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.
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.
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