week 2

Rafting!

we got a little wet....

the houses on stilts in the villages look like this for the most part

us losing at basketball, miserably

botanical gardens in Jinghong

dentist in the market

playng basketball, again

riding the tractors

Chinese bandit

after a long day of hiking in the dust, we all looked a lot like this

ingenious water heaters

Italy?

opponents our skill level

Monks with a sense of style

On Tuesday morning, we got up early to begin our 3 day trek into rural southern China. We packed a small pack with all the things we would need for 3 days, not much because we would have to carry everything on our hikes, and stored the rest of our stuff in the hotel lobby.
We hopped back into our trusty buses and headed to Xiding for another market. We spent a few hours wandering around seeing what we would see, the highlight being the dentist pulling out people’s teeth out in the middle of the market. After the market, we had lunch, then back to the buses for a short drive to the next town where we were to stay the night. This town was mostly populated by Akha people, noteable because of their beautifully embroidered clothes. The majority of the town’s population were farmers who mostly grew tea or raised hogs. The SYA basketball played another game, but this time our opponents were a little less formidable and we easily won. We had the whole afternoon and evening off, so we spent most of our time exploring the large town and trying to translate the propaganda slogans into English. Most of them told the locals that having a boy and having a girl were both good, stuff like that. We ate dinner with our host families and turned in early. We would need a good night’s sleep for our long hike the next day.

We got up early in the morning and headed out, but not before all of our host families loaded us with hard boiled eggs. I kid you not, I was given 5 or 6 eggs to take with me, and I have no idea why. After trying our hardest to give away our eggs and failing, we hopped back on the buses for another short drive. At a small no name town, the buses could not go any farther, so we caught a ride with some tractors. The ride was bumpy and not over soon enough, but the amazing views of the mountains made up for the choking dust and bumpy roads. When the tractors couldn’t go any farther, we went the rest of the way on foot. The hike lasted around 6 or 7 hours through mountainous terrain and beautiful views. By the time we got to our village for the night, we were more than ready to stop.

Covered in dust, tired, and hungry, we set off to find the most important part of the village, the showers. Most of the homes SYA students were in had a shower, but not mine, so I had to barter with my friend to get a shower. I think toilet paper for a shower is a fair trade, don’t you? Anyway, clean (well, sort of) and refreshed, I spent the next hour or so talking with my housemates and watching dinner being made. Lets just say that dinner was fresh, really fresh. Anyway, no one really did anything that night but talk with a few locals and go to bed, exhausted.

The next morning, we prepared for another hike. That day, our hike lasted 6 or so hours through the same terrain, but toward the end of the day, the terrain flattened out a bit. We hiked all morning until we got to a road where our buses were waiting for us. After a quick lunch, we buses to our last village of the trip. This village is know for 3 things, paper making, roof tiles, and a really cool monastery. We spent the afternoon exploring the village. I lucked out, my host family made paper for a living so I got to watch the whole backbreaking process. Let me tell you, it doesn’t look hard until you try it. I played some more basketball, this time with opponents of matching skill level, little kids. They were actually pretty good at shooting for being so short and I enjoyed being one of the better players on the court, for once, but certainly not the best.
That night, we were treated to a chanting ceremony at the monastery. Most of the monks at this monastery were really young, as well. The chanting was really cool, and I enjoyed myself listening to them chant. Afterwards, we had a free night to explore the village more and talk to a few locals. The people in this village did not have as thick of an accent, so talking to them was easy and enjoyable.

The next morning, we got up and bused back to Jinghong, where we would spend the rest of our trip. Like I said before, I LOVE Jinghong and the people there are so nice. We spent our last days there attending a school, which I will talk about next time.

week 1 revised

inside the Buddhist temple

long bus rides.

women from the Yi ethnic group.

View from a hill of the first village.

a water buffalo, the cow of Yunnan.

the ingenius hotwater devices on top of the houses in most of the villages.

house from the preserved town.

They let me turn a pot in Jianshui, I think my hands are still red, but it was fun.

Confucius says...

tofu made in Jianshui. tasted pretty awful, but not quite on par with stinky tofu.

View from my hotel.

the first two characters mean "dog meat" and the last two mean "restaurant". I decided against eating here for dinner because of cleanliness, among other things.

Deserted market town before the market.

Market town.

Sunset over the rice patties.

Sunset over the rice patties.

locals on a motorcycle. almost everyone had a motorcycle because it is the most convenient way to get around.

A town during a market.

A very safe looking vehicle.

A little girl dressed in ethnic clothes at a market.

So, I spent the last 3 weeks traveling in southern China, Yunnan Providence. I am posting pictures and stories from each week. On January 31, we flew out of freezing cold Beijing to Kunming, the city of year-round spring. We left behind our winter coats and traded them for flip flops and T-shirts. In Kunming, we had a free day to enjoy the local cuisine and sights. The local Buddhist temple was gorgeous and very peaceful, a nice change from my action packed Spring Festival.

After we left Kunming, we headed to a local village. Yunnan is 50% populated by minority ethnic groups. China’s population is mostly (95%) populated by the Han ethnic majority, making Yunnan the most ethnically diverse providence. Our first village of the trip was populated by the Yi ethnic minority. We were greeted by the women of the village dressed in their ethnic clothes and dancing their traditional dragon dance. We spent the afternoon playing pick up games of basketball, learning embroidery, or exploring the village. At night, we were treated to more dancing and singing by the women of the village. We treated the villagers to our own singing, much to their amusement. We left early the next morning and headed to Jianshui.

On the way to Jianshui, we stopped at a small, well preserved town with many Cultural Revolution slogans. I had a great time wandering around with my friends with a local kid showing us around. We had to run to keep up with him, but we saw many things we would not have seen otherwise.

Once we arrived in Jianshui, we had a free evening which I spent wandering around with my friend. We had an amazing time looking around the town and eating some amazing food. The next day, our teachers arranged a scavenger hunt to encourage us to see the local sights. If we saw everything on the list and documented our trip, we got one night of extended curfew, so the effort was definitely worth it. I spent the day traveling around the town with my group and soaking up the nice weather. We managed to see everything and have a good time while doing so. The highlight of the day was the Confucius temple, the second biggest in China. The scenery and flowers were gorgeous and I had a peaceful afternoon wandering around and talking to the locals about Confucius.

The next day, we set off on a long bus ride to another town where we spent a pretty uneventful night. We were all pretty sleepy from spending pretty much all afternoon on the bus, so we turned in early. The next morning we began the first of 2 hikes through the rice patties. Rice is one of the most important products in China and the people in Yunnan have been growing it for generations. In the winter, they fill the rice patties with water to keep the soil wet during the dry season. The beauty of the rice patties during the winter months is renown throughout China, especially when the light reflects off the water at sunset. The first day, we spent 6 hours hiking through thick fog and a little rain. The scenery was amazing and the hike passed quickly. We spent the night in a small market town with nothing to do but play cards. The next morning, we got up to see the market. People from all over the area come to buy whatever they need and cannot make or grow themselves. Most of the women were dressed in their ethnic clothes. I couldn’t hear most of their accent, if they even spoke Mandarin. Most of the older women and men never learned Mandarin because they never went to school. I had a great time wandering around and taking pictures.

In the afternoon, we started our second, much shorter hike through the rice patties. The weather was gorgeous and I spent most of the time working on my tan. That afternoon, we arrived at a famous spot for viewing the sunset over the rice patties. The scenery was absolutely amazing and I had fun talking to a few tourists from Beijing. After the sun set, we boarded the bus and headed to another market town to spend the night.

The market the next morning was the most ethnically diverse of the markets I visited on my trip. All the different clothes of the locals were colorful and each different in its own way. I had a great time wandering around, but we were not allowed to eat anything for fear of spending the next 3 days confined to the bathroom. In the afternoon, we boarded the buses for a long 13 hour drive south. There was nothing to do on the bus but read and talk because I foolishly left my ipod in Beijing. It seemed like a good idea at the time, anyway. We got into the hotel at 12 that night/morning and collapsed into bed.

The next morning, we continued our drive south for another 5 or 6 hours and finally arrived in Jinghong in time for dinner. We used Jinghong as our base for the rest of our travels in southern Yunnan. Jinghong is the capital of the Xixuangbanna part of Yunnan and is considered a small city with a mere 1 million people. The food was amazing, especially the fruit. By the end of the trip, Jinghong can easily be counted as my favorite city in all of China.

Winterm Week 1

ok, so I am just going to publish a bunch of pictures for this post and write on the next one.