China Six: Our Travels to Yunnan and Guizhou Provinces

We left on the afternoon of Thursday, September 30 by bus to Guangzhou. From there we flew on Yunnan Airlines (a Boeing 767) to Kunming (Spring City), the capital of Yunnan (South of the Clouds) Province.

Yunnan Province has a very diverse geography, ranging from rugged mountains in the north to a tropical rain forest in the south. Kunming is more in the mountains, but it has a mild climate year round (hence, the name Spring City)

Yunnan is a special province, what the Chinese call an Autonomous Region. Because there are over 25 different minority groups in Yunnan, the central government gives the people more freedom to regulate their own lives to preserve their cultural heritage (over half the population is non-Han - Han being the dominant ethnic group in greater China comprising nearly 90 percent of the total population).

We arrived late in the evening and just had time to eat dinner and retire to our rooms. But, the next day (Friday, October 1 - National Day) we were up early and off to the Stone Forest, a national park to the southeast of Kunming. 

The Stone Forest is an interesting place for it use to be at the bottom of the ocean, but as the mountains rose, the area dried up and left these huge stone pillars (they sort of look like trees) and hence the name, Stone Forest. It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the 70's and a clear blue sky (no humidity). However, we did not come well prepared. We expected it to be much cooler, and nobody thought to bring sun screen. No one had suffered sunburn in the heat and sun of Guangdong Province, so why would we think we would need sun screen in the mountains. We all suffered for it! Some worse than others, but thankfully nobody got severely burned.

At the end of our hike we came upon an arena where we thought we'd go in and watch the show and take a rest. Well, the show was ram fights, followed by wrestling matches, and then bull fights. We didn't stick around for the bull fights, but decided it was time to leave.

We returned to our hotel in time for dinner, and then Peter, Rita, Pam, Scott and I set out to look for a foreign language bookstore (yes, stores were open even on National Day). We thought we had one seen one down the street from our hotel. We were initially going to take a taxi (it was a ways down the street), but we had one too many persons for one taxi, and none of the taxi drivers we stopped knew where a bookstore was. So we set out on foot (after walking all day in the Stone Forest). We walked for an hour with no luck (we asked people for directions and they kept saying just a little ways, but alas, to no avail). We decided to return to the hotel by taxi. I said I'd walk (I like to walk), and that way they would only need one taxi. So, I set out leaving them at the taxi stand. I got back home, and they weren't back yet! As it turned out the streets were so busy that they couldn't find an empty taxi, so they ended up walking back too!

After I got back to my hotel room I started to hear the distant sound of fireworks. So, I thought I would go and find them. I left the hotel and walked several blocks until I came to a corner where I could watch them from a distance. A small crowd was gathering, and I sat and watched as the fireworks display went on for over an hour! The Chinese invented fireworks you know. And, for as technologically "superior" as we might think we are to the Chinese, we cannot hold a candle (at least not a Roman Candle) to the Chinese when it comes to fireworks.

Saturday, October 2 -- Today we were up early and off to visit the Golden Palace, a Buddhist Temple situated on a mountain overlooking Kunming. Not only was the architecture impressive, but from on top of the Pagoda, one had a view of the entire city of Kunming. From the Temple we took the cable car down to the International Horticultural Exposition. We were fortunate that China and Kunming were the host of this expo this year, and we were able to spend the rest of the morning and afternoon exploring it.

Virtually every country in the world builds a garden for the exposition, and so the expo provided excellent insights into the different ways that people shape their natural environment to make "nature friendlier". Since China was the host, they had a special section of gardens in which every province in China had a garden so that one could get a better understanding of the differences and similarities in which the Chinese relate to nature.

We broke up into small groups to explore on our own, and I set out with our wonderful tour guide from Zhaoqing, Peter Tam. We managed to find and explore every garden on the grounds, but at one point, we had bypassed the British garden. I told Peter, that we could not come to see the gardens of the world and miss the British, so we had to do some backtracking, but we found it. We were not disappointed for our efforts! It was a beautiful garden - exactly as one might find on a country estate somewhere in Scotland (the garden was made by the Royal Garden Society of Edinburgh). As we came upon the garden's cottage we surprised one of the Scots who was working there (not a lot of foreigners make it to Yunnan Province). He snapped off a "Hello" and smartly extended his hand in friendship. We talked for a few minutes, and then he remembered that he had some books on the British Garden, and Britain's relationship with China. He gave Peter and me one, and then, when I asked, he gave me a book for each of the students.

We left the expo around 4 PM, and headed back to the hotel to regroup. We had dinner, and then headed to the Nationalities Village - a place that features the minority groups of China. The individual villages were closed for the night, but we did get to see a performance. The Lubang people led everyone in a dance ( I was fortunate enough to be next to one of the Lubang women who was very patient and showed me the steps). Then, the Dai people brought out their elephants! Rita and Scott were invited to participate in this part of the show. They rolled a green mat out on the ground, and about eight people laid down, with their hands clasped behind their head, with Rita on one end and Scott on the other. The elephant began with Rita by pounding its trunk on Rita's stomach! Several times! Everyone was laughing so hard! All the Chinese sitting around us, would laugh, look at us, point to Rita, and laugh some more! The elephant proceeded to walk over everyone (placing its foot on top of the person as if to crush them), and pounding each person on the stomach as it went. When it got to Scott's end, it turned around, and proceeded to wail on Scott! And then it returned to Rita's end. Fortunately, we got it all on film, as Rachel was brave enough to enter the arena to take pictures!

Since, we didn't get back until late, we decided to start a little later the next day (Sunday). Was that a mistake! We tried to go to the Dragon Gate Temple. Dragon Gate is a Taoist Temple on West Mountain. First, we were caught in a traffic jam. Once we got there we discovered that there were hoards of people to go with all the buses and cars on the road up the mountain. We tried climbing the stairs. It was slow, and the people were packed so tight one could hardly breath! The Chinese are absolutely amazing, because no matter how crowded a place is, they will stop to compose the "perfect picture" which means a picture of their friends/family in front of something of interest, with no one else in the picture. You can only imagine what that does to the congestion at these places! After seeing some of the lower parts of the temple we decided that it would likely take the rest of the day to get to the top, so, alas, we turned around. Rather than fight the road traffic going down the mountain, we sent the bus ahead, and we took the cable car down for a return trip to the Nationalities Village so we could visit it during the day when each of the minorities' villages would be open. Once again I set out with Peter, our tour guide, and we managed to visit every village before we had to leave. At the Lubang Village (the people who had taught us to dance the night before), there were about six women sitting around doing some sewing. They were very friendly, and then I found out why - they wanted me to marry one of them! (39 Yuan, of course). I refused telling them I was already married, but they kept pushing, until I finally convinced them that all I wanted was "to be friends." They invited me to sit, and we talked for a few minutes. They actually understood most of my English, and Peter was able to translate their Chinese for me. We left, after making new friends (pengyo) and narrowly escaping the marriage trap!

After dinner we had to catch a train to Anshun in Guizhou Province - it would be an all night trip, and truly an event to remember. We were in the hard sleeper cars. Each car is separated into 22 open compartments with six bunks (three stacked on each side). The four girls, Scott, and Peter our guide ended up in Car 4 in berth 22. Matt, Robert, and I were in Car 5. Matt and Robert were in the same berth in about the middle of the car, but I was clear down in berth 21. At first the thought of being isolated made me a little anxious, but I quickly turned it into a cultural experience I shall never forget. There was an older gentlemen in berth 19 who looked as if he were a veteran of the Korean Conflict. He stared at me suspiciously as if I was one of those "Imperialist Dogs" from America. In berth 20 was a family with two young kids. They came up to me and said, "Hello", and then ran off! Their mother, however, picked up from the hello, and started to talk to me in fairly good English. I broke out my phrase book, and we were on our way! They had a pet rat (actually it was a hamster, but remember the genus/species problem), and so we started to talk about that. The conversation soon turned to where we were from, and where we were going, and soon everyone on our end of the train was engaged in the conversation, with this poor lady having to translate into Chinese for two dozen people who were hanging on our every word. Remember the old gentlemen I mentioned above. He even came out to the edge of his bunk to listen, and soon he was smiling and asking questions - now and then scollowing, not because of his distrust of me, but rather because of his frustration that his questions and my answers had to come through a translator.

At about 10:30 they turned the lights off in the train (quiet hours), and I was all set to climb into my bunk, when the people from berth 22 called me into their berth. There were 3 sisters, two of them married, their husbands, and their mother. The husbands had graduated from Nanjing University, and spoke very good English! They all live in Xi'an, and were on their way home from their National Day holiday. They were history majors in college, so we talked about Chinese History, and argued over whether there is 5,000 years of history or only 4,000 years (I maintain that there is only 4,000 years, and that while things certainly happened before that, it is not of an historical nature - nice to be able to engage in philosophical subtleties). It was after midnight when we decided that we should go to sleep, so I returned to my berth and crawled into my bunk (I was in the middle one). That's when I noticed that the sister of the woman with the rat was in the bunk opposite me (less than two feet away). I started to chuckle (I thought to myself) about the idea of sleeping so close to a woman who wasn't my wife. She heard me, and returned the chuckle. My head touched the pillow and the next thing I knew, it was 6:00 in the morning.

I awoke to a bustle of activity. In each car there are only two squat toilets, and two sinks. Everyone was freshening up for the day. I managed to get my teeth brushed, but then I realized just how spoiled I was - not just in America, but here as well. In the month that I have been in China, never have I had to squat in the toilet. Until this particular morning. And it had to be on a moving train at that! Back at the school, and at any hotel we've stayed at, there has always been western style toilets! Welcome new cultural experience! I survived and learned a new appreciation for what the women in our group have had to deal with in virtually any public restroom they have had to use.

Afterwards I checked back in car 4, and everyone was sleeping except for Rachel, who was writing in her journal. Matt and Robert were still sleeping to, but as I worked my way back to my berth I was overwhelmed by offers of food. Persimmons, bananas, and some other fruits of which I don't know the name were offered to me in friendship. As I was eating activity began back at Matt's berth. Apparently he met a new friend who was from Hainan Island. She was on her holiday. It was the first time in her life that she had been off the island! She was excited. She was traveling with her son in a group, and she, likewise was feeding Matthew and Robert. We sat and watched the incredible scenery as the train worked its way through the mountains of Guizhou Province. I went back to my bag, and dug out my camera to get some pictures of this - I'm glad I did! We arrived in Anshun, welcomed by rain, at about 9:30 we were welcomed by the local tour guide, Miss Wu, who didn't speak a word of English, and Mr. Wu (no relation), a local teacher who was hired as Miss Wu's translator for us. We had breakfast (yes, on top of all the food I ate on the train), and then headed off to see Huangguoshu Waterfalls.

Huangguoshu Waterfalls is the largest waterfall in China, and they tell me the 3rd largest in the world. It measures 81 meters (250 feet) in width with a drop of 74 meters. As you walk down the path from the parking lot, you turn a corner and there are the falls in full view! WOW! The path winds around on the left side of the falls and works its way behind the falls about in the middle (40 meters up). There was one spot where you could step out from the falls and take a shower. Since we hadn't showered since the day before, I decided why not! Needless to say, I got more than a little wet. Fortunately for me, Guizhou Province is still very warm in October, and there is no humidity, so I dried out rather quickly. The path winds its way to the right of the falls and down to the rhinoceros pool at the bottom. From there we took the cable car back up to the top, and headed off for lunch and then towards Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou Province.

It was a long drive (about 3 hours to our next stop, but the scenery was awesome. My brothers and I worked in the sod fields when we were young, and we always thought there wasn't a dirtier, harder job in the world. Now that I have seen rural China, I know differently. The fields are so rocky that, even if they had tractors and other machinery, they could not use them. It is harvest time and the farmers were carrying these boxes about 8 ft x 8 ft x 4 ft deep into the fields. As they harvested the grain, they would beat the grain against the side of the box separating the grain from the stalk. You would see 4 to 6 people at each box beating away. They would then throw the stalks into a pile and burn them right there in the field. Plumes of smoke rose from all over the countryside! And, my guess is that they put the grain into sacks, and then carried the sacks out of the fields on their backs. The farmers used Yaks to pull the plows, and were tilling the ash from the burned piles back into the soil. The Chinese work so hard! And, if nothing else, when I return home, I will carry those images in my mind forever!

Our next stop, around 6 PM, was at a Miao minority village just southeast of Guiyang. We were welcomed into the village with an offering of rice wine in a yak horn (ganbei!) - actually only Matthew was required to Ganbei it, and then we were entertained with some dancing (group participation), and a game in which one had to "dance" their way through some moving bamboo poles. Finally, we were invited to chose a bride (we had to capture her), and then they had a group wedding for us boys. Of course, they charged 10 Yuan each. So after managing to avoid bigamy with the Lubang women, the Miao people got me. I hope my wife back home has a sense of humor, because I think it was just for fun - I didn't even get her name. Somehow, Robert managed to avoid the marriage (Jessica should be happy about that). Next it was the women's turn. They each had to capture a husband, and then there was the group wedding (and of course the 10 Yuan charge, even though I tried to argue that it was the husband who should pay the fee - hard to argue when you don't know the language). After, we got a quick tour of the rest of the village (they had to make room for the next group of tourists, and I imagine those same people got married again), and then we were off for dinner and our hotel in Guiyang. We stayed at the Huangguoshu Hotel. We had a wonderful dinner there, and then it was early to bed, (especially for Matthew after having downed a yak horn full of rice wine) as we had an early flight to catch the next day for our return home. The next morning we had breakfast at 6:30 as we had to leave for the airport by 7:00. At 7:00 we boarded the bus, but had to wait as they had to check our rooms for anything that was missing before they would let us go. We waited for about a half-hour, and, the longer we waited, the more nervous and anxious the bus driver was getting. Rachel (the student who has had a full year of Chinese language) was cute. As the driver and guides were talking, she could understand what they were saying (no Cantonese to worry about in Guiyang). Finally, we were off to the airport!

Mr. Wu, the teacher who worked as our tour guide, has asked me for a favor. He works at a small poor village school in Guizhou Province, and is in desperate need of teaching materials (for English) for his students. I am asking that my colleagues at ARCC, and for that matter anyone who can help, to put together a care package for him. I'M sure Mr. Lu can write out the address labels in Chinese for him, and the address is:

Mr. Wu
English Teaching Group of Anshun
First Senior High School
Anshun City, Guizhou
People's Republic of China

I also have the address in Chinese, but I think the sooner we can send him help, the better! We got to the airport in time, and said our good-byes to Miss Wu and Mr. Wu, and then set off to board the plane (a Boeing 737). I ended up sitting in the middle seat next to Pam (window), and a Chinese gentlemen who appeared to be in his 50's. He didn't speak a word of English, but wanted to talk. So I pulled out my handy dandy phrase book, and spent most of the flight chatting with my new pengyou (friend), Mr. Li. Pam and I had some fun, and learned that Mr. Li is a businessman with a wife and three kids (one boy and two girls). He, of course, found out that I was married, but he was confused to my answer to the question of how many children I have. I kept saying ling (zero), but he kept pointing at Pam. No, no Laoshi, xuesheng (teacher, student). But, he had seen another of the Americans on the plane, so he was convinced that I had a daughter somewhere. We finally got it all straightened out! While we were talking, however, the woman sitting directly in front of Pam turned around and said she recognized me from the night before at the dance. I thought, I didn't go to a dance last night, I went to bed early. But, she had been to the Miao village also, and had seen me dancing there. As it turned out, she had taken the same tour we had, and was returning to her home in Guangzhou. She was so excited about her trip - every detail of it, and it made me think of what I thought were some of the low points, and I gained a greater appreciation even for these. The trip was more than a holiday - it was an experience of greater China, the third largest country in terms of area, and the largest in terms of population. Every facet of it taught me something about China, the United States, and myself. It was an incredible experience!

I like China!

Zaijian,
Gordy