Pang Liu Village

(Ms. Arkin)

Today was one of my favorite days so far. We visited the Pang Liu Village and got to teach a class of fifth graders. We drove to the village in the morning, which was about 40 minutes from our hotel in Xi’an. Our guide, Richard, grew up in Pang Liu Village. He is now a successful business man and is very active in his efforts to help further develop the village. One of his projects is the school (grades 1-6).

First we met the school principal and the school’s English teacher. We had tea and got to ask questions about the school, education, teaching, etc. It was nice to have the warm tea since they do not have heat in the school.

The kids were on lunch break when we got there. It was their first day back at school after the New Years vacation. Lots of children were playing in the courtyard and they all stopped to stare at us with smiles and giggles when we walked in. The school had put up a big red banner that said ‘Welcome Teacher and Students from Dover-Sherborn High School to Our School’ so we felt very honored and appreciated! The children absolutely LOVED having their pictures taken and were even more excited when we showed them the pictures with the digital camera. They just laughed and laughed. Then I would enlarge it for them and they would laugh even more! When we walked away, some of the kids followed us as far as they could, so that we would take more pictures and pay more attention to them!

Before we got to teach we went to lunch at one of the villagers homes. There was so much good food. Once again, too much food and lots left over. After lunch we went back to the school and saw the library that was founded from donations from people from New England. We also saw the computer lab. They have 28 computers. It is sad that they just had to get all new computers because the old ones (which were new to them) got stolen. They plan on getting internet service in the computer lab in the next week. I bet the kids (and teachers) are very excited!

After that it was time to teach! We split up in two groups. Candice and I went to teach the 5th grade class and Molly and Steve taught the 6th graders. Molly and Steve were fortunate in that the English teacher was with them, so she could interpret for them! We did not have anyone to interpret. Their fifth grade teacher stayed in the classroom with us, but she only knows a few words of English. So it was a challenge, but it was so much fun! First the children sang us the only song in English they know how to sing. It was “BINGO” (hopefully you won’t get that stuck in your head like I did) and it was so cute. I videotaped them singing with my camera. Some of the words didn’t really sound like English, but it was still fabulous. Candice and I taught them the Hokey Pokey. It’s kind of hard to teach things when they can’t receive instructions in their native language, but I think we did okay, considering. First we clarified right hand and left hand and they all had that down. Then we went to it. They put their right hand in. They put their right hand…. Well you know the rest of it. It was a very enthusiastic Hokey Pokey I must say. It was a riot! The kids were having so much fun - they were smiling, twirling and laughing hysterically. We couldn’t get a video though, because we were hokey pokeying too! After that we settled things down and asked them questions from their English textbook. I also put up pictures on the chalkboard asking them to tell me in English what I drew. They got prizes if they were right. Of course, everyone got one right and they all got prizes. One little boy in the back caught my attention because he knew the answer to every single question - even the hard ones that nobody else knew. I guess there’s one of those in every class! Anyhow, do you know what the prizes were? E-patches of course (e-patches are special stickers that DS Middle School teachers give out to students who exhibit “excellence”). Mr. Moran gave me a pile of them when I left and luckily there were just enough for all of the students in the 5th grade class (about 45). They also got Dover Sherborn Middle School Pencils (thanks Mr. Estabrook) and more stickers that Candice brought. Candice went around and put the e-patches on their shirts and let them pick their favorite fruit “scratch n’ sniff” stickers. They would recite to her the English words for all the different fruits. Some of them pulled off their stickers hoping Candice would go back and give them another one!

After class we took more pictures in the courtyard and then we had to go. I wish we could have stayed longer and I wish we had more gifts for all of the students in the school. I also wish I had something to give the villagers who made us such an elaborate lunch.

Before we left the village we visited a health clinic they are opening in the village. They need doctors to come to the village and provide vaccines, etc.

Today was without any hesitation a highlight of the trip for me. Despite having a cold and an earache and the weather being gray, cold and rainy, the trip to the school was one of the most enlightening and worthwhile experiences I have had so far.

Chengdu Remembered

(Molly & Ms. Arkin)

Day One

Finally, we got to the part we had all been looking forward to: the Panda Breeding Center! Pandas have interestingly changed over time from omnivores to herbivores. The reason being they were too slow to catch animals. Now they dine on 40 pounds of bamboo a day, only a fraction of which their stomachs can actually digest. At the breeding center, 9 pandas were born in September so they were pretty small and cute. They were surprisingly klutzy, and moved very slowly. All they do is eat, sleep, and climb (Steve’s dream life). One of them was in isolation because he had a cold. When we left this panda, his keepers were trying to get him down from a tree so they could give him his medicine. We made a big loop around the park and half an hour later, they were still trying to get him down! We each paid 50 yuan (about 7 dollars) to hold and take a picture with a red panda. It was pretty small, and very furry, but looked more like a raccoon than a panda. The panda is actually a cross between a raccoon and a bear. Our guide told us a myth about how pandas got their black spots. A girl died saving a panda and at her funeral all the pandas came wearing black arm bands. They had to rub their eyes so much to dry the tears that their eyes turned black. Then they hugged each other and their arms turned black too.

After the pandas we went to a museum of ancient bronze works, but it was kind of a disappointment after getting to spend the morning watching baby pandas play.

Our hotel in Chengdu was our favorite because the rooms were huge and we got hbo!


Day Two

We drove to Leshan, where we saw the world’s biggest Buddha. It actually did not impress us as much as the Lantau Island Buddha, because it was carved into the face of a cliff, as opposed to gleaming atop a mountain.

Day Three

We drove to Mt. Emei, which is one of the three sacred Buddhist mountains in China. It is dedicated to one of the Buddhisatvahs. We took a cable car part of the way up the mountain and then walked up to a Buddhist temple, which was very beautiful. Inside Buddhist temples it is forbidden to take pictures. We also saw monkeys on the wall of the temple, which were pretty cute. As we left the temple, monkeys were congregated in a corner, and we at first mistook them for people. One of the big, ugly ones came over and started digging around for food in Steve’s pocket and Candice’s bag. Candice was traumatized. On top of the initial shock of being mugged by a monkey, it was raining so the monkeys hands were very muddy. Then Jill and Candice took the cable car back down the mountain to wait for Molly and Steve to hike down in the rain with the monkeys. Eventually we all met up with our guide, Han, and drove back to Chengdu since we had a 10pm flight to Xi’an.

Since we had time to kill before our flight, we went to a shopping area in downtown Chengdu. It was quite modern and for dinner we had McDonalds. Steve ate 20 chicken McNuggets. Gross.

Hiking Down Mt. Emei

(Molly)

Steve and I decided to hike down Mt. Emei. It was raining, so the ground was slippery. The path was laid with stones, slightly sloped and with a lot of stairs. I looked at so many stairs that I started to lose my depth perception! I also slipped once, which was slightly painful. The climbing-down-stairs leg muscles aren’t really muscles we use that much, so it got very tiring. It was worth it though, because the scenery was stunning. It looked like the Amazon, although it was much much colder. After about 1/2 hour of walking, Han pointed us down a different trail, at the end of which he told us we would find the wild monkey area. To get there took about 15 minutes, and was the most breathtaking scenery I have seen here. The path ran next to a mountain stream, which is one of my favorite things in the world. The monkeys were not so breathtaking. In fact, they were kind of obnoxious. When we first got there, we were crossing a wood and rope bridge packed with people blocking our view when suddenly one of the bigger monkeys plowed across the bridge. Despite all the signs I had passed telling me not to, I screamed a little. Then one put his hands on my pants, leaving muddy pawprints. It didn’t matter that much, because about a foot of my pants on the bottom was already soaked and muddy, but I was still a little peeved. We passed a monkey drinking from a water bottle, and one climbing on a screaming girl ( I was so glad not to be her). Clearly, these were not wild monkeys. When we got back to Han, we were rewarded with a fabulous lunch of local products. We laughed at ourselves because we looked SO bedraggled．We were soaked from head to toe, and my shoes are tractionless, so I was slipping all over the floor. We were so glad to see that tea at lunch. We also ate bamboo shoots, which made us feel closer to the pandas we had seen the day before. The hike down was uneventful, except that the scenery was beautiful and I wished it were warm enough to swim.

Steve's Day 9 - World's Highest Golf Course

(Steve)

Most of Day 9 was spent outside Lijiang: we drove out to get a better look at Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, also called Black & White Mountain because the stone on the Lijiang side appears light while the stone on the opposite side is much darker. After a bit of trouble with our tickets, which Danny quickly handled, we arrived at the "base camp" of sorts. Oddly enough, it's also the site of the world's highest golf course - more on that later. After a few minutes' wait, a bus arrived to drive us further up. On the way we crossed over the river that drains from the mountain's glacier. It was beautiful, and as clear as only mountain water can be. Further upstream we saw people riding yaks out into the middle of the river to have their pictures taken. Then the bus turned away from the river, and the rest of the ride was as steep and winding as any Alpine road. That scared me much more than any of our experiences driving on Chinese highways had, partly because I've never much liked mountain roads and partly because I didn't trust the bus's brakes. Suffice it to say that I was relieved when we arrived at the cable car station. My relief didn't last long though: we soon discovered that "cable car" really meant "chair lift". It was a long and VERY cold trip.

From the top of the lift, it was a bit of a hike. Our destination was a clearing that was famous both for its great view of Yu Long Shan (Jade Dragon Mountain, duh) and because no one knew why such a large space remained free of trees. The latter point, though interesting, wasn't why we were there. As to the former: the view wasn't just great, it was breathtaking. Or it would have been, if we hadn't already been out of breath from the hike and the elevation. We walked around the perimeter of the clearing, and on the way we had our pictures taken in traditional Naxi clothing (which was very warm). We also ran into a group of women dancing, who invited us to join in. Candice and Jill accepted; Molly and I, more suspicious, declined. Five minutes and one rather boring dance later, the women demanded 14 yuan apiece from Jill and Candice. They were able to get away with paying only 10 yuan after convincing the women it was all they had, but the entire incident was a reminder that, in China especially, nothing is free.

After completing our circuit of the clearing, we hiked back to the chair lifts for the somewhat dreaded ride back down. Fortunately, something happened that distracted me from the cold: upon turning around to take a picture of Danny in the chair behind us, I was amazed to see that the woman sitting next to him was feeding him fruit! Given the Chinese view of male-female relationships, and the fact that Danny had just recently been married, I couldn't help being somewhat confused. I soon forgot my confusion, in the rush to get off the chair lift and onto a bus, and then we were rumbling back down the mountain. We stopped at the river long enough to take a spin on the yaks, complete with various increasingly-ridiculous poses for pictures, then continued down to lunch. On the way I also received my answer to the chairlift mystery, though I should have been able to figure it out: the woman I'd seen WAS Danny's wife, and she happened to be doing the same tour that day as he was. That solved, there was nothing to get in the way of my enjoying the food.

We found ourselves, once again, at the site of the world's highest golf course, and once I'd finished eating I set off to get a picture for my dad. Instead, I got lost. Ten minutes later, after climbing through one wall and over two more (though, to be entirely honest, one of them was optional) I met up once again with my somewhat-irritated group, who blamed the entire adventure on my being a boy, which is probably true. Then we got in the van for our trip back to Lijiang.

Our flight wasn't until 9:30 that night, so we decided to go back to the Old City for the rest of the afternoon. We split up: Jill and Candice went to the internet cafe they'd found and Molly and I wandered off into the marketplace. I bought a couple more souvenirs; Molly bought many more scarves. We explored all the major streets around the central square, and some of the minor ones as well, and we even found our way - accidentally - back to the Mu Palace. With an entire afternoon to waste, we had to work to find streets that we hadn't yet been down, and the disappointing discovery that every shop sold essentially the same wares led us to search even harder for unexplored territory. Predictably, we got lost. And, of course, it happened late in the afternoon when we had little time to spare. We made our way back, though, and only about 15 minutes late.

After dinner, we drove to the airport and Danny checked us in. We took our now-traditional picture of Molly, Candice, and I with our guide, then said our goodbyes and headed through security. Thankfully, there were no problems with the flight; since it already wasn't coming in until 11:30, I don't think any of us would have been able to handle the stress of a delay. As it was, we were zombies by the time we got to Chengdu, and getting our baggage took forever. We met our new guide, Han, and I hope I didn't offend him: I said almost nothing on our trip from the airport - irritable as I was, I didn't want to risk saying anything I'd regret. I was still grumpy when we got to the hotel (check-in here always takes a while) but I cheered up a bit when I saw my room - the Tibetan Hotel in Chengdu is easily the nicest one we stayed in. Molly and Candice initially had some trouble getting into their room but, tired as I was, I left them in the hallway and went to my own room. Then, being the brilliant person that I am, I watched House of Wax on HBO. Not a great movie, but it has some cool effects at the end.

Steve's Day 8 - Lijiang Old City

(Steve)

The next morning Danny led us through the streets of Lijiang's Old City to the Mu Palace. On the way he told us a little bit about the Naxi people, who inhabit the city, and their culture and religion, both called Dongba. He told us that Naxi men are notoriously lazy, and that the Naxi women do all the work. The stone lions guarding the gate to the palace compound supported his claims: while in Beijing you can tell the difference between male and female lions by what they are holding, in Lijiang the only difference is that the male lions have their mouths open - "because they are always ordering their wives around", Danny explained. He also told us why the city of Lijiang did not have a wall around it: if you put a box around the character for Mu, the monarch's name, you get the character for "surrounded". This omen would not have been lost on the highly superstitious denizens of ancient China.

The palace itself was very impressive. The first structure we visited was akin to a Western throne room, and appeared to be where the Mu monarch would hold his court, as it were. The similarities between this and a European castle ended their, however, as the building itself was crafted of equisitely carved wood, not stone, and the "throne" was decorated, not with cloth, but with tiger pelt. Danny pointed out to us the Dragon painted on the ceiling, very much like the Dragon that can be found in the Emperor's throne room in the Forbidden City. Except for one difference, enough to keep the Emperor from punishing his subordinate's boldness: the Dragon had only four claws, while the one in Beijing has five. The next building was separated from the first by a courtyard, and even after a week of good weather it was nice to be reminded that while Boston was still below freezing, here Spring had already begun. This second building was taller than the first, and from the balcony on the third floor we were afforded a view of the entire city of Lijiang. The difference between the traditional pagoda-like roofs of the Old City and the taller, more Western buildings of the New City was striking, but I stopped caring as soon as I glanced in the other direction: there, beyond the edge of the city, stood the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. It can only be described as awe-inspiring, and it took me a moment to register that this was the first time I'd seen snow since we arrived in China.

We continued through the compound, which ascended the hill that bordered Lijiang on this side. We saw the various structures that housed all of the king's servants and relatives, and finally came to the room in which he himself would have lived. It was small, though richly furnished. The bed, a fantastic structure of carved wood, looked too short even for me to fit in it. Further up the hill we came upon a Taoist temple, complete with monks. Danny informed us that these had become little more than fortune tellers, though - the yells which I'd taken for indignation at the tourists taking pictures were in fact offers to look into our future. On our walk back from the palace, we came upon a wall covered in simplistic pictures which Danny told us were Dongba characters. The Naxi written language is the only pictographic language still in use anywhere in the world. Only about 50 people can read it fluently, but Danny knew some of the basic, one-character words. He had us try to guess what each character meant; more often than not we weren't even close, except with the very easy ones like "hunting" or "fishing". My favorite was the character for "dancing", a stick figure that looked as if it were flailing its arms.

Next we visited the Black Dragon Pool, a beautiful pond just outside the city proper. Danny pointed out the goldfish swimming in the pool, and told us that no one is allowed to kill and eat them. In exchange for this protection, they serve a very important purpose (or, at least, one that used to be important). Like miners' canaries, the goldfish were an early warning system; if anyone poisoned the Black Dragon Pool, the source of Lijiang's drinking water, the people of Lijiang would know from the dead fish. After marveling at this bit of ancient Chinese cleverness, and after marveling once again at the majesty of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (which was even more majestic from here), we strolled around the pool. We saw a pair of peacocks, as well as several giant lantern displays; Danny told us that there would be a lantern show that night with no entrance fee.

When we finished our walk around the lake, we visited the Dongba culture museum, where we learned more about the customs of the Naxi people. Much of what we learned simply reinforced what we'd already been told, that the women did all the work, but a couple of details were particularly interesting. For example, the fact that marriages were arranged, but that there was a very long history of couples committing suicide together in the name of love (a favorite method was jumping hand-in-hand off of the Snow Mountain). Or the scroll depicting the Road to Heaven, a copy of which every Naxi family owns for when a relative dies. The museum had copies dating back up to six hundred years, written on a special paper invented specifically so that it would last that long. The Road itself seems to be a combination of our Western Heaven and Hell: first each spirit must go through a series of punishments, each according to his sins, and then he makes his way to Heaven, where he lives at peace among the enlightened spirits. We also learned the Naxi creation myth, but it's a little too complicated to go into here. The woman who guided us through the museum was an English major, so we learned much more than we would have if we'd gone by ourselves.

We had nothing planned for the afternoon, but in the morning when we were walking around I'd seen some souvenirs I'd wanted to buy. So, Molly, Candice, and I went out into the Old City to look around. I began to realize how much I love the atmosphere of these bustling marketplaces and bazaars, and how fun haggling can actually be. I got a flute made from a gourd, and realized too late that I had no idea how to play it. Fortunately, there were tons more flute shops, and the owner of the next one we came to was nice enough to show me how to use it. Knowing how didn't make me much better, though, and it wasn't long before Molly and Candice were telling me to stop trying. I decided to put it away until we got back to the hotel. Molly bought plenty of scarves, and we all bought some ice-cream; altogether a succesful trip. That evening, we went to a performance of Naxi cultural dances. As I've said before, this one was much better than the one in Guilin. The dancing was well-choreographed and better performed, and the costumes were extravagant (but in a good way). There were fewer acrobatics than in the first performance, but I was still very impressed with the show as a whole. A must-see; two thumbs up.

Jill and Candice were ready to retire for the night, but Molly and I decided to hike back upstream to the Black Dragon Pool to see the lantern show. First we had to make our way through the food market next to the hotel (the one I'd smelled the night before), and that was more of an experience than we'd have liked it to be: I, for one, don't find a pig's carcass, cleaved in half and put on a rack, particularly appetizing, especially given that they probably carve off a piece for you while you're standing there. Nevertheless, Molly and I were both a little sad to reach the end of the market; it was well-lit, at least, and the rest of our path was... well, dark as night. As we stumbled along the path next to the river in almost complete darkness, we were reassured only by the fact that most of the people walking by us seemed to be couples, not muggers. Still, getting to the Black Dragon Pool's entrance was a relief. After our unlit walk, the archway over the entrance seemed excessively lit. Scratch that - regardless of where we'd been before, the archway would have seemed excessively lit. From there on, the lights just got more excessive, more garish, and by the end, more tacky. Still, some of the displays were nice, particularly the ones on the pond itself, which were almost perfectly reflected in the water. By the time we got to the ones with moving parts, though, we were ready to go home. That we did, once again in darkness, and we were happy to get to bed.

Lijiang

(Ms. Arkin)

Today was a better day. I had a restful night’s sleep and the hard beds in China are actually quite comfy. Perhaps I am experiencing the benefits of Feng Shui, as all of the buildings and furnishings here are designed using these principles.

After breakfast we met Danny and he walked us around the old city of Lijiang while giving us all sorts of information and history as we walked. Lijiang is where the Naxi (pronounce na – shee) people live and Dongba is their religion. The Naxi people are minorities in China, but they have a very rich and colorful culture. There are approximately 300,000 Naxi people in the world and they are very proud of the heritage. They have their own dialect and they write using pictographs which were really fun to look at and try to guess what they meant! The most interesting thing to me about their culture is that the women do all of the work! The Naxi women are very hard workers and the Naxi men are very lazy and sit around barking orders at the women. The history of the Naxi people is even more interesting, but you will have to do some research if you want to know more. It is too much to write and I don’t want to make a mistake.

When we went to the Naxi culture museum, a Naxi girl gave us our tour. She spoke very good English which is rare as not many Naxi people speak Mandarin, let alone English. She is studying English in college and was eager to practice by giving us the tour. It is hard to imagine such a different lifestyle.

We also walked around the Dragon Pool in Lijiang which was particularly enjoyable on such a sunny day. The sky was blue with white puffy clouds and we could see the snow capped mountains in the background. I think some of my pictures came out really well. It would be hard to get a bad photograph as the natural scenery is beautiful from every angle. After the Dragon Pool we went back to the hotel for a few hours. I went out to buy a watch (since my cell phone that I was using no longer gets service to tell time). I walked in the direction that seemed the least touristy in hopes that I wouldn’t have to bargain. I am not a fan of bargaining. I also am aware to use small bills after Candice got the counterfeit money as change. Anyhow, I found a watch for 18yuan (a little more than two dollars) so I didn’t feel that warranted any bargaining. It is blue and plastic and very unfashionable, but it works and even has a light up button.

In the evening we went to a Naxi performance at the Dongba Cultural Center right up the street from our hotel. There was dancing, singing, instrument playing and storytelling which incorporated many costume changes. The costumes were colorful, flowy and very extravagant. In some of the dances, the girls wore large ornaments (dragon boats or fruit baskets) on their heads. It kind of reminded me of the costumes they wear in the Miss Universe pageants to represent their countries.

Oh and there are also little girls that do street performances for money. They seem to be only about 5 years old and they contort their bodies into the shape of a circle using their mouths to balance. Hopefully I can get a picture tomorrow since I know that description doesn’t really make sense!

After the show we went for a traditional “hot pot” dinner. It was very complicated and perhaps involved more work that eating a lobster. Basically, there is a large pot of boiling water in the middle and all sorts of meats and vegetables around the table. You pick what you want to eat and put it in the hot pot and wait for it to cook. Once again, there was so much food it appeared that we barely made a dent in it, although we left very full.

Speaking of food, worms are a local specialty in Lijiang. I was too shocked to think to take out my camera and photograph the bowls of worms, but Molly wasn’t! She has a picture from one of the street vendors which I will try to post later.

Tomorrow we are taking a cable car up the Jade Mountain and then we have a flight at 9:35 pm to Chengdu where we will go to the Panda Breeding Center. All four of us have been looking forward to seeing the giant pandas!

Arrival in Lijiang

The group has arrived safely in Lijiang. More journal entries will be sent when better computer connections can be made.

(Ms. Arkin)

Lijiang is gorgeous -we toured the old city today and visited the Mu Palace. We also went to the Dongba culture museum and walked around dragon pool. What a gorgeous day - a little chilly but that's good because our warm weather clothes are all dirty by now!

Steve's Day 7 - Back to Guilin, On to Lijiang and KFC!

(Steve)

We were all happy to see Rico again the next morning, though not particularly happy to be leaving Yangshuo. Still, we eventually all piled into the van and set off back to Guilin. On the way I found out why driving so far hadn't seemed to fit all the bad things we'd heard: in the cities, drivers are relatively careful; outside of them, less so. At one point, I was reminded of a game of musical chairs - every second car on the road, including our own, crossed into the oncoming traffic lane to take the position left open by the car ahead. Except for the one that didn't have the timing quite right and had to slip back into its own spot to avoid a head-on collision with a truck. I suppose I should have been on the edge of my seat the whole way back; instead, I took a nap.

All of the Guilin area had once been underwater, which was the reason for the strangely-shaped limestone hills everywhere, and also for the caves in those hills. One in particular had developed some truly impressive stalactite and stalagmite formations. It was called Reed Flute Cave because many of the stalactites resembled traditional Chinese reed flutes. That was where Rico took us when we got back to Guilin. The rock formations were really fascinating, partly because of the creative and colorful lighting that had been installed, but mostly just because of the amazing and beautiful shapes that you'd never expect a rock to look like in nature. It was very nice having Rico with us, because we never would have noticed all the designs and animals that the rocks sometimes resembled. The rock city, complete with a stream that mirrored the river winding through Guilin, was especially impressive. It was definitely a good way to say goodbye to Guilin and all the incredible nature that surrounded it. Saying goodbye to Rico was a bit harder. We took a picture with him and thanked him (and are still thanking him), then headed through security for our plane.

The flight from Guilin to Kunming was delayed, but not enough to interfere with our connection from Kunming to Lijiang, and other than that it was fine. I suppose that should have clued us in that something would go wrong on the second leg. When we arrived in Kunming, we were horrified to see that the time listed for our flight was two hours earlier than it should have been, and that we had only 15 minutes to check in, get through security, and make it to our gate. Just as we were all about to break down a Chinese man who thankfully knew English explained that the listed time was not the flight's departure time, but the earliest time that we could check in. Able to breath again, we waited until the now-less-scary check-in time and everything went smoothly after that. Still, it was another reminder of how helpless we were without being able to read any of the signs or ask anyone for information. We were all very relieved when we arrived succesfully in Lijiang and met our new guide, Danny, who could do all the talking in Chinese that needed to be done. My first impression of Danny was that he seemed very nice. My second impression was that he was very short. Both turned out to be true.

None of us had eaten, but we were all so exhausted that we decided we'd rather just go to bed. The smell of barbecue from the market next to the hotel was wonderful, though, and my stomach woke up enough that after dropping off my luggage I snuck back out. I was not confident enough in my ability to communicate to try to navigate the market, so I went to KFC instead. After a couple of very small chicken breasts, I went to the counter and attempted to order "bingqilin" in Chinese. I understood very little of the response, apart from "mei you bingqilin" - "we don't have ice cream". I later found out that the cones I'd seen came from a place further down the road. Dejected, I headed back to the hotel. *End Week 1*

Kunming to Lijiang - and hotel woes!

(Ms. Arkin)

After arriving in Kunming (where the airport employees spoke minimal to no English), we had to switch planes to get to Lijiang. The signs are mostly in Chinese and the individual boarding areas have no visuals - not even to confirm that you are at the correct gate. Anyhow, there was a sign in the main terminal lobby that said “Flight 5818” to Lijiang was at 6:35pm, when our itinerary said it wasn’t leaving until 8:05pm. We panicked as it was already 6:20pm and the airport was mayhem with travelers. Thankfully, a Chinese man who spoke English explained to us that the “6:35” time reflected the “check-in time” and that our flight did indeed leave at 8:05. What a relief! So we joined the crowded, unruly line and waited. By the time we got our boarding passes and through security, we realized there was no where to eat in that end of the airport (without going back through security), so we dined on packaged goods – water, cookies and crackers. Steven was pre-occupied the entire time with a puzzle book and Molly was still reading the “Painted Veil” which I can’t wait for her to finish so I can read it, too.

Needless to say, when we got to Lijiang we were exhausted! Our new guide, Danny, was there with the sign and he was very enthusiastic and welcoming. He is one of about 50 guides in Lijiang who speak English. He was very modest about his English speaking skills and explained to us that he would be talking to us in ‘Chinglish”. On the contrary, his English was quite good.

We checked into the Royal Lijiang Hotel which was perhaps a few notches less than royal. The lock to my room did not work, so I called the front desk. A woman with a very abrasive, unprofessional approach (wearing black tights, high boots and a purple sweater with a fluffy, boa-like collar) came tearing down the hallway wanting to know what the problem was with the door. I was not sure what to make of her as I would typically expect a person in a hotel uniform to respond. With some hesitation, I showed her the lock and she said, “Oh yes. Broken. I call. We fix”. Within seconds two men were in my room with the door closed (with me still inside) taking out tool boxes and trying to fix the lock. I had no idea how long the process of fixing the lock would take (efficiency is not always a priority here) so I asked if I could have a new room. The woman at the front desk said they could move me to room 306. Well. Room 306 had the windows wide open and no working lights. I stumbled in the dark trying to find the light switches. Finally I found a dial next to the bed and was able to get something dimly turned on. The room was sparser than the original one, yet it had the added accompaniment of blaring music from the restaurant next door. I asked if they fixed the lock yet, so they could send me back to the first room. I think the front desk girls were annoyed with me……

Anyhow, now I am in the original room with a fixed lock. It is quiet and I have lights and blankets, but the toilet is broken. I fixed it myself, but I think if I flush it again it might overflow.

I am experiencing the woes of traveling.

Guilin Reflections

(Ms. Arkin)

We are in the airport in Guilin, waiting for our flight to Kunming, where we will switch flights to get to Lijiang. Our guide, Rico, dropped us off about 45 minutes ago and we just learned that there is a delay in our flight. The duration of the delay is unknown. Molly is reading a book that takes place (somewhat ?) in Guilin. Steve is immersed in his Chinese phrasebook and Candice is listening to her ipod. We got to sleep in kind of late this morning (8ish?) and Rico picked us up at the Yangshuo hotel at 10:00am. The four of us were all on time - packed and checked out with no left belongings or lost tickets! (When we left Hong Kong I had lost my immigration slip, Candice left her winter coat in the YMCA and Steve lost his train ticket in the station.) Anyhow, we drove about an hour to get back to Guilin where we visited the Reed Cave. The cave was impressive. There were so many stalagmite / stalactites that, as Rico said, if you “use your imagination” you can see lots of different things. They have parts of the cave named for the different images it projects, and have created stories to go with them. For example, there is a part that looks like a giant centipede scared away by a magical mirror. The only caves I have been in before were in Kentucky, and this cave was much bigger and more intricate.

After the cave we went to lunch at another hotel in Guilin. We are not sure what all of the food is that we are eating. They serve us so much food that we cannot possibly eat everything. Today was the first day that we cleared any plate, and that was fried chicken that tasted like chicken fingers. They keep bringing out more dishes, even when we are full! One dish today had French fries mixed with one of the unknown fried meats. The four of us courageously sampled the ‘unknown’ and unanimously agreed it was pretty good.

To be continued

The Li River

(Molly)

Yesterday we went on a boat cruise down the Li River through the most beautiful mountains in China. They are tall and skinny – they look a little bit like thimbles, but maybe are taller. It was raining, but the mountains looked beautiful in the mist.

The boat cruise took us from Guilin to Yangshuo, which is a very cool old little city. There are hundreds of little shops on the famous West Street. I feel funny calling it famous, because all the restaurants and shops here advertise by calling their wares “famous,” but I think this street actually is famous in China. Last night I bought an oxhide Mao wallet for my brother (he had asked for one). I bargained it down to 130 from 160 by almost walking away. I don’t think I could have gotten it for less. I also bought a Mao hat! It is green, with a red star in front. I feel like a real communist. It was originally 20 yuan (less than $3), and they laughed at me when I started bargaining. I’m not sure why. A little old woman wrote down “20” on the cover of a notepad, and I wrote “10” and they laughed. We ended up settling on 16.

Everybody stares at us here. They all say “hello,” which always confuses me. Why are they greeting me? Then I realize that they are practicing their English.

Today we picked a guide from a stand on the street. I didn’t really like him, but the day was nice. The weather was gorgeous! It was very warm and sunny – I wore shorts and got a sunburn! Steve and I rented a tandem bike, and Ms. Arkin rode on the back of the guide’s moped. Both are very popular here. The tandem bikes are painted blue in the front, and purple in the back – talk about gender roles! We rode ½ hour to a river, past many little villages. It was flat, but we were surrounded by mountains. We were on a dirt bath for the last 10 minutes – turns were difficult with the bike, and at some points it was very narrow, and muddy or rocky. It was our first rural experience, and it was pretty cool.

When we got to the river, we went on bamboo boats! Steve and I were on one, Ms. Arkin on another. We went over some mini-waterfalls, which was a little scary! On the first my pants got wet, which was irritating. The rest of the trip was very nice and relaxing. We saw one family – father, mother, and very small child – on a moped crossing the top of one of the man-made mini-waterfalls. Some people on other boats came up and tried out their English on us. One man said “Welcome to our country,” and “where you to come from?” We told him, and heard him say to his wife, “mei guo pen you,” which means “American friends.” It was pretty cute. Also, there were tons of people on bamboo boats floating in the middle of the river and trying to sell food.
When we got off the boat, we ate at what seemed to be the only restaurant around. It was ok – not great, not horrible. I had to use their bathroom, though – it was my first experience peeing into a hole in the ground. It did have a door, though, which was very lucky. I had a sunburn (which dehydrated me) and a killer headache, so Steve did most of the pedaling on the way back. When we got back, we got bin chi lin!!!A wonderful day, in short.