My Side of Touring

Hi Everyone,
I did do a journal but it deals more with people and my reactions to things. Read if you have time, if not, throw this away. Hope you enjoy it.
Love you all,
ReNee
Tour Journal Shanghai/Hianan/Shenzen
Spring Holiday 2008 in China
Friday Jan 18, 2008
We left at 5:30am and flew to Shanghai. It was about an hour and a half flight. When we arrived in Shanghai, it was freezing! We checked into the hotel and had about an hour to wait and change clothes before the rest of our group got here to go to lunch. Joyce Lowder and I walked down culture street which was right outside our hotel. I found some beautiful shadow puppets which I had wanted. I got a man, a woman, and a dragon. They are carved out of cowhide. I was thrilled to find them. Years ago these shadow puppets were used to give entertainment in villages and to the army. I also bought a cashmere scarf so I wouldn't freeze. I have come to appreciate the importance of wrapping a scarf around your neck to protect your throat and chest from the cold. I also learned how to wrap it correctly. You put a short piece down the front of your chest and wrap the long length around your neck once completely and then dangle the other end over the first short piece. This way you can pull it up over your mouth and chin to breathe warm air and keep warm.
We went to lunch at a fun minority restaurant and the waiters and waitresses danced and one young man played a flute- like instrument. I felt bad that most people were so busy eating they weren't a very appreciative audience. Because it was cloudy and supposed to rain tomorrow, we did all the outside sight seeing today. We went to the Yu Yuan Garden in the heart of the Old City. It was a beautiful garden of rocks, shrubbery, ponds that a rich man built for his mother. It took 28 years to build and she died before it was finished The garden was designed after Fung Shay and the arches always framed a beautiful view of some sort, rocks, flowers, sky line etc. It was built in the 3rd Century. There was an old time tea house in the center. They had ponds with huge gold fish, and rock formations. One of the rock formations was supposed to have 9 lions hidden in the rocks. I found 7. There was also a pond with monkey rocks. They told a story that girls were not allowed to meet their husband before marriage. Sometimes the girls would hide between the walls and their father could bring the young men to fish so the girls could peek at their husband to be.
We had a fun surprise in Shanghai. A lady from our ward named Jennifer had just moved from Tianjin to Shanghai and had only been there a week. She really wanted to see us, but we told her we probably wouldn't be able to get together, but gave her our hotel. She called and found out we were going to this garden and got on two different buses and when she got off ran right into me. She went through the rest of the day with us and helped us bargain for some items in the market. She is a beautiful person. She has been living in Tianjin with her 2 children and her husband has been in Shanghai for the past 7 years. She felt it was time to move so they could all be together. There are more youth here for her teenagers and they seem to be happy though she is a bit lonely until she gets settled in and makes some new friends. Many people here live separately so both parents can work. Children are often raised by grandparents. Cell phones have played an important part in helping parents stay in contact with their children. After the child starts school, they are often sent to boarding schools.
Our guide was interesting and told funny insights about the living in the area. She said when you rent an apartment it has 4 cement walls, no furniture, no kitchen, no toilet. You share the bathroom (toilet) with 7-10 families. She couldn't afford a better apartment and was worried about the bathroom problem. The man told her they had a bucket you could use at night if you didn't want to go out. She said she didn't want to wash it out because it was smelly and he told her they had a better system now days. You put a plastic bag in the bucket and then you just take that to the toilet to dump in the morning. Ugh! She also was trying to tell us that mothers gave birth in a sitting position but lacked the vocabulary to tell this so she just said, "You know they give birth like when they shit ." Gave a rather interesting picture.
By now we're dead tired since we've been up since 5:00am, but we still have dinner and one more place to visit tonight. We visit the Pearl of the Orient TV Tower (China's tallest structure at 1,535 feet). It is taller than the Eiffel Towel. It has three legs and up a long way sits a huge Ball or floor, then a tall pipe and another huge ball not quite as big as the first one, then a skinny pole and a small ball at the top. We go to the second ball for the view. It is impressive. You can see over the entire city and all the sky scrapers are lit up. The elevator went up 7 floors in 3-4 seconds. Shanghai has an old side and a new industrial side that are as different as night from day.
We find out from our guide that China or Shanghai, not sure which, has an "image project" that the city works on to just impress people. The new part of town is part of this image project, along with a magnetic train that was built solely to impress tourists. It is now dark and 9:00 pm. And we start down and find out we are not yet done. There is a museum at the bottom which we must see. So it is now 11:00pm and we finally get back to the hotel. Die! This was the best bed I have seen in all China, hard but with a little soft pillow top on it. Wonderful. We have a nice 5 hour nap and leave by 8:00 in the morning.
Saturday Jan 19
We do the inside sight seeing stuff today and it is raining so I am glad. We go to the Shanghai Grand Museum which is a world class museum. Very nice but the two parts I really
wanted to see were closed, the jade museum, and the old art masters. Still a lot of fun minority stuff to see. After lunch we go to a silk factory. The guides do not get paid a salary, but are allowed to take their tour group to a factory or shopping place, and they get a percent of what is purchased. Usually this comes late and when you are too tired to care. This one was early enough that it was interesting. There are two different area that operate differently. In the first one they drop the cocoons of silk into boiling water to kill the larva and then some way the catch the end of a filament that is so fine you can't even see it and a machine begins to unwind the strands from the cocoon. It takes 3-4 filaments to make a thread. Another process again kills the larva with hot water and then they pop a hole in the cocoon (oblong shape by the way) and gently stretch it over a small metal arch, after a minute it is stretch over another larger arch holding other stretched cocoons. Finally it is pulled off the arch and four workers stretch this to the size of a regular bed sheet. Impressive. I got to help pull one. They make these into blankets, etc. Last we go to the show room to buy stuff. I guess the guides do quite well. I bought some hand cream and face cream made from silk and other stuff but resisted some of the other gorgeous stuff because it was really spendy and I can get a better price in Beijing. Back to the air port for a 3 hour flight to Sanya. Get there by 11:00 bed by 12:00.
Sunday Jan 20 Sanya
Well we are up and gone by 9:00 again. We find out it is snowing in Shanghai which it hardly ever does and we got out just before the storm. Dad's rather grumpy–he doesn't feel well today. Today we go to Monkey Island. Sanya is at the bottom of Hanian Island and is considered the Chinese Hawaii. It is a bit over cast but still warm and not raining. Monkey Island is really a Peninsula where some 2,000 monkey live. We get out to the peninsula on an ariel tram. It is quite a long ride actually and fun. We spend about two hours on the island and take pictures and feed the monkeys. We see a few monkey performances. In one performance a monkey was sitting on the back of a goat. The goat climbed a ladder and then walked across a high wire (about 6 feet off the ground), turned around and came back to the middle, climbed on a 6 inch round platform with all four hoofs, and turned himself around. It was unbelievable. I now understand more about mountain goats. I think the monkey stood on his hands on the goat's back but it was the goat that was amazing. We found out the monkey live in families with a dominant male. If monkeys are bad, like stealing purses, or not taking care of their family, they are put in monkey prison for a few days or weeks. It was really sad. There was one monkey who had failed to share food with his family, and so was in prison and another male took his place. We took a boat to lunch on the other side of the peninsula. They had clam soup that was interesting. It was a clear broth that tasted salty with a few melons sliced in it but as you dipped in the bottom there were small clam shells with the clams in them. You ate the clams out of the shells. Without the clams you would hardly know it was fish soup. This area had a lot of farming and rice paddies. Men here sit in the tea houses and the women work in the fields. I only saw one woman drinking tea. You can see women carrying water buckets with a shoulder yolk. There are also lots of water buffalo here. They are turned loose in the rice fields to fertilize the paddies between seasons. We saw a lot of fishing boats with families living in them. They clothes hang outside to dry. They also had a lot of pearl farms along the beach.
We spent some time at the beach. It is coral sand and soft almost like face powder and the water was like warm bath water. We walked along the beach, but it was quite crowded. People bought bright print shirts and shorts to play in the water. The fabric is light and airy. There were also swim suits but mostly these bright play clothes. It was blippy and relaxing. Home at 6:00. We stayed in tonight because we were tired and wanted to go to bed early. Checked our email and still no baby for Brent.
Monday Jan 20 Sanya still
There are 53 minorities and 32 providences and 4 autonomous regions( Taiwan, Hong Kong, Some Northwest area, Tiebet). Learned that today. We started early again and went to the crystal factory and learned about crystal and shopped for our tour guide. Crystal colors have various meanings. Clear crystal is used in watches and computer chips because it has what is called memory and a positive magnetic field. Gold crystal is for wealth, pink for love, purple for clear thinking and the mind, blue for peace, a fire crystal is light bronze and is for intelligence and health. Crystals are hard and cut glass like diamonds. It also reflects light and colors like diamonds , it is clear when you look through the light with it. Glass or fake crystal is flat and doesn't do these things. If you put a hair under a crystal it will magnify the hair, fake crystal won't do this. We bought some crystals but most of this was expensive.
We went to the Nan Shan Cultural Tourism zone today. We saw a huge gold and jade Buddah–100 kg of gold and 100 kg of jade. It is called Eye of the Treasure. We also saw the Dragon ink stone with spraying water. We paid extra to see these two things and while beautiful and interesting it was probably not worth the cost if you aren't Buddhist. We ate in a vegetarian cafeteria which felt like massive school lunch. We ate on divided trays and sat in a huge building with long tables. After lunch we went to see an Ocean Buddah which was beautiful and stands 600 feet high. They relate it to the State of Liberty because it stand out in the China South Sea. This Buddah is female and has three sides. One side holds a book representing wisdom, one side holds a necklace representing mercy and the third side holds a lotus representing peace. It is called the Buddah of wisdom, peace and mercy.
The people here farm on a larger scale though all the work appears to be done by hand still. They ship a lot of produce and fruit to the north. This year many crops are getting frozen. When tourism began to come to this area, the farmers were encouraged to quit fishing so tourist could use the beaches. The government enticed them to switch to farming by giving them, land, money and houses. They do very well here and their standard of living is better. The farmers wear cooley hats here which I haven't seen anywhere else. There are several different styles. I will try to get some pictures of them. They also carry buckets on their shoulders.
The last thing we did today was to go what is called The End of the Earth. At one time, political officials who had fallen or done something wrong were sent here to Hainan for punishment. One official who was here looked at the large rocks in the sea and saw where the sky met the earth and wrote on the rock "Sky End" (Remember at one time the earth was considered flat) Later another official looked at the sea, sky, and saw how the sea met the sky, and wrote "End of the Sea" Tienja (Hai Joo) Sky end, Sea end. Meaning the End of the earth.
In more recent years, lovers like to make it more romantic and walk on the beach indicating they will "Go to the end of the earth together" So they let us walk on the beach and hold hands romantically and take pictures of the original rocks that were written on.
Tues Jan 21 Sanya still
Today we had time on our own which was wonderful. Dad has not been well. He is sick or has travelers' problems. Anyway we walked on the beach, napped, packed and prepared to leave in the morning for the next leg of the trip.
Wed Jan 22 to Shenzhen
We flew to Shenzen this morning. We were met by a most interesting tour guide. Our first male. Very enthusiastic. He kept calling us "friends," and said he would take us "one by one"to see things, and "One of our friends are missing," "Good idea, right." Rather annoying but very pleasant. Just a tad effeminate. We went to the China Folk Culture Village and Splendid China Park(This site was patterned after the Polynesian culture center in Hawaii) It recreates 24 life-size ethnic minority villages. We saw several shows. One I especially like was an enactment of the war with Genghis Kahn. The horses and riders were amazing! They ran those horses full out for 40 minutes. The music was so loud that it made you feel like you were right there in the battle. Young men were typically dressed with bare chests, no saddles on the horses. They did stunts at full gallop, chopping off fake heads, grabbing stuff off the ground, hanging on one side only, doing battle with another rider and horse. They rode standing on their horse rather like the house group in Rexburg but less support. It was breath taking. We saw a more traditional, low key portrayal of Aladdin with fun minority dancing. The last performance was a night performance with wonderful lights, dancing depicting various dynasties. We bought the video. Hope it works when we get home. The technical lights, smoke, etc was outstanding. We spent the night here.
Hong Kong Training Period
Thursday Jan 23–Cold
We took a bus to Hong Kong this morning and checked in at the YMCA. Nice rooms not at all like what I thought it would be like. It is a huge hotel. And wonders of wonders they had a coin operated washing machine and Dryer! I haven't seen a dryer in 6 months. Needless to say we did laundry. That evening we had a short meeting and then went to see the harbor light show. Here again were huge sky scrapers next to the harbor with laser lights and they gave a synchronized light show to music. They had green lasers, white lasers, and it was impressive. It lasted about 15 minutes.
Friday Jan 24–Cold
Today was the day went to the temple. It was wonderful to be in the temple again. We filled both session rooms and had a chapel meeting afterward. Definitely a lift in our lives. The temple is on the 4th floor of a building with room for church down stairs. It is beautiful inside and feels like all temples. From the outside, it looks like all other buildings, but it has an Angel Moroni on the top. They recently moved the distribution center, and we were told they would bring the new manuals to us. However, communications must have failed because we didn't get the manuals. Our ward will be very disappointed. You can only get one per person when you come here and return to mainland China. We hoping to get a few extra copies. President Garner and President Perkins of the area presidency spoke to us after our temples session. The Asia area has 3.4 billion people and 24 countries including China, Taiwan, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Indonesia. There are 132,000 members. There are about 2,500 in China. We are reminded of the twelfth article of faith that states that we believe in be subject to kings, queens, magistrates and in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law. We were told that the church wants to
1. Expand government relationships:
A. BYU does what they can't, we follow the law, are good people, teach people (humanitarian)
B. Life-style missionaries: we show by the way we live what we believe. Good examples. The first step for good relations.
2. Strengthen ecclastical leadership in the expiat branches
3. Create a temple capability
In the past, Christian religions haven't left a good impression. China has always imported religion such as Buddhism, Daoism, etc. In the 20th century in the Boxer Rebellion foreigners burned the summer palace. Christians were not good Christians and exploited the people. It has left a bad taste in the country. Change is slow. We want them to know we are different and not like other religions. We are about obeying the law, about the people themselves. Recently China has said that religion can play a role in a harmonious society if properly controlled. Religious belief is allowed here, practicing religion and assembling falls under the jurisdiction of the government. We would like to prove ourselves through humanitarian projects such as disaster aid, water in villages, we pray for a place where we can show our good intentions and bring the full gospel program to the people. Communism has played a role in refining and humbling the people and crushing false traditions. Since Mao died, people are looking to fill the vacuum and materialism is filling the vacuum. However 50 years in Taiwan and Hong Kong have helped the church to have a temple and prepare people to teach the gospel.
He then Use Section D & C 109:39 Dedicatory prayer of Kirtland temple
"And whatsoever city thy servants shall enter, and the people of that city receive their testimony let thy peace and thy salvation be upon that city; that they may gather out of that city the righteous, that they may come forth to Zion, or to her stakes, and places of thine appointment, with songs of everlasting joy."
D& C 109: 55
"Remember the kings, the princes, the nobles, and the great ones of the earth, and all people, and the churches, all the poor, the needy, and afflicted ones of the earth; That their hearts may be softened when they servants shall go out from they house, O Jehovah, to bear testimony of they name; that their prejudices may give way before the truth, and thy people may obtainf avor in the sight of all; That all the ends of the earth may know that we are, they servants, have heard they voice, and that thou hast sent us;"
D&C 72
"Remember all thy church, O Lord, with all their families, and all their immediate connections, with all their sick and afflicted ones, with all the poor and meek of the earth; that the kingdom, which thou hast set up without hands, may become a great mountain and fill the whole earth; That thy church may come forth out of the wilderness of darkness, and shine forth fair as moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners;
Each October these area leaders go to SLC for instruction. The message is We are sons of Heavenly Father, He loves all of us. Jesus is the Savior, the advocate with the father, Joseph Smith restored the gospel in these latter days, The Book of Mormon is the word of God. This is the message.
We are messengers sent to China without the message.
In 1998 Pres Hinckley dedicated the Hong Kong temple and said that the virtue of their lives will be a factor to open the church. We are some of those lives that will open the way.
I am going to include Sunday's special conference session for the Kennedy teachers here also because it follows a similar theme.
Chuck Kewish spoke on prayer:
Clothe prayer in the special language of prayer. There is power in prayer that the power needs to be managed. We need to feel the connection. We need to ask what does the Lord want me to share with him today? Think and ask. He compared the power of prayer to the power of a plane to the pilot. Need to connect to the power and manage that power correctly.
Br. Mitton: Where there is no vision people perish. We are part of a vision. We are sowing seeds. The more clearly we see the vision the more patience we have. He used Psalms and said commit to the Lord, rest in the lord, and wait patiently.
Br Coleman a humanitarian missionary in Beijing. He talked about a secret sculpture. A man built a building with beautiful arches and put sculptors inside. They were masters, the best around. Everyday the sculptors sculpted and at night they cleaned their area and covered the statues. One day when the sculptors returned they saw debris around their work but the work looked even more beautiful and this went on for some time. The pieces of art they were working on were themselves. The great master was God. Some masters help form the sculpture, parents, teachers, help to shape us but we shape ourselves. He compared this to Chinese people being shaped and sculpted, and ended by saying be not weary in well doing from small things come the great.
We then had testimonies from members present. I was able to bare my testimony. I hope I said something of worth.
Sister Toronato Area Relief Society President and wife of President Toronato
Wisdom, experience and service make us a formidable foe for Satan. Satan trembles because of our light. She said we create a tremendous light. She talked about hydro electric power and said life is a bridge and don't build your house on a bridge, but light other's bridges. We must release spiritual power to light others. Students need to draw from our supply to catch the vision from the other side. I Thes 5: 5-28: "Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness."...Pray without ceasing, give thanks, quench not the spirit, etc. Give more light more power.(poor summary of the rest of the chapter)
Br Toronato refers also to Pres Oaks and Pres Cook's visit to Asia in October
The advisory is concerned with what we believe and works hard to discredit it.
1. Years ago the Nicene Creed focused first on How God is ? How important is it to know the nature of God? The first thing Joseph Smith learned was the Nature of God.
2. 200 years ago Great Britain an owned an island and granted a 99 year lease on it from mainland China. The lease was due in 1997. China took it back but the temple had already been built. What a significant fact.
Again he talked about us being messengers without the message. We are like Ammon in the early part of his mission with King Lamoni. All Ammon wanted was to dwell for a period and guard the flocks. He remembers all the commands of the land, established an example. He referred to Oaks and Cook when they came in fall 2007 to conference and taught the principle in Mosiah 4:24 --that if in our hearts we would give to the needy if we had means to than we would be blessed as if we had given. It is who you are not what you say that matters
Again in I Thessalonians, we should support the weak, be patient, follow that which is good, rejoice, pray, be thankful, quench not the spirit. Remember the gossamer communication line that connects us the Father.
Saturday Jan 25 Hong Kong
Today we had a 3 hour training meeting where we all got up and gave teaching suggestions. We had 2 minutes to present our idea. At the end of 2 minutes the group would applaud and you were done. We covered 70 teachers in a very short time. Very helpful and fun.
We spend the rest of the day sight seeing. We went up the side of a tall mountain on the tram and if it hadn't been cloudy you could see forever. We shopped some and then took the double decker bus to Stanley. Beautiful drive and fun shopping in a rural area. As a whole, I can't say I loved Hong Kong. Maybe I was just tired. Am still wearing my blue sweater, sweatshirt jacket, coat, scarf, ear muffs, long johns and my only pair of heavy levis for the umpteenth day. Am warm but ugly. It is a crowded city, noisy, I don't like it. I'm glad to be moving on.
Southwestern China (Guilin, Kunming,Lijian, Dali)
Sunday Jan 26 Church and flew Guilin and that was Sunday.
So today was bitter cold and the storms have blocked traffic and many flights are canceled. We checked out of the YMCA at 12:00 and sat in the cold lobby until 2:00. I am still layered in my ugly clothes. Finally the bus comes and we head back to China. We get to Shenzhen and are three hours early for our flight so can't check in. No stores to shop. A few food places that are over crowded and soooo cold! I am glad for my extra clothes and want more. About 7:00 pm we check in and can finally move to a warmer area away from the doors upstairs. Flights are canceling right and left because of the storms. There is black ice on the runways, and the pretty green trees. It doesn't usually snow this far south. Roads are closed. There are many people trying to get home for the Spring Holiday which is the Chinese major holiday like Christmas here. One group has been delayed all day and started yelling and chanting as if this would change the weather. The airlines had fed these people and tried to keep them happy. Our flight was one of two that went out that night. We were thankful even though our flight was late. We got to Guilin at 12:00 pm. They couldn't get our whole group on the plane so seven were on another flight after ours and they didn't arrive until around 4:00 am in the morning. We had a very short night!
Monday Jan 27 Guilin Raining, cold
We get up at 6:00 and went to a magnificent cave. It was warm in the cave. Outside is bitter cold and windy. I bought a fur hat to wear and am quite comfortable except my lets get cold. Today I wore double socks. This cave makes Timpanogoas, Carles Bad Caverns look small. This cave is what fantasy books are made from I'm sure. It is called the Reed Flute Cave and is 240 meters undergound with exotic rock formations and fantastic shapes lit by colored lights. The Crystal palace of the Dragon King, a grotto in the center of the cave can hold more than 1,000 people. Years ago the people hid in these caves. They have one area that looks like a city with a sky line of tall buildings next to a lake, There are animals, vegetables, just anything your mind can imagine down there. I could have stayed and wrote all day.
After the cave we drove to Yangshuo where we were scheduled to take a river cruise. The water in the lower part was very low and frozen so we had to go further up and take a short river trip instead. The scenery was gorgeous. This is where you see the mountains with clouds hanging on them that are painted in many Chinese pictures. Guilin and this area is know for it's natural beauty. There are many caves and thousands of these strange mountains. A thousand years ago a poet wrote about the scenery in this area: "The river forms a green gauze belt, the mountains are like blue jade hairpins." We got some good pictures and I bought some art.
They have a bird here called the cormorant. It is a large bird that they train to catch fish when they are young. They take the eggs and put under a hen while she is asleep. In the morning, if the hen accepts the large egg all is well; if she doesn't, they put it under as many hens as necessary until it hatches. The mother cormorants are busy fishing, so they can't sit on their own eggs. They take the baby chicks and tie a rope around their necks to train them to fish. Then they throw the bird out of their boat at night, and he catches fish. He can't swallow the fish so he comes back and gives the fish to the fisherman. They are so fast, they can catch more fish than the fisherman could alone. When they are older, they only tie their foot because the birds think they can't swallow the fish and don't try any more. They can only work the birds about 20 minutes each because they get tired. Then the pull them in and give them a small fish to eat and they rest; because, they are full, they won't fish any more. We are scheduled to go out on a boat and watch them fish tonight.
It is pouring rain and we just bought some more sweat shirts, gloves and lap blankets. They are afraid the birds won't fish well tonight because of the storm. We decided to stay home. Only a small handful of people go to watch. I guess the birds did fish and we missed a neat experience. Dad is still sick. Hope he feels better soon. Food here is very good–maybe I'm just getting used to Chinese food. Lights are too dim to read and the only English channel is news so I'm going to bed. The power has gone out twice already. I am glad I got a hot shower before that happened. We are going to fly further west in the morning. I hope we fly out of this cold. Strange to see ice on the green leafy trees.
Tuesday Jan 29 Kunming
Today we took the bus back to Guilin. It was a beautiful drive. We stopped at Moon Mountain. There is a perfect circle cut through the mountain that looks like the moon. It changes from crescent moon, to half moon, to full moon at different angles. We also stopped at Elephant Hill which represents Guilin. It is really more impressive from the road because you can see the whole elephant. When you walk to the formation it is so large you can't get it all the camera. Everyone is dragging today and many of the people are getting flu, and/or colds. We have been taking the little green pills though dad has fever and chills today. I am putting him on cipro and hope it helps. We flew to Lijiang this evening.
We heard from email that President Hinckley died during the night . We all read the report in the Deseret News. He will remain in our hearts for a long time. Such a vital, positive person who has done so much for the church. So glad he went quickly.
Wednesday Jan 30 Lijiang
We are now in Lijiang and the altitude is quite high. It is near the Tibetan border in northern Yunnan Providence. I can feel the different. Today we visit the Stone Forest, a massive collection of limestone pillars eroded by wind and rain to form fanciful forms that look like a stone forest. It is impressive. We learn a little about some of the minorities here. If it snows on the new year it means good harvest. Yie nationality: the ladies are called Ashama and means beautiful kind woman. Ah ha means black or dark skin. Dark skinned people are considered beautiful. To say How are you? You say Ah la la lai. The Han majority is 67 % . The Camilla is their flower here. To receive flowers is not a surprise here because they are so cheap and plentiful. Girls are not impressed by flowers here. They also like the Tiger especially black tigers.
The Sani like the spider. (I think this is the Sani girls though it might be the Dai or Yia people. This area is a bit vague because it was hard to understand so many at one time)
Girls here have their hair cut only three times at 16, 40 and ? They collect the hair and roll it around their head when they are older. I think it must be like the hair switches we had in the 1960's. They also wear a hat. If all their hair is covered they are single. When they marry the take off their hat and let their hair down for the first time for her husband to see. Once she is married she can show a little hair in the front of her had. After she has a baby she can show a little more hair. They wear a colorful head dress (not hat). It has two triangles at each ear both at the top of the ear and the bottom. They are to look like two beautiful butterflies. The head dress show their marital status. If 2 full triangles show they are single. No triangles show and are folded down they are married. You must not touch the triangles. If you touch one it means you like the girl. They ask you to stay for three years to do hard work because you are too white and need a dark skin. You basically stay until they like you. The ladies position is higher than the men here. They control everything, money, work, etc. Men watch the babies and do house work. Lijiang means ladies Kingdom and men's paradise. The men drink, smoke, and play games.
They have what is called a visiting marriage. At 14 the girl is considered an adult and is given her own bedroom. Her parents help her dress beautifully and then she goes to the woods with friends and boys. If they find someone they like they give a hint by by scratching scratching the hand in the palm–meaning they like you. The boy follows the girl to the house and waits outside until it's dark. The girl sings in the room–Don't make a mistake tonight–this is my room. The boy climbs the wall and puts his hat outside the window to show the area is occupied. He visits her all night and leaves early in the morning. This is called a visiting marriage until she has a baby. If they don't like each other they just leave, and the baby is brought up by the woman's family. If she decides she likes the boy she can get a certificate and they will be together forever.
If they get a certificate, they have the wedding festival. They send invitations and eat together. It goes on for 3 days. The 2nd day the boy goes to pick the honeymoon place and drives out the evil spirits with water. Friends steal the bride and run two kilometers with her. The bride eats three spoons of cooked rice. The first one means she will not forget the kindness of her parents, the second they spit out at the top of the range (stove) meaning they will come back and repay their parents, the third they put n a small pouch and ut in the rice cooker in their new home. They also take herb bathes in large tubs. The whole family uses the same tub one after another.
The Dong people: They have a bridge in front of their towns with a tower in the center with 5-9 stories. From the stones hang a huge drum which used to warn of danger or call people to a meeting. They build this with wood. They use no steel or nails. Everything is fitted together by wood.
The Yei People invented the solar calendar with 10 months of 36 days each with 5 extra days for festivals for men. These 5 days they can do what they want, bud they can't fight with their wife.
The Dumbai culture: These people have a pictorial language. They are a simple people and if they have food to eat they are happy. We visited a museum here that showed the language and I tried to get pictures of it. There was a mural here about the Godess of Mercy. It tells a story that we also saw in some Buddha Pagodas on our last trip. T\A good man meets a tiger. He prays to the Goddess of mercy and she helps him to become a great hunter and kill the tiger. Later a bad man catches himself on fire and he prays to the Goddess and because he is bad she does not help him and he jumps into the water to put the fire out but it changes into a oil and burns him to death. (This is in Kunming)
Thursday still in Lijiang
This is run together here and we visited Old Town and shopped This was a more down sink day I think.
Friday Feb 2 Dali
We visited the Shuhe ancient town near Lijiang and saw a local Naxi Minority. We walked around the Black Dragon Pool Park which was beautiful. The water is so clear you could see the bottom of the lakes and gorgeous reflections of the mountains in them. Then we took a bus to Dali. We visited a Ty Dye factor. Very different from our ty dying. They have a plant called Indigo–it is cut and allowed to ferment for 7 days and then is used to dye (navy blue) the fabrics. A pattern is put on paper and transferred to the cloth. A woman then ties millions of microscopic knots by hand in the fabric. It is then dyed, dried and the knots are unpicked. The patterns appear. Butterflies, flowers, anything you can think of.
Then we went to a dance by the Bai people at their home and drank tea and had the tea ceremony explained to us. You have three cups of tea during the dancing. The first is bitter representing the bitterness of life and is served in a small bowl, the second is in a smaller dish shaped more like a cup and is sweet and made with sugar and milk cheese made in that area( The cheese tastes like thin slices of wax) and represents the good and sweet moments in life; the third is served in a very small cup and has cinnamon, red pepper, and ginger in it helps recalling things in our life. They did a wedding dance. The bride wears dark glasses and has a mirror on the front of her chest. . They also have the tradition of pinching the bride for good luck. One pinch means Joy, 2 means happiness, 3 pinches are given by a young man who liked her but never told her before now. They actually want to pinch the bride black and blue because it is good luck. The glasses hide her tears from sadness at leaving her family and also from being pinched. The mirror represented her spirit that lingered in the mirror. The girls wear linen pants and colorful shirts for the dance and there is a small apron over their front.
This was a local home and they had four homes that bordered on a large courtyard. Each home also had a small personal court yard. The homes share a wall in the court yard that is meant to protect them from wind and reflect the sun. So there were 5 court yards, 4 families-- all related. A very nice home.
Dali is known for three scenic wonders: 1. It is windy all year and cools the air, 2 Snow in the mountains all year, 3 Flowers, camilla, azalia etc 4. Moon of ah ha lal. Their head dress here repersents the wonders. the wind represents the tassel, the top of the tassel is the snow, flowers for color and whole new moon. If the tassel is down and long they are single. If engaged it is cut in half, if married it is put up.
People carry loads in baskets about 3X3 loaded with various products. They also harvest sticks–I think these are used for fences and brooms. They also pull hand carts by hand that are heavily loaded. They do their wash in a small pan in front of their homes. One girl was washing levis with a rag laid flat in front of her business.
We went to dinner in a huge hotel with carved ceiling and bannisters. Excellent meal. Then we went to old town Dali at night and wandered around. This was rather fun. We took Joyce with us and it wasn't crowded and merchants wanted to sell things so they gave us good prices. I got some ty dyed table cloths. I have waited the whole trip to purchase jade here because the prices are better. There are three kinds of jade. Burma jade is the best and has darker color. Malaysian jade is lighter and not of such high quality, and Dali Jade appears to be sold at the pagodas. I got some malaysian jade earrings and necklace in oblong shape. I guess you look to see if the jade is nice and clear and has some imperfection in it to make sure it isn't glass and fake. I also got some Dali Jake at the pagoda, a bead necklace.
Sat Feb 2 in Dali Sunny today!
Today we went to the three pagodas. They were huge and impressive. Lots of golden Buddah's. The altitude was bothering me some so we didn't go all the way to the bell tower but wandered back slowly and enjoyed the solitude and scenery. Many of the places we visit are laid out with great lengths to walk, either flat or up hill, then you see one tiny thing and walk another 15 minutes to the next one. We leave now to go back to Kunming. We are scheduled to see a famous dancer this evening doing the dance of the peacock. This is her home town so she performs at a reduced rate every year so the local people can afford to see her. They also portray many of the minorities. I am anxious to go. I got a fever and chills and am so sick I can't go to the performance. Dad goes and I go to bed. He says it was wonderful.
Sunday Feb 3
Fly Home! Our flight is a little late but we make it home fine. We seem to have skipped between storms all the way. Glad to get home and get well.