Dali & Kunming

Tuesday May 11 - Reunion

After a one-day delay, I was on my way – the biggest trip of my life, and without any immediate companions.

After an easy flight, I was ecstatic to be greeted by a friendly face at the Kunming Airport. Kathryn Sparks, who is studying here this semester in a real China program, picked me up.  It was so great to see her, and to be met at the airport by a friendly face, a WashU face nonetheless. We had been planning this meeting for so long, that it was surreal to finally be there, with her, starting this trip.

We took a taxi back to her dorm (read: hotel), which was super-cheap, as I had been told Chinese taxis are – 20Y ($3) for a thirty minute ride.  Funny story about her dorm – about a month before the program started, they found out that the dorm they were in got demolished and they were thrown in a hotel, something akin to a nice Holiday Inn, just outside of campus. Yes, they clean the room and replace the towels every night – the good life. This whole constant demolition and construction thing is super-common in China. Gotta keep up that 8% growth rate I guess.

Wednesday May 12 - Dali

We woke up early so Kathryn could go to class, and so I could go to Dali, an ancient town a few hours away from Kunming in Yunnan province. I had attempted to make a faultless trip to the bus station to catch the first bus out to Dali. Even with the characters written out by Kathryn’s Chinese roommate, I managed to get taken to the wrong place (I think).  After trying my Mandarin at the ticket counter, I could only manage to ask questions and not understand answers. The general assumption is that because I can say a couple phrases and questions that I must be fluent, and can understand them speak super-fast and complicated. Wrong.

A little feeling of loneliness and anxiety crept up on me as I became frustrated asking for directions, getting told things I didn’t understand by different people, all at the same time being hassled by touts trying to get me to take private cars etc to get there – a much more expensive option. 

I finally ended up using a tout to take a private car for about 50% more than the bus but I had little choice. Of course, private is never exactly private. I was joined by a military man from Jiangsu (near Shanghai) and parents with their infant child in the back with me, all heading to Dali. The army man ended up being quite helpful once we got there, and definitely made me a little less annoyed by the whole situation of leaving late, paying more, and being cramped in the back of a car.

After switching cars on the highway for no apparent reason, we arrived 4 hours later and I got lunch first around 1pm. There seems to be a lot of tourists in this area, and one main eating/sleeping street that was quite nice, especially in the good sunny and cool weather.  Unfortunately, given my time constraint of getting back to Kunming that night, I wasn't able to do a bunch of the major sights that I had been planning on seeing. Overall though, the village/city is very beautiful and has a lot of character, and is very different from anything I’d ever seen. There are tons of little streets and alleys to get lost in, which I took advantage of without intending to.

(In retrospect, I should have definitely bought this)

(I've become obsessed with Chinese gates)

(It seems no two are the same)

(They sell lots of fabric here)

After lunch, I rented a bike to go down to the Erhai lake, one of the biggest in Yunnan, and by the map, looked like an ear. As seemed to be the trend for the day, I ended up elsewhere. I got down to the lake, but it was by the boat station where you could hire a boat to take you around the lake for a lot of money, but couldn’t find the trail to bike around the lake, a bit disappointing. Along the way, I stopped at a lot of rice fields on dirt roads and some random temple-looking structures. Tired from biking on a rickety bike, I made my way back to town for a little afternoon snack.

(I couldn't find the "road" down, so, I decided rice fields would be easier)

(Learning/watching how rice is grown - they really need to invest in some technology to get this done)

(Yunnan has been experiencing a drought for the last few months - not good)

(Partners in crime)

(In a very agrarian way, this is a really beautiful area)

(Exploring, read: getting lost in, the alleys)

I stumbled upon a bakery, which I later saw was rated in the Lonely Planet, called Sweet Tooth. It was a unique place because it was run by the hearing impaired.  This is definitely interesting to see, especially in China, where disabled people are not really taken seriously or treated as normal people. It was also good because I didn't have to speak Chinese, we just both used hand signals. I had a banana-chocolate-chip muffin, which I realized is an awesome idea, and generates portability – genius!

(A sliver of home)

Later, I was able to successfully get the bus back with a lot assistance from helpful Dali people. This was my first experience on a Chinese bus (they are the largest producers/buyers of coach buses in the world, which they use to transport everywhere), and I can’t say I was impressed.  The driver was crazy, whipping around sharp corners on windy Yunnan roads, flying by trucks on both sides of the road with inches to spare.  It seems that in China they use their horns more as like a radar for other cars, to let you know they are around you and to watch out. I don’t think ten seconds went by without honking the horn. I got back to the hotel, exhausted, around 11 and called it a night.

Thursday May 13 - Kunming

Woke up with Kathryn to catch bus to Jin Dian park and Golden Temple. Adding the serious morning traffic, the 5km or so became an hour-long journey on the bus. Luckily, I “met” an old man on the bus also going to the Park, so I was able to doze off a bit and he let me know when we arrived. I love public buses though, because it was just 1Y, about 10 cents, to ride anywhere.  The MTA really needs to rethink its policies please.

This was a really beautiful and peaceful park. I took some stairs up and then an alpine cart up the mountain - fun but unnecessary I later found out, as it was only about a minute more up the stairs, but still, for 15Y, you can’t really say it was a bad decision.

(Entrance)

(Stairs up)

(My sweet alpine cart)

(View on the one minute ride up)

Part of the park is kind of like a mini Forbidden City with lots of walled areas and gardens. In one part, in front of a building a Tai chi class was being held, with 20+ older Chinese people moving slowly to the same movements.  It was pretty funny spotting the few people who were newbies and didn’t have all the moves down. Going up to the Bell Tower was great for some panoramic views of the city, which is quite elevated, and let me really take in the wonderfully clean air and blue skies – a rarity in HK and most Chinese cities.

(I love Chinese gardens and these types of entryways)

(Nice water elements)

(Perfect lighting for some pictures)

(Impromptu Tai Chai class)

(Bell tower - the bell ringer is a wooden fish, and no, I did not pay to ring it)

(View of the city from up top)

(Not sure how this reflected like that, pretty cool)

(I actually took this picture of myself... self-timer is awesome, though a little weird smiling at nobody)

After some relaxing sitting and walking around, I journeyed back to Yunnan University to meet Kathryn for lunch. Of course, as seems to just be part of me traveling, I got off the bus at the wrong stop (there are two University bus stops apparently) and walked for a while in the general direction to meet Kathryn before ending up having to take a taxi to get me there to the exact location.

We went to lunch in a small trendy, and according to her, upscale, area around her school. Bein with someone in their own city is so great, because they know all the good food (like pumpkin cakes mmmmmhmm) and places to eat.

After lunch, Kathryn had to take a test, but took me to my next bus to the nearby Yuantong Temple. It was kind of small but still nice. Honestly, I’m not sure how it got into LP and Jin Dian park did not. Got there in time to see the monks chanting their prayers which was a new experience for me.

(Yuantong Temple)

(Lion dog dragon?)

(Pretty nice Buddha if I may say)

(Religious candle lighting)

After stopping by a bakery for an obligatory afternoon mini-snack, Kathryn took me to her favorite Western café, where we spit a scrumptious banana split and then met up with her roommate for a relaxing afternoon beer. Talked about tons of things to help with her learning more English – she is studying to teach Mandarin to English-speakers, an interesting niche in China. Most interesting was her and my differing understandings of HK and how they view each other. In HK, talking to the locals about mainlanders, especially those at CUHK, they have a very negative attitude towards them. They say they are smelly, and weird and often acuse them of stealing things. If you ask them are they Chinese they say “No, I’m from Hong Kong”. This is wildly different from the reaction when I told Kathryn’s roommate this, as she put her face in her hands saying “no, no, no!”, they are just another big Chinese city to them.

(Kathryn and her roommate)

Around dinnertime, we walked around Green Lake at sunset and then to her favorite cheap noodle place for dinner. I love full meals for < $1. Also, bubble tea is my new obsession. Get used to it, and I can’t wait to dominate the place on the Loop at school.