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

China - June 9, 2008 Luguhu Lake & Return to Lijiang

Although it is just over a week into the rainy season, the weather is still cooperating for us. We drove about thirteen miles near the shore of the lake to see the Zhamei Lamaist Temple. It was not an easy ride. Last year there was a major landslide / mudslide that destroyed a long section of the road, closing it for several weeks. Although the road was passable now, we could see the devastation around us and many ruts made for a very bumpy ride.

The temple was actually a temple complex and we encountered workmen who were restoring one of the buildings. The main temple is largest Buddhist temple around the lake displaying a combination of Buddhist and Duba architecture. Originally, built in the Ming Dynasty the location was chosen by the Living Buddha after he saw an area of light and knew it needed to be built there. As we approached, several young monks were sitting at the entrance.

The entrance area was adorned with four ornate paintings depicting what appeared to be Buddhist gods each holding a different symbol representing rain, wind, tune, and smoothness. The respective symbols held were an umbrella, a sword, a musical instrument and lastly a snake. These pictures are found on every Tibetan Buddhist temple. On each roof peak was a carving of five animals, a rooster, tiger, phoenix, lion and horse, one behind the other. The eaves were painted with beautiful designs in bright colors. When the restoration of the entire temple complex is completed, it will be a sight to behold.

Inside, we strolled around looking at the numerous brightly colored silk hangings suspended from the ceiling and covering the massive posts. We were told that these serve to absorb sound so that the chanting of the monks is not distorted by echoes. Along the entire front of the temple stood butter decorations made of colored butter shaped into intricate designs. Behind these decorations, pictures of the Dalai Lamas were seen through glass enclosures.

We sat cross-legged on the carpet covered benches taking photos when one of the monks on the porch came in and sternly told us it wasn’t allowed. While we continued touring inside, the monks assembled on the benches and began their chanting. We quietly exited and figured that they were probably glad to see us go, for good reason.

Our next stop was the local market where we saw a pig wandering throughout the rows of tables. I wonder how much longer that pig will be strolling around searching for food before becoming food himself. In another row, live eels about four inches in length swam around in tubs and Elena told us they grow in the rice paddies. Tamara has now decided that she doesn’t want to work in the rice paddies.

Elena wanted to know the English name for some less common vegetables, such as cilantro, scallions, squash, zucchini plus several others that we did not recognize. As she picked them up, we supplied the English word and she quickly wrote it in her book. It was fun seeing her interest and quest for knowledge.

One old Naxi woman dressed in traditional garb was preparing a gelatinous dish in a plastic take-away bag for a customer, adding several spices, soy and other sauces. I asked her if I could take her picture and she shook her head no. Richard translated her words “I’m an old woman and I don’t want to lose my soul”. She had a big smile full of metal teeth and a twinkle in her eye as she said that. Superstition abounds in the countryside.

Talking about teeth, a dentist, and we use that term lightly, sat at a table covered with teeth and dentures. Can you imagine getting dental work done sitting out in the open, at a dirty table on bare ground with what looked like pliers and glue as tools? Novocain was not an option.

Before leaving the market, Elena and Tamara bought bananas, plums, rape seed and peaches. To weigh the fruit, they used a primitive hand held scale made from a metal tray, a wood bar and a single counterweight. We’re not sure if the weight was correct, but the price was right at about 75 cents for ten bananas. The women merchant threw in an extra banana and gave Garry, Rich and Tamara each a plum.

Before climbing into the van, a wisecrack was made by whom we will not name, about things being the same all over the world; while women shop, men just stand around bored. Well, guys, we’re still in the matriarchal Mosou territory - just get over it.

Our next planned stop for the day was to visit a Mosou family; however, the entire family was out in the fields working. At another family compound, a woman allowed us into the grandmother’s house and offered us green tea and sunflower seeds. The sunlight coming from a window in the roof was the only source of illumination in addition to the open door. From above, a beams of light with dust particles swirling in its path cut through the interior darkness with a laser like quality. The single large room was decorated with cheerful colors, and the furniture layout defined areas for sleeping, cooking, dining and socializing. There was a small altar on the wall and in the far corner a wooden death bed to be used upon the death of the grandmother. We sat around the dining table discussing with Elena the changes in Mosou society and ways to keep the culture intact. Many of their young children want to leave and as they leave, the Mosou traditions die.

Back in town, we had and excellent lunch of local dishes at the Internet Café/Restaurant, which had the only access available in the area. We sat at an outside table by Lugulu Lake checking email using their wireless network. Sitting there with our laptops connected to the internet in this remote area of Yunnan Province was mind-boggling, but towers dot the mountain ridges readily providing communication with the world. It never fails, we say we aren’t hungry and we don’t want much to eat. Somehow, we always wind up with a table full of empty plates.

The ride back to Lijiang seemed much shorter than when we traveled to the lake area. On the way, they played a mixed CD of American groups as we serpentined through the mountains of Yunnan Province.

Goodbye to the female dominated Mosou society…

Rich, Garry and Tamara or it should be, Tamara, Rich and Garry

China - June 8, 2008 Luguhu Lake

As we were finishing breakfast at Luma’s House of Tibet restaurant, we struck up a conversation with Erin, a Canadian, and her friend Dennis. She had won a global essay contest and her prize was to carry the Olympic Torch in the idyllic city Shangri-la, which we will visit in a few days. She told us that her entire family was coming to China to support her. What an experience for her, eh? We talked about some of our previous travels to Nepal, Pakistan, Mongolia and Siberia. Dennis jokingly asked us if we’re doing our “bucket list” as featured in the recent movie by the same name starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.

Then we headed to Luguhu Lake in the middle of the Yi minority area. The Yi are a proud people with strong character who have kept their language and script, which is a combination of Tibetan and Bhutanese. They do not judge others, nor do they like those who are judgmental. Their costumes are similar to those in Laos and they wear their traditional dress everyday. Their diet consists of lots of vegetables and soup but they eat very little meat.

The road from Lijiang to Luguhu Lake followed the Jin Sha river (the Angry river), and we were told it would take six hours. After a short time we understood why. The route, literally cut into mountainsides, was a tortuously winding road that was one driving mistake from disaster. The road is paved with cobblestone on the steep sections to make it less slippery, and there was repeated evidence of recent landslides and rock falls. One section was entirely dirt as repairs were underway. In several areas along the way men were working on the outer edge constructing foot high concrete curbs, presumably to serve as a guard rail. It’s hard to imagine that this would prevent an errant vehicle from a five-second tour of the canyon. Originally, we thought these were isolated conditions, but as the day wore on we felt as if we were back in Pakistan on the Karakorum Highway, albeit not as severe.

We stopped for a panoramic scene of a deep valley with a view of numerous switchbacks down to a bridge over the river. Yesterday we explained to Elena what switchbacks were and today she actually used that term. In conversations during the long ride, we definitely increased her vocabulary of American words and phrases such as kicking the bucket, buying the farm, fuchsia, scarecrow (in Chinese it’s “grass-stuffed man”), moose, buttercup, soft soap, butter you up, and callous, just to name a few. She’s very smart and great fun to be with.

The next stop was at Three Trees Restaurant for lunch, which supposedly had the best toilets for the next two hours of traveling. If these restrooms were the best, we couldn’t begin to imagine what the others looked or smelled like. Hold your breath and just move quickly was the best course of action. We ate our light lunch in a separate tiny room built over a large lily pond.

Continuing to Luguhu Lake, children standing by the roadside would raise their hands as our vehicle passed and we were told this not only means hello but also shows respect to the people inside. We stopped at a small Yi village where the Polaroid photos were a HUGE hit. Elena told us that these people don’t get their photos taken, and apparently to have it taken by a Westerner is very special. One excited small boy grabbed the picture and ran away from his mother. Word spread quickly and soon many parents and children joined us, some coming from their work fields, to ask for a family photo. The interaction was a great experience for all that resulted in Tamara distributing 25 Polaroid pictures to a happy crowd.

To enter the Luguhu Lake area there is a toll of ¥80 or the equivalent of $11.50 per person with these funds used to protect the local villages. In return we received ticket package that includes a mini-DVD describing the area.

The minority people in this area are the Mosou, part of the Naxi. They have 25 villages scattered around Luguhu Lake and it is the only matriarchal society in China. The women are in charge, namely the mother who controls all the money, handles the business and tells everyone what will be planted. Their religion is Daba and they worship Holy Mountain – the goddess to protect the Mosou people.

The Mosou practice what is called “walking marriages”. The Chinese government tried to encourage the people to get married, but they wanted to keep their tradition. Ninety percent of their population still embraces the “walking marriage” concept.

At thirteen years old, the boys go through a special ceremony conducted by the mother’s oldest brother and the priest to put on his “adult clothes”. The boy must walk over big bags of rice as a ritual representing his readiness for work. Then another three years are needed to learn how to socialize with people and an additional three years to start the walking marriage process. A walking marriage is not permitted until they are at least nineteen. A special festival held in July is when the young people meet each other. Dressed in their costumes, they sing, dance and the young men jump over flames to impress the girls. The boys talk to the girls and if a girl likes the boy, she tickles his palm.

A girl’s family usually adds another room in the back of their house or builds a separate house calling it the “flower house room” in anticipation of a walking marriage. A young man must pass “three doors” to get to the girl’s room. The first door requires strength and intelligence to climb up and over a high wall with glass shards embedded in the top. The second door requires he pass by a big dog. To do this, Mosou men must “deliciously cook the meat for the dog” and throw it to the dog to keep it quiet. For the third door, the young must man be “as light as the swallow” meaning be quiet, because her parents’ house has thin walls and they can hear everything.

Once a walking marriage is established, the man continues to live in his mother’s house and the girl lives with her mother. A man goes to sleep with his girl at night but the next morning he returns to his mother’s house to work. The man must leave the girl’s home before dawn or he will be considered lazy. You might think this is easy at first, but strict guidelines accompany this way of life. Men are not allowed to hop from one woman to another, a practice that is severely looked down upon by Mosou society. If the walking marriage doesn’t work out, a three year waiting period must be observed before another walking marriage can be arranged.

When a child is born, the child is raised at the mother’s house.

Our afternoon activity at Luguhu Lake was a canoe trip to visit two islands. We climbed into a trough shaped row boat where a young Mosou woman with her husband rowed in the bow and the woman’s uncle in the stern steered using a paddle. On our way to the first island the sky looked threatening, so the woman suggested that we bypass the small island and go directly to Liwubi Island to see a Buddhist temple. When we returned from the boat ride, the husband went off with the seat cushions and left the woman to carry the three heavy oars. As Elena told us, “It’s better to do it yourself rather than ordering a lazy dog.”

Since 2002 the area surrounding the lake has become a very popular tourist spot and it is having a negative impact on the Mosou culture. It’s said if one returns in two years one will not recognize the place with additional guesthouses and shops dotting the shoreline.

Dinner at the Big Tree restaurant along the waterfront proved to be one of the least interesting meals. To order fish or chicken you had to arrange it beforehand so the owners could kill the chicken or catch the fish and have it ready before you arrived. Our meal consisted of a toasted goat cheese sandwich, watery carrot & corn soup, and a potato pancake that we washed down with some Happy Hour brand beer.

Our guest house rooms were comfortable…and entertaining. In the bathroom above the toilet hung a sign “Beware of Landslide” with a character of a person falling on a slippery surface. We couldn’t help but laugh.

Enjoying the humorous English translations,

Rich, Garry and Tamara

Google Maps information

If you want to follow along with the blog and see satellite views of where the group is talking about, go to http://www.maps.google.com, enter the name of the city and country in the search box, such as Kunming, China. When the map opens up, look for the "satellite" box toward the upper right and select it. You can then use the zoom feature on the left side of the satellite map to zoom in and out. A new feature that also appears are any pictures that people have sent and attached for the area. Someone has placed pictures of the stone forest, boats on the lake, the rock with expo 99 on it, and some others.

Linda

June 7, 2008 Lijiang and Jade Snow Mountain

What a day this has been!! After a great breakfast at Lamu House of Tibet restaurant across the street from the hotel, Elena, our guide, met us at the hotel and so began our packed day of sightseeing.

We first walked to the water wheel in the Old Town portion of Lijiang, which is a labyrinth of narrow cobble-stone streets lined with two-story, terracotta roofed homes, shops, hotels and cafes. A stream flows through the center of town originating at Black Dragon Lake where natural springs feed the lake. In the past, the stream actually ran through the kitchen of some of the homes. The practice, years ago, was that water from the stream could be used for washing vegetables, fruit and the preparation of food at 8:00am and only after 10:00am was it permitted to wash dishes and clothes. The square in Old Town once served as the center of trading on the Tea and Horse Road, which was the local Silk Road. Traders came from Nepal, Tibet and Mainland China to exchange tea, silk and other products. Today, you still have the sense of a crossroads with visitors from across China around the world crowding the streets.

Lijiang was severely damaged during an earthquake in 1996 and received a huge influx of money to rebuild the town. Surprisingly, the homes in Old Town for the most part survived the earthquake with little damage, unlike the buildings in New Town. In 1999, Lijiang was designated an UNESCO World Heritage site, but following a survey by UNESCO last year, it is now in danger of losing this distinction because of over commercialization. Over time, homeowners have moved out, homes have been converted and the area is losing its historic appeal.

We followed our guide down a lovely path where willow tree branches draped over the stream of clear fresh water as we headed to Black Dragon Lake. Students from a nearby university took advantage of the weather to sit and study in the park by the lake. The reflection of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Elephant Mountain on the lake added to the beauty.

As we walked across a footbridge at the edge of the lake we saw small bubbles, produced by the natural springs, rising to the surface. Legend has it that if you sing well you can cause the bubbles to float to the surface. Our guide hummed Auld Lang Syne and bubbles did appear. We were not as successful.

Our next stop took us to a 420 year old Buddhist temple which had been moved in 1998 from the mountains to Black Dragon Lake. In the construction of this large temple there are no nails, only wood joints, and the colorful painting of the exterior and the detailed carvings in the rafters are exquisite. However, because this is no longer an active temple but a museum managed by the government, the interior now contains a tribute to a provincial governor who passed away last year.
The Dongba Museum and Research Institute explained the history of the Naxi people (pronounced nah shee) and is important to the area as an academic institution for the preservation of Naxi culture. The exterior wall exhibited dozens of pictographs used in their ancient system of writing. The guide at the Museum told us that Naxi women today work very hard, working in the fields, taking care of the home and family from morning to night. And, guess what the men do, yep, you got it – play mahjong, paint and play music. The guide at the Museum repeated exactly what our guide Elena told us earlier about the hard working Naxi women. (Editor’s Note: This is an extremely unusual twist found rarely in society). Elena’s mother was a Yi, another Chinese minority, who married a Naxi man and then became a Naxi woman.

The Dongba Research Institute has 30 Dongba shamans who study, translate and preserve the Naxi religious texts. It takes 20 to 30 years to obtain the privilege of being a Dongba shaman. Dongba shamans do divinations using stones, chicken bones and other methods. The gift shop contained some exquisite items for sale, but the prices were out of sight with little bargaining room.

Our stop before lunch was in Baisha Village where we viewed the 470 year old frescoes located in their Buddhist temple. The red color on the frescoes came from the blood of animals and the gold in the eyes of the people was obtained from gold found in the local river. Why did the frescoes survive the Cultural Revolution, you might ask? People from the Baisha Village covered them up with false paintings which were destroyed, but the frescoes survived.

Lunch was perfect, but again, after saying we weren’t hungry, there wasn’t much food left on the plates when we were finished. The hot ginger and cola drink was quite tasty, and the perfect natural aid for hiking at high elevation. Our next destination was 12,300 feet at the top of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Driving there, we stopped to pay a toll and also have our passports checked. Apparently the latter is a new procedure following the uprisings in Tibet because this road leads to that territory. Driving along after the checkpoint, we saw workers placing the Chinese and the Beijing 2008 flags along the road because this section will be part of the Olympic torch route in a few days.

We arrived at the information center, hopped on a van and started up the long serpentine road to Snow Mountain. Lastly, we boarded cable cars to transport us to Yak Meadow at the top. While waiting, we saw empty cable cars being loaded with lumber and bags of sand for construction projects at the top.

The view of surrounding mountains and valleys from Yak Meadow was spectacular. The meadow grass was speckled with small flowers, and yaks, sheep and goats, some with bells strapped around their necks, were grazing. There is a 3.6 kilometer wooden walkway through the meadow for enjoying the scenery, and as we walked, we saw many signs that read “Careful Slide” meaning, we suppose, that it might be slippery. Another sign we saw occasionally was “No Trample Lawn”. The signs were humorous, but we stopped and had a real laugh at this one particular point. We came upon a “No Trample Lawn” sign, written in both Chinese and English, that had been trampled to pieces by an illiterate or defiant yak.

A Buddhist temple with prayer flags blowing in the breeze commanded a prominent position along the walkway. Elena warned us that it was a tourist trap and also that after the tourists leave, the monk talks constantly on his cell phone. She also said that in recent years there is not as much snow, but that when her father was a boy the snow fell halfway down the mountain. Jokingly it is said that in a few years, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain will be Jade Dragon Stone Mountain.

Taking the chairlift back down the mountain we boarded the shuttle bus and made a stop at White Water River for a few photos before heading back to the information center.

Before driving back to Lijiang we stopped at Jade Dragon Mountain golf course, which is the longest (8,548 yards) and the highest (over 10,000 feet) course in the world. The course was designed with added length to compensate for the increased distance of shots due to the thin air at this altitude. Because of favorable weather conditions, the course is playable year round. Villas with a mountain view overlook the golf course were visible from the clubhouse, and they are entirely sold out. We each purchased a golf shirt at the pro shop before heading back to Lijiang.

After a full day, we went to see a performance of the Naxi Ancient Music Association in the Old Town. There are about thirty musicians, five of them over 80 years of age playing music dating back to the 12th century. They played native ancient instruments, some over 100 years old, with some female vocals in a unique style of high pitched voice. The young woman playing the Jew’s harp was outstanding.

We have a six hour drive to Luguhu Lake ahead of us tomorrow with a one night stay and return the following day.

Early to bed and early to rise,

Rich, Garry and Tamara

June 6, 2008 Dali - Xinhua - Lijiang

We loaded our luggage into the van for our trip to Lijiang, but before leaving Dali, we went to a Tea Culture demonstration. The rows of seats had tables, and we sat in the front row before a small stage. The first tea served was bitter, made from green tea directly from the fields. The second tea tasted much sweeter, brewed together with thinly sliced cheese, sliced walnuts and honey. It was served with a fork to eat the cheese and the walnuts. Lastly, but probably our favorite, was a ginger tea made of seven ingredients including ginger, honey and peppercorn. While tea is served, the Bai dancers put on several performances, the last of which was their wedding dance. An unusual part of the ritual dance is that the bride gets pinched by the wedding guests; the more pinches, the more good luck will follow. The bride wears sunglasses to hide her tears as she must move from her parents’ home to live with her husband’s family.

All of the Chinese ethnic minorities we have encountered have traditional garb, and these days it is usually worn only by the elder women. Our guide explained that the design of the traditional headdress for women in Dali incorporates four unique images – wind, snow, flower and Moon. First, the headdress is in the shape of a crescent moon. The white tassel hanging down signifies the wind, the white fringe running along the top represents snow, and the bands of flowered material represent the flowers.

We headed towards Lijiang, but stopped in the town of Xinhua, another Bai ethnic village where the women wear blue caps topped with a Chairman Mao hat. After walking the village, our guide steered us to Farmer’s Restaurant where six of us ate a seven course lunch for ¥40 or about $6. Xinhua is noted for their silver, and at one time the back streets were home to many silversmith families where people learned the trade before going out on their own.

Probably the most interesting area was the large plaza in the center of the town off of the main thoroughfare where groups of boys played, but stopped to yell “hello” as we walked by. At the far end of the plaza, elevated from street level, a group of older men sat at several tables playing Mahjong. It was the old retired men’s club where they play all day long, leaving when hungry only to return for more Mahjong. In addition to the players, other men looked over their shoulders intently watching the game.

We arrived in Lijiang in the late afternoon. No vehicle traffic is allowed in the Old Town where our hotel is located, so hotel personnel brought a cart to transport our luggage to the hotel several blocks away. Following with our backpacks we arrived and met our new guide for this segment of the trip. Her name is Elena, and we also met Charlie, the owner of the local tour company who invited us to dinner. We went to a restaurant named “Eight”, which is a good auspicious number; it’s the sign of infinity. Charlie ordered a typical Naxi meal with the Naxi Hot Pot as the main course, accompanied by an azalea flour egg pancake and a dish made from lily petals. Dali beer and decent Chinese red wine complemented the meal.
A side note you may find interesting is that pouring beer to the top of the glass is a sign of respect, yet pouring only a half cup of tea shows respect for your guest. Also, when seated at a large table, you can knock twice on the table to say “thank you” to someone rather than say it.

Our itinerary will change. Rather than spending two nights at Luguhu Lake, we decided to go to the lake area one day earlier and return to Lijiang in time for the Olympic torch run. Thank goodness for the flexibility of our small private group to change plans when another opportunity arises.

If you are confused about the Naxi and other ethnic minorities we’ve mentioned, don’t feel bad, we can’t keep them straight either since there are 53 of them. The Naxi, who are descendants of the Tibetan nomads, number approximately 300,000 and call Lijiang their capital. Their religion called Dongba, which mixes elements of Daoism and Tibetan Lamaism.

Here’s knocking twice to you reading the blog.

Garry, Tamara and Rich

China - June 5, 2008, Dali

After a night of heavy rain, the prospect of a pleasant day was dim. We carried the borrowed hotel umbrellas that we used last night walking through Dali’s Old Town. After Garry discovered he had left his sling bag in the dining hall and recovered it without anything taken, we headed off to a small town on the outskirts of Dali to experience one of the daily markets.

The market vendors offered anything the locals might need for meals such as eggs marinated in tea, cones of brown sugar, meats, vegetables, fresh noodles and tiny fresh water shrimp. One old woman hunched over her small tarp of wiggling shrimp, picked through the pile and sorted the darker ones into a green bowl. Apparently the darker shrimp are more desirable for eating, but their looks didn’t excite me. One thing we’ve seen in other markets around the world, but not here, is bread. Noodles, yes, bread, no.

A man in a small shop was using an electric motor-driven machine to press canola oil. He dumped bags of the small seeds into a hopper and the press extracted the oil with the oil dripping into a large pan and the cake ejected into a bin. After a second pressing, the dry cake is bagged and sold as animal feed. Nothing is wasted.

Finishing our walk through the market, we visited a nearby 100 year old house that now houses five families. The house is two stories high with four sides surrounding a center courtyard. The strange thing is that the second floors are no longer used as living space and their main use now is storage. Even the staircases once used to reach the upper floor are boarded off. Perhaps, safety is the concern. Garry mentioned later that my grandmother Sallie, who will be 107 years old in August, was 7 years old when this building was constructed.

The weather cleared as we headed to the Three Pagodas, San Ta, where Dali once existed within a monastery before being destroyed during the Qing dynasty. The middle pagoda, built in 800AD, is the tallest with 16 stories, and the two adjacent 11th century pagodas are smaller but more elaborate in detail. These pagodas have the Cang Shan Mountains as a backdrop and they face a very large lake named Er Hai which translated means … Ocean. The location of these pagodas is an excellent example of Feng Shui with the mountain in the back and the water in front signifying that Dali is strong and it will survive anything.

The tall pagoda had suffered a large crack during an earthquake many years ago, but during the 1925 earthquake the crack closed and is no longer apparent. One of the smaller pagodas is leaning significantly, reminiscent of the tower at Pisa.

As we walked through the park, the rest room building was a point of interest. The guide jokingly referred to it as a five-star toilette. Equipped with a TV, hairdryer, fancy mirrors and wash basins, it was not quite the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, but interesting.

Some of the other tour guides we passed were using an electronic megaphone to talk to their groups. This was very strange because it not only interfered with our guide’s talk, but also disrupted the serenity of the entire park. The park has pools of water, lovely vegetation and rocks hiding speakers that emit smoothing oriental music as you walk along the paths. Then suddenly you’d hear the high pitched voices amplified by their megaphone. It sure offset some of the Feng Shui.

There is a large reflecting pool in a garden setting where you can see the reflection of all three pagodas. After a photo session there, we climbed the bell tower to have a bird’s eye view of the pagodas and Er Hai. The top floor housing the bell, which is seldom rung, has walls made of wooden slats. Clowning around, Rich and Garry held the slats inside as if in a prison cell with Garry yelling, “Free Tibet.” The humor might be lost on some, but not us.

Our next stop was lunch. Zhang, our guide, took us to a noodle soup restaurant, and we use the word restaurant loosely. An apparent favorite of the locals, it has just a few tables, but the large bowls of soup with thick rice noodles, onions, spices, pork, chicken and whatever else were very tasty. All of this cost about one dollar for all five of us to eat.

After lunch we took a boat ride on Er Hai which is about six miles wide and 25 miles in length. This lake serves as one of the branch sources for the Mekong River. No fishing is allowed from January until June 1st so the lake can recover from over-fishing. The lake was also polluted, but the government now restricts construction around the lake, not allowing any hotels or factories to be built. No motor boats are permitted either, and apparently these measures are working because the water appeared clean.

Leaving the park, we walked for several kilometers and the driver picked us up along the way. The weather was nice and the exercise felt good. Dinner was in town at Marley’s Café on a second floor balcony overlooking Foreigner Street. Our table had Chinese food for the most part, except for a shared “Marley Burger”, a hamburger about 1/4th inch thick with a very good sauce.

Later in the evening we attended a show titled “Butterfly’s Dream” which we thoroughly enjoyed from our 2nd row seats. The quality of the show surprised us, and it would do justice to any Las Vegas production. There was a cast of hundreds in this dance and acrobatic extravaganza who were adorned in wonderfully colorful costumes representing many of the 53 ethnic minority groups in the area.


Rich, Tamara, Garry

China - June 4, 2008, Kunming/Dali

In our blog last year covering the Silk Road, we mentioned hearing the tune “Happy Birthday” from time to time while in Kashgar, China and had assumed it came from the amusement park near our hotel. But, here in Kunming, we heard it again and we are not near an amusement park. It turns out that this tune is played by the street washing vehicles as they clean the streets.

Banks met us at 9:00 am and guided us to the city gates nearby – the Peacock Gate and the Golden Horse Gate, named after nearby mountains. Both are very ornate and date from the 1400’s, although they were rebuilt in the last 20 years. During the lecture, a couple of Chinese with cameras in hand made believe they were pointing their cameras at a Gate, but actually we were the subjects. Garry, Rich and I pretended we didn’t see them and by doing so they crept closer and closer determined to take our pictures. Later, our guide said that Chinese visiting the city from remote villages are curious about westerners.

While walking with Banks, I asked him about the AIDS/HIV problem in China. He replied that Yunnan Province has the highest incident rate in all of China. Why? It’s because of its proximity to Burma and the Golden Triangle (Laos, Thailand and Burma) with their drug trafficking and use of needles.

We drove to Nine Dragon Lake, a very large lake situated in a beautiful park near the center of Kunming. It gets its name from the fact that it is fed by nine springs. This area also has many universities and the most expensive housing in the city.

Our guide mentioned that it had once been used for naval training exercises and interestingly, the Chinese word for lake, hai, also means ocean. There is a promenade around the lake passing through beautiful gardens, wooded areas and paved common areas. While walking through the park many groups of women and men were performing Tai Chi, dancing to music, and various other forms of exercise like hitting a tennis ball attached to a long piece of elastic. While watching the latter and looking intrigued by their skill, one of the women asked me if I wanted to try it. Of course, I couldn’t turn down an invitation like that. It wasn’t as easy as it looked, but I managed to put the racquet on the ball often, but certainly not to the skill level of these women. They had a couple of extra balls with an attached loop for the elastic, so Garry bought one for ¥20, the equivalent of $3.00. The best part was that one woman patted her stomach, basically telling us it was a great way to lose the belly fat. Thanks, were the Magnum Bars showing already?

Later while driving to lunch, Banks explained that Kunming has three ring roads whereas Beijing has six ring roads due to the growth of the city. In Kunming, no motorbikes are allowed to enter into the first ring area, the city center, due to the noise they make. Taxes on cars are assessed annually based on the size of the engine, but there is no tax on gasoline which is currently priced at ¥5.6 or about $1 per liter. With the rapid increase in the number of trucks and cars in just the past two years, the environmental air quality in Kunming has deteriorated. Yunnan Province had been one of the best for clean air in China.

Banks also entertained us with a story about an old courting tradition within the Yunnan province. In days gone by, there was an annual festival in Kunming and families traveled from distant villages to attend. Girls who did not have a boyfriend by age 15 or 16 would cook chicken and offer it for sale to show their availability. If a boy was attracted he’d stop at her table, taste the chicken and ask the price. If the girl was attracted, she would offer at a very low price. This was a method for the girls from the mountains to meet men since it’s difficult in a remote area.

We discussed plans for lunch. None of us were especially hungry, but facing a four hour drive to Dali with uncertainty about places to eat along the way, we changed our minds. We wanted to get on the road and not take time for a sit-down lunch, so Garry suggested McDonald’s. As it turned out, Banks drove across Kunming to the only McDonald’s with a drive-through. Pulling up to the window, the girl gave us a point-and-order laminated sheet showing the items and prices. The items were very similar to those in the US and the food tasted the same as well.

It was a long drive to Dali and after arriving at our hotel in late afternoon, Garry, Rich, Richard and I walked into town and found the locally famous Foreigner Street. Souvenir shops and restaurants lined both sides of the cobble-stone street. The restaurants really catered to the foreigners with Hawaiian Pizza, chicken pizza, lasagna, spaghetti, cappuccinos – well, you get the idea. Wood-fired pizza and beer was our dinner for the evening. Are you shaking your head? We’re in China and eating western food, you say; but we did have Chinese food for breakfast. That qualifies!

The Polaroid camera photos were a big hit, and as always, you can tell if they have ever seen a Polaroid photo before. These people had not. Looking at two dark sides of a piece of paper, men, women and children would flip it around to view both sides and then look at you quizzically. Then, when the images begin to show, the fascination is addictive and their friends and family crowd around. This one little boy sitting at a small desk and dressed in bright orange stared and stared so intently at his image appearing on the photo. He looked up and rewarded us with the brightest smile.

Smile and world smiles with you,

Tamara, Rich and Garry