My destination in China was Kunming, located in the
southwestern province of Yunnan. Being so close to the Laos, Burmese, and
Tibetan border, Yunnan is renowned for its cultural and ethnic diversity.
Indeed, in some parts of the province, one hardly believes that they are in
China anymore. This cultural diversity is what brought Colleen to China on a
Fulbright scholarship. She is currently studying China’s ethnic minorities and
how modernization and especially the tourist industry have affected their
cultures and their daily lives. Thus, my experience in China was would be
absent of the usual sites such as the Great Wall and the Forbidden City but
would be filled with quite a cultural experience no less (China really is huge
and diverse!)
My journey to China kicked off with a rather rough start
after my plane from Tokyo landed in Nanjing. After waiting for several hours
for my plane, which was being delayed due to bad weather, I noticed that all of
the passengers sitting next to me started moving after an announcement made by
the flight attendants. Thinking that my flight had finally arrived, my moment
of euphoria soon turned to dread. After showing the flight attendant my ticket,
he started jabbering at me in rapid Chinese (of which I know zilch) but the
only word that I caught on to was “hotel!” “hotel!” I soon realized that he was
trying to tell me that my flight had been canceled and that they were going to
whisk me away to a hotel for the night. Thus, not knowing where I was going,
and who was taking me there, I got onto the bus they kept pointing at. During
the whole bus ride, which took about an hour and a half! the single thought of “oh
god! oh god! what the hell is going on? where are they taking me?” played
prominently in my head. The bus eventually dropped all the passengers off at a
really dingy hotel with no heat (it was about 35 degrees). The pillow on my bed
had a large brown stain that suspiciously resembled poo and several springs
protruded from the mattress and into my back. Consequently, not too much sleep
was had that night dear readers. Oh and I forgot to mention that they paired
all the people traveling alone with roommates…you know that one really smelly,
hairy and overall sketchy-looking guy that you pray doesn’t sit next you on the
flight? Well guess who my sleeping buddy was! Thus, sleeping on a mattress
digging into my back with no pillow, in a room with no heat and a guy who looks
like he might shank me if I fall asleep I concluded my first night in China.
The next day was thankfully much better. After taking the 5:30am bus back to
the airport and fighting my way through the crowd of people who had also had
canceled flights the previous night I finally boarded the plane to Kunming and
was on my way! This mad scramble full of pushing shoving and yelling really
hammered home that I was not in Japan anymore (contrast this scene with the
woman who was too polite to push her way through the giant Buddha in Kamakura).
I met Colleen at the Kunming airport and was finally liberated from the
confusing prison in which I was held.
One of the first things about Kunming that I noticed as we
took the taxi to Colleen’s place was how much construction and development
seemed to be going on. Indeed, everywhere I looked either a new building was
being built or was getting reconstructed. Colleen told me that Kunming is the
main hub of the Yunnan Province and has also experienced rapid development in
the recent years much like the rest of Chinese urban areas.
Kunming, similar to San Francisco is known for its perpetual
spring-like weather. The days usually hover around the mid 60’s with
temperatures getting a bit chillier at night. This weather conditions can be
attributed Kunming’s location in the southern part of China and given that it
is located higher in the mountains so is a bit cooler than other cities on that
latitude.
On the first day, Colleen showed me around the city and
offered a glimpse into Chinese urban life. One of our first stops was a
restaurant that is famed for its dumplings (which were excellent). Our next destination
was the Yuan tong Buddhist temple. This temple certainly highlighted Kunming’s
cultural diversity. Although the exterior resembled a temple one might expect
to see in China, the interior had a pagoda that looked like something from
Southeast Asia and an altar to the Buddha that looked like a Middle Eastern
influence. There was also another spectacular altar to the Buddha that had a
multitude of beautiful statues and mosaics.
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| Yuantong Temple |
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| Altar to the Buddha |
We also stopped at the Bird and Flower district where an
assortment of birds, pets, and other assorted goods where being sold by street
vendors.
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| Clash of Old and New China |
Another highlight of Kunming was the next day when Colleen
and I visited a temple formerly dedicated to Confucius. The contemporary temple was more like a park where the
elderly live out the best retirement I’ve ever seen. The temple grounds were
filled with older people playing music, mahjong, and Chinese chess.
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| Confucian Temple, now a sort of park for the elderly |
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| Playing a game of Chinese Chess. |
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