Adventures in Yunnan Part I

This past week was a labor day vacation in China- a whole week where no one goes to school or work, and everyone travels! We took off to Yunnan and saw Kunming, Dali and Lijiang cities while we were there. If only we had more time! Yunnan is a beautiful province with gorgeous landscapes and many colorful minority cultures. It was certainly a different China from the Beijing that we live in every day.

Getting there was a challenge. The "23 hour" train ride turned out to be a solid 48 hours, and we didn't know that until we were 3 hours into it. Somehow we passed the time looking at increasingly green surroundings with farmers working the fields, playing cards, and reading the travel book. Leaving Friday night, we finally made it there Sunday Morning.

I figure I'll use this blog to talk about Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, and then write the others later. Kunming is a relaxed city, probably around 5 million people. We saw a Buddhist temple and the Grand View Park that were especially impressive. This is a shot of the temple...

We stayed in the Camellia Youth Hostel at the beginning and end of the trip for a mere 30 Yuan per night. ($3.75) One night we went out for Muslim food because we had read that the Muslim population in Kunming was prominent and there was an entire street with their restaurants and snack stalls. Dinner wasn’t the greatest, mostly because we didn’t know how to order, but we walked around a beautiful pedestrian area later. The buildings are lit up like a cross between Beijing and Las Vegas and everyone floods the streets at night for a stroll.

Right now China is such a fascinating merge of cultures. Everything seems to be bi-cultural, with essences of Eastern and Western twisted together. For example, in the plaza there was a demonstration of traditional minority culture dances but one of the groups did a routine to the song, “Who let the dogs out?!” What? I could do nothing but watch it with my jaw dropped.

We saw the Grand View Park on Saturday, our last day before our flight to Beijing. This was a highlight because it was so beautiful, relaxed and fun.

All flowers were in bloom, and the park was full of beautiful walkways, waterways and open areas. Being the last weekend of the holiday, the park was full of people including couples, families and groups of elderly people.

I thought kids running around in human-size hamster balls were particularly interesting:

We took a gondola-ish ride…for only $1.25 per person. Sure beats Venetian prices! This was our boat..

We also rode bumper cars and the boys did a crazy ride that shot them up in the air.
Just a quick video of the bumper cars:

Adrian bought a kite and we spent hours trying, succeeding and failing at flying it. There were bunches of kites in the air, and the funniest moments were when we got them tangled and had to do a dance with the pro-kite-flying Chinese men to get the wires untwisted.

Other than that, we just made hats out of clovers and got completely sunburned enjoying the afternoon. I will have to write about Dali and Lijiang cities later. They were beautiful and also full of adventures!

And We're Off!

As of two hours ago, midterm exams are officially over and a week-long vacation begins in 45 minutes when we leave for the Beijing West Train Station. We are leaving for Yunnan province, which is the southernmost province in China on the border of Burma and Vietnam. We don't have many plans yet, other than a train ticket because life has been so hectic...but we have 23 hours on the train to talk about it.

The landscapes in Yunnan are 180 degrees different from Beijing. It is mountainous, humid, intersected by the Yangtze river, has waterfalls, gorges and rainforests. Needless to say, we are a little excited to leave the city for 10 days. Just wanted to bring an update and let you know that the next few blogs are going to be very exciting!!!!

An African Lunch

A guy from Eritrea, Africa sat down next to me at church today. Until today, I didn't even know it was a country, but it borders Northern Ethiopia and won its independence from them in 1993...if you were wondering. He seemed starved for conversation. I quickly learned he had only been here for five days and was applying for refugee status because he couldn't go back to his country for numerous reasons. He had been orphaned as a child, imprisoned for disagreeing, forced into certain types of governmental work and not allowed to practice his religion. Finally sent to China on a governmental delegation, he was looking for a brighter future. I sat there marvelling at the many reasons people could end up in Beijing and the relatively grandiose life that we Americans live compared to some. Some Americans wouldn't set foot in China because it might make them uncomfortable...and here it is representing someone else's safe-haven and an opportunity to live.

We ran into some people he met the previous day and ended up eating lunch at someone's house with an Ethiopian, and Eritrean, and Irish-Ethiopean, and an English guy. What an experience!..and what good food! The Irish-Ethiopian woman and British guy were engaged. One is an art teacher and the other manages an organization that has placed 100,000 Chinese children into foster families. Isn't it amazing the people you meet and end up hanging out with in Beijing? There is so much left to do and learn...

Music Week and some more

This week had a definite concert theme. We started out by seeing the Roots on Tuesday at a theater/club downtown. It was excellent hip-hop from the States and with a very crowded, mostly foreign audience.

Wednesday was Malte's birthday. He is one of our 6 USC students, so naturally we offered up a mid-week birthday party at our house. We decided to have a dinner with homemade sushi for 10-12 people. A few hours later it was 15-20 and then when it came down to it, I was told to expect 30. 30!..and on a Wednesday. We made a ton of sushi and had a great time. There was salmon and eel sushi, many unexpected wasabi surprises, good music, some dancing, and three small Häagen-Dazs ice cream cakes to top it all! Once again, the guards from downstairs came-a-knockin...but we don't let that trample the fun too much!

A few of the peeps at the party with Malte in his black silk Chinese birthday attire:

Following the craziness on Wednesday was a trip to the London Symphony Orchestra on Thursday. I really wanted to go, mainly because I knew they were playing a great Beethoven violin concerto and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, so I got Sarah and Baptiste to go with me. Yes..between the orchestra and the hip-hop, the music part of our brains was a little confused this week. The best part of this concert was the encore: Star Wars! This was the orchestra that originally recorded the music for the movie 30 years ago AND this was one of the last times that the original trumpet soloist would be playing it in the orchestra. Amazing! We are talking 8 tympanies and 4 harps. I'm just sayin.

It is now Friday night, and needless to say, we are too exhausted to leave the house. ..even if it is the weekend. So we are having two Frenchies and a Mexican over for cheese, sausage and wine instead! (Midterms are next week...so we should start studying...tomorrow)

The weekend in review...

I went back to the same part of the Great Wall that I went to two weeks ago because the Rusus and Adrian wanted to go. It was fun because we rented a little van and got a driver and a tour guide for the day, all for about $36. This must have been my fifth time to the wall, but every time I have a great time. The flowers had opened over the last two weeks, making for much more beautiful mountains. I took off in the other direction and got to walk on a part of the wall that was crumbling and had not been restored. We went as far as we could go and then had to turn around.


The best part of this trip was the end. We took a SLIDE from the top of the Great Wall all the way down the mountain to the bottom. We sat on a toboggan thing that only had a break and went for it. We only got yelled at a couple of times for going to fast... I can't wait to go back and do it again!

This was our last dinner with the Rusus before they headed to Hong Kong. This restaurant was really cool- I liked the lamb the most, and the two Chinese girls in the picture are really wearing those crazy square hats.


One night after a particularly good meal, we had to take a picture of what I like to call the "Little Mihaelas.." named after Adrian's mother:

A good weekend! I am looking forward to a fun week: Tuesday- Hip hop concert, Wednesday- birthday party for a friend at our house, Thursday- London Symphony Orchestra, Friday- Classmate's housewarming party. Whenever will we find the time to study for next week's midterms?!

A Beijing Easter!

How do I begin to describe everything that went on during Easter Sunday here in China? It was great...despite the nontraditional celebration. I got in the cab Sunday morning with the happiest cab driver I've ever had. He cracked jokes and said that laughing keeps you young. Definitely showed a lot more emotion than your typical Chinese. He brought me to church, which is an international congregation with English/Chinese services. I had to show my passport to get in because the church is not "official," unregulated by the government, and therefore unavailable to Chinese citizens. The people were from all over the world, and I had quite a few Southerners come up to me and tell me how they loved South Carolina.

Our Easter lunch was fantastic. It was a very long, very large Romanian meal prepared by Mrs. Rusu. We had about four courses with everything from appetizers to soups to desserts and cheeses. I particularly like the egg game, which is shown here in this video:

The Easter cake, chocolate sauce and cheesecake were all particularly outstanding. By the end of the meal, we all collapsed on top of each other on the couch...all 6 people...and watched some American TV. Somewhat reminiscent of an American Thanksgiving.

An interesting part about our Easter, is that we also made plans to go out that night with friends from school. An Italian girl arranged a dinner at a Chinese man's house in a historic part of Beijing. It is a little house with a dining room set up where he entertains foreigners for a true experience. Here's my little tour of the place before my cell phone rang and cut me off:

After dinner, our charming host played the Chinese Erhu for us...which is two-stringed instrument that sits in your lap with the bow stuck between the strings.

I gave it a shot and could barely even get the thing to make a sound!

This is the French boys giving it a shot:

This is a photo of the whole group who ate there that night:

Happy Easter Everyone!

Saturday: Pre-Easter

I have to do this one day at a time sometimes, because I can never keep up with everything that happens. Saturday afternoon I wandered around Ritan park with Adrian and his mom...somewhere near the Russian district and the Western grocery store that we love, Jenny Lou's. It was a beautiful day with lots of people out and about.

Towards the end, we stopped so that Adrian could practice with the Chinese yo-yo and we attracted a mini audience...again!

In the park, and everywhere I see a lot of pregnant women in China because this is the year of the golden pig. The pig sign comes through the cycle of animals every 12 years and is good fortune. However, the "Golden" aspect only happens once every 5 cycles, meaning that this year is 1/60 and all of the women timed the babies just right. China might see a tiny population spike this year in order to catch all the possible good fortune that could come their way...

Saturday night we went to a concert at the Forbidden City Concert Hall, as an Easter gift from Mrs. Rusu. We got all dolled up and went out on the town to hear the China Philharmonic Orchestra perform with Renee Flemming, a soprano from the States. Her debut was so well received by the Chinese, that they sang FOUR encores! I've never heard that many in my life...the max. is usually 2. It felt so nice to listen to an orchestra again in a beautiful hall of marble and chandeliers. Like always- is this really China?

Haircut and Salsa

Another crazy week in China...did a lot of stuff. Tuesday we went out dancing. That's right: a school night. (Don't tell my Mom....she would have wanted to come.) We went to a club called Latinos with a group of 10-12 and did some lessons and then danced it up for most of the night. I met the owner, Antonio and his Chinese manager, David and they sent a free fruit tray to the table. We are definitely going back...I can never get enough Merengue!

Thursday I went and got a haircut! My first one in China. It came out pretty well...a lot more layers than I'm used to...but it's ok. I paid 4-5 times what a Chinese would, but it still only cost $15. I went to a Western place, but a Chinese girl named "Apple" cut my hair. She was rock-starish in style but had good technique. I'd definitely go back!

Friday night we danced again, and woke up late on Saturday to try to get Adrian's vaccine taken care of. We went to three places before we found someone that would do it. Chinese hospitals are always an adventure. But hey! I learned how to say Hepatitis A and B in Chinese :-)

Adrian's Bday Celebration!

Sunday was Adrian's birthday and it was a blast. It started at midnight when Sarah, his mom and I all sang and gave him presents. Then we had a drink and a piece of his favorite cake, brought all the way from Romania.


We spent the day getting ready..this is a picture of us with two carts from the Japanese department store. We had to leave our IDs and bring the carts home b/c it was too much to carry!





And then had a huge party Sunday night. There were around 30 people representing 10-12 countries in our apartment, including almost all of our friends and classmates that we have met so far. Yes, the guards came to our door and had to ask us to be more quiet. The music was up and everyone was dancing...but we only turned it down for a couple minutes :-) Sarah's rice-patty hat got passed around quite a few times. The rule was, if you were wearing it, you had to dance...and dance in the middle of the circle! These are just a few of the fortunate folks who got to wear it.

Here is the birthday song video...I apologize that you have to hear me sing!

This was our best attempt at a group shot. We set the camera on timer and got most people in the picture...except for a few that had already gone home:

Last but not least...because it was his birthday, Adrian got a picture with all the ladies! Lucky man...wouldn't you say??

We may be in China...but we still know how to celebrate a birthday! I would have never dreamed that we would have this many friends and peers only 4 or 5 weeks into the trip. We constantly sit back and ask ourselves, "Are we in China yet?"

A few new videos

This is another Great Wall video of the steep part as we were descending...

This is Sarah's 12 second introduction in Chinese while she is wearing her new rice patty hat that she bought at the bottom of the Great Wall!

A little of this and that on Sunday Morning....

We went to a networking event last Tuesday that I forgot to mention. The American, European, Swiss Chambers of commerce put it together. I met a couple of interesting people got some more experience shaking hands...or as Adam calls it..."pressing flesh." I've yet to figure out how much of the talk is just talk, and how much people actually follow through with things. For example...when someone in the U.S. takes your card and says they will follow up on something, they normally do. But I think that might not be standard practice here and part of the indirect communication pattern.
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Tomorrow I have a dictation and am sitting here writing characters. For those of you who don't know...this is how you learn characters: you write until you can't write anymore. This picture is a typical school-night routine for us. The three of us sit at the table with a pot of tea and go for it. Our notebooks have little squares that we need to try and use to guide us. Fun fun fun. No wonder this is a category 3 language...
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We also signed up in a Chinese gym and it cost us about $130 for the annual student membership. This is on the cheap side here in Beijing, even though it hurt to have to pay for a gym for the first time. We are quite a scene when we go in there, and get a lot of interesting looks. The gym, like everywhere else, is overemployed. There are always trainers standing around waiting to show you how to use machines, or even just talk to you. Sarah's going to try out the yoga classes on Monday and Adam is looking for a kung fu teacher. Me? I just can't wait until dance lessons Tuesday night!
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This was the first dinner last night with Adrian's Mom. This might have been the best meal yet. The best dish was prawns something-or-other, and the Sichuan style chicken had an amazing sauce. Of course, we also had a beef dish, Beijing duck, soup, vegetables, etc. We definitely don't get treated better than this anywhere else in the city. The Japanese owner loves us, and always practices her Chinese with me. The whole wait staff lights up when we come in, and we always get treated with free fruit and mango or almond custard at the end. Always a very happy experience. Everyone has decided that when we have a guest...we will go here!

Tonight is the big party for Adrian's birthday. The Mom has made cabbage-wrapped something, and chocolate sauce, and oh-so-many sweets and she has just started. Directions have been e-mailed to 30+ people so we can't wait!

A Great Saturday!

The Romanian mother is here, and it is great. She brought a suitcase full of goodies, including a lot of stuff that she cooked in Romania. (She's a caterer and owns her own business there.) Adrian picked her up early in the morning and they instantly began shopping for the big party at our house tomorrow night. When Sarah and I got home, we immediately noticed the mother details...the extra food, the Easter decorations, the curtains drawn in every room. She set out the bunny and eggs in this picture for Easter next week and arranged the flowers!

Meanwhile...the rest of us headed off early with 8 buses of international students and went to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall of China. This was my third section that I've visited, and it was very cool. I took the cable car up to the top, and then hiked as high as we could go until the wall hadn't been restored anymore. It was a beautiful day and it was great being around all of the friends from school. The following video was a fun little "yelling" contest that I started with some Chinese buddies we made during the hike up...

This is me at the beginning of the climb. Yes...I went all the way up that wall behind me!

Sarah bought this hat at the bottom of the Great Wall. These are the THREE CHINESE ROOMIES!

We're officially spoiled.

This is the life. We had a woman come today and clean because Adrian's mom is coming on Saturday to stay for three weeks. Let me just say...I can't wait to meet a Romanian mother...and eat mother-made food...it will be fabulous. But this woman came from 1:30-6, and it cost us $5.50. That's right. $1.25 per hour. It felt bad, and she refused a tip. Needless to say, we booked her for 2:00 every single Tuesday. :-)
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A most interesting construction project has begun outside of our window and we admittedly spend lots of time looking, laughing and trying to understand the charades going on 10 floors below. The first day there was a bulldozer moving dirt and concrete from one pile to another only to start again at 10:30 PM and put it into a truck from the second pile. Why not put it in directly? But this was not the most inefficient sight of the day because right next to the bulldozer was a single guy with a shovel and a wheelbarrow moving a little pile for a total distance of about 15 feet. We watched the scavengers in the picture below trying to get some steel and breaking up the concrete to get to it. The ratio of watchers to doers was about 7:1, and although the hammering went on for an hour, there was never any progress. At least a good show for us!

Just stuff....

Our new favorite coffee shop is across from the West gate of the school. It is quaint, and a pretty good attempt at a Western-style cafe with its bilingual menus, Natalie Cole CD on repeat and scattered, eclectic decor. But I love how the Chineseness always manages to seep through the best attempts at Western. Example: it is still highly over-employed, so much so that I watched a guy dust the leaves of plants for half an hour out of pure boredom. The blueberry muffin lacks the infamous muffin-top experience and most of its sugar, and the large latte comes in a bowl with no handle, like the way a Chinese would eat their morning porridge. But it is comfortable and the people are so nice....how could you not go back?
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Every day on our way to school we pass by a long string of advertisements. In the States these would be corporate-sponsored, but here they are from the government. The picture below is one that I found to be particularly interesting. It says: "Control the increasing population and promote the progress of society." Of course, accompanied by a picture of a happy single-child family with baseball gloves...

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This is a video at the request of Aunt Net....she wanted to see us actually interacting with Chinese folk. This is one of our crazy trips to the supermarket with the landlord you've already read about...

The Blog is Blocked...

Well, I can't see my own blog....but I can post via a different page. So if you're seeing this, leave me a comment and I will get it in my e-mail. Lots of webpages are blocked in China, including some of our favorites, but we shall try to keep lines of communication open!

This week has been pretty normal, with everyone getting their first colds and adjusting to homework. I have one interesting teacher that makes students sit outside if they are late for class...and I suddenly feel like I'm in elementary school in the 1950s. I have another older, well-educated professor who is a gentle spirit and full of good history. He tells stories of when he was exiled to the Northern countryside during Mao's "re-education" of the cultural revolution. It was so cold that tears froze before you could cry, and several of his classmates lost their earlobes to frostbite! I can't even imagine...

There is a Wu Mart across the street from our apartment complex. Gotta love the name. It is busier than its American counterpart, in that it has lines ever hour of every day that are like the Wal-mart lines the week before Christmas. We go there and buy entire little chickens for dinner that are so small because they aren't stuffed with the same hormones as the States. Every large chain grocery store is a noisy experience because people are paid by distributers to advertise individual products all day long. There is a lot of noise as people try to out-yell their counterparts and promote their samples in hopes of a sale.

We had an orientation this week from the Beijing police. It turns out that if you get into a fight with a local, you may be forced to leave the country. And if you buy a dog, you have to take it's picture and pay $75 to get it's picture ID and registration. One American stood up and said, "So what do I do if a guy is stealing my wallet? Can I punch him?" The answer: "It is illegal to fight, so you should just call the police phone number #110." Gotta love it...

We eat family meals at our apartment, and I love it. During breakfast and dinner almost every day, all three of us sit at the table together and drink lots of tea and talk about the day. Because they haven't been here before, I don't think my roomies realize exactly how great it is to be surrounded by good friends during the first weeks of living in China. It lessens the severity of culture and language shock and enhances experiences in general as you can share them with each other. It is a pleasant lifestyle...definitely the most pleasant out of the three times I've been in China.

Yesterday my class and some other new friends all went out to lunch for a group of 12 people. We were from the U.S., France, Germany, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Romania and maybe somewhere else. Walking away from the restaurant, I had such an immense appreciation for the existence of a common language, (English). I wouldn't care if it was Japanese, but without a common language, how would we all communicate? In that moment I was very thankful...First for having such a varied group of friends and second for even having the ability to exchange ideas and cultures at all.

Our group at lunch: