China in Fast Forward

In contrast to India in slow motion, both as a method of moving through a country and what the reality is like as far as progress in real time, we're now in the middle of a sometimes mind-boggling rush into the future here in China. Whoever thinks, as I did before coming, that China is an up-and-coming country is wrong. China is THERE! We haven't seen anything this bustling, modern and consumerist since the U.S. + Europe. Jianshui - A small, provincial capital - 700,000 people. Kunming - Capital of Yunnan Province, the less progressive southwestern corner of the country - 5 MILLION people. AND, they're shooting to DOUBLE by 2020! SCORES of cities you + I have never even HEARD of with over a million people. China sure looks geared to become THE power of this century. (Photo: Coming Soon, The NEW "Old Town".)

Kunming is a sight to behold - Skyscrapers galore on well-planned, tree-lined boulevards; Generous pedestrian plazas; High-end stores carrying all the chic, international brands + many of their own. At night, the city puts on an even MORE spectacular face with buildings bedecked in neon, jumbotrons + lights the likes of nothing I've ever seen.
(Photo: Lights, Camera, Action)


Fast forward to back in time... With all I'd heard of the destruction wrought by Mao's Cultural Revolution all the way through to the craze at which the current government is bulldozing all things old and building bigger and newer, things are changing VERY quickly here and not necessarily for the better. Even the historic "Old Towns" have not been spared in the name of "Progress" and have been, or are being, razed + replaced by brand-spanking-NEW Old Towns. It all sounds pretty grim doesn't it? Well, it's partly not as bad as it seems and partly worse. The Old Town in Jianshui was quite impressive in it's adherence to traditional style + employment of local artisans to hand-carve wood doors + screens and chisel stone pavers for the streets. Much nicer than most of the cheap, characterless construction in the States. BUT, seeing a place now like Lijiang that's COMPLETELY tainted their Old Town with hundreds, if not thousands, of trinket stalls + gimmicky eateries, all the preserved or restored architecture cannot redeem the soulless, packaged scene that this has become. What we're discovering is that if you want the "Real Deal" you have to get out of the noted tourist destinations and explore the villages, many of which are still intact and super-charming. On the four hour bus ride between Kunming + Dali alone I'd estimate we passed a hundred or more villages with brick or clay walls + tiled, peaked roofs. Many were on knolls, or encircled by walls, as they've been for centuries when they were built to withstand invaders. People were out harvesting the terraced fields, animals grazed, cypress-looking trees dotted the hills lending it all a Tuscan air. All this within sight of an expressway! NOT the China I'd imagined. Over time, all this modernity speeding by is sure to alter the way these people have lived for centuries. Already, there is electricity + satellite dishes and some of the traditional clothing is only worn for tourists sake. I keep wondering if these ancient people will be able to maintain + preserve what makes their particular tribe different from the neighboring, or will we all eventually become one big homogenized melting pot? (Photo: Views from bus window. A new expressway flanks ancient villages.)

Check the "link" for more current photos.

Hidden Gems

Jianshui, China - April 12

From the beginning of this trip we were never even sure we'd make it here, nor if we did, where we would go. Only 2 weeks ago did we get our visas and only 2 DAYS ago found some travelers coming from China who were willing to sell their book. Only then did I really get an appreciation for just how HUGE China is. Yes folks, it's the ascending star and it is BIG. Slightly smaller than the States, but with a population four times the size!

We've been touring the town of Jianshui these last 3 days and soaking up the friendly vibe in a place that few tourists ever see nor even know exists. Our luck to be here came from another chance book we happened to get in our last stop in Laos and focuses entirely on the Yunnan Province. Though six years old it at least listed some interesting towns to check out that are NOT in the Lonely Planet. People here are curious, and I might even go so far as to say "tickled" that we're here visiting their town. We're getting LOTS of "Nee How's/Hello's" accompanied by giggles and full-face smiles. I've been smiling so much in return that at the end of the day my face actually hurts! Another unexpected treat is that after fearing China was not going to be veg-friendly we've discovered that (at least in this province) tofu-griller "snack house" restaurants are extremely popular. They're a communal affair with everyone sitting on low stools around a table where someone tends a coal-fired grill and you pick off the tofu with chopsticks once it's puffed up into a perfect, grilled pillow, before dipping it in sauce. Squares are tallied by the griller who puts corn kernels into separate cups for each person. Yesterday we stepped into one for lunch, and although not a single word of English was spoken between us, the staff, or the customers, we had an amiable lunch and the older man sitting next to us, Mao cap and all, bought us lunch! Wow! (Photo: More tasty vegetarian treats - Fava Beans, Snow Peas with White Asparagus + Tofu with Tomatoes. Always served with a bottomless cup of tea.)

This evening we set out for a sunset stroll, first stopping at the city's main gate, which serves as the town's central gathering point, for some people watching. Men were huddled around playing a game with stone markers, others were getting their shoes shined, an all around was the mellow buzz of traffic and people walking to + fro. From there we headed into the neighborhoods, peeking into doorways as we passed to exchange a "Nee-How!" or just see what was happening. One doorway we passed opened onto a room full of tables with people gathered playing Bingo, and as we stopped to watch we were waved in by a couple women. Curious about us, they gestured for us to sit down. It soon became apparent that they knew zero English, nor we Chinese, beyond the greeting we'd exchanged and some numbers. We all laughed at that and so they began trying to write down some questions for us. After a minute, when they realized we couldn't read characters either, we tried another tactic. First, Darin + I wrote our names down and gestured to ourselves, pronouncing slowly. The women got a good chuckle at their own difficulty in repeating our names. They in turn got someone else in the group that had gathered (everyone had decided to put the Bingo game on hold after our arrival to check us out) to write down theirs. Thus we found ourselves in the charming company of two women, one each of our ages, named Zhang Li Fan and Pu Yi Hua. We munched on sunflower seeds while making what communication we could with hand gestures. It was fun + challenging and we were delighted, yet again, at what nice interchanges we could have without speaking a common language. Here, many people have tried to speak to us, and even when we say that we don't understand, or "No Chinese", they ramble on and question whether we can hear, or then will even try to write in "pinyin", the phonetic spelling instead of characters, in hopes that THEN we'll understand. It's been so comical that we end our interchanges all laughing out loud. The simple fact that they have a hard time grasping that we just do NOT understand them is hilarious in itself and another one of the "firsts" of our travel experiences.

The following evening after we'd finished touring the beautiful Confucian Temple we were approached by two young college students who asked if they could practice their English with us. Over the next 40 minutes or so, we were able to learn about the lives of Small Dai + Small Lung as well some valuable Chinese phrases for ourselves. If their laughter was any indication, we've got a bit of pronunciation practice ahead of us... :(

Check the "link" for more photos from southern Yunnan Province