a beautiful city park. We enjoyed a casual stroll along a lakeside stand of Eucalyptus trees, some 80 years old. We stopped by a small outdoor restaurant and enjoyed a Magnum ice cream bar for lunch. These are like Dove bars only better, and fortunately for our waistlines, they are not available in the States.

We hopped aboard the cable car for a ride to the top of the mountain overlooking Kunming and walked about a kilometer past numerous souvenir stalls to the local Buddhist temple. Since we were at the end of our China visit and had already seen many temples, we decided not to pay the admission to see this one. A tram, a local bus and a taxi took us to a McDonalds in the center of Kunming where we welcomed some Western fast food. Our guide told us that McDonalds has done such a good Marketing job in China that much of the youth think it is a Chinese company.

After a quick lunch we headed to the airport for our late night flight to Kolkata, India. While waiting for our flight, an eight year old boy engaged Garry in a conversation for about twenty minutes to practice his English. He told Garry that he was first in his class of 69 students and his goal was to go to Harvard University. Other people waiting for their flights enjoyed this child’s precociousness, smiling at him as he asked more and more questions.

Our flight touched down in Kolkata around 12:15am. After retrieving our luggage and passing through customs and immigration, we were driven to the hotel. Traffic was light and our driver was not slowed by the red lights. As we made our way through the back streets strewn with garbage, we saw hundreds of men, women and children sleeping on the sidewalks, enduring conditions of high heat, humidity and noxious odors. In the middle of one such street, we arrived at our hotel.

After the cleanliness and orderliness of China, Kolkata was a polar opposite. Only daylight would show how extreme the difference.

Rich, Tamara and Garry

June 14, 2008 - Deqin – Climbing to see the Glacier

This morning we were up and out by 6:00 am hoping to see the sunrise over Snow Mountain. Each morning, local and visiting Buddhists greet the sunrise with a religious offering ceremony at the nearby Stupa. Unfortunately for us after this early start, the mountain was shrouded by clouds, so we did not get to see the anticipated spectacular sunrise. Once again, we were the only Westerners in sight, but possibly when they finish the new five-star hotel, this will change

After breakfast, we left at 7:00 for a 45 minute drive to a trailhead near the glacier. This drive was on an even more rugged and death-defying road. As an option, horses were available to take us partway up the steep trail, but since it started raining, our guide decided this would be too hazardous due to the possibility that the horses might slip on the muddy and rock strewn trail. Because of our early start, we were among the first trekkers to start the five kilometer uphill climb. The climbing was difficult, but near the halfway point we arrived at a small temple and an adjacent shack where snacks were sold. We stopped briefly for refreshment then pushed on to the top of the glacier overlook. After gaining 4,000 feet in altitude to approximately 14,000 feet, we were rewarded with a spectacular view up the mountain valley. The glacier was beautiful with deep crevasses revealing deep blue ice.

We heard an ice crack and quickly looked to see a section calving off the main glacier. This occurred two more times before we descended. The rain didn’t interfere with our trekking; it wasn’t the best conditions, but since we’d likely never be back again, we made the best of the situation.

Facing a six hour return trip to Shangra-La over the same hazardous route, we needed to be on the road no later than 2:00pm. We completed the round trip trek by 1:00 pm, making excellent time and impressing our guides. Richard told us we could easily do Everest Base Camp and probably wouldn’t have a problem trekking around Mt Kilash in Tibet. We are now thinking about the Everest and Mt. Kilash trips and will certainly use Richard’s company, VisitTibet.com

On the road home, a section of highway we passed the previous day had experienced a rock-slide within the past 24 hours. This area is so unstable that one can expect rock-slides at any time. Again, a long line of vehicles in both directions waited for the road to be cleared in order to pass. We were stopped four more times along the way. The rainy season brings an increased number of rock-slides, and looking over the edge of the mountain, rock-slide debris is evident all around. Retaining walls are erected, but nothing can stop Mother Nature. Just hope you aren’t on the road in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Rich, Garry, and Tamara

June 13, 2008 - Deqin, Snow Mountain and the Glacier

We drove about 250 km on a winding road cut into yet another series of mountains. Our driver negotiated continuous switchbacks as we drove into higher altitudes, past rock-slides and narrow stretches of dirt road before we reached our final destination, Deqin, the highest city in Yunnan Province.

On the way, Sunny told us about the two types of burials used by Tibetan Buddhists, the water burial and the sky burial. When someone dies, the local Monk decides which type of burial will be performed. In the country, farmers usually perform the water burial whereby the village “undertaker” cuts the body into small pieces, which are thrown into the lake for the fish to eat. The sky burial is usually chosen in mountainous areas, where the small pieces are scattered on a mountain top for the animals and crows to eat. Chinese ethnic minority Buddhists in the area, such as the Yi, cremate the bodies while the Naxi bury their dead. The deceased person is affixed with a silver earring, and for a person who may later happen to find this earring, it is considered very fortunate and will bring good luck.

In response to another question, Sunny told us that her first choice of an English first name was “Elf,” but when her brother told her she wasn’t built like an elf, she chose the name Sunny instead. He also advised her to watch American movies to improve her English. Good advice, we would say, as long as you don’t assume that the movies reflect Western reality.

Since Deqin is only about 63 miles from the Tibet border, we had to provide our passport information and travel itinerary at a military checkpoint before heading any further. This checkpoint was put in place following the recent unrest in Tibet because it is temporarily illegal for non-Chinese to enter Tibet.

We stopped for a short hike down to a panoramic overview of the Big Bend in the Yangtze, which was interesting and gave us a chance to stretch our legs. To breakup the drive, we also stopped at yet another Buddhist monastery called Gaden Dhonga. This was built in 1692 for the White Hat sect, but after being restored following the purge by the Cultural Revolution, it became a Yellow Hat sect.

Farther along, we stopped at the highest point to view 22,000 foot Snow Mountain, where in 1991 a team of 17 Chinese and Japanese climbers attempted to summit but did not survive. Two years later, local people found some of the bodies. This blog entry is turning out to be quite gruesome, eh?

Continuing our drive, we were later stopped by a rock slide that was in the process of being cleared using heavy equipment. With vehicles backed up in both directions as the road crews worked, Tamara took the opportunity to take Polaroid photos of the workers, some Chinese tourists, and a few local women. After some initial shyness, the local women began primping themselves to get a better picture. The women were giggling and had a great time posing; however, most of the men were weren’t as willing to have their photos taken but eventually a few joined in. Three young women from a Chinese tour group wanted their photos taken with Garry, who was more than willing cooperate. We are still an oddity.

After a full day of hairpin turns and beautiful scenery, we arrived at our guest house.

Good night,

Tamara, Rich and Garry

June 12, 2008 - Shangri-La -- Somtsenling Monastery

With our new guide, Sunny, we headed to the Somtsenling Monastery, which is like a smaller version of the Potala Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet. Built in 1679 during the Qing Dynasty, this monastery is the largest in Yunnan Province and originally had 700 monks. It is home to the Yellow Hat sect of Buddhism, the Tibetan religion. As we drove to the monastery, many white buildings dotted the landscape surrounding the Temple. These are the houses for the monks and were built by their relatives.

We learned that there is significance to the various colors of the ubiquitous prayer flags strung between buildings and flapping in the breeze. The white flags denote water; the blue flags represent the sky; the yellow flags, the earth; the green flags, grassland and the red flags signify the sun.

The Lama selects a boy from each family to come, train and serve as a monk. The process begins at seven years of age when the boy is taken to the Monastery where he will spend his entire life as a monk. If he isn’t happy, he may leave the monastery, but it will be considered as bringing bad luck to the family. During their adult lives, different sects within the Buddhist religion permit different living arrangements. Monks of the Yellow Hat sect may not marry at all, but monks of the Red Hat sect may marry. After having a baby with his wife, he must move back into the monastery leaving his wife and baby with her family. Another sect, the White Hat sect, can marry but he is allowed to stay with his wife and any children.


As we removed our shoes in the vestibule area, we again saw large murals of the four heavenly kings which frame the entry way to all Tibetan monasteries. Inside, we were assaulted by the rancid smell of yak butter used in the colorful decorations that surround the statue of Buddha. Hedging our bet with the deities, we made a small offering then picked a white silk scarf called a gada and tossed it at the foot Buddha as a holy gift. Near the front stood a colorful and intricately detailed mandala made from colored sand, which the monks use for meditation. We were told that after one week of use, the mandala is destroyed and the sand thrown into a stream. Pictures of the Dali Lama are forbidden by the Chinese government, but each monastery has chair reserved for him, and this one was strewn with money.

It is interesting to note that the walls of the Somtsenling Monastery and of Tibetan homes as well, are slanted in at the top giving it a slight trapezoidal shape. We were told that this design represents horns to ward off evil, and also, if an earthquake occurs the walls will fall out rather than to the inside. One hundred and eight pillars bear the weight of this three story Buddhist temple (108 is considered a holy number). The Monastery was rebuilt in 1982 after the upper portion was burned and destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. From the top of the monastery one can see eight holy mountains and it is built equidistant from all eight mountains.

A sign that reads “LADIES STOP” warns any woman who may attempt to enter the kitchen at the Monastery. Here only men may enter and serve the food because, we were told, the Ying energy (water) of the women would extinguish the Yang energy (fire) of the men and the food would not cook. Tamara thought this was a great idea until she learned that the women in the village still cook the food, haul it up to the Monastery and transfer it to the monks on the kitchen steps. Ah well, life isn’t always fair.

After lunch we headed to Patatso National Park, China’s first national park established in 2006. It is an environmentally green park with green toilets, green buses, and even green-colored guardrails. We walked about three kilometers through a wooded area along one of two lakes. At the second lake we boarded a pagoda shaped boat for a relaxing trip through the rest of the park.

On our return to town, we stopped while Sunny knocked on the door of a Tibetan family compound to ask if we could see their house. These people are very friendly and gracious, and were happy to show us around. Surrounded by a high fence, the small yard and the first floor of the house are dedicated to the animals. We dodged three pigs feeding at their trough as we approached their house, while off to the side we saw several chickens and a dog. As we climbed wooden steps to the porch, we were greeted by the head of a yak with the horns attached, which is there to ward off any evil spirits. The interior was richly decorated with carved wood panels and entire wall sections painted with intricate Buddhism artwork. Near one wall we saw slabs of pork ribs and other meat hanging from the rafters to cure. Before leaving, we took Polaroid photos of the brother and sister. Before posing, the sister went inside and returned wearing a bright yellow jacket to dress up for the photo. We expect that having Western tourists in their home taking photos will be a hot topic in the community tonight.

Between 7:00 and 9:00 pm every night in the square of Old Town Shangri-La, the residents, both men and women, gather to dance their traditional Tibetan dances in concentric circles as music plays over a sound system. Some of the women were dressed in their native costumes as were some of the young children. We felt a real sense of their community spirit.

Religious festivals occur seven times a year, lasting for three days each, and we were fortunate enough to experience one. On this occasion, the main temple situated atop a small hill was beautifully lit and effect lighting accented the landscaping. To its side is the largest prayer wheel in the world, probably forty feet high and fifteen feet in diameter, and it was also illuminated to display its wondrous gold tones and decorations. This prayer wheel is powered by humans, not by mechanical means, so we headed up several flights of stairs to check it out. There were a number of people holding handles as they walked to turn the prayer wheel, but at one point it came to a dead stop. Rich decided to get it going again, which took a great deal of effort due to its mass.

The evening ended with a search for yak yarn that Rich wanted to buy at the request of his sister-in-law. The shop we were directed to was already closed for the night, but our guide knocked on the door and an old woman let us in. A manual weaving machine dominated the shop and the surrounding shelves displayed items for sale that she made. After some explanation, she sold us some of her supply. Yak yarn in the States is expensive, but fairly cheap close to the source here in Shangri-La.

Garry, Rich and Tamara

June 11, 2008 - Tiger Leaping Gorge

To conserve time and effort, we have decided to shorten our blog installments and possibly describe only a few events for each day.

Leaving Lijiang, we noticed that our van now displayed the Chinese flag on its antenna, a reminder of the Olympic torch relay from the day before. It was now much easier to spot in a sea of parked vehicles.

While traveling the winding road to Tiger Leaping Gorge, Elena talked about some ancient history of the region. One interesting item was that centuries ago, merchants wore silver as they traveled on the Tea and Horse caravan road. The purpose of the silver was to test the water. If the silver turned black, the water was not safe to drink.

Along the way we stopped at the historic site called Big Stone Drum, and first sat for a short concert by Naxi band playing their ancient instruments. We then walked to the ancient Big Stone Drum which has inscriptions describing how the Yunnan and Naxi warriors fought and conquered other tribes. Later, along the way to Tiger Leaping Gorge we stopped to enjoy a short rafting trip on a section of the Yangtze called the Jianghua meaning golden sands. The water was light brown.

Our trek to Tiger Leaping Gorge was along a walkway cut into the side of the gorge. Before arriving in the parking lot, Elena warned us about the risk of falling rock along the walkway, and said that we needed to stay close to the wall. During the rainy season, it is actually closed due the increased number of rockslides. The gorge was formed by the Yangtze River and is very deep, narrow and beautiful. As we walked towards the rapids, guards and signs repeated the message to stay close to the wall. If anyone wandered away from the rock face to peer over the edge, usually a nearby guard picked up his megaphone and reminded them to move back. The English translations on the warning signs were both confusing and humorous, for example: “Within 200 meters, notice the rockslide, please is run about by cliff.”

On the opposite side of the gorge is a road at about the same elevation as our walkway. At one point, we heard some noise and quickly looked to see a small rockslide in progress. Fortunately, there were no vehicles in that section of the road at the time.
We continued to watch as the rocks crashed against the canyon wall and into the river.

Along the walkway, several sections were blocked and we were diverted into tunnels recently cut through the canyon wall to go around the most dangerous places. While traversing the tunnels we noticed the echo, and after one thing led to another, we were all singing “Row, row, row your boat” with staggered starts. Elena loved it and wanted to sing it in every tunnel so she could really learn the song. We’re going to miss her.

The legend of Tiger Leaping Gorge relates that several Naxi men went hunting for many days searching for a tiger. When they finally had a tiger trapped at the edge of the cliff, it only hesitated for a short time before jumping down onto the large rock in the middle of the raging river that split the gorge, and then leaped to the other side to freedom. The “tiger stone” saved the tiger. The gorge is one of the deepest in the world and the Yangtze River sounds like a roaring tiger as the water crashes around the rocks.

In this gorge the Yangtze has 34 rapids, and looking at some of them, we couldn’t imagine anyone safely rafting this section and living to tell the story. The Yangtze in this area is called the Jinsha relating to the gold that used to be found in this area.

Leaving Tiger Leaping Gorge we reluctantly said goodbye to Elena at the restaurant where we had lunch. She was catching a bus back to Lijiang and we headed to Shangri-La.

Along the way, our new guide mentioned that Shangri-La’s elevation is the highest in China. A total of 360,000 people live in the Shangri-La area, and its population makeup is 55% Tibetans and 45% other minorities.

In 2001 the Chinese government changed the name of the town from Chungking to Shangri-La, and has pumped money into the area to develop tourism. A new paved winding mountain road, completed in three years, replaced the old narrow road from Tiger Leaping Gorge to Shangri-La to provide easier access. Earlier this morning the Olympic torch relay had passed through the town.

Consider picking up a copy of Hilton’s “Lost Horizon” to decide for yourself if this could be the location of his Shangri-La.

Tamara, Rich and Garry

June 10, 2008 Addendum to Lijiang Entry, Tamara's Story

I arrived back at our hotel well after dark only to hear Garry say, “You’re grounded.” A few minutes later Rich told me that I was grounded. Here’s what happened!

The late afternoon started off innocently enough as the three of us decided to walk up to the pagoda on the hill above Old Town Lijiang to view the city from a high vantage point. Contending with the maze of streets, we guessed at the direction to go. At one point, Garry and Rich decided to head one way and I told them it doesn’t seem right, so I headed a different way to the pagoda. After a few more twists and turns and asking a couple of people I found it, locked and unable to enter until 6:00pm. Waiting for a while, the guys still hadn’t arrive so I went to a nearby rooftop bar overlooking the city to wait for them to pass as they made their way up to the pagoda.

While sipping a Coca Cola Light and watching for the guys, I noticed a film crew setting up their equipment to film Old Town and the surrounding mountains. They were in one location, and then moved to a location closer to where I was sitting. I was fascinated, but I still had one eye on the street ready to yell at Garry and Rich as they passed.

As the film crew moved to its second location, I noticed one of the fellows had on a Penn State T-shirt with the Nittany Lion logo above the lettering. Hailing from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, I got excited thinking there was a fellow Pennsylvanian in Lijiang. Excitedly, I rushed up to him and asked if he had gone to Penn State while pointing at his T-shirt. He looked startled and didn’t know what the heck I was talking about since he obviously didn’t know English.

I asked a man standing nearby if he knew English and replies he knew some. Explaining about the Penn State T-shirt he didn’t quite understand what I was talking about either. Oh, well. I questioned what they were filming and the answer was a tourism commercial to be shown throughout China.

One question led to another and then to yet another question. I discovered this man Zhao Tianyu had done an MTV segment and had written and directed a movie called “Deadly Delicious” which had a successful run in China’s theaters. He explained the plot and I asked more questions about his film.

At this point, I need to thank Dale Pollock for his great class “How to Watch a Movie” and some students at the North Carolina School of the Arts for filming at my condo. The information gleamed from these sources helped me ask intelligent questions.

As the crew finished at the rooftop bar, they moved to another location. The filmmaker asked if I wanted to join the crew as they made their way to the next place. It turned out to be the same temple or pagoda, from Garry’s, Rich’s and my original plan. I still had not seen the guys so I accepted the offer.

While walking to the next location, Tianyu asked me how long I was going to be in Lijiang. I told him we were leaving tomorrow at 9:00am for Tiger Leaping Gorge. “Are you sure you can’t change your plans?” he asked. “I’d like to shoot you having coffee in a café since I want to show a foreigner in China.” I asked if we could shoot by 9:00am, but his response was that it wasn’t possible since other locations were already chosen for an early morning shoot. Gosh, I missed my big chance, but still it was fun to be considered.

The guard opened the locked gate for us and the crew lugged all the equipment up to the fourth floor of the temple only to discover the location wasn’t acceptable. We returned down the flights of steps moving to another location overlooking the city for a nighttime shot.

We waited for nightfall to film the lights in Old Town. While waiting, Tianyu and I talked and two other guys joined us wanting to practice their English. This profession requires patience with lots of downtime just waiting for the right moment. It finally appeared it wasn’t going to work.

The crew again loaded up the equipment and headed down the hill to their hotel as I walked with my new acquaintances. After showing them a possible location to shoot Old Town’s lights that Garry, Rich and Richard discovered the night before, everyone said goodbye and I wished them well on all their future projects. I returned to the hotel only to be admonished for my tardiness. Actually, they were only kidding and knew I’d be coming back with a great story and I didn’t disappoint them.

After relating the entire evening to my traveling companions and telling them about the “Deadly Delicious” DVD being in the local shops, Richard and Rich went out in search of a copy. Eureka, they came back with one. We tried watching it on Garry’s computer, but we couldn’t get the English subtitles to work, if there were any.

It turned out there were two entrances to the pagoda and we didn’t know it until we attempted to figure out how we missed each other.

However, Garry and Rich one upped me – they had found a Magnum ice cream bar!

What a day to remember and thank goodness for synchronicities,

Tamara

China - June 10, 2008 Lijiang and the Olympic Tourch Relay

After a 6:30 wakeup call, we had breakfast across the cobble stoned street at Luma’s, which opened at 7:00, met our guide Elena at 7:30 and headed out on the quest to view the Olympic Torch relay.

You might think the Olympic Torch route would be well publicized so Lijiang’s citizens could have the opportunity to enjoy the spectacle, but its location was a secret. Elena and her boss Charlie, owner of the Lijiang tour company, had been making phone calls all last night and early this morning to find out about the route. At 8:00 am they still had no reliable information, even after calling their friends in the media and the police department.

We continued into Old Town thinking that this might be the location. The Naxi Orchestra was playing in the main square by the Water Wheel and a sizable crowd was milling around. This looked promising. As we walked, Elena and Richard asked several people where the Torch would be passing and were given different possibilities. Then a woman stopped to tell Rich where it would pass but since she spoke Chinese, he told Elena who quickly caught up with the woman, literally chasing down a possible lead. She learned it would take place in New Town, and shortly after that, Elena got a call from Charlie saying that it would be on Forty Meter Road.

We needed to get there fast because it could happen anytime between 8:00 and 10:00 am. She hailed a taxi and then a second one since it was illegal to put five people into one vehicle. We got out near the prescribed intersection in New Town, and the first sign it might be the correct location was the line of Armed Police in green uniforms blocking access to Forty Meter Road. Walking towards the intersection, Garry and I proceeded to take photos of them. Wrong thing to do! Three armed police came running over, stopped at attention right in front of us gesturing for us not to take photos. With our guide interpreting, we were then asked to delete the photos. I tried and thought I had, but it didn’t work. Fortunately, they didn’t check. Whew!!

We stood in the first row at the intersection wondering when the torch would pass and if it would pass at this location. Traffic police in blue uniforms stretched tape to hold the crowd at the curb, and positioned themselves about every fifty feet on the road. Dozens of crowd control volunteers ran past us on the road and then returned and positioned themselves along the road. Every few minutes an official looking vehicle passed by with colored lights flashing. Meanwhile, Elena was still on her cell phone trying to find out better information. She commented that this was a like a “cat and mouse game”. Around 9:00 her friend called back with more information; there were 120 runners, 30 had already run, and based on where it started they determined that the Torch Relay would finish before reaching our intersection. We needed to move several blocks closer to the start.

Now, it was off to the races. With Elena in the lead, we started running down the sidewalk, crossing streets, past armed police, around barricades, past traffic police and past other spectators. The crowd became thick and progress slowed. We took a shortcut through a park, ducked under tree branches and hopped over bushes and jumped off a low wall onto the sidewalk. We stood three deep at this point, but we were closer. Again, we waited. Military men were standing atop buildings lining the street. Chinese citizens were as excited as we were. The numerous Olympic flags, Chinese flags, headbands, face stickers (which Garry decided to wear), T-shirts and cell phones calling one another added to the excitement.

Elena continued to receive occasional updates from her friend telling us about the progress of the Torch Relay, and ultimately we learned that it would end before it reached our new location.

Standing there a bit disappointed, we saw a caravan of vehicles in the distance. The crowds started yelling, screaming and waving their flags. A police car with lights flashing led the way and all of a sudden there was the Torch, held high by one of the runners hanging out of a van’s side door. The crowd went wild! Of course, trying to get a photo was difficult, dodging flags and people. The Torch wasn’t lit because the 120 torch carriers had completed the Lijiang Torch Relay. What was happening is that the convoy was heading to the next venue at White Mountain. Buses carrying the torch carriers passed by our location and they held their torches high inside the bus for everyone to see. What a great experience!

But speaking of experiences, what followed was absolutely bizarre. Mind you, we did not see many other Western tourists wherever we went. Right after the caravan passed, a nearby Chinese couple motioned to us asking to have their photos taken with us. We were the Americans, dressed in Olympic T-shirts, carrying two flags each and one a tall woman having blond hair. It started off innocently enough with that couple, but other people started jumping in the photos and then asking if they could have photos with us individually. We must be in a several hundred photos. Cameras were everywhere and were flashing from so many directions that we didn’t know where to look.

Finally, we started towards the park which was the designated point to meet Elena. All of a sudden we saw a large mass of young people running down the street waving their flags and chanting “China”. So we ran there, ducking under the blue tape, and jumping over a stainless steel barrier to photograph what was happening. As we took pictures, more people now wanted their photo taken with the Americans. Finally, we returned to the park and found Elena. Charlie and Lydia from the tour company joined us also.

The event was over but not the excitement. Suddenly, the original couple who wanted their photos taken with us showed up and the man was now holding one of the torches actually used in the Olympic Torch Relay! Apparently, one of the runners is a friend of his (the torch is made of anodized aluminum colored silver and red, about two feet long and heavier than we expected) He motioned for us to come over and again have his photo taken with us holding the Olympic Torch. Then his wife or girlfriend wanted her photo taken as well. After this, pandemonium broke out! People saw the torch and went crazy. We were in the middle of everyone wanting to get their hand on the torch and have a photo taken. The guy sensing trouble pulled away and returned the torch to its box. We said thank you, goodbye and hugged or shook hands with each other before leaving. Finding a taxi would be next to impossible, so we walked back to Old Town buying a few more T-shirts on the way and posing for more photos. We were the novelty in town.

Later, upon reflection, we felt as though the citizens of this remote community had been cheated of a once in a lifetime experience by government officials. Excitement had been building for weeks, but in the end tens of thousands of enthusiastic Chinese (and a few American tourists) were denied the opportunity to view the actual Torch Relay. The police lines that were set up for miles along the main thoroughfare were nothing more than an elaborate decoy that inconvenienced and disappointed all these people. This pretense was all done in the interest of security as officials were concerned about a possible demonstration by Tibetan sympathizers that would interrupt the relay.

In a matter of a few hours, the three of us felt as though we had run a marathon – totally exhausted, yet exhilarated by the experience.

As the slogan on each of the Olympic vehicles reads “Light the passion, share the dream”,

Tamara, Garry and Rich