I’m on the train

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Mary276

I had arranged to travel from Kunming to Dali by train, so that I could see the countryside – the only other option being to fly. My Dad did this journey by truck along the Burma road, so in solidarity I thought I should journey by land. A “hard seat” had been booked for me, which means a variety of things, including the fact that it is not a hard seat. Websites about travelling by train in China warn against this class of seat – the carriages tend to be crowded and smelly and not really intended for waiguoren (foreigners). However, there was no choice on this train, so I submitted to my fate.

Last year there was a terrorist attack at Kunming station and since then they’ve introduced airport style security – passport checks, x-ray scanning of luggage, named and numbered seats for passengers, the works. Luckily it is not that strict and Lucy was able to sweet talk the security man into letting her accompany me into the station. Just as well as all signs were in characters and I’m not sure I would have worked out that I needed to go to waiting area 4 and then gate 26 or 27. I joined a vast herd of people and in due course we were allowed to board. My seat looked perfectly comfortable, there were lacy curtains at the windows and it was very clean. You are advised to place your luggage in the overhead rack and keep an eye on it at all times. Throwing a 20kg suitcase over my head was not so easy, but I succeeded in the end. It would have to be a strong and quick thief to run off with it unnoticed!

Then a woman and her 6 yr old son sat (both of them) in the seat next to me. For the next 6 hours the boy got up, sat down, slid onto the floor, got up, went out, came back, bounced up and down on the seat and sprayed instant noodles everywhere. Joy. I had been warned about dire toilets on trains and told not to drink anything. However, I didn’t think I could keep my legs crossed for 6 hours and after about 4, I just had to ‘try the experience’. Actually it was no worse than any Chinese toilet – a hole in the floor let everything fall onto the tracks, which at least limited the smell.

Everyone was plugged into their phones or tablets so not much opportunity for conversation. I was the only waiguoren on board which pleased me because I knew that my guide would easily spot me at the station when we arrived. Except she wasn’t there – in her place was a vast mob, shouting at the arrivals. I have no clue if they were friendly or not, but none of them had my name on a board. A quick call and a couple of minutes later my guide appeared, all flustered because some accident had caused a traffic jam. All in all it hasn’t been a great day, but I am now installed in a Tibetan hotel in old Dali. I think I’ll have roast yak for dinner.

Faces

Posted on April 2, 2015 by Mary276

We had one last viewing of the rice terraces before heading back to Kunming. An enterprising old Hani man had taken up a seat guarding the entrance to a viewpoint on his land, and had settled in with his shuiyandou (water tobacco pipe) for the day, asking 20p a look, with a photo of himself thrown in.

On the way to Kunming we stopped at a village populated by the descendants of Mongolian soldiers who overran the place centuries ago, in the days of Kublai Khan. We found a gaggle of old ladies gossiping, with wonderful faces.

Lucy had to dash off after we arrived, as her son (9) had been knocked over at school and had been taken to hospital for stitches. Tomorrow morning I set off Northwards by train for Dali, about a 6 hour journey up into the mountains.

Ben Zhu

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Mary276

After feeling a bit demoralised about my Mandarin skills I decided to just plough on regardless of whether I was understood. This has been transformative – I have had several short conversations with my driver and Lucy is showing signs of realising when I have said something in what I believe to be Chinese. Today I fended for myself in a cafe (and helped a couple of Germans to get what they wanted) and in the restaurant this evening I ordered food and got the bill without having to repeat myself.

We went to see another huge area of rice terraces this evening – 900Ha of sublime beauty. While we were admiring the sunset, I learned that, of course, Chinese people have exactly the same difficulty remembering European vocabulary as we do learning Mandarin – there are almost no words in common. There are many French visitors to this part of China (due to proximity with Vietnam) and the way the Chinese remember ‘bonjour’ is to think if the Mandarin phrase ‘ben zhu’ – similar pronunciation, but it means ‘stupid pig’. You couldn’t make it up.

Yuanyang

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Mary276

On the way here we were stopped at a police checkpoint and I was asked for my passport. Apparently there has been some muslim extremist activity in Yunnan recently and they are monitoring foreigners movements. No problem, but I did think I was out of harm’s way as far as terrorism went!

The area around Yuanyang rises to 3000m and lies just 50km north of the Vietnam border. The steep sided mountains have been cultivated for hundreds of years by the Hani people, growing rice that is regarded as among the best in the world. Having had some for dinner I’d say it has a delicious nutty flavour, much more interesting than basmati, say. I also had a delicious dish with meat, garlic, scallions, ginger and chilli. Outrageously expensive meal at £2.50, but then it is a 4 star hotel. The other local minority are the Yi people, who wear gloriously colourful costumes. The rice terraces, now a world heritage site, look stunning at sunset and sunrise. I didn’t use filters or photoshop – these show exactly how it looked.

Yi girl, age 3

Sunset at Yaohuzui (the tiger’s mouth)

Sunrise at Daoyishu (a type of fruit tree)

Commuting, Yunnan style

We came back via a farmers market, where the locals can buy and sell vegetables, meat (on the hoof), herbs, household goods, fabric and agricultural equipment.

Well, Well..

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Mary276

My guide, Lucy, has taken to mothering me (necessary, I have to admit) including taking me out in the evening to search for dinner. In theory I have enough Mandarin to cope with menus, ordering, paying etc, but in practice finding the right restaurant is the biggest difficulty. Plus, no-one, my guide included, seems to understand a word I say in mandarin – the subtleties of correct tonal pronunciation elude me. So – forgive me Laoshi T for being pathetic – Lucy took me to her favourite restaurants where she ordered local specialties. Last night we were in a charming restaurant, popular with locals, and had peanut soup with wild mountain vegetables, along with fried rice. Absolutely delicious and a bargain at £1.50 for the whole meal including tea. The locals’ table manners were interesting to observe. A family at the table opposite left behind a lot of detritus on the floor – packaging from the chopsticks, used tissues and the like – which the staff dutifully swept up before the table was reoccupied. Then a woman at a table in the corner started spitting food onto the floor. Lucy told me she was spitting out the bones from her meal. I explained that we would use a plate for that and this too is usual in China, but not for everyone, apparently. Before we left Jianshui we visited a couple of ancient wells, still very much in use. The quality of the water is regarded as a key ingredient in the making of the local tofu, but people also use it for watering their vegetables, washing clothes and so on. Clothes washing is done by foot as well as hand. Just out of town we visited Twin Dragon bridge, which looked impressive in the morning sun. We continued to Tuanshan village, one of only a few traditional walled villages left in Yunnan and now being hastily conserved for tourist consumption. It’s moment in history was at the turn of the 19/20^th century the Zhang family made a fortune from mining and had the Yunnan-Vietnam railway built to allow for export. The family were communist sympathisers and so the village and its Buddhist shrine were not torn down in the Cultural Revolution of the 60s and 70s. Now we’re heading up to the mountains to see the rice terraces at Yuanyang. Can’t wait!

Fashion

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Mary276

Chinese girls are very fashion conscious. When we visited the stone forest almost all the girls were dressed as if they were going for tea at Buckingham Palace, including wide brimmed hats and the ubiquitous stratospherically high heels. The aim is to pose for photographs in front of whatever attraction it is that they are visiting, so they want to look their best. The attractions oblige, as previously mentioned, by having concrete walkways everywhere so that you can totter about to your heart’s content.

Tops sporting words in English are very popular, being exotically foreign I suppose, even though the wearer might not know what the words mean. I don’t think the girl wearing a white T-shirt with “Acne” written in large letters across the front can have understood what that means! Some Western clothing manufacturer’s little joke? Or maybe a Chinese clothing manufacturer’s ignorance/mistranslation.

Jianshui

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Mary276

Although I am in a small hotel in a traditional style building, I had coffee and brioche for breakfast! Things are looking up. We went for a stroll to the Chaoyang gate – one of the old entrances to the ancient walled city. Men bring their caged songbirds to the gate for an outing and to chat to the other birds. The men just stand and watch the birds, as a sort of hobby.

Next we went to the Zhu family garden – the Zhus made their fortune from lead and zinc mining at the turn of the 19/20th century. The complex is a maze of rooms and courtyards built in the traditional Qing dynasty style, with ornate doorways, carvings and bonsai trees.

Next up was a wander round a food market – gorgeous fresh fruit and veg, herbs, spices, live fish in tanks, and somewhat less gorgeous pig intestines and dead dogs. Apparently they don’t eat much dog these days – it is only served in specialty restaurants.

Dried pig intestine

After a nap break we went to the Confucian temple – the second largest one in China. My favourite part was a huge lake covered in lotus plants (see pic). When they are all in flower in June it must be quite a sight. Around the temple groups of old men sat in the shade playing cards or dominoes. Apparently they gamble to make them take the game more seriously and to make them try their best to win. It’s not about the money, in other words.

We continued our wander around the old town, popping in to a Buddhist temple and a Daoist temple on the way back to the hotel. Jianshui really typifies the Western mental image of a Chinese town – tree lined stone streets, traditional architecture, decorative archways and red lanterns everywhere.

Buddhist temple

Daoist temple – the red ribbons in the tree are wishes

Apparently Kunming was like this until 30 years ago, when it was all ripped up and started again from scratch. I realize that the modern industrial cities are just as much “real China” as this quaint old town, but I definitely prefer the charm of Jianshui to the traffic choked, smoggy, high-rise, high-speed, high-tech likes of Shanghai or Chongqing.

Qing dynasty bins

Stone Forest

Posted on March 29, 2015 by Mary276

I woke feeling better but as the day went on I developed a streaming cold. I now have Chinese Lemsip equivalent so hope I’ll be less like a limp dishrag tomorrow. In spite of not feeling my best, I enjoyed visiting the Stone Forest outside Kunming. This is a limestone Karst formation covering a huge area. Most of the local visitors whizz round on the electric bus, but my guide suggested a stroll through this extraordinary landscape. The Chinese do love imaginative names for their natural formations, so we admired King Kong, a map of Australia, an elephant and so on. It is a typical Chinese tourist attraction – incredibly well organized, efficient, clean, designed for visitor comfort, but with limited respect for the actual natural beauty. There was a large amount of concrete walkways, man made lakes and inscriptions carved into the rock.

King Kong

We then had a long drive to a city called Jianshui, which is on the way to the Vietnamese border. The transport infrastructure in China has expanded exponentially in the last decade and the number of people holding a driving licence has followed suit. In the 30 years to 2008 car ownership increased from 1 million to 51 million. In 2010 China overtook the US as the biggest maker and consumer of cars in the world. Teenagers now tend to buy an electric scooter rather than a bicycle, and you see them buzzing along, sometimes two or three on board, in shorts and T-shirts with no protective gear in sight. Sadly the standard of driving is best suited to empty roads at low speeds. On dual carriageways there is not always a central reservation and, when there is, people are quite likely to do a U-turn without warning. Sometimes the overtaking lane is nearest the central reservation and sometimes it is nearest the side of the road, which causes a certain amount of confusion. Road sweepers, mostly old ladies with a besom, wander along the side of the road clearing debris. There is no hard shoulder. Roundabouts are my favourite – it is the ultimate game of chicken, with no rules other than needing 360 degree vision and courage. I decided that sleeping was the best way to stay calm.

I am now installed in a sweet little hotel in the old town where I am staying for a couple of nights. No driving tomorrow thank goodness.

Green Eggs & Ham

Posted on March 29, 2015 by Mary276

Late in the afternoon I felt as though I had been hit on the back of the head with a brick. I also felt a bit feverish. I hoped that dinner would settle me but the special menu had the opposite effect. What is a yellow croaker? Does anyone order the stewed old duck with gastrodia elata? There’s always the boiled gluten and meat soup. I had previously thought that Dr Seuss’s green eggs and ham was an invention but I am starting to think I’ll see it on a menu here soon. I plumped for fried rice and continued to feel very odd. Eventually, in the middle of the night, on my own and in a very foreign land, I decided I might be developing ebola. Drama queen? Moi? More plausible explanations include trying to accommodate an 8 hr time difference in one day, sudden change of altitude, sudden change of diet, some sort of cleansing effect from the reflexology or sunstroke – the sun is tropical here, but doesn’t feel like it because of the altitude. Suffice to say I feel better this morning, so hold the medevac.

Kunming Nationalities

Posted on March 28, 2015 by Mary276

I slept really well so I was ready for sightseeing this morning. By midday I was feeling exhausted again, but my guide reminded me that we are at about 2000m altitude. Maybe that is why I feel a bit weird. We started by visiting the ethnic minorities park. The familiar sensation of conflicting emotions and being pulled in opposite directions set in. On the one hand, we effectively have a human zoo for tourists to gawp at minorities dressed in their traditional costumes, performing their traditional dances and selling their traditional handicrafts. On the other hand, we have a celebration of cultural diversity and a recognition of the value of preventing these minorities from being obliterated in China’s race for economic success. I suppose for many tourists it also saves the hassle of touring round this vast country to see these peoples in situ. In a couple of hours I visited Mongolia, Tibet and a number of other far flung provinces.

More interesting was the Yunnan Nationalities museum, which had artefacts from all the minority peoples including samples of their calligraphy, painting, ceramics, costume, jewellery and day to day tools. Both the museum and the park present a rosy and harmonious view of the minority peoples and one can easily forget that a visit to the actual Tibet, say, would leave a different impression.

I’ll let you write your own caption for this:

We stopped for lunch at some street stalls in the city centre, where we had delicious noodles and dumplings, washed down with freshly pressed fruit juice. The dumplings resemble tiny Cornish Pasties, but are deep fried rather than baked. I told my guide that when he visits England the ubiquitous pasty will make him feel at home! Later we went to the flower market – Yunnan’s climate is well suited to horticulture and a dazzling display was on view. Chinese taste is a little different to ours – I have never seen roses dyed sparkly royal blue, for instance. Or flower arrangements made with cuddly bunnies.

Stranger In My Heart

A daughter's quest to discover her father