Spring Festival 2011-part 5--Kunming & Lijiang

We made it to blue skies in Kunming.  We flew from Guilin to Kunming, which turned out to be an eventful flight simply because we barely made it to boarding.  The Guilin airport has one flight every hour or so; thus the bus to the airport also runs every hour...or so.  Our hotel manager told us completely wrong time estimates to walk to the bus stop, bus duration to the airport, etc.  And once we finally got on the but to the airport we were both thinking, "This will be close."  We were calculating speed and estimated distance.  We were moving along on a nice highway, when all of a sudden construction made us turn off and take the equivalent of a mule's trail through fields to get to this airport.  All estimates were off from there.

We arrived at the airport 32 minutes before the flight, checked in in a rush, and hauled over to security.  Even without speaking enough Chinese to say, "We're about to miss our flight.  May we please cut?"  They saw the look on our faces and let us go to the front.  Any questions about items in our bags (small liquid bottle, corkscrew, etc.) we didn't argue and just ripped it from the inspectors hands and threw it away to avoid any delays.

Alas, we made it!  Kunming in Yunnan province featured amazingly blue skies.  There's nothing else to this picture, just the beauty that this rare sight in China provides.

The train ticket line was a) not busy and b) I was clearly at the window.  Yet this man had a question, so he pushed the turntable, which actually pushed me out of line.  He already had his ticket and everything.  Just a question.  But the concept of waiting has disappeared.  Sadly, this isn't the first time this happened.

Where are all the people?  This is one of the most populated cities.  On a normal day this place would be impossible to see the ground, for such enormous activity.  Yet, this day was Chinese New Years Eve, when all are at home with families.

Children playing with fireworks.  Correction, 4 year olds with no parental supervision playing with fireworks.  Every family launches fireworks in lead up to the new years and after midnight.  Safety standards aren't like they are in the West.

We took a night train to arrive in Lijiang, a UNESCO world heritage old city.  Here with drowsy eyes we watch the sun rise.

Arriving around 5:00 a.m. and waiting for the 8:30 sunrise, we were albeit anxious for the sun to finally crest those stinking mountains.

And with daylight, the city with it's old charm and festival decorations slowly awakes.

Hooray!  The sun, after 3 1/2 hours, is out.  Can I go to bed now?

The Mao wallet.  In every city I bought something red.  My friend, Annie, found this to be the funniest (it's got a red star, that counts.)  However, it became a bit embarrassing to use this to pay.

Mountain Black lamb seasoned and on an stick.  This 串 chuan is a very popular snack, and here in Lijiang, the 黑山羊肉 hei shan yang rou (black mountain lamb) is up there with yak meat as the best.  We went back, needless to say.

Annie and animals.  She's petted a tiger and elephant in Thailand, a lion somewhere, and she was determined to hold a monkey in China.  Mission accomplished.  Next is to hold a panda (for $100.)

This is a great picture to commemorate using the "Laowai card".  Being a foreigner (laowai) in China has both drawbacks and benefits.  This park usually requires an 80 Yuan admission, but we were at the exit gate and just wandered in.  Thanks to the ticket taker's indifference, we got in for free.  Best example to date, though, is a friend in Fuzhou who has an "Alien Card" to her favorite bar.  Because she's a foreigner, every time she goes to this bar she receives a bottle of vodka free.

Different regions have different fruit, right?  This looked like a peculiar one to try.  The salesman called it 金沙果 jin sha guo = golden sands fruit.  Well, it tasted like a coconut painted with varnish.  Dis-gus-ting!  Not only did they rip me off on the price, but we asked locals if they recognized it and they had never seen it before.  Chalk it up to the latest way to rip off customers.

As we asked for directions, this young man, Terry, was incredibly helpful and actually accompanied us for our time in Lijiang.  Together, we went to a hot pot restaurant to try a traditional Lijiang recipe.  Here Annie and Terry snack on another delicacy--fried dragonflies.  

Never forget, Mao is everywhere.  Here, he's actually opposite the cultural minority center.  And if you look at the building to the right, you'll see his reflection towering over the mountains in the distance.

Lijiang is known for 过桥米线 "cross bridge rice noodles".  The noodles are a regional specialty and the unique part is that after combining the ingredients, the soup noodles cook in the bowl in front of you.  Delicious.

We took a day to travel to the villages around Lijiang.  This area of China has a high presence of Chinese minority groups, including the Naxi Dongba, which I believe these elder women are.  Here they review Annie's picture of them.  Thanks to Terry, we asked if we could sit and talk with them.

Learning to play the Hulusi.  This was probably the worst place for bargaining.  They started the price at about 250 yuan and we bought it for 30.  This guy, however, reminds me so much of a Chinese Amery Kuhl.

More hot pot in Lijiang.  This overcrowded restaurant features staff dressed in traditional attire.  Yet, it was less-than-appetizing; diners regularly put bones, fat, whatever on the table.  We watched them clean the table from the previous guests and they used no cleaner, simply a squeegee and a bucket.

More fireworks for Spring Festival!

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The best store around--the Yunnan coffee shop.  The storekeeper was really proud to make every cup and introduced me to the siphon coffee maker.  It's making coffee with science!

We went to a show and this was one of the acts...writing on paper.  This is traditional Dongba script.  We can't understand it, so we made up our own story!

Of coursed they danced, but the best dancer is the last man in the back as he stares at his feet.  This he did the entire time and we couldn't stop laughing.

And this was their audience.