Weekend moonlighting in Dongchuan

This weekend was not only the start to our new teaching jobs, but also our first time leaving Kunming since we arrived over two months ago. Leaving the city limits was exhilarating as we drove to Dongchuan on Friday. I had been anxious to see something more of this immense nation or even province. The school sent a driver for us and we squished into the backseat for the 2.5 hour drive north. We left at about 8:30 pm, so it wasn’t possible to view the scenery, but the farther we got from the city, the more crowded the sky became with stars and the hills turned into mountains.

Dongchuan is a small city (population 300,000) northeast of Kunming on the edge of Sichuan’s mountains. The city’s main industry is mining – both copper and gold. Dongchuan was once part of the Kunming prefecture, but recently cut its ties and now governs itself. We were told that this has greatly increased the quality of living in Dongchuan as once high taxes went to public services in Kunming, and now they enjoy the benefits of their own productivity. Apparently taxes are almost nonexistent and most public works are supported by generous donations from wealthy citizens. This has enticed many companies to begin constructing factories within the city.

When we arrived in Dongchuan, Tina and her friends met us at a hotel where we would be staying for the weekend. We are supposed to have an apartment, but it’s not quite ready or something, so for the meantime they will put us up in a hotel every weekend. Later, she took us out for a late welcome dinner. We ate at a very Chinese restaurant, the sort that I hadn’t had the opportunity to experience yet. The tables were all very low to the ground with mini stools (the cow milking variety) for seats. In the center of the table is a large hole where a huge coal briquette sits, which is then lit and the hole is covered with a large pan. You are then presented with a cup of oil and a brush to grease the pan, and an assortment of raw ingredients to grill like potatoes, lamb strips, beef strips and something called “er kuai” which is like rice dough. The principle of the school and other administration joined us. It was apparent that they’d been doing some heavy drinking previously and continued the party with us as they continually made toasts and refilled our glasses with beer until 1:00 am. From this moment, I could tell that our weekends in Dongchuan were going to make for a more genuine portal into Chinese culture than Kunming had thus far provided us. We’re told that we are the first westerners that Dongchuan has really experienced. Everywhere we went in the city, we were with surprised looks, followed by smiles and shouts of “Hello” or “Ni Hao!”

The next morning, we were taken to eat at 7:30 am. This was also my first time eating a traditional Chinese breakfast. Noodles! A big bowl of noodles, meat and broth is not exactly my idea of breakfast food, but it sure warms the belly. When we arrived at the school and entered the first classroom, it was hard to miss the gigantic poster with our photograph. As Scott is making a goofy face and I am sporting a double chin, it wouldn’t have been my choice for blowing up to 3 ft x 5 ft, but it’s a little late for personal opinions as copies are hung in at least fives locations throughout the school. Yikes.

This weekend was meant to be a presentation for the parents, to show them what we could offer their children for English education. I was a little disappointed in the lack of planning on their part as we were handed lesson plans that morning, one hour before show time. The thing with children though is that if you act goofy and get them to jump around, they are bound to have a good time. Singing “heads, shoulders, knees and toes” is a good way to do that. About 100 students showed up, aged three to twelve (mostly younger) and we split them up to teach them different things. Despite the complete chaotic nature of the day and one child leaving in tears after he was pushed down by a bigger kid, the day was a success and at least 50 signed up to begin next week. The more kids that sign up, the more classes we can teach and the more money we can make.

The rest of the day we were taken around Dongchuan for some sightseeing and lunch at a beautiful restaurant in traditional Chinese architecture with intricate wall frescoes. Local Party officials joined us for a tasty meal at this premier five-star restaurant. Later, they took us on a scenic drive through the surrounding countryside to an ethnic minority village. When we arrived at the village we found that it is not a working village, but more of a mock village for Chinese tourists to learn about the Yi people, have dinner and relax in the many gardens, playing cards or mahjong. After a while, the cheesiness began to set in and we craved a more genuine experience so Scott, Gaetan, Jordan and I set off to explore what lay on the other side of the highway.

The countryside there is stunning, with the farm terraces, the red-clay earth and the mountainous backdrop. We stumbled upon a real village, though not of an ethnic minority. The habitants appeared to be corn farmers as the surrounding plots were filled with mounds of the harvested corn crops and their concrete houses were laden with dried cobs of corn. A small, elderly man with a Mao-style hat stepped out of his house and smiled at us – most likely the only foreigners to have stepped foot in this village. Jordan asked him where we could find some water and he invited us to have tea with him. We entered his house and the first thing to catch my eye was a large poster of Chairman Mao on the wall, the only decoration in this sparse little home. The way Chinese maintain this loyal sentiment towards their deceased, ruthless leader is bewildering. He poured us some tea and we sat, absorbing the gentle character of this peasant man while Jordan translated their conversation. Soon, two little boys ran inside – his grandsons, and an older, blind granddaughter. The man explained that farming here is difficult due to the heavy summer rains that cause massive landslides and decrease his farmland each year. Also, local government officials hoard social benefits from the peasants and fail to distribute the provincial and federal aid. The very people who we had dined with just a few hours prior, where depriving these hard-working farmers of a better life. As his farming yields little, they simply live off what they grow and have no real income. He also explained that there is no water in the village, so they must collect rainwater during the rainy season to supply them for the year, as the nearest water source is 100 km away. After hearing this, I looked down at my tea and realized how precious their water is and how incredibly generous this man was to offer us, complete strangers, a portion of his store.

The little boys were shy, but asked Jordan where we came from and said they were learning some English at their school. There is only a primary school in the village, so these boys walk to the next village every Sunday night and return Friday afternoon. It takes them four hours to walk each way. Later, the old man’s wife came into the house to say hello and she invited us to stay for dinner. There is no way we could accept their offer, so we thanked them and got up to leave. As we walked further down the road, the two boys followed us and asked if we might come to their home for a brief visit. The boys live in a house beside their grandfather’s that is about twice the size. There we met their mother and her father, as well as their little sister. I guess the one-child policy does not apply to everyone. In the boys’ home we watched part of the Curious George movie on the TV and were invited to stay for dinner as well. I was a bit shocked to see that at both homes, a large TV sat in the main room. If they have no income, how can they afford such a luxury? Gaetan explained that most peasants have a television, even if they barely have enough food to eat. The government supplies everyone with TVs to encourage the learning of standard Mandarin and spread messages of propaganda.

Our visit to this small village and meeting its genuine and generous habitants is an experience I will not soon forget. These peasants have nothing, yet they offered everything to us obviously well off strangers and wanted nothing but friendship in return. While I have experienced and valued the generosity of the Chinese we have met in Kunming, this really drove home the nation’s culture of hospitality on a new level. That evening, we met up with our friends from the school back at the Yi village and feasted on local dishes and rice wine. The following day we taught another class each, had a nice lunch and loaded back up in the car for our return trip to Kunming. While it was nice to leave the city and experience the Yunnan countryside, it was also nice to get back. And we will do it all again on Friday!