ChinaMusing

Goodbye China

2008-09-21T13:56:00.006+08:00

I've said my goodbyes, taken in those last bowls of noodles and baskets of dumplings and left China. Suddenly all the little nuisances of Chinese culture and cravings I had for all things western have subsided and I'm in reverse culture shock. This year in China was one of the more valuable experiences in my life and I am taking away with it friendships, a deeper cultural understanding and countless memories. This slide show is from my last little trip through Yunnan in July. I visited the Tibetan town of Zhongdian, or more commonly known as Shangri-La. This is perhaps my favorite place in China with its awesome setting at the edge of the Himalayas, the detailed architecture and the humble and colorful Tibetan people.

I miss you China, but new adventures await and one day I will be back. For anyone who likes to travel, I urge you to visit China and experience the incredible culture, intricate history and vast landscape of this country. It will change you.

Check-up with the Chinese traditional doctor

2008-07-17T15:22:00.011+08:00

My friends Angela and Meng Deng have been trying to get pregnant for the past four months. Meng Deng’s mother is a bit overbearing and harasses Angela daily about why she isn’t pregnant yet and what’s wrong with her (typical Chinese mother-in-law behavior). As this harassment induces anxiety, it’s most likely hindering the process.

Angela has turned to a famed Chinese doctor to see if he can help in the fertility department. Supposedly he’s a famous doctor, especially in fertility, and patients come from as far as Shanghai to see him. The first time I saw Angela after she’d taken a dose of the medicine he’d prescribed, she appeared to be in a state of complete relaxation. At the time, I was a bit stressed out with final exams, grading and kindergarten – so I asked if I could come along on her next doctor visit. I was hoping that he could help me relax too.

The next week, I met up with Angela and we walked down numerous small streets and narrow alleys to reach the doctor’s office. We had to arrive two hours earlier than we expected to see him as there are no appointments and he’s quite popular. The “waiting area” is a long, narrow and dark hallway where we squished alongside other patients to wait for our turn. The doctor has two sessions – morning and afternoon. When he breaks for lunch, everyone must wait outside while they sweep the hallway. This leads to a bit of confusion when the afternoon session begins and people get snippy about who’s in front of whom. When the afternoon session began, we scrambled into the doctor’s office to wait our turn. There are about ten seats in the office for the first ten people in line and the rest wait in the hallway. As we’re all sitting there waiting, we get to watch and listen to each patient’s visit.

Angela translated for me, so I could hear each person’s problem and diagnosis. The doctor sits in a chair at a table and facing opposite is his assistant who scribbles out the prescriptions. The patient sits between the two and places their hand palm-up on a little pillow. The doctor feels the patient’s pulse on their wrist with his fingers. In Chinese medicine, it is believed that we have five separate pulses that can be read from the wrist. As the doctor is reading the pulses, he asks questions about her monthly cycle, what she eats and looks at her tongue. He dictates the prescriptions to the assistant and the whole process takes about 5 minutes.

Once the doctor is finished and you get the prescription, you bring it to the other side of the room where there’s a window connecting to the “pharmacy”. Chinese traditional medicine is natural herbs, seeds, parts of trees and animals. The “pharmacist” scoops herbs from different drawers, mixes your concoction of plants together and bags them. The herb cocktail is to be put into boiled water at home, simmered for about 20 minutes and strained into a cup for a nice, dirt-tasting tea taken twice daily. They give you enough for a week, and then you come back for a new prescription each week until you’re feeling better (or pregnant).

The whole shebang costs a mere 2 RMB for the appointment (about 25 cents) and 40 RMB for the medicine (about 6 USD).

I took the medicinal tea for the full week and noticed that I did feel slightly more relaxed than before. I decided not to return as it was so time consuming, but did accompany Angela yesterday for her weekly visit to take some pictures and keep her company while she and her mother waited. Angela has been visiting the doctor for 6 weeks now and no baby yet, but she is confident that the medicine is helping.

Angela and her mother

Saying goodbye to my babies

2008-07-02T17:45:00.027+08:00

It's the rainy season in China. Last night a downpour began and continued through this afternoon. Kunming doesn't have a good drainage system and it caused a flash flood - especially in the little plaza of the International Business School which is out the front door of our building. While university classes were cancelled this morning, it was my last day of teaching kindergarten and all the parents were coming to watch, so I had to forage through the city's flood in my flip flops.

It was difficult saying goodbye to the children today. Besides Chinese food, the thing I will miss most about this place is the beautiful kindergarten children that I have taught this year. Here are some pictures of the last day. As you can see, Chinese learn the peace sign picture pose at an early age.

Now tell me what you really think

2008-06-29T21:50:00.020+08:00

Yes, I know - it's been a long time since my last post. This month has been a whirl of final exams, goodbye dinners, mixed emotions and summer rain, so I have been neglecting the blog.

But I'm back! And plan to share my last thoughts on China and my experience here. I'll also be traveling to northern Yunnan and Hong Kong in the next three weeks, so I will share my travels and photos from these places as well.

However, this post is a tribute to my university students. The photos are from one of my writing classes - I quickly snapped them this morning on our last class together. The last part of this semester I have shown documentaries and movies on a number of controversial and thought provoking subjects. The students final exams reflect their own takes on these subjects and their observations are quite interesting - some shocking, some typical Chinese, some quite revolutionary for Chinese and some just plain cute. So here are some of my favorite passages:

"In my opinion, the greatest problem that China faces today is Taiwan's independence. In 1997, Hong Kong came back to the motherland, but Taiwan hasn't yet. So I think our Chinese must make Taiwan come back as soon as possible."

"I think over-population is the greatest problem that China faces today. Many people think more people will bring a warm feeling, like family, but they forget that all accidents are made by people."

"Compared with humans, ants are very small, but they have a unique spirit that is working together. We have never seen ants in a mess."

"No matter how hard the difficulties we face now, we Chinese have shown our belief to the world. We are not a gentle sheep which can be beaten down easily!"

"Our imagination is important. It's just like a kind of power to do something we really want to do. No matter what you imagine about, no matter if it's true or not, big or small, no matter if the result is good or bad, you believe it. That's the point!"

"In the 1960's -70's in America, the youth were allowed to talk freely and were very open. On the contrary, Chinese youth were not open at all. Maybe they hoped to become free men, but they didn't dare to express it."

"China faces a huge challenge. As China becomes stronger, lots of developed countries want to stop her. And within China there is no peace."

"Sex has no freedom in China. Some people are shy when they talk about sex, but the other ones go out and find body-service. But a lot of women only make love with her husband her whole life."

"I support sexual freedom, because maybe someone will say a girl is not pure if she is not a virgin. But think about it, maybe the girl gave her first night to her ex-boyfriend."

"In the city, we can see many people have a car and house, however in the other places, many can't get enough to eat and are using old tools. They have a little knowledge even though they can't write. The 2008 Olympic Games will be held in Beijing. We must use this chance to change our country. Our government must work to help people live better lives."

"Nowadays, more and more people think that people who have good jobs and possess money are the real persons; their lives are real and they are to be respected. Of course we all expect to have a comfortable life where we can do what we want to. However, not everyone can reach it. Many people work hard everyday, but they are still poor. But in my opinion, I think everyone is great as everyone has their own task, acting many roles, and having confidence in life. That's enough - even if it isn't so wonderful, it's real."

"The date of the Olympics is closer. We must face a lot of problems and solve them. After the earthquake, I saw the power of our government and our citizens. Maybe there will be more disasters waiting for us, but I absolutely believe in our government."

"In this world, many countries and many people don't know much about China. They don't know its history and its culture. And they don't like China. So we must develop our economy and let them know more about China and change their minds."

"In April, such a serious thing happened in Tibet. People want independence from China and they killed a lot of men, children and women. They killed Chinese heart."

"Just by succeeding in the Olympic Games, these dead people from the earthquake can feel and get happiness."

"If we don't treasure our life, one day in the future we will destroy the world by ourselves. So we should protect all life, no matter how small."

"I have seen some people say sweet words to their boss and smile at them, then go to the bathroom and yell at the cleaners and walk away. Some girls tell other girls, 'you look beautiful, your dress is fabulous,' but when they look at other girls they'll say, 'you are fat and dirty, your hair is dirty and your dress old fashioned.' This is so wrong. We should trust everyone, respect them and let them feel they are somebody and not nobody."

"In my grandmother's words, in her youth she had no clothes to wear in summer and just wore a light shirt which had been worn by her sister. What's worse, her entertainment was feeding the pigs in the early morning."

"As a developing country and the host of the 2008 Olympics, China has a variety of pressures from other countries. As I know, these countries wonder whether China can be a suitable host for the Olympics because most Olympics were held by developed countries before. What's more, if China holds the Olympics successfully, that means China could become stronger and that makes other countries nervous, naturally. So these countries put many pressures and even mild destruction on China which are aimed at making the Olympics fail in China."

"After watching 'Sex and the City' I realized some differences between Chinese and American people. Sometimes, maybe American people think a one night stand is a good way to feel the freedom, but as a Chinese I don't think so."

"I think, as a developing country, the greatest problem of China is pollution, and the main reason is private cars. Private cars should be discouraged by the government. As far as the great demand for means of transport is concerned, we can develop mass transit to take the place of private cars."

"Let's take action together and create a fresh environment, or we will be punished by nature."

"I think China must change its education system so that we not only care about exam scores, but also care about the students' interests and their hobbies. We can study some developed countries' educational systems and let our students have a happy childhood."

"In reality, dishonesty is very bad. The earthquake in Sichuan province proved that. A lot of buildings were destroyed and most of them were hospitals or schools and a lot of children died. That's very sad to talk about, but we have to face the truth. The end to cheating is cheating ourselves, so improving citizens' awareness in the greatest problem that China faces today."

"I think China's greatest problem is that not every Chinese wants to get together and create our future. Some guys from Tibet and Taiwan want to be independent from China. The Dalai and Chen Shui-Bian are guilty to China and they don't want China to become stronger. So we face the big problem of policy and bad men."

"Our country's policy only pays attention to people who have ability and knowledge. So the people who have high education become more and more rich and the people who have low education become more and more poor. Adding the large population of our country, the problem becomes worse. The situation of this problem is so dangerous to the development of our country."

"Chinese culture is not popular in China, it is very strange! But some foreign people can know the history of Chinese culture when they study Chinese in China and they use our culture to make money! So we must protect our Chinese culture and develop it, because our history is 5000 years long!"

"In the 1960's, American was crazy. The young people worshiped rock singers and they were crazy. They sung badly and I feel the songs teach young people bad things. More and more people were studying these singers and copying their bad hair and clothes."

"Many terrible things have happened just until now and we don't know what will happen tomorrow. What we fear is not other countries and some evil power who wants to break up our country. Natural disasters are our biggest problems and what really make us afraid. So shouldn't we Chinese think over what on earth we did and what we're still doing to cause this? Absolutely, it must be that we did something wrong to nature. So it's time for us to wake up and correct our mistakes."

"Cheating is a serious problem in China. I think it results from Chinese traditional educational system. No matter in school, the office or in society, cheating and exams goes hand in hand. Everyone can see it, but no one can stop it. If we don't care about it, our country cannot develop."

"China loves peace. But some countries and governments don't like China and they try their best to disturb our development. We don't even worry about that. We believe that peace will conquer!"

"Nowadays, communists have given up the inner-battle and they make efforts to develop Chinese economy to help ourselves stand up again from ruins. With the development of China, a lot of inside problems and international problems come to us, for example, western countries always criticize Chinese human rights and government, environmental problems, production problems and frontier problems. I often have the feeling that the world is criticizing us for Taiwan and Hong Kong. So stand up again China, we must face the problem. Best wishes to my motherland."

"Marriage is like a divide, from now on, you should be loyal to your partner. But I don't think we should regard sexual acts before marriage as a crime or immoral. What's more, I believe in an equal society, so if a man can regard sexual acts as a limitation to women, then women can think the same of men."

"I think that morality is more important than sexual freedom, because you can't play with everyone. When I am making love with my girlfriend, I know the difference between 'making love' and 'having fun'."

And finally... Beijing Part III

2008-05-27T22:35:00.020+08:00

The highlight of my trip to Beijing was a visit to the famed Great Wall. Started in the 5th Century B.C. (though little of that section remains) and stretching 6,400 km across northern China, 3 million Chinese died in the construction – most of whose bodies were buried in the wall itself. I wanted a meaningful and Chinese-tour-group-with-matching-red-hats free experience, so I headed to a more secluded section of the wall in Jinshanling, which is actually in Hebei province and a three-hour bus ride from Beijing. I knew the trip was well worth the extra road time when I first glimpsed the loom of the wall’s haphazard-seeming span across the mountains we were quickly approaching.

My first step on the Great Wall of China felt like I was stepping onto a fantastical emblem of the nation’s venerable history. From Jinshanling, it’s possible to hike 10 km along the wall to another proper viewing site in Simitai. The journey was a tough hike as parts of the wall rose practically vertical up the sides of the mountains, and at times felt a bit precarious as large sections have been left wholly unaltered from their crumbling state. As some points, I could see the wall’s tremendous expanse winding it’s way into oblivion – forming small dots on the horizon. And my desire for seclusion was granted with few others making the same journey that day. The pictures don’t do the mighty and great wall justice, but do give an idea of the grandeur that I experienced.

For my last morning in Beijing, I explored the Forbidden City. Not leaving myself enough time, I took in what I could and soaked in the opulence and spaciousness of previous emperors’ needs. And while little gold plaques identify each quarters, it’s difficult to fathom the relative function of such extravagance and the exclusivity of these chambers.

Lately it’s been difficult to take my mind off the devastating earthquake in Sichuan and all the people’s lives that are affected. So many deaths and many more left homeless who are either camping out in the streets or fleeing to other provinces for work. The silver lining to this tragedy is the overwhelming response of locals. It’s heartening to see a nation whose people normally ignore the needs of strangers and reserve their compassion for loved ones, expressing their sympathies in genuine ways – not just in Sichuan, but across the nation.

Beijing - Part II

2008-05-16T23:17:00.012+08:00

My first night in Beijing I discovered the “western” area of the city. I was a bit disturbed to see so many American chain restaurants – especially when I walked past a Hooters. It was embarrassing to see this infiltration of such tasteless, corporate crap. Though I must admit that I did fold under the temptation of Starbucks. While I try to boycott the chain back home, a genuine frappachino was too tempting, despite the ridiculously high price. There are probably more Starbucks franchises in Beijing than in New York City. I was relieved to see that they had done away with the controversial Starbucks in the Forbidden City, but did get a report from another hostel guest that you can order steaming hot Starbucks lattes on the Great Wall from the section that’s most heavily visited. Yeah, pretty disgusting. Other major chain restaurants that have found their way to the Chinese capital include Outback Steakhouse, TGI Fridays, Subway and of course countless KFC and McDonald's franchises. The Chinese love them some fried chicken!

For my second day in Beijing, my feet were so tired from traversing the spread-out city streets, that I decided it was time to attempt the subway. While the lines aren’t too extensive, they are building more as we speak to accommodate the influx of tourists this summer for the Olympics. First stop – the Lama Temple, a beautiful and ornate temple and the largest one outside of Tibet. Lately the Chinese media has been using it as “proof” that Tibet has “always been a part of China”. Unfortunately, what should have been a spiritual and peaceful experience, a big tour group of Spaniards who had recently adopted Chinese babies were running around the grounds shouting in Spanish and blocking all the temple entrances with their giant strollers. It dawned on me that Chinese people don’t use strollers. Everyone carries their babies either in their arms or wrap them snugly to their backs. With babies always snuggled tight against their mothers, you hardly hear a baby crying in China.

I set aside the afternoon to explore Factory 798. Located outside the city’s third ring road in the industrial area, old and abandoned factory buildings have been renovated to house dozens of art galleries, studios and funky cafes. Once I actually found the place, it was like stepping into another world. The retro industrial vibe complete with graffiti brick walls and hipster Beijingites was a refreshing experience. As with most Chinese cities I’ve been to, you really have to dig deep to find the artsy communities that stray from the shiny and new of today’s China. While traditional arts and antiques are widely valued throughout the country, the modern art scene is still struggling to find its place. I was blown away by the diversity, originality and quality of the work displayed throughout the various galleries I visited that day. However, despite this departure from the typical Chinese experience, it was not void of camera happy people who insisted on photographing their friends in front of every painting or sculpture available, completely ignoring the “no photography” signs posted on every wall. It’s like every Chinese wants their chance at becoming China’s Next Top Model.

Stay tuned for the Forbidden City and the Great Wall…

Beijing - Part I

2008-05-12T21:41:00.015+08:00

Beijing surprised me in its ability to convey and blend a sense of antiquity with modernity – far surpassing Kunming in both these categories. I decided to fly to Beijing, as taking a train would take several days from Kunming and leave no time in the city. I arrived in the airport’s Terminal 3 which was completed only months ago and is famed as a structural marvel, not for it’s design, rather its rapid completion. From inception to completion, the entire project took only three years, which when contrasted to the years of ongoing construction on Heathrow’s new terminal – it truly is a marvel.

I hopped on a convenient shuttle to downtown and followed the instructions from my hostel, having no trouble finding my way. This mix of old with new was immediately obvious as my shuttle ride revealed the flashy, towering skyscrapers of the city, then left me off on the edge of a Beijing hutong where my hostel was cozily nestled. A hutong is a historic courtyard neighborhood, many of which have survived Beijing’s modern facelift, though the majority have sadly been sacrificed to make way for the new. When walking through a hutong neighborhood, it feels like you're in a labyrinth of narrow alleys. The doors to each courtyard home are red and adorned with golden, dragon-faced knockers and if you're lucky enough to catch a glimpse into one of the homes, it like a secret world of old China hidden within the big capital city. The Lotus Hostel occupies a restored courtyard home in a hutong neighborhood, not too far from Tiananmen Square.

Thursday morning I awoke early, eager to explore this famed capital with my sights set on the Forbidden City. My first daylight observation was the heavy layer of smog hanging over the city. The smog was so thick and unlike any pollution I’ve encountered, the closest thing I could relate to is Fairbanks ice fog or when smoke from nearby forest fires blows into town. On my way to Tiananmen Square, I passed the new, dome-shaped National Theater and couldn’t even bring myself to shoot a photo as it was obscured by thick smog. The weather report called for clear skies and while I could sense where the sun was overhead, it was only a vague presence. I can now relate to the athletes who are concerned about competing in these conditions during the Olympics. Just the thought of running a marathon in such heavy smog makes me ill. A downpour of rain several days later brought most of the pollution to the ground and I could actually see blue sky and clouds, giving me hope that with some luck, the conditions will prove ideal for the games.

As I neared the entrance to the Forbidden City, through the smog I could make out outlines of people… thousands of people. Tiananmen Square is the largest public square in the world and in person it really is huge. Due to the national holiday on Thursday, this immense square was completely packed with Chinese tourists. It was shoulder to shoulder as I wedged my way for a peak at Chairman Mao’s portrait on the north side of the square. Viewing his enormous face that peers over the square and all the people, I was overwhelmed with emotions of confusion, anger and awe. No other leader in recent history has done so much for his people and at the same time, taken so much from his people.

Too overwhelmed by the massive holiday crowds, I took off to wander the streets of Beijing and visited the Temple of Heaven. The temple grounds are situated within a large, peaceful park that was historically a place where the Son of Heaven came at winter solstice to pray for a bountiful harvest. The main circular temple is perhaps the greatest symbol of Beijing and it’s simplistic form, grand presence and lavish surroundings make it easy to see why. One downfall of being a foreigner in a sea of Chinese tourists is that I soon became a tourist attraction myself. While I was trying to relax near the temple and soak in the architecture, I was approached by dozens of people with their cameras. At first I thought they wanted me to take their photo, but no – they wanted me to be IN the photo, posing with them. I suppose it’s not all that surprising as Chinese have a tendency to get their picture taken in-front everything imaginable, so being foreign and different, I was just another prop to pose with. From then on, I kept mobile.

The rest of my Beijing adventure is coming soon... I promise. You may have heard about the devastating earthquake that hit Sichuan Province this afternoon. While Yunnan borders Sichuan, many people here in Kunming felt the quake. I was most likely climbing the stairs of a teaching building, on my way to class and did not notice the tremor. No where near the magnitude of disaster as what's happened in Myanmar, the issue of safety here does concern me at times. Most all buildings on our campus have barred windows and the dormitory that I live in has bolted windows that only open a few inches to allow for slight air circulation. At night the building is locked by our 24-hour guard who isn't always around. If there were a major earthquake or fire here, I would have to break some windows. If disaster struck while I was teaching in a building with barred windows, I don't know what my fate would be nor that of my students.

My students show off their stuff

2008-04-27T18:30:00.010+08:00

This past week was the IBS International Festival. Scott was the English MC of the closing ceremonies, which was a large showcase of our students' talent. Acts ranged from Beijing Opera to hip hop dancing, basketball tricks to flamenco. The hip hop act surprised me as the girls stripped down to some racy outfits and performed some downright dirty moves they obviously had learned from MTV. The most shocking thing was that the lead dancer happened to be one of my shy, slightly nerdy students who had suddenly transformed into this glam sex symbol who was full of confidence. It was nice to see this side of the students, especially as they constantly list their favorite activities as computer games and shopping - something that had previously given me concern for Chinese society. But to see their enthusiasm in the performances with both western acts and traditional Chinese, I feel better about the outlook for China's youth. The pictures included are a bit blurry as I couldn't get too close and the performance was at night, but they at least give you an idea of the talents.

Next weekend is the May Day holiday, giving us both Thursday and Saturday off. I have decided to take Monday off as well and fly to Beijing for a five-day getaway. This may be my only opportunity to see the capital and all its important sites like the Great Wall and Forbidden City, so I couldn't pass it up. I can't wait...

If I were a millionaire...

2008-04-20T12:45:00.000+08:00

Today I was grading papers for my writing classes. This week we focused on using the subjunctive mood and I gave them an assignment to write a short essay on "If I were a millionaire...". One essay shocked me, though mostly in its blunt and honest voice, as most the students wrote about ending world hunger and buying a luxury car. I believe this essay carries the sentiments of most Chinese at this moment in time. To give you a clear understanding of what's manifested as public opinion in China through media and nationalism, I thought I'd share my students essay with you.

In her own words:

"If I were a millionaire, I would search for a lot of skillful workers to produce advanced weapons to beat the Dalai [Tibetans]. Besides Dalai, there will always be many foreign leaders and citizens who support the Dalai to separate Tibet from China. But we believe their plot will be in vain. And our Chinese are sure to unite and cooperate to protect a united China. Tibet is a part of China forever."

Getting back to nature

2008-04-18T21:28:00.023+08:00

Last weekend we made the brief 4-hour bus ride north to Dali, a small city that’s snuggled between an immense lake and the edge of the Himalayas.

The bus ride itself offers a spectacular view of the rural countryside north of Kunming. Quite a contrast to the villages on the road to Dongchuan, the houses that dot the highway in little clusters are full of character. The large, whitewashed structures have wooden doorways, clay roof tiles and fabulous, colorful frescoes on the outer walls. The first grouping of houses were decorated with murals of dinosaurs, as this area is famous for it’s dinosaur fossils. Hundreds of houses display every type imaginable from brontosaurus to pterodactyl. The next groupings were my favorite as the murals changed from dinosaurs to folk art circles, brightly colored Buddhist symbols and lotus flowers. And the last groupings? Mushrooms! Big, brown mushrooms of all varieties splashed across the country houses. Every once in a while a Muslim community would appear, obvious by its small mosque and Arabic writing that accompanied the standard frescoes of the surrounding villages.

Dali’s old town holds a similar, though more ancient style of architecture. Primarily a city of Bai people (one of Yunnan’s ethnic minorities), the residents have dramatic costumes of bright colors and intricate embroidery. Dali is a backpacker’s hot spot, so along with the typical tourist shops, there are oodles of hip cafes, hostels and bars and a local bohemian youth scene that’s absent in Kunming. With the snow-capped Cangshan Mountain in the backdrop, the old world architecture and funky aura, Dali is truly a breath of fresh air. We settled on a cheap hostel called the “Tibetan Lodge” and on our first night, hit up the “Funky Monkey Bar” for some pizza and beers. Walking through the old town, we were instantly approached by the local drug dealers – a legacy of Dali. The most interesting thing about the drug trade in this small mountain town is not the inventory nor the price, but rather the nature of the drug dealers themselves who are elderly Bai women. “Pssst… you smoka ganja?” They are fearless and even walk into restaurants and shops accosting foreigners to peddle their narcotics. Later I more clearly understood the popularity of the trade as I noticed cannabis plants growing profusely and wild surrounding the nearby Erhai Lake.

Saturday was blue skies and sunshine with a heat that I wasn’t quite prepared for and later paid dearly with my crispy red flesh. We woke up early and took a chairlift up the mountain, almost clear to the top. Chairlifts in China are the same as at ski resorts elsewhere, minus the snow. The mountainside is littered with tombs and as it was the weekend holiday for tomb sweeping, families were picnicking and cleaning up their ancestors’ gravesites. However, a seasonal burn-ban in this national park actually made for more tomb-littering than tomb cleaning as the Buddhist Chinese couldn’t participate in their rituals of burning incense and paper money, so instead left the items intact and blowing through the forest.

The chairlift let us off at a typical Chinese Buddhist temple. From there we hiked along a 20 km path skirting the edge of the mountain with incredible views of Dali, Erhai Lake, the surrounding countryside and the sheer magnitude of the mountain itself. Despite the paved mountain path, this quintessence of nature that I often forget exists while trapped in the confines of a Chinese city, induced a longing for Alaska and all its purity. The way back down the mountain was a one-hour long, inversed stair-stepping workout. Families playing cards and snacking while lounged out on their ancestor’s tombs shouted friendly greetings as we trudged down the steps in the hot sun.

Charlie, our kindergarten boss and native of Dali, was in town visiting his family for the weekend so met us for some tea in the old town. Later he took me jade shopping for as an avid jade collector, he has many techniques for detecting quality. Color (the whiter the better), sound (a clear, bright tone when struck with another piece of jade is a good sign) and transparency are all things to look for when shopping for the perfect jade. I ended up with a traditional jade bangle that passed all of Charlie’s tests and the greatest test of all – the confines of my wallet. Dali is a craft shopper’s paradise. I also ended up taking home some traditional Bai indigo tie-die/batik tapestries and a pair of Bai mary-jane style purple shoes.

For dinner, it was time to bear down and try an authentic Bai restaurant, which are unmistakable by the large displays of fresh ingredients and live seafood that greet you at the doorstep. Specialty dishes are fried goat cheese and fresh-caught lake fish and enough mushroom varieties alone to make this trip worth the trek. In Chinese there is no word for “mushroom” as there are so many varieties (most of which come from Yunnan) that each has its proper calling.

The final day on this whirlwind trip to Dali was consumed with a 40 km bike ride to Xizhou, a traditional Bai village with a lively market. Along the way we meandered off the main road and dipped into some rural hamlets along the lake. Greeted by children, old men in their blue Mao jackets and women shelling peas, this idyllic serenity was just the thing to cap off my great weekend escape.

Returning back to Kunming, my piles of un-graded papers and the ridiculous city traffic was not the welcome I had hoped for, but I suppose there’s something about “home” and falling into your familiar-smelling pillow that makes the return ticket worth it’s weight.

Tickled pink

2008-04-04T09:33:00.007+08:00

It’s springtime in the city of eternal spring. Besides the weather warming up a few centigrade, the most noticeable sign of spring is the overwhelming presence of flowering trees. When the wind blows, tiny pink petals float through the sky and fall in random patterns, collecting in puddles and sticky parts of the pavement. While sometimes I curse this ridiculous living arrangement on campus, as being in a student dormitory that locks its doors at 11:30 pm and having students knock on your door at random hours can be annoying, I am thankful for the care this university has put into its landscaping. Every day as I’m walking to class or the Muslim noodle restaurant where I eat at least once daily, I pass these precious pink buds and can’t help but feel sublime. Fuchsia-colored azaleas have also appeared in high volume, along with sweet smelling white buds that waft a far superior alternative to the random pockets of sewage stench that plagues China.

My full schedule of university and kindergarten classes this semester keeps me busy, but is a nice combination as singing and dancing with the children can get exhausting, as can urging my college kids to have an opinion on something and actually express it. By mixing the two up, I can more fully appreciate the priceless moments when the little ones try to pronounce “roof” and “drawing”, or when I announce “time to say goodbye” and they come squealing and barreling towards my knees from all directions for a giant group hug. Similarly, it allows me to enjoy the genuine moments at university when the students laugh at my lame jokes or get brave enough to ask a question. I especially enjoy any one-on-one time I can take during activities with the college kids. Young men who play it cool in class often surprise me with their deep reflections and I’m always impressed with the drive that the star female students possess for learning English and their wonder of western culture.

Something that bugs me about teaching at a university in China is the stance I must take on current events and Chinese politics - which is complete ignorance or avoidance of the subject. Raising any type of dialogue or debate on what’s happening in Tibet, Darfur or any other topic that the government considers too controversial isn’t worth getting into. One reason is that I could probably get my visa revoked if the administration, parents and eventually the local party officials found out I was stirring the pot. The other reason is that either the students wouldn’t care enough to engage in the debate, or they have been so pumped full of propaganda over the years that their tunnel vision wouldn’t allow such infiltration of revolutionary ideas. It’s disappointing as college life is typically the time and platform for youth to embark on discovering or solidifying their political passion. This is the future of China and I don’t see the blinders coming off anytime soon. So instead of playing rebel rouser, I am teaching the values of critical thinking and coming at an issue from all possible angles. This is my mini revolution and as my writing class of Business English majors is currently choosing their topics for a research paper, it’s been an especially good excuse to enlighten them on such concepts.

Maybe you’re wondering if I have a unique perspective or privileged information on the subject that’s been in the news lately. I don’t. The only information I get is what the general Chinese public gets – the Chinese side of the story, which is unfortunately spawning a newfound national disdain for that ethnic minority. I get my news mostly from the New York Times and the BBC, which haven’t yet been blocked. The New York Times reported that at the time of the uprisings, China had blocked YouTube and other sites. They must not have realized that YouTube had been blocked far before then (as long as I have been here), along with other sites such as Wikipedia, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, all of which I’ve never been able to access.

But if you’re concerned about safety, I’m completely out of harms way here in Kunming. The Tibetan community isn’t large enough here to worry, though there are large communities in the northern reaches of Yunnan.

Today is Tomb Sweeping Day, a national holiday in China. We get the day off from classes, so we’re taking an extended weekend trip to Dali, a city just 3.5 hours north by bus. Dali’s old town is a historic hamlet surrounded by mountains and a large lake. The area is known for its tranquility, natural beauty and large community of Bai people (one of Yunnan’s many ethnic minorities) with their famed handicraft markets that I can’t wait to explore.

Gastronomic delights in Vietnam

2008-03-22T17:38:00.015+08:00

Pho is the bread and butter of Vietnam. A steamy beef broth with vermicelli noodles, slices of tender beef, green onions and an assortment of do-it-yourself extras like bean sprouts, mint and basil leaves, chili peppers and fresh lime juice. Delicious.

Salad rolls are a fresh tasting mix of either shrimp or pork with rice vermicelli and other vegetables wrapped up in rice paper and dipped in sweet or spicy sauces. These ones came roll-your-own.

Spring rolls are deep fried flour rolls filled with anything from shrimp to pork and veggies. These shrimp rolls were the best I sampled (found these ones in Ho Chi Mihn City).

Woman making rice noodles. First they pour the rice mixture in a large pan over heat until it resembles a thin crepe, then lay them flat on straw racks. The racks are taken to a field and dried in the sun, later to be sliced into thin noodles.

Vietnam has a fabulous coffee culture. The French introduced coffee during their colonial rule in the 1800's. The coffee beans are often soaked in honey which lend the brew a sweet taste. Brewed individually in these tin contraptions, you can drink it black or with sweet condensed milk. Iced coffee is a favorite in the hot south and locals drink it all day long. Cafes in Vietnam are more numerous than restaurants.

Vietnam perhaps has the greatest assortment of native, tropical fruit in the world - most of which grows in the Mekong Delta. Pictured here in a market in Ho Chi Mihn City are durian, mangos, lychees, dragon fruit, guavas and many more that I don't know the names for.

Vietnam's beautiful flowers

2008-03-22T16:58:00.012+08:00

Hanoi and Halong Bay

2008-03-22T16:09:00.012+08:00

At last - the final installment on Vietnam! Our last week in Vietnam took us back to Hanoi. While the weather was just as dreary as three weeks earlier on our first visit to the city, it was comforting to arrive in a place that we already felt acquainted with. Hanoi has an energetic vibe and its historic Old Quarter agrees with all the senses from its aromatic noodle stands to the brilliant colors splashed across buildings and within art galleries. Hanoi also holds excellent promise for fulfilling one’s needs to stock up on authentic Vietnamese art, weavings and house wares. I blew my remaining Dong on a beautiful set of bamboo bowls/plates/chopsticks and a few colorful scarves. Another delight of Hanoi are the cheap draft beer joints. You can sit right on the narrow, busy streets and sip on pints of beer for just 15 cents a piece.

Just a few hours drive from Hanoi is Halong Bay, an area of blue-green water and littered with thousands of limestone karst peaks that jut out of the water. These peaks make up a dense cluster of nearly 2,000 rocky islands. A major tourist destination, the bay is best experienced aboard a modern junk (Chinese-style sailing vessel). We chose a mid-range option and were lucky enough to be only two passengers out of four on our luxury boat. On top of the boat was a large observation deck with padded lounge chairs for relaxing as we leisurely passed between the jungle-clad karst islands. The middle deck was a large dining room where we enjoyed the lavish spreads of seafood and vegetable dishes each meal. On the bottom deck was our cozy cabin complete with a heater as the weather in Halong Bay was a bit chilly.

We made several stops on our journey, including a visit to Surprise Cave, an immense grotto. Another stop was at a floating kayak rental shop where we hopped in a two-person kayak and navigated around the islands for several hours. On one of the islands we climbed to the top of the jagged peak for an incredible view of the bay and other junks below. The trip through Halong Bay is a must for any visit to Vietnam, though would be more enjoyable in the summer as snorkeling, swimming and sunbathing from the top deck would be possible. Regardless, we had an excellent time and enjoyed the company of our knowledgeable guide and our fellow passengers, a father and daughter duo from Australia.

Central Vietnam

2008-03-08T16:46:00.014+08:00

Leaving Ho Chi Mihn City meant trading in the sun and warm temperatures of the south for the chilly drizzle and clouds in central Vietnam. We took a one-hour flight on Vietnam Airlines to the city of Da Nang – probably a name you are all familiar with from the war as it was the location of a major American air base.

Da Nang is off the tourist trail and it was nice to again be among Vietnamese, rather than scores of foreign tourists. The city does have an excellent museum called the Museum of Cham Sculpture, the largest collection in the world. A civilization I knew nothing about, the Champa Kingdom once ruled the south and central regions of what is now Vietnam from the 7th Century through the 19th. At its peak, the kingdom controlled the spice and silk trade between India, China and Indonesia. The society adopted Hinduism, especially Shaivism, from India, which is apparent in its sculpture – especially their frequent depiction and dedication of temples to the Hindu gods Shiva and Vishnu. While many of the ruins left over from the Champa Kingdom were destroyed by American bombings, some significant sites remain throughout Vietnam.

Da Nang felt almost like a ghost town while we were there due to the observance of the Tet festival. Most shops and restaurants were closed and families stayed in their homes eating and drinking. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we stumbled upon some older locals celebrating Tet in their home down a back alley near our hotel. They were sitting on the floor of the house’s front room, around a big pot of steamed clams on a Bunsen burner and drinking rice wine. It was late afternoon when we passed by and it appeared they’d been sitting there drinking all day, when they excitedly beckoned us to come join them. Communicating through hand gestures, our ten words of Vietnamese vocabulary and a bit of English they remembered from America’s occupation during the war, we sat with these friendly folks for several hours eating the tasty clams and toasting to Tet.

In Da Nang we rented a motorbike and headed down the coast towards Hoi An. We stopped at the Marble Mountains along the way, a group of five marble and limestone hills littered with caves, tunnels and temples. What should have been a peaceful hike amongst the spiritual hills, was tainted by the shouting and scampering of hundreds of Vietnamese teenagers on holiday. Regardless, it was still an impressive site.

We continued on along the coast to the charming city of Hoi An. The old town is an UNESCO World Heritage site, which has helped to preserve the stunning French colonial architecture and design. The biggest attraction in Hoi An is the hundreds of tailor and cobbler shops, offering custom made clothing and shoes at a fraction of western prices and ready within just 24 hours. While wandering the streets, we couldn’t resist a look in the shops. Once you’re in and looking through the fabrics, catalogues and displayed garments, it’s almost impossible to leave without giving into the possibilities of made-to-order duds. I had a beautiful tweed jacket made with green silk lining and trim, while Scott picked out some dark blue silk for a Chinese-style shirt. The next day the clothes were finished and fit perfectly. If only I had more money and more time, I would have designed a whole new wardrobe.

Ho Chi Mihn City

2008-03-01T19:56:00.024+08:00

Vietnam’s largest city with a population of about 6.5 million, Ho Chi Mihn City is a bustling hub of commerce. Lacking the charm of Hanoi, it’s a jumbled city of run down buildings next to modern ones, an endless sea of motorbikes and pedestrians in flip-flops. Exploring the city is quite an undertaking as it requires covering long distances and crossing intersections by inching your way across the street, dodging motorbikes and hoping that they dodge you. Here we discovered the brilliance of motorbike taxis! For under a dollar, you can get practically anywhere around the city from the safe perch upon a motorbike, behind its trusty driver. Most drivers speak some English and offer impromptu tour commentary and personal histories along the way – though this concentration on language rather than traffic made for a few abrupt stops and near crashes.

While the motorbikes are loud and unpredictable, I actually prefer their traffic to the car traffic of China. The motorbikes make for less serious traffic jams as they can squeeze through tight spaces unlike a car, and they prove less intimidating to pedestrians. It’s amazing to see whole families piled on a single motorbike with the smallest child in the front, dad driving, older sister or brother behind him and mom holding up the rear on the very edge of the seat. Most women on motorbikes wear face masks, some that come all the way down to their chest like a large bib, and long gloves to protect their arms from either pollution or dirt. One young woman I met explained that a motorbike is the key to happiness in Vietnam as without one, she couldn’t meet guys or socialize.

With the recent history of former Saigon, now Ho Chi Mihn City, there are some interesting museums and landmarks associated with the American War (what in America we refer to as the Vietnam War). The War Remnants Museum offers a gruesome look at the lasting effects the war has had on Vietnam and its people. The most difficult to ingest were the photographs of the victims of Agent Orange – something that is still plaguing the people with the birth of severely deformed babies. After seeing these images, I began to spot victims on the streets of Vietnam who were obviously affected by this horrific chemical.

We also toured the Reunification Palace, a deserted building that formally represented the pride of the South Vietnamese government. The architecture and interior design is very 70’s retro and the two-level basement is filled with tunnels, instruments of communication and tactical maps. On April 30, 1975 North Vietnamese tanks crashed through the palace gates and rushed a VC flag to wave from the 4th floor where General Ho Chi Mihn became the new head of state – putting an end to the war and reunifying the country. This same day the city’s name was officially changed from Saigon to Ho Chi Mihn City.

Perhaps the most amusing activity we did here was to spend a day at the Saigon Race Track. My first time at a race track, I admit that I half expected to see society ladies in big hats and men smoking expensive cigars. Quite the contrary, the place was filled with working class Vietnamese, mostly men, who were excitedly pouring over the horse statistics and slurping bowls of noodles. In the mounting and viewing pen, we watched 10-year-old jockeys mount their pony-sized horses and prepare for the race. Minimum bets were 75 cents, so we joined in the game and bet on a few horses, though none of them won.

We also spent some time exploring the Cholon District, the city’s Chinatown. Because of the approaching Tet Festival, the numerous temples and pagodas in the area were filled with Vietnamese lighting incense and offering gifts such as cooking oil and in some instances, a whole roasted pig that they carried from alter to alter.

But our favorite aspect of the city was the weather – HOT! Sometimes a bit too hot, the locals have created a perfect solution for cooling off. There are numerous cafes that are filled with blasting fans and reclining lawn chairs all faced towards several different televisions either playing soap operas or football (soccer) games. We hit up a few of these in between sightseeing. We also found a fantastic watering hole that spills out onto a busy street for some excellent people watching and serves up mouthwatering seafood dishes and pitchers of draft beer. It felt like we spent far too much time in Ho Chi Mihn City (six days altogether) but with the hot weather, our cheap and comfortable guesthouse and the good eats – it was actually hard to leave.

Back to life, back to reality

2008-02-28T18:12:00.025+08:00

After spending a month in Vietnam, we’re finally back in Kunming with a camera full of pictures and our hearts filled with memories of a beautiful land and a beautiful people. Larger than Italy, the country spans from the mountainous north to its tropical south and we attempted to see what we could in between. Over the next few days I will try to fill this blog with my observations, experiences and pictures to give you an idea of what Vietnam is about – or at least what it now means to me.

Mekong Delta

In the southernmost region of Vietnam, the mighty Mekong River splinters into hundreds of veins that empty into the sea. The most populated region of Vietnam, people’s lives here depend on the waterways for just about everything. Locals gather water, bathe, wash clothes, extract fish and base transportation from the many canals of the Mekong that criss-cross the delta.

Referred to as the country’s rice basket, enough rice here is produced to sustain the nation, as well as contributing ample supplies of shrimp, fish and tropical fruits – many of which have no western names.

From Ho Chi Mihn City, we took a bus to Can Tho, the largest town in the Mekong Delta. Leaving the city, life seemed to take on a more relaxed quality as the most common sight along the road became open-air cafés filled with hammocks and locals swinging lazily while sipping on iced tea or coffee. The deeper we went, the more bridges we crossed revealing narrow canals in a shapeless grid of river life.

The next morning we rose before dawn and hopped in a small wooden skiff captained by a friendly local and for just 10 USD, he agreed to take us on a 5-hour private tour of the surrounding villages and floating market. As the sun rose, we neared the market with boats suddenly appearing on all sides, joining us in motion. The boats were filled with varying fruits, vegetables and because of the nearing New Year holiday – flowers! The boats maneuvered around us and the merchants with their conical hats, made barters among the sea of floating goods. We spent the rest of the morning weaving through dozens of small canals, witnessing the region’s inhabitants whose backyard is the peaceful river.

In order to fully appreciate the Mekong Delta and take advantage of the tropical weather, we decided that upon a motorbike with the breeze blowing in our faces was the only way to go. We rented a Honda 125 “Dream II” motorbike from our guesthouse and hit the open road. Anytime we stopped for gas, food, or simply to stretch our sore bums, we would quickly become the center of attention as children would flock and smiles and laughter were exchanged with everyone we encountered. Babies were sat on our laps and stories told that we never fully understood, but we always smiled and nodded along anyway. This lifestyle of cruising, stopping for iced tea from a hammock and ingesting the way of the Mekong Delta through all our senses became addicting and we hung onto that bike for a week as we roamed the region’s roads less traveled.

From the western edge of the delta, we loaded the motorbike and ourselves onto a hydrofoil ferry to Phu Quoc Island - a paradise in the Gulf of Thailand. Not yet exploited by resorts and mass tourism, the island is quiet and empty besides a handful of bungalows and fishing villages. We stayed in a beach side bungalow and baked in the sun, getting up only to swim in the calm ocean, eat fresh seafood meals and when the masseuse asked us to flip over. Local women wander the beaches, offering massages or pedicures for 3 USD per hour. If only we’d been able to predict the cold and rainy weather that would plague the rest of our trip, we would have stayed on Phu Quoc for weeks.

Back on the mainland, we skirted the Cambodian border – wishing we had time to dip in for a brief visit and perhaps a look at the famed Angkor Wat. There are numerous Khmer (Cambodian) communities throughout the Mekong Delta which are easy to spot with their immense and elaborate Theravada Buddhist temple complexes that differ greatly from the traditionally Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhism. The region has been disputed over with Cambodia and was subject to the brutality of the Khmer Rouge regime, which massacred entire Vietnamese villages in the late 1970s.

For our last night in the Mekong Delta, we did a home stay with a Vietnamese family just outside Can Tho. The head of the family, Hung, picked us up by boat at the Can Tho docks and took us to his house, a lovely colonial-style building on a small acreage in a traditional Mekong Delta village. Wandering the village’s narrow dirt road that paralleled the river, we passed many families preparing for Tet and were greeted with excited children chanting, “Hello!” and amused parents who smiled at our presence. For dinner, we were treated to a feast of rice, fish, fried tofu and roll-your-own spring rolls. Afterwards, Hung invited us into his family’s front room and told us numerous stories about his family and about Vietnamese life and culture in general. He talked about many differences between culture in the north of the country versus the south. He also talked about Vietnam’s recent and horrifying past that has been filled with non-stop war for almost a century with the Chinese, French, Khmer Rouge and Americans. His own family was split in two during the American war, like many Vietnamese families were, where some of his siblings went to fight for the Communist North and other siblings fought against them for the Republican South. With so much suffering, death and destruction in their past, it’s sometimes hard to understand how the Vietnamese can be such happy and genuinely friendly people – especially to Americans like myself. Hung explained that due to their devastating past, the Vietnamese as a people choose to look forward to the future rather than focusing on history and the people who wronged them. They don’t hold a grudge against Americans because during the war they saw all the images of people protesting in Washington and came to realize that it’s not the people of the United States they should hold accountable, but rather the government.

While the Mekong Delta was our first real plunge into Vietnam, by the end of our journey across the country, we’ve come to realize that it was our favorite region. The people are so laid back and friendly, it became contagious.

It's Tet Time!

2008-02-10T17:15:00.000+08:00

What do ya know - the Vietnamese celebrate Chinese New Year too! As the Chinese have invaded the country many times, some of their traditions rubbed off and are now ingrained in Vietnam's culture. However here they call the festival "Tet", and it's the biggest party of the year. The most important aspects of Tet are: traveling home to family, making offerings at temples and eating specialty foods. They stretch out the celebration - beginning with colorful flower markets that flood the downtown streets with exquisite apricot blossom trees (southern Vietnam's version of the Christmas tree), sculpted bonsai and yellow marigolds galore. Locals buy up the potted plants and adorn their homes, porches and shop fronts with the beautiful blossoms. We rented a motorbike and cruised around the Mekong Delta for a week during the Tet build up, giving us an opportunity to experience the numerous flower markets of the small southern towns. As I'm a bit of a flower junky, this was a special treat and Scott was a good sport in enduring my snappy happy photographic tendencies.

The build up to the Lunar New Year exploded on the eve of Tet, which this year happened on February 7th. We arrived in Ho Chi Mihn City (Saigon) just in time to witness the chaos of several million people taking to the streets on foot and motorbike. While dragon dancing and fireworks were both on the program, the main event was simply strolling the major downtown boulevards with families and friends, photographing each other in front of the lavish floral displays. As we were staying at a small family guesthouse, they invited us to join them at midnight in their front room for some traditional Tet treats, champagne and beer.

The three days that follow are reserved for family time. Most shops are closed and everyone stays at home - eating, drinking and relaxing. Yesterday in Danang, we were walking through a back alley and passed a group of elderly men doing just that - though perhaps more drinking than eating. Motioning us in, we sat on the floor around a big pot of boiled clams with onions and spices and spent the afternoon enjoying their company and toasting to the New Year every few minutes.

Chuc Mung Na Moi!
Happy New Year!

Good Morning Vietnam!

2008-01-26T20:19:00.000+08:00

The myths and stereotypes are true - Vietnam is an amazing country filled with motorbikes, conical hats, tropical fruit and miles of rice paddies, among zillions of other delights. Crossing the border from China, it became obvious that we'd arrived in a different country and even a different world it seemed. Sterile concrete houses gave way to a technicolor array of fabulous exterior design. The number of cars decreased and motorbikes quadrupled. The faces changed as well from the typical look of Han Chinese to a shorter, slightly darker and smiling variety. The north was a bit too chilly and rainy for us so we flew down south to Ho Chi Mihn City (Saigon) for some sunshine and will work our way back up through the country. As we are busy sightseeing and rating noodle stands for the most delectable bowl of Pho, I won't be posting to the blog as regularly. Unfortunately I won't be able to upload photos either, but I promise to make a detailed report of our travels with pictures galore upon our return to Kunming.

Hiking with cigarettes and high heels

2008-01-21T23:26:00.000+08:00

One of my more quiet university students invited Scott and I to Shilin this weekend. His father picked us up in the morning and we made the 100 km drive there. Shilin is home to the Stone Forest, an immense area of limestone pillars. The rock formations are otherworldly in the way they shoot up towards the sky in random configuration. Wandering through the space gives you the feeling that you’re truly in a “forest” of sorts. We were told that millions of years ago, this region was under the sea and when the water slowly receded, the limestone rose and was later carved into these intricate formations by wind and rain.

This also happened to be our first true experience in Chinese tourism. As Shilin is a key stop along the Yunnan tourist trail, the upper-class Chinese were in full force with their flashy new cameras. And before we even entered the forest we were swarmed by tourists from Hong Kong, who apparently found us foreigners just as interesting as the rocks. After agreeing to pose with one, we were stuck posing for a dozen individual shots. One photographer kept insisting that I put my arm snugly around his friend’s as he repeatedly shouted “wife” in excitement, one of few English words in his vocabulary. Our faces made a lot of scrapbooks that day.

The day consisted wandering amongst the rocks, climbing up, down and through narrow passageways and participating in a number of superstitions. Sometimes we had to touch a certain stone with two hands for good luck in business, squeeze our neck through a narrow gap for healthy teeth or bang on a hallow stone four times for a prosperous love life. I was amazed to see that at every corner sat a wooden ashtray. Chinese approach outdoor activity a bit different than westerners. We were outfitted in hiking shoes and jeans, while most of the other people sported slacks and loafers or skirts and heels – puffing cigarettes along the steep pathways. Besides the joys of people watching, the Stone Forest holds striking natural beauty and I can imagine that sunset here would be even more enchanting.

Tomorrow we are taking a night train to Nanning, a city in the southern Guangxi province. Scott purchased our tickets on Friday morning along with thousands of other travelers, making the journey home to their families for Spring Festival. We are booked for a “hard-sleeper”, which basically means that we have two out of six beds in our compartment. From Nanning, we’ll take an 8-hr bus to Hanoi and begin our month-long Vietnam adventure. I can’t wait…

Farewell Dongchuan

2008-01-17T22:40:00.000+08:00

This past weekend was our last in Dongchuan, the town two hours north of Kunming where we’ve been teaching every weekend for the past two months. While it was a great to experience China’s countryside, get out of the city and make some extra cash, the job wasn’t all it was cracked up to be and we decided to resign our positions at the school. As a tribute to Dongchuan, I’ve included some pictures from their lively Sunday market. The meat section is a bit shocking, but remember that the Chinese don't mess around. From the butcher block to the dinner table - they eat everything!

As I am busy preparing for our upcoming month-long journey to Vietnam this will have to be a short entry, though stay tuned next week for a glimpse at the Stone Forest - a natural wonder just outside Kunming that we're visiting on Saturday.

China vs. the environment

2008-01-10T15:39:00.000+08:00

Today I am attempting to finish compiling final grades for my university classes. In my English Writing class, the students all did pretty well with mostly A’s and B’s, some C’s and two D’s. We have been advised that failing a student is not really an option here. In their final exam, one of the essay questions asked the students to reflect on recent changes in China and whether all these changes have been good. Almost every student commented that while the economy has greatly improved, the environment has paid the price.

The environment is a big topic in China right now. However, I wonder if it’s a true concern or if environmental protection is just a trendy, utopian ideal. The English television channel here, CCTV9, frequently covers stories on China’s great leaps towards environmental consciousness and loves the term “harmonious society”. One notable ad campaign shows people throwing trash in the garbage and giving their seat to a pregnant woman on the bus. Watching Chinese friends throw their empty bottles out car windows and getting shoved from all sides as I climb on the bus, this so-called “harmonious society” seems a distant goal. And while my students are aware of the dangers associated with polluting the environment, when pressed for solutions, popular suggestions are “save every drop of water” or “throw your trash in the rubbish bin,” all nice ideas – but a far cry from a real solution.

However, small steps do appear to be in action. Kunming has dedicated one day a month as “car-free” for its downtown district. Kunming is inundated with 400 new private automobiles every day, which is easy to believe after hearing every one of my students divulge their dream to own a car someday. And while recycling is not publicly funded, it’s created a source of income for the destitute who ensure that just about every piece of cardboard, bottle and can is dug from the trash and exchanged for its worth to private recycling companies. The news today announced that Beijing has implemented a ban on dispensing free plastic bags as the city had previously handed out three million plastic bags per day.

Baby steps.

On a lighter note, here are some pictures of my adorable, yet naughty students in Dongchuan. The school is very disorganized, leaving me without an assistant and the 35 children in my class, aged 3-5, get crazier by the minute. As my Chinese is still completely incompetent, direction and discipline is next to impossible. Class always starts off well for the first 20 minutes or so, but by the end of the hour, any activity I attempt to direct ends with all the children running at me and hugging my legs, not wanting to let go. And who can get mad at children who just want to hug?

...and a happy New Year!

2008-01-03T22:44:00.000+08:00

While I had many hopes for my first ever New Years Eve celebration in China, it came to a sudden end due to the evils of baijiu and the Chinese custom of relentless toasting. Scott and I were invited to the city of Anning, located just 40 km southwest of Kunming. Anning in famous for its hot springs and Mrs. Shu, a kindergarten principle at one of Scott’s schools, invited us to spend the day there along with three other Canadian teachers and Steven, one of the bosses of the kindergarten teaching company.

The day started of wonderfully. We took the hour-long bus ride to Anning and were greeted by Mrs. Shu and her friends. They took us for a short hike in the surrounding hills, up to a restaurant. There we relaxed for several hours, drinking tea and playing cards and mahjong. I finally learned how to play this famed Chinese game. It’s actually quite simple once you learn all the rules and I even won a few rounds. I’m looking forward to sharpening my skills and perhaps taking a stab at the mahjong tables with the old folks in Green Lake Park.

Around noon, we were treated to a delicious New Years Eve feast with a large group of us guests, Mrs. Shu’s friends and some local Party authorities. I knew we were in for a bit of drinking when I saw Mrs. Shu fill our glasses to the brim with baijiu (rice wine) from a brown ceramic jug. Based on the looks of the jug, this was rice wine of the home-brewed variety: the equivalent to American moonshine. She then proudly announced that this was the strongest of the baijiu family, weighing in at a hefty 56% alcohol. The Chinese are quite fond of making toasts and it’s not uncommon, especially on a special occasion, for a toast to be made every five minutes. As this was New Years Eve, the toasts were flying and the baijiu was pouring like water. When we ran out of baijiu, they broke out bottles of red wine. Then, to really ring in the New Year, some men of the Yi minority group brought over sheep horns filled with hot, sweet brandy, which we all took turns guzzling as they sang songs of welcome and cheer. By the end of lunch I could barely function and it was only 2:00 pm.

The rest of the day was a blur. We went to the hot springs, which consisted only of a large, warm indoor pool. I was disappointed as hot springs are high on my list of favorite attractions and this one scored quite low. I’ve heard though that Anning has a Japanese-style spa with more atmosphere and numerous pools, including ones filled with milk, flowers and little fish that nip and exfoliate your skin. After the springs, we had some ginger tea at a nearby teahouse and then headed back to Kunming. I was in bed by 8:00 pm and when Scott woke me up at midnight to wish me a happy New Year, I was already coming into my hangover.

To my surprise, Chinese celebrate the New Year on both the western and lunar calendar. The Chinese New Year, known also as “Spring Festival”, isn’t until February and is the most important holiday. Almost everyone gets one to two weeks off from work and travels either home to their families or to popular tourist spots around China. With China’s 1.3 billion inhabitants, this holiday creates the largest temporary human migration in the world. Planes, trains and buses are packed to capacity and national parks are flooded with people and garbage. Our friend Jordan, who is from the Hunan province, must travel on a train for 36 hours to reach his hometown and like many middle class or poor Chinese, his ticket doesn’t include a seat – it’s standing room only.

In the 90’s, China made an effort to boost domestic tourism and added two more week-long national holidays to its calendar: one in September and one in May. Both were called “Golden Week” and fulfilled their purpose in filling hotels, restaurants and tourist locations with adventurous Chinese. The experiment did so well that it created a real problem for transportation and excess pollution of national parks. The government made a move this year to do away with the Golden Weeks and in its place, created several extended weekends throughout the year. New Year on the western calendar was one of these extended weekends, so we got both Monday and Tuesday off from work.

Scott and I have about five weeks off from work for Spring Festival and while we are itching to see some of China’s immense countryside, famed cities and historical sites, we’d rather not be caught in the middle of this massive flood of traveling Chinese. So… we’re heading to Vietnam for a month! It’s only 10 hours by bus to the south on a bumpy, sketchy road or we can take a 12-hour train ride to the city of Nanning and then an 8-hour bus ride to Hanoi. We’re going with the latter option. Today we went to the Vietnamese consulate and will return tomorrow to firm up our visas. And while this blog is titled “ChinaMusing”, I think I’ll have to include some musings on Vietnam as well. Stay tuned!

Twas the night before Christmas...

2007-12-24T23:01:00.000+08:00

As I write this, the night of Christmas Eve, it feels just like any other Monday night. Scott is at hockey practice and I just finished making the final exam for my English Writing class at the university. It’s not too difficult, they just have to identify the parts of speech, put vocabulary words into sentences and write one of two essays:

What has been your experience learning English? Why is English important to you and what do you plan to do with your English skills in the future?

In your lifetime, how has China changed over the years? Have all the changes been good? What will the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games mean for China’s future?

The sound of fireworks is ringing in my ears as someone is lighting some off just outside my window.

Possibly a celebration for Christmas, this too could happen any old Monday night, as fireworks are a common occurrence around here. The Chinese, inventors of this celebratory display of flashy explosives, are crazy about fireworks and light them off frequently for no apparent reason.

Many friends from home have asked – do they celebrate Christmas in China? As a Communist country, China’s official religion is Atheism. However, most Chinese practice religion, whether it’s Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Islam or just ancient superstitions. Only about 3% of the population is Christian, so the observance of Christmas is not widespread.
However, China seems to have grasped the commercial concept of Christmas and the holiday has become trendy is China’s big cities. Sounds of English Christmas carols have been blasting from every department store and supermarket in Kunming since the beginning of December. Many shops display a Christmas tree outside their door or paint a season’s greeting across their windows. Just like Americans, while the Chinese know that Christmas is a holiday to celebrate Jesus, it’s more fun and profitable to focus on the commercial aspects.

Scott has to work Christmas morning. He’ll be hosting a Christmas party for kindergarten children. Ho ho ho! But when he gets back, we’ll exchange presents and then head over to some a friend’s house for a western Christmas dinner.

This past week also happened to be my birthday, so I got to celebrate my 27 years on this planet both western style and then Chinese style. Thursday night Scott planned an early birthday celebration for me in Kunming as we would be in Dongchuan for the actual day. We had a pre-party at our neighbor’s apartment with special treats like pistachios, M&Ms and red wine – both Californian and Chinese. As most people drink either baijiu or beer here, wine is a special treat and rather expensive in comparison – especially the imported bottles. Surprisingly, China makes a decent wine. While there are wineries across the country, Yunnan is especially known for its wine. With its close proximity to Vietnam and it’s location along both the Burma and Silk Roads, Yunnan has hosted a number of French missionaries who introduced vine clippings for their communion needs. After the pre-party, we went for dinner at Indian Kitchen, my favorite restaurant. Scott did quite well in the present department. He got me 25 long-stemmed stargazer lilies, a flowering plant, a bus pass good for 50 rides and a beautiful jade necklace. The jade is carved into bamboo with a bat along the edge. The bamboo symbolizes un-breaking strength and the bat symbolizes good fortune.

In Dongchuan, we had a traditional Chinese dinner. It’s the custom for the person whose birthday it is to toast everyone at the table numerous times with a little speech of gratitude. Afterwards, we headed to a KTV for some late-night karaoke. We had some Party members with us, who sang some historical propaganda tunes and I belted a few Madonna numbers. Tina brought a big cake and smeared the frosting all over my face, which is also a Chinese birthday tradition. All in all, it was a good birthday.

For a little cross-religious celebration, we visited Dongchuan's Buddhist temple on Saturday. It appears to be newly constructed as some parts are still underway. For such a small town, the temple is quite impressive and it's location in the mountains puts it higher on my temple list than Kunming's. I've included some pictures of the site.

It is always difficult this time of year to be away from my family. I wish that I could be at Aunt Mary and Uncle Lars’ home for Christmas this year. However, I am grateful for the experience that this year teaching abroad has afforded me, especially when I compare the mercury levels in the thermometer between Kunming and Fairbanks.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Birthday presents

A chicken dish at my birthday dinner in Dongchuan. Our little 10-year-old friend Harry eat the entire head.

Karaoke!

China's rich vs. poor

2007-12-17T14:14:00.000+08:00

Last week was a real eye opener in comparing China's wealth distribution. You've already read about my humbling experience with the peasant farmers near Dongchuan. From what I've heard, 900 million people in China live a similar lifestyle. That's 70 percent of China's 1.3 billion population.

Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to see how the top 1 percent live. It was Scott's hockey teammate Evan's 20th birthday. Evan comes from a wealthy family in the furniture business. Their house is in the southern part of Kunming, near Dian Chi Lake, and is truly a house. Kunming is filled with thousands of high-rise apartment buildings, but this is the first house I have seen in the city. It's four stories, all marble inside and filled with beautiful, modern furniture from their shop. He took us on a tour that was reminiscent of MTV's "Cribs". The maid served us a delicious dinner and Evan pulled out several bottles of top shelf imported cognac and red wine. Modesty is not a concern with wealthy Chinese.

Later in the evening, we went to downtown Kunming's club scene. The area is called Kun Dun and is filled with flashy clubs blasting techno and rap music. The club we went to is called the "Bee Hive" as it was designed to look like exactly that. However, this bee hive was filled with round, plush leather booths, crystal chandeliers and flashing lights galore. China's club scene culture differs dramatically from any other I've experienced in the US, South America or Europe. Rather that a large, open dance floor, the clubs are crowded with circular booths and private rooms. Our party occupied several of these circular booths on the edge. Rather than going to the bar and ordering drinks individually, the host of the group (birthday boy in this case) orders everyone beers and cognac, which are brought to the table, along with a large pitcher, bowls of chopped fruit, peanuts and pickled cabbage. The waiter pours about 16 oz of cognac into the pitcher and then fills the rest with water. Everyone gets a small glass to fill with the cognac/water and continuously refill after draining the contents with each "Ganbei" (bottom's up) that is proposed.

Rather than dancing in a group of people, club goers dance alone at their table, making large swinging motions with their arms. Group dancing consists of playing drinking games. One game I can only describe as "Rochambeau-a-go-go", where players roll their arms around, put them over their head, to the left, to the right and then flash a rock, paper or scissors sign. The losers drink. Another game I would describe as "Pulp Fiction number off" where you glide your fingers across your eyes like Uma Thurman and John Travolta in Pulp Fiction, but instead of just two fingers, you choose a random number and somehow these numbers relate to the other players. There are also cups of dice at each table, allowing for dice drinking games. The club was packed even on this ordinary Wednesday night and the patrons dressed in lavish, revealing clothes. As Chinese women tend to be quite conservative dressers, rarely revealing a bust line that plunges past their collarbones, I was surprised to see these scantly clad party girls.

Going from the peasant countryside to the Kunming club scene in one week, I felt I had gone through more culture shock in these two combined experiences than from any of my previous world travels. This weekend we journeyed back to Dongchuan for another weekend of teaching. This time they were a bit more organized and split the classes up according to age. I teach age 3-5, Gaetan is teaching 6-8, while Scott teaches both 9-10 and 11-13. I like teaching the little kids as they are really excited to learn and we just sing songs, bop around and do word repetition. Though, with this age there are some behavior issues and they have a hard time paying attention for 45 minutes, some kids cry and others are violent. But luckily we have either Jordan or Sally in the classroom to help control them, as there are about 25 kids in each class. As I didn't bring my camera to the birthday party, I have included a few random shots from the countryside.

Weekend moonlighting in Dongchuan

2007-12-10T17:59:00.000+08:00

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!

A stroll through the park

2007-12-05T13:37:00.000+08:00

Not quite Central Park, but Kunming’s Cuihu or Green Lake Park reveals the true spirit of China’s senior citizens. Only my second time to the park, I came to see the famed annual migration of the black-headed gulls. The park was swarming with the birds as thousands flocked in sweeping patterns over the lake and through the sky. I could have sat for hours, mesmerized by their flight. However, my ears were enticed by the faint melodies that called from within the parks’ many hidden nooks and pathways. In one corner, women with drums tied across their torsos were dancing to their own rhythmic beats. In another, an orchestra of traditional Chinese instruments was playing to the delight of an elderly crowd. Watching these weathered musicians and hearing their music made me wonder what their lives had been like throughout this country’s recent and complicated history. And is this traditional music dying as China’s youth of today is mostly occupied with shopping for the latest Korean fashions, as they’re climbing the corporate ladder? As I pondered this and wandered the park, I continued to stumble upon these informal and spontaneous-seeming folk ensembles. In the center of the park, there was a large group of elderly people singing. At least 100 of them were gathered around, singing tunes they were reading from books of sheet music. These same books popped up all over the park and I finally understood when I saw a street vendor hawking pages of the sheet music. On a pavilion, stretching out over an area of the lake, women were dancing with the long, white sleeves of Chinese opera characters. Beneath a pagoda-style gate, other women were dancing with large, red fans to the feminine high-pitched, nasal singing voice that is so characteristically Chinese.

What a wonderful culture where the senior population can re-live their cultural heritage daily, through this artistic expression of communal music and dancing. And though I felt quite alien amidst this culture, the people of Kunming allow me to feel at home with their smiles or complete indifference to my strikingly different appearance. Speaking with seasoned foreigners who have spent time in other Chinese cities, I have learned that Kunming is fairly unique in this regard. I’ve been told that in other cities, the locals stare, gawk and even shout “lowai” (foreigner). I wonder if Kunming’s lack of gawking is due to its rich cultural makeup. As there are over 25 ethnic minorities living together under one skyline, faces aren’t as similar as perhaps in a dominantly Han Chinese community. The Han ethnicity accounts for 94% of China’s population. Throughout history, the Yunnan province has been both a refuge for minorities fleeing persecution and a dumping ground for political “undesirables”. With these factors and more importantly, Yunnan’s geographic location, the province enjoys a mingling of Chinese, Tibetan, Thai, Burmese, Muslim and numerous other ethnic affiliations. I am anxious to begin exploring the other regions of Yunnan, where villages are traditional and these various cultures are more obvious.

These are a few of my favorite things

2007-11-29T18:02:00.000+08:00

Last night we were invited to a "class party" put together by both my writing class and Scott's writing class so they could get to know each other better. Classes here are made up of about 40-50 students in the same major. The same group of students also share dormitories and stay together for each subject for the entire year. In this way, the students don't meet many people outside of their class and there really isn't any opportunity for taking elective classes either. We were assuming the party would just be a mingling event, but it turned out to be a talent show of sorts and we were the guests of honor! There were tables with two-seater sofas in a horseshoe around a big room and in the front was a large stage. Each table was filled with snacks and party favors and we were seated at the very front. The students took turns performing various talents including tap dancing, ballet dancing, piano and singing. Between each act there was a game that we had to take part in and if we lost we were "punished" by dancing in front of everyone or performing some type of silly trick. Eventually the evening turned into a karaoke contest that lasted several hours. At the end of the party all the students wanted their pictures taken with us individually. The party was a fun way to get to know another side of our students.

Otherwise, it's been a rather mundane week, but I thought I'd post some random pictures to share.

My latest indulgences:

Milk tea with large tapioca balls - this one is strawberry.

Mini-mandarin oranges (ping-pong ball size) are now in season and sweeter than the larger variety.

Roasted hazelnuts - so rich and nutty!

This man is practicing his calligraphy in water on the sidewalk.

On the bus

My view out the window from a comfy perch at Salvador's Coffee House

Kunming Pub Crawl

2007-11-25T13:45:00.000+08:00

We had the luxury of a four-day weekend this week, not due to the Thanksgiving holiday as the Chinese obviously don’t celebrate this, but because of a university-wide sports competition. This is an event mostly for the freshmen and sophomores and was quite a big deal. The students had been practicing around campus for about a month. Thursday was the opening ceremonies and hundreds of students paraded in groups around the track, marching like soldiers in matching garb for each group or class of students. They also performed numerous dance routines and athletic performances. The foreign teachers were asked to participate in this ceremony and we formed a group with the Foreign Affairs Office faculty. We dressed in “formal” attire (as formal as our limited wardrobes allowed for), waved flags from our respective countries and marched around the track to the cheering and waving of hundreds of students. I felt like a celebrity! The following two days were filled with the sporting events including sprints, long jump, shot put, basketball, etc. Scott participated in the tug-of-war event where after a long effort of heaving and pulling, his team lost. Included are some pictures of the students and of us waiting our turns to enter the area for the opening ceremonies.

We were lucky enough to get invited to two Thanksgiving dinners. Last night, we were invited to Scott’s hockey teammate John’s house, along with the other players. I was struck with a nasty 24-hour flu and spent the day at home in bed. However, tonight we’re headed to the second of our Thanksgiving invitations with a group of friendly expats who we met on our first week in Kunming. I’m looking forward to some good, western food as after my bout with the flu, the sight, smell and even thought of Chinese food turns my stomach.

I am proud to report that we’ve had our first ever Chinese karaoke experience! Known here as KTV, karaoke is a popular Chinese pastime. However, karaoke here differs a bit from North America. Rather than getting up in front of an entire bar full of people, you rent private rooms and sing in the comfort of friends and acquaintances. Some KTV bars double as brothels, where prostitutes pay visits to the male patrons’ private rooms. Luckily, the KTV we visited was the PG version. We were invited by our Canadian friend Chris, his Chinese girlfriend Rose and several of her friends. It turns out that Rose is an amazing singer and belted out many classic Chinese tunes while we practiced reading the characters on screen. Of course the music bank included many western tunes and we took turns singing “Billy Jean”, “Summer Nights”, Doobie Brothers and several Beatles songs. Our Chinese hosts ordered us cans of Budweiser, which in China is a beer delicacy.

Last weekend, with our friend Gaetan, we decided to check out bars in Kunming’s western district and titled the night “Kunming Pub Crawl.” We started it off with dinner at Indian Kitchen, the most delicious Indian food I've ever tasted. Later, we met up with Tina (our new employer) and her friend and friend’s son, Harry. Included are some photos to document our evening.

Tina, Gaetan and Scott

Harry

Some Chinese friends we made at the last pub of the crawl

Creepy Crawlies

2007-11-17T15:58:00.000+08:00

I have officially eaten my first Asian bug. Before coming to China, I had heard the horrors of Asian bug cuisine, but thought that perhaps I could just avoid the whole thing. However, reason gave into curiosity and the opportunity for bragging rights. That’s right, I can now add fried bees, bee larva and centipedes to my list of ingested substances. And I must say – it wasn’t all that bad. Luckily, a good deep-fry can turn pretty much anything into an oily crunch. No, this was not my first experience eating prepared bugs. In Oaxaca, Mexico I indulged in grasshoppers, dried and seasoned with lime and chili powder. I became a big fan of this protein-rich snack, a perfect food to carry around in my backpack while traveling. However, the bees proved a bit more challenging for me as they are not the innocent jumping critter sort, but an evil, vicious variety that has caused me much pain and fright throughout my life – especially the last few summers that Fairbanks was plagued by the little villains. Scott coaxed me into the experience by suggesting that this was my chance to get revenge on the world bee population. Well, it worked - though, I can’t say I’ll eat them again. The centipedes on the other hand, were actually pretty tasty.

Our bug eating experience, which Scott is demonstrating in these pictures, happened yesterday while having lunch with our new employer Tina. We have new part-time jobs; weekend moonlighting in a city two hours north of Kunming. Last week I received a mysterious call from a woman named Tina, who said she needed English teachers. We met up with her and agreed to try out teaching on Saturdays and Sundays at her private school for children aged 7-12. She’ll arrange for a van to pick us (me, Scott and Gaetan) up on Friday nights and bring us back to Kunming on Sunday evenings. We have a large, brand new apartment to live in and free Chinese lessons during our down time. It’ll be a good way to get out of Kunming each weekend and earn some extra cash. We start the first weekend of December and if all goes well, we’ll continue through the end of the semester and possibly next semester as well. This makes job number three for Scott, so he’s going to be busy.

Yesterday, Tina picked us up, explaining that she needed to take our pictures. We then stopped by a professional portrait studio and nabbed a few photographers with their equipment and drove to the ritziest neighborhood I’ve seen in China. The beautiful, southwestern designed townhouses are up on a hill and surrounded by lush gardens. I felt like we’d left Kunming and been transported to colonial Mexico. There we had to pose for numerous pictures that Tina will later blow-up and display at the school. After the photo shoot, she took us out for a delicious Chinese lunch that included the before mentioned bugs.

Tina is an interesting character as she is the first non-feminine Chinese woman I have seen here. She is quite masculine in both hair and style, smokes like a chimney and drinks heavily. In fact, she’s also the first woman I have seen smoke cigarettes. Considered unladylike, smoking is reserved for Chinese men. We still don't know how Tina got our phone number, but I guess it doesn't really matter. She's an extremely nice woman and we're excited to work with her.

Next week we have Thursday and Friday off as the university is holding a sports tournament. We have been asked to participate in the opening ceremonies on Thursday morning, where we only have to walk around the track with the other foreign teachers and wave. The school had asked us to wear “sports clothes” and gave us a shopping allowance of 700 yuan (almost $100) to outfit ourselves. As clothes are ridiculously cheap here, it seems we’ve gotten a little early Christmas bonus!

Well, that’s about it for now. Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends and family! I wish I could be in Fairbanks for dinner at my Aunt Linda’s on Thursday. We have been invited to spend the holiday with Scott’s hockey teammate from Minnesota and his family.

No Kraft Dinner here

2007-11-08T20:56:00.000+08:00

As we are settling into Chinese life, the last few weeks have become a bit monotonous with work and daily life. While living on campus, working on campus, eating on campus and the availability of daily necessities on campus, sometimes I feel like we’re living in the isolated little world of our university. Though, we have also taken turns getting sick with both stomach viruses and head colds – so at times I am grateful for the convenience.

Scott has started a new job teaching kindergarten children. We met some Canadian guys from Nelson, BC of all places, at a coffee shop last week and they were bragging about how wonderful their jobs are as kindergarten teachers. As our teaching schedule is very lax and we are a bit strapped for cash, they set up a meeting for us with their bosses. They work for a company that hires out western teachers to kindergartens around Kunming to teach 30 min of English a day with the children.

Well, apparently the company prefers Canadian males as they hired their third. Scott is thrilled with the opportunity to work with children, something he’s been saying he is more cut out for, opposed to teaching university students. The children are aged 2-5 and are so cute. Somehow Chinese children seem far cuter than white kids. I am excited for him in his new endeavor.

To fill my spare time, I am creating a flyer in Chinese (with the help of China guru Gaetan), advertising my services as an English tutor. I will post these around some of the more prestigious universities in Kunming and perhaps some high-income apartment buildings.

Our Chinese lessons have finally begun. After working our way through the university bureaucracy, we were successful at last in enrolling in a beginner class. The only problem is that the class started September 1, so we are quite behind. The rest of the class is comprised of French exchange students, enrolled in the university’s MBA program. Interestingly, the French students have an oddly similar behavioral style to their Chinese counterparts. I’m not sure if these lackluster habits stem from their own culture, or if it’s something they’ve picked up here in China. At the moment, we are attempting to cram the twelve chapters we’ve missed into one week in order to catch up. Not only are we learning to speak and understand Chinese, but we’re also learning to read and write Chinese characters. The 3,000-plus-character system is a bit intimidating, but could sure help out when attempting to order food at a restaurant or finding my way around the city.

I found a new store in Kunming that is a short 20 min walk from campus. Metro, a German owned chain, is similar to Costco or Sam’s Club in that it’s a large warehouse selling both bulk and non-bulk food and household items. There is a large selection of imported wine (though quite costly), a variety of imported beers (including Belgian brands like Hoegaarten, Duvel and Leffe) and European chocolates. The availability of western goods in Kunming has surprised me. When packing for this trip, I made sure to bring along some staple western items like Dove soap, tampons and English novels, while preparing myself to say goodbye to favorite snacks like cheddar cheese and apple pie. However, with numerous expat specialty shops and “import” aisles in local grocery stores, you can find just about any western commodity you crave. The only thing we haven’t seen is Kraft Dinner, though, without our own kitchen, it would only be a tease. There is a street in Kunming named Wen Jin Li (westerner street) that houses numerous western-style cafes and restaurants. While they are twice to three-times more expensive than a local restaurant, you can fill your cravings for burgers, pizza, bagels, sushi, pad thai and lattes.

Most the bars and cafes here have shelves of English books you can trade or buy and there are also a few bookshops that carry a large selection of English titles. Before leaving for China, on the advice of my mom and her book group, I read Wild Swans by Jung Chang. This is an incredible account of three generations of middle-class Chinese women spanning from the late 1800’s through the Cultural Revolution. As the author’s parents were both Communist Party members, her first-hand account of this period in Chinese history is quite critical. I was warned not to attempt brining the book into China and raced to finish it. Scott didn’t quite finish the book before landing at the Guangzhou airport and nonchalantly carried it through customs in his backpack. Even though the customs form states that items that criticize or condemn the Chinese government are illegal, no one searched us. I was later surprised to find the same book for sale in a Kunming bookshop. I have also been told that this same book has been translated into Chinese, but omits all critical accounts of Mao and the revolution. The Chinese translation must be a short story.

This time period in Chinese history is very hush-hush here on the mainland. All but one student we’ve asked about it either plays ignorance or is ignorant to the events of their country’s recent history. Propaganda is still an important tool in Chinese society. It’s apparent on Chinese television, where even the one channel in English (CCTV 9) speaks only of great things happening, both current and past. While American’s complain that the news in the US is always bad news – this is the other side of the spectrum. Censorship is also widely enforced especially through the Internet. Websites like Wikipedia and YouTube are inaccessible due to some critical material. And perhaps my blog too will be blocked after this posting.

No pictures this time, except the below shot of Scott with friends Chad and his brother Michael from Vancouver. Scott played hockey with Chad in Galeen, Netherlands and has kept in close contact. Chad had been playing hockey in Beijing this year and came down to Yunnan for a short visit. We took them out for the famed Over-the-Bridge Noodles and some beers.

Reading, writing and arithmetic

2007-10-28T14:33:00.000+08:00

I hadn’t taken any pictures this week, so on the way to Salvador’s (our favorite café) this morning, I snapped some random shots to share. The first are of lunch at our most frequented cafeteria on campus. The food is a sampling of what is available on the first floor. Second level has made-to-order soups, fried rice, dumplings, noodle dishes, etc. The dogs are to show you what Chinese dogs look like. Stray dogs are all little guys with under-bites.

Today I started reading and correcting the 40-plus 500-word essays that I assigned my English Writing class, kicking myself all the while. The topic was, “What I learned about myself in the experience of leaving home and coming to university,” as it’s a freshman class and they all just arrived two months ago. Most of the students expressed their frustrations with leaving home and taking care of themselves, as well as living in a dormitory with so many other students.

As you may know, there is a one-child policy in China. Due to the over population, Chinese families are discouraged to have more than one child through heavy taxation on additional children. This one-child policy has been implemented for a little over 20 years now. It’s interesting to witness a culture where practically every youth is an only child.

Needless to say, our students are experiencing difficulties adapting to the bare-bone facilities of university life, compared to their spoiled luxuries back home – especially the over-crowded dorms. The dormitories consist of one very small room with two bunk beds and a table with four chairs. There are shared toilets, but no showers. Students have to walk ten minutes across campus and wait in a long line to take a shower. There is a shortage of housing on campus, so study halls have been modified to accommodate eight students to one room. For an only child, this is quite a change.

While living conditions are considerably worse for the students, their study loads are considerably lighter. In secondary school, students have class from 7 am – 7 pm and then 5-6 hours of homework each night. The pinnacle of Chinese education is the college entrance exam, which determines their life outcome, at least for middle to upper class students (peasant life is predetermined). If the student finishes in the top 2% of their province, they can choose from any university in the country and their opportunities are endless. The further away their scores are from that, the less choice they have in choosing a university. Keep in mind that only 2% of Chinese youth get the opportunity to go to university at all.

The Yunnan University of Finance & Economics is low down on the scale of desirable universities. Most of my students are here because they did only so-so on the university entrance exam and had no other choice. As it is not a prestigious university and there is no longer the looming qualifying test, students have little motivation to excel and compared to their studies in secondary school, the workload is at most half of what they are used to. To top it off, the International Business School at our university, where we teach, has the most expensive tuition. So not only are our students disappointed, unmotivated and from single children families, but also wealthy in Chinese standards. Spoiled brats. So remove your image of diligent, well-behaved communist students from your brain. It’s not like that. They make American university seem like boot camp.

Besides teaching, we’ve been spending time with our new friend, colleague and next-door neighbor, Gaetan, from French Switzerland. Gaetan studied two years of Chinese at the University of Geneva, two years in China at the University of Chongqing (Sichuan Province) and worked for one year in the northern mountains of Yunnan. As his Chinese is fluent and he’s an extremely friendly person, he comes in handy. With his help, we’ve explored some new restaurants that would have been impossible on our own (menus are written in characters), and found our way around new parts of the city.
On Friday night, we tried some Dai cuisine. Dai are one of the 20-plus ethnic minorities that live in the Yunnan province (more than any other province in China). The Dai live in the south of Yunnan in an area called Xishuangbanna that borders Vietnam and Myanmar. We feasted on pineapple sticky rice, spicy tofu cooked in banana leaves, stir fried wild mushrooms and barbequed pork. Gaetan is also a fan of Baijiu – Chinese rice wine. Both Scott and Gaetan ordered a glass of Baijiu; 16 oz of 80 proof alcohol. Luckily, I opted for the beer. Let’s just say that yesterday; Scott had his first hangover in China.

Need a tailor? They're street-side.

I found a yarn market and started a blanket for the chilly Kunming nights.

Gaetan - our China guru from Switzerland.

Rain rain go away

2007-10-20T14:20:00.000+08:00

The weather in Kunming has been miserably dreary the past 10 days, it reminds me of Amsterdam, but we’re nowhere near the ocean. Everyday it rains and we’ve seen not even a hint of sunshine. The buildings here have no central heating so it’s quite chilly inside and out. Our apartment is a refrigerator. Luckily my thrifty dad taught me at a young age to "put on a sweater" when I'm cold rather than cranking up the thermostat. Right dad? Needless to say, I hope the suns returns.

Last night we went downtown for dinner with our friend Amos, a Chinese from Inner Mongolia working on his masters in finance at our university. We decided on a hot pot restaurant due to the cold weather. Hot pot is a Chinese specialty consisting of a large pot filled with boiling soup that sits on a Bunsen burner in the center of the table. You can order from a long list of fresh ingredients to fill your hot pot and everyone digs in. Aside from the ingredients we ordered, we were surprised to find many other “treats” within the murky boiling water of our hot pot like pig tendons, octopus and a whole fish. Smiling all the while, we nibbled at these treats that Amos, our gracious host insisted were for us.

Besides those surprises, the other ingredients were quite tasty. Piled high plates of thinly-sliced raw beef and lamb strips, large chunks of tofu, fresh spinach, wild mushrooms and tomatoes, dates, potato noodles and long strips of seaweed were all systematically tossed into the hot pot to cook. The result was delicious, filling and did the job of warming our bellies.

After dinner, we walked around busy downtown Kunming. The bright, florescent lights that the Chinese use lavishly make for a dazzling show and stark contrast to the daytime city scenery.

China’s massive population becomes obvious on the weekends. Even a “small” Chinese city like Kunming (pop. 4 million) is overrun with people. Taking a bus back to campus last night and downtown today was a waiting game as each bus that pulled up to the swarming bus stop was already filled to capacity. This morning we waited for bus # 84 and when the fifth one came along with room for only two people to squish into the entry way, we decided to take the long way and crammed onto the slightly-less crowded bus # 129.

China has some very odd customs that I can’t help but wonder about. Here’s a few observations I thought I’d share with you, stay tuned for more in later postings:

- Restaurants rally their employees every night before dinner rush by lining everyone up outside to sing a spirited song or running around the block in military fashion while chanting.
- Traffic lights are simply a “suggestion” while driving and most automobiles pay no attention.
- Children under the age of three wear crotch-less pants. This eliminates the need for diapers and when in public, the parent simply holds the child over a planter as it does its business.

Classes went well this week. I’ve turned my American Culture class into a History of Rock and Roll class as I decided it would be impossible to fit the entire subject of American culture into 90 minutes. Anyways, these naïve Chinese students who love Mariah Carey and Green Day need some serious music culture. As our classrooms are multimedia, I treated them to videos of Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock, Elvis’ Jailhouse Rock and Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Dani California music video were the musicians work their way through rock history, mimicking every genre in one song.

For my Western Etiquette class, I cover many subjects, most importantly: no spitting, the concept of waiting in a line (Chinese love to shove and cut people off) and what “would you like to come in for a drink” really means at the end of a date.

The theme of my English Writing class this week was figurative language. To the exclamation of many moans, I gave the students an assignment to write a 500-word essay on their experience at university filled with figurative language. It wasn’t until later that I realized 500 words is really long for these student’s level of English and I most likely ruined their weekend. Ooops.

Yesterday in one of my classes, I was using Spider Man and Mary Jane as an example and admitted I didn’t know Spider Man’s real name. Scott, who had been waiting outside my class, popped his head in and said, “Spider Man’s real name is Peter Parker.” I told the students that he was my boyfriend and they all clapped and shouted “ooooooooh.” They seem to enjoy a campus-teacher romance.

Scott started his Chinese hockey career on Monday where he is not only the star of the Kunming team even with his bum knee, but has also been suckered into coaching both the youth and adult teams. His team will be hosting an international expat tournament at the end of November where teams from Beijing, Bangkok, Bali and Hong Kong will play in Kunming. I’m looking forward to watching him play again.

Kunming Chinese love KFC - more so than any other American fast food chain

Using the bathroom at McDonalds (I promise I didn't eat there - just used the bathroom!), I was pleasantly surprised to find a western toilet and toilet paper. As I mentioned before, most all Chinese public bathrooms are toilets in the floor that you squat over. I found this sign humorous, as apparently Chinese may get confused with a western toilet and climb atop to squat.

College Campus

2007-10-13T17:39:00.000+08:00

Teaching English to Chinese students is more difficult than I thought. For my first day of English Writing on Wednesday, I walked in and all of the students were chatting and buzzing about the classroom. Then, they all stopped and stared at me, quickly taking their seats. I asked them to write down five questions they had about me or about America and five things they wanted to tell me about themselves. The students diligently got to work and took great care in their questions and handwriting that it took almost 30 minutes for everyone to complete the assignment. I spent the rest of class answering their questions. I couldn’t tell if they understood me or not as some students just stared, others chatted to each other in hushed voices and a few appeared to be sleeping. However, occasionally I said something of interest, which aroused a chorus of “ooooooh.” Some of my favorite questions:

Why do you looks Chinese?
Do you like to eat fried chicken?
Your earrings is beautiful, but I want to know is it pain?
Do you know the superstar Kobe Bryant?
I think you are beautiful, do you have boyfriend?
How much does our school pay you?
Do you think you are tall?
Are you a half-breed?

Next week we start teaching additional classes. There are 12 groups of students and eight weeks of classes, with four categories for each group. In other words, we have two weeks of one subject with each group. Because there’s only one class per week and one full class is a performance test, we have only 1.5 hours to teach the students the subject. Confused? Me too.

I am teaching American Culture and Etiquette. Scott is teaching Western Cooking and Etiquette. We have a multimedia classroom, so I think I’ll create a PowerPoint presentation for each. Scott won’t have a kitchen to work with, so he’s diligently downloading Julia Childes episodes.

Additionally, this week we have been coaching two students to prepare for an English speech competition. The final is tomorrow and includes students from around the Yunnan province. If they place in the top three, they get to fly to Beijing for the semi-finals and the finals will be broadcast on the CCTV (Central China Television) English channel. We’re hoping the students (Tina and Paul – most Chinese choose English names) qualify as it means that we’ll get to accompany them to Beijing as their coaches!

We finally received our meal cards – allowing us to eat in the many cafeterias on campus. The largest cafeteria has two levels. The bottom level you can get a big scoop of rice for .60 yuan (10 cents) and scoops of numerous dishes for 1 – 2 yuan (15 – 25 cents). Upstairs is made-to-order specialties like noodle soups with meat or tofu, dumplings, hot pots, omelets, etc. all for around 3 yuan (35 cents). It’s a great deal and the food is quite tasty, though our stomachs are still having some issues as we take turns getting “sick” if you know what I mean.

Scott has gotten in contact with a local hockey team that practices on Monday nights, and he may be involved with coaching some youth. So as you can see – we’re starting to get the hang of this China thing. Hopefully this coming week we’ll also begin our Chinese lessons. Tonight we’re off to an art gallery opening and out to dinner with our American friends Dan and Donna.

Below are some pictures of our campus and the flowers are perennials found around our campus – I’m interested to see what different kinds bloom throughout the year in this spring city.

Our apartment building or "Overseas International Business School Dormatory"

The Recreation Facility

The Library

Classrooms

One of the many basketball courts - Chinese are crazy about basketball

The shopping street alongside our campus where you can find just about anything

Just a few of the many garden oasis spots around campus

Ganbei!

2007-10-09T17:15:00.000+08:00

Here are some pictures of our apartment. It’s now our second week in China and our focus has turned to teaching. On Monday we met with administration in the International Business School and learned that in addition to our English Writing classes on Wednesdays, we’ll each be teaching six additional classes. I will be teaching American Culture and Etiquette and Scott will be teaching Western Cooking and Etiquette. Our first classes start tomorrow and I am a bit nervous. We received a workbook that the students have, though flipping through it, it seems somewhat inappropriate for a writing class as many of the exercises are listening and conversation. On a happy note - we now have Internet in our apartment!

Today we loaded up on a bus with 20 Vietnamese students and went to the International Clinic for an additional series of health tests in order to obtain our residence permits. Each test took place in a different exam room and included vision testing, EKG (heart monitoring), ultrasound, blood testing, and the most challenging test was submitting a urine sample. The public toilets here in China consist of a porcelain hole in the floor that one must squat over. First of all, I hadn’t had anything to drink all morning and didn’t have to go, then squatting over the hole, trying to relax while balancing myself and my purse, and most challenging – attempting to capture what little I could muster into a tiny cup, all the while breathing through my mouth so not to breathe in the putrid smell of Chinese bathrooms through my nose.

After the tests, the Vietnamese students took us out to lunch. Dining in China is a lively, communal experience. First, the servers come and fill everyone’s teacup with delicious green tea. Then, once the food is ordered, the dishes come out one by one and fill the center of the table, often on top of a lazy susan. Lastly, the server brings a big steaming pot of rice and fills everyone’s little bowls. Spinning the lazy susan or reaching across, you fill your rice bowl with the different dishes using your own chopsticks. The Vietnamese students ordered bottles of wine and beer, insisting we take one of each and every ten minutes, cheered Ganbei (bottom’s up) while toasting one another. We learned from them that it’s the men’s job to “take care” of the women closest to them around the table, in filling their bowl with prized pieces from the best dishes. I’ve learned to steer away from most poultry dishes as attached to the meat are numerous bones and pieces of skin and fat, while the beef and vegetable dishes are delicious and far more creative than any Chinese dishes from North America.

Last week we were shopping for DVD’s (a new indulgence of ours) and met two women from the United States. One woman, Donna, has been living in Kunming for 14 years with her husband Dan. The ladies took pity on us and invited us to join them and their husbands for dinner that evening. It turns out that they started the international school in Kunming as they raised their three daughters here and Dan now runs a sailing school at a lake close to Kunming. They were such warm, friendly people and gave us invaluable advice about living in China, as well as supplying us with a good map of the city, an excellent phrase book, some literature on Chinese history and even a grater for our block of brown sugar that we weren’t sure how to prepare. I am grateful for this new friendship.

We’ve also made some friends playing badminton and now have a weekly match at the gym. Our Chinese is still a struggle, but we’ve learned that we can take advantage of four free hours of Chinese classes a week.

Thanks for all of your comments – it’s good to know that you’re actually looking at this and care about what we’re up to. We miss home, but are determined to adapt to our new surroundings.

Getting into the China groove

2007-10-05T15:31:00.000+08:00

Green Lake Park

Our first excursion into downtown Kunming took us to Green Lake Park. As our campus isn’t on the map, preoccupations of getting completely lost in the city and not being able to find our way back were quickly subsided when we stumbled upon the Yunnan University – a key point on our map. Wandering through the campus of bamboo groves, elaborate gardens, and 19th century western architecture mixed with Chinese architecture, I became a bit jealous, as this campus was far more beautiful than our own. The university is on a hillside and as we slopped down to the main gate, we found Green Lake Park. The park was filled with people - families feeding the ducks and swans, elderly couples lounging, men playing mahjong and checkers while sipping from their green tea glass jars and young couples paddle boating around the lake. The lake was originally a marshland on the northern outskirts of town. Emperor Kangxi had the swamp drained and transformed the land into a large garden filled bridges, pavilions, lotus ponds and teahouses. Here we spotted our first foreigners – white people! Wow do we stand out amongst the hundreds of Chinese. As we weren’t quite ready to brave the buses, not knowing which one went where (the signs are all in characters), we walked to the park and back – taking over an hour each way.

Yuantong Si Pagoda

The next day we felt a little braver and as we had spotted bus 129 the whole route along our walk the previous day, we took the plunge and hopped on the route to take us back downtown. One-way fare is 1 Yuan (15 cents USD) and the buses are clean, announce each stop and have televisions that broadcast the local news. This day our destination was the Yuantong Si Pagoda. Construction of the temple began in the 8th century and is one of the most important Buddhist temples and pilgrimages. When I stepped foot through the gates of Yuantong Si, I immediately felt a sense of peace and was blown away by the beauty and tranquility of the temple grounds that sit hidden away in the middle of the bustling city. In front of the center, octagonal pagoda, worshipers were burning incense and bowing to the north, west and east holding three smoking incense sticks, then placing them to burn on a wall alongside dozens of others. The pavilion is surrounded in green water that’s teeming with hundreds of swimming quoi and turtles. The Great Hall temple with a large golden Buddha inside, sits behind the temple, connected by bridges. Elaborate and colorful carvings of dragons and lotus flowers cover the Great Hall with immense, red pillars supporting the rooftop. Steps behind the Great Hall lead up to a Thai Buddhist temple, built to accommodate the numerous visitors from Thailand. Here, the sound of worshippers’ deep, guttural chanting and rhythmic wooden block beat was overwhelming. The Yuantong Si Pagoda gave me my first real sense of ancient China, something I felt had been lacking from my experience thus far in this country.

Old Quarter

Next we worked our way to Kunming’s Old Quarter where the city’s remaining traditional residences are located. Sadly, most all the original architecture in Kunming has been torn down to make room for skyscrapers and other modern architecture. The Old Quarter is mostly consumed with the Bird and Flower Market where they sell not only those items, but zillions of other trinkets, Burmese jade, antiques, tea and live things like chicks, turtles, lizards, scorpions, hamsters and baby pigs. I’m afraid to say that I don’t think these animals are sold as pets. I had to restrain myself from buying any jewelry, tapestries or beautiful plants for the apartment – they have dozens of orchid varieties and handsome bonsai. The historic buildings with clay tile roofs and windows that overlook the street make it easy to imagine life here hundreds of years ago, before the western world gained influence.

The rest of our time here for the past week has been spent playing badminton on one of the many courts on campus (they also have many basketball, tennis and volleyball courts) and watching pirated American movies on the laptops that we can purchase here for only 75 cents a piece. When in Rome, rather Kunming. We are anxiously awaiting Monday when the administration gets back from holiday to fix us up with our meal cards and internet and for classes to begin. I’m writing today from a hip café near the Yunnan University called Salvador’s, using the wireless internet and sipping on my first cup of coffee since we arrived! Till next time…

Drinking green tea at the airport in Guangzhou, post chicken feet incident

Over-the-bridge Noodles

Chicken feet and noodles

2007-10-02T13:22:00.000+08:00

Greetings from China! We made it - though it took several days of flights, airports, shuttles and an overnight in Guangzhou.

In the Guangzhou airport, Scott and I decided to try our first real Chinese meal. Guangzhou, formally known as Canton, is famous for its dim sum. A server walked over to our table with a cart of bamboo steaming baskets and we pointed to the ones we wanted. One of the baskets of what at first appeared to be szechwan chicken, turned out to be deep fried chicken feet! Scott took a big bite and spat it our on his plate. I tried to be brave and nibbled at a toenail, but couldn't eat more than that. This was our first awareness that eating in China was going to be complicated.

Two teachers from our university met us at the airport in Kunming. Driving through Kunming was a blur of high-rises, scary traffic and lots of pedestrians. Our apartment consists of a bathroom with western toilet, sink and shower, a sitting room with a mini-fridge and a large bedroom with a queen-sized bed (very firm mattress), TV, desk and two comfy chairs.

An English student from the International Business Department, Noah, took us on a tour of the campus. There are around 20,000 students at the Yunnan University of Finance and Economics and the campus is quite large and filled with gardens, fountains, basketball and badminton courts and quite modern buildings. Later Noah took us on a walk to a large supermarket and a noodle restaurant for dinner. We ate a famous Yunnan dish called Under the Bridge Noodles. You are presented with a plate of raw meats, a plate of veggies, a bowl of noodles and a big bowl of boiling water with a layer of oil on top. You dump all the ingredients in, wait about five minutes and dig in. Delicious. Definitely a step up from the chicken feet.

Yesterday was Chinese National Day and the entire week is a holiday for the university. We were basically left to fend for ourselves - so today and yesterday we walked to the supermarket to load up on essentials for our apartment. Tomorrow we're going to brave the bus system and attempt to head downtown.

We got our schedule and so far we only teach one class a week each on Wednesdays. Both are English writing classes. Good thing we're on salary! Our class load is supposed to increase in a few weeks, but at this point it looks like we can start looking for additional work at other schools.

Walking from the campus to the supermarket takes about 20 minutes each way and has some interesting sight seeing along the way. We pass hair salons where young men create wild, punk hair styles for their clients that match their own - something I thought died out in the 80's. Being tall and white calls for many stares, some people have to pull over on their bicycles just to gawk. We haven't seen any other foreigners since we left the airport.

Everything here is quite cheap. The noodle dish we ate at the restaurant cost us $1 each, kiwis cost 10 cents a piece and a new pair of jeans is about $5. We bought badminton rackets and shuttlecocks today for $2 altogether.

Communication here is next to impossible due to our limited to non-existent Chinese and the complete lack of English spoken here. It should make for an interesting year! Sorry, no pictures this time as we don't yet have the Internet in our apartment hooked up, but stay tuned next week.

Beautiful British Columbia

2007-09-27T04:09:00.000+08:00

We made it to Vancouver! Well, not yet actually - we're in Chillawack which is an hour outside of Vancouver. Here's a little recap of our trip across southern BC.

Day One - Calgary
We stayed with Scott's cousin Shannon and she spoiled us rotten.

Day Two - Calgary
Shannon did such a good job of spoiling us that we didn't want to leave.

Day Three - Calgary to Moyie Lake
To cross into BC, we drove through Crowsnest Pass in the Rockies. The drive was lovely as the rolling praire hills turned to jagged mountain peaks. We camped out at the Moyie Lake Provincial Park.

Day Four - Moyie Lake to Nelson
We drove through Creston, home of Kokanee beer - then spent the rest of the day skirting around Kokanee Lake. It's no wonder they named a beer after it. The drive around the lake was incredible and as Scott guided the van along the sharp turns and steep passes, I spied the elaborate lake-side vacation homes and wondered who was lucky enough to live in them. To reach Nelson, we had to take a 30 min ferry ride across the lake. Nelson is a historical haven of hippies hidden in the hills above the lake. Needless to say - we loved it there!

Day Five - Nelson to the Okanagan
For those of you who don't know BC - the Okanagan Valley is a geological wonder. The large lake that covers the valley's floor matched with the arid climate makes for perfect conditions to cultivate apples, pears, cherries and grapes. Orchards and vineyards are endless. We camped along the lake and experienced our first provincial park showers.

Day Six - Okanagan to Salmon Arm
In the morning we visited Scott's longtime friend Terry's parents in Summerland, along the Okanagan. They have an Ambrosia apple orchard that overlooks the lake and are in the process of building a home to make Summerland their permanant residence. After feeding us sliced apples, apple cake and cherry moonshine, they also loaded us up with a box of apples and a load of firewood. We stopped at Greata Ranch Winery and tasted some wines, settling on a bottle of Pinot Noir. Next stop - the Shuswaps, a lake district just north of the Okanagan and known as the houseboat capital of Canada, similar to Lake Havasue in Arizona. We camped just ouside Salmon Arm and treated ourselves to T-Bone steaks and our bottle of wine. That night we were visited by a hungry and curious mouse that kept us up as he chomped his way through our apples, sun flower seeds and toilet paper. Scott tossed his snacks outside the van and the mouse followed. Or so we thought...

Day Seven - Salmon Arm to Fraiser Canyon
We broke down and hit up a diner for a greasy breakfast of eggs, hasbrowns and sausage in Salmon Arm. For our last night in the van, we stayed at the Goldpan Provincial Park in the Frasier Canyon, southwest of Kamloops. It was a lovely campsite along a raging river, though a bit noisy with trains blowing through on both sides. Our little mouse friend appeared to have hitched a ride with us and we spent all night trying to trap him. He was finally caught by the tail and thrown our of the van - though he may have may his way back in.

Day Eight - Fraiser Canyon to Chillawack
Luxury has taken over as we are guests in Scott's Uncle Ross and Auntie Kathryn's fabulous home and acerage in the mountainous suburb of Vancouver. My passport was waiting for us! I guess we're really going to China.

All in all, it was a great trip and I can now attest to the claim on this province's liscence plates - Beautiful British Columbia! Next stop - CHINA.

Hacking my way through anticipation cough

2007-09-17T12:50:00.000+08:00

Preparing for our move to China has proved to be a bit more difficult than we originally thought.

Step One: Sign contract with school
Step Two: Complete health exam - tests include chest x-rays, HIV & syphilis tests, etc.
Step Three: Receive documents from China (sponsorship from school and government)
Step Four: Send documents along with passport and visa application to visa service
Step Five: Receive visa and passport in the mail

We are currently waiting on step three to happen, which has been prolonged due to the fact that the government officials entitled to sign our documents were all on an extended holiday.

The documents should arrive tomorrow. I will FedEx my visa application to the visa service in the US and for Scott's, we're driving to Calgary where there is a consulate.

Then we'll take a leisurly road trip through British Columbia in the van (1975 Dodge Tradesman 200) before we arrive in Vancouver for our departure to China on September 28.

Studying up on China and Mandarin

We ordered some RMB or Yuan from the bank. The exchange rate is about 8 RMB to 1 USD

Visa application

Coming down with the travel bug sniffle

2007-09-08T22:40:00.000+08:00

When that adventure bug starts itching, I can't help but scratch. This time it's to the land of noodles, panda bears and a little red book. That's right - I'm off to China!

Scott and I will be teaching English for one year at the Yunnan University of Economics and Finance in Kunming. Known as the "City of Eternal Spring," Kunming is situated in southwest China on a plateau at 1890 meters (6200 feet) above sea level in a sub-tropical climate.

Click on the links to learn more about Kunming and the Yunnan University of Economics & Finance.