Through a connection of mom's, I met up with someone who knows about local NGOs today. He told me about the NGOs operating in the area.
The most interesting one is a co-op they run, with around 200 people. They all hand in a small fee, and when anyone need financial help, eg. medical bills, the co-ops lends them money and asks them to pay it back in 6 months. When someone's house burns down for instance, all members of the co-op will go help rebuild the house, any member who doesn't show up will be charged a small fee.
Not too many people struggle to survive he said, but no main problem is education. Like all kids from farming families, parents don't want them to go to school and lose a labourer. More well-off families will rather pay the few hundred yuan of fine to keep their kids away from school. They also see how University students return and are not able to find good jobs, despite how much money their family spent on them. And by the time they return, their physical ability has declined and cannot be able labourers.
I wonder: will a different school cycle (say school only in Oct-Feb when there's no work in the farms anyway) help? And a school/ programmes targeted to the needs of farm people? Like a course in Agriculture etc. Does anyone know of good examples else where?
Will meet up with the owner of an orphanage tomorrow. Yay Babies!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Shangri-la..
..or Zhongdian, was a bit disappointing at first. Lonely Planet pretty much glossed over the city, but the Chinese guidebooks raved about it. If China decided to name this city Shangri-la after looking at all its cities, this can't be it.
I soon realized though, it's not the city that should be named Shangri-la, it should be the area, it should be the Shangri-la prefecture. It's the areas I pass through between waking and sleeping, an area that is best seen hiking (I'll make an effort at this later) that is the real Shangri-la.
The lesson of the day, you'll look for the beauty when any place has a name like Shangri-la.
I soon realized though, it's not the city that should be named Shangri-la, it should be the area, it should be the Shangri-la prefecture. It's the areas I pass through between waking and sleeping, an area that is best seen hiking (I'll make an effort at this later) that is the real Shangri-la.
The lesson of the day, you'll look for the beauty when any place has a name like Shangri-la.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
A Transforming Landscape
From Lijiang to Zhongdian, you see a landscape transform from a green fertile land
to a more barren land with drier lower growths.
You see people's clothes transform from the simple white and blue outfit and a simple blue hat of the Naxi, to the tall and elaborate headdress (of the Yi?), to the colourful outfits of the Tibetans.
You see architecture transform from the Naxi houses with storage on the second floor, and living quarters on the lower floor, to the Tibetan houses with elaborate details and colourful painted walls.
It's amazing that landscape and culture can all transform so quickly in a 4-hour bus ride. Does this speak to the immobility of the people? Their love of their identity and their local land?
A road sign sweeped by, instructing drivers to drive no faster than 40km. I glanced over to my driver's speed meter.
It's broken. It's stuck at zero.
May be the change of landscape just speaks to how fast my driver is driving...
to a more barren land with drier lower growths.
You see people's clothes transform from the simple white and blue outfit and a simple blue hat of the Naxi, to the tall and elaborate headdress (of the Yi?), to the colourful outfits of the Tibetans.
You see architecture transform from the Naxi houses with storage on the second floor, and living quarters on the lower floor, to the Tibetan houses with elaborate details and colourful painted walls.
It's amazing that landscape and culture can all transform so quickly in a 4-hour bus ride. Does this speak to the immobility of the people? Their love of their identity and their local land?
A road sign sweeped by, instructing drivers to drive no faster than 40km. I glanced over to my driver's speed meter.
It's broken. It's stuck at zero.
May be the change of landscape just speaks to how fast my driver is driving...
Monday, August 27, 2007
Hieroglyph/ Pictograph of the Naxi People
A written language of the Naxi People still used in religious ceremonies. Thought the museum's comparison with Egyptian Hieroglyphs is interesting. This is for Dora.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Two More Fake Things in China
This is fake:
Joined a local tour with my friend Siu Oi today, this was one of the photo spots underneath the Yulong Snow Mountain. It looked a bit fake to us, the steps are all similar in size, and the water is running a bit too fast for such lime formations... So we asked the guide....
And Alas! It is fake!! It's an imitation of the real thing which we later visited ourselves. They built the lime steps here to make the natural glacier river look more spectacular (without telling the tourists of course).
The real thing:
Then we wandered into this Tibetan complex inside a tourist Cutural Village. There were no tourists there, unlike the other houses, and it was set further away, so that disarmed us. A friendly Tibetan man came to talk to us, told us how this house was there before the cultural village, about how there are two living buddhas in the complex, they're in retreat 正在闭门修練, so we need to keep our voices down. When we got closer to the complex of the "living buddhas". Our "guide" said, the living buddha doesn't usually see people, but today since you've come all the way here, it's a kind of fate 缘分, you should go in and see him. We said, oh it's ok, we don't want to disturb him, and the guide said, it's ok, if the buddha said to see you, then you should go in. So out of curiosity I went in.
The "buddha" looked 20-something (ok, may be meditating has made him look younger, or may be he's just really gifted to have achieved what he's achieved at this age), then he asked me where I'm from, and asked me to silently make 3 wishes (which I did not), when he leaned forward, he faintly smelled of alcohol (may be it's just my faulty nose). Then after all the ceremonial stuff, he suggestsed I obtain 6 Tibetan flags outside, so he can pray for my wishes to come true. I walked into the adjoining room, there's a big sign that says, 30 yuan per flag. A living buddha that usually sees no one, but will see me today, a one-stop shop that leads from the buddha to the flag-selling room, a Tibetan village inside a tourist cultural village. Oh please. My "guide" said it's a real pity I'm not getting those flags.
Oh motherland.
Joined a local tour with my friend Siu Oi today, this was one of the photo spots underneath the Yulong Snow Mountain. It looked a bit fake to us, the steps are all similar in size, and the water is running a bit too fast for such lime formations... So we asked the guide....
And Alas! It is fake!! It's an imitation of the real thing which we later visited ourselves. They built the lime steps here to make the natural glacier river look more spectacular (without telling the tourists of course).
The real thing:
Then we wandered into this Tibetan complex inside a tourist Cutural Village. There were no tourists there, unlike the other houses, and it was set further away, so that disarmed us. A friendly Tibetan man came to talk to us, told us how this house was there before the cultural village, about how there are two living buddhas in the complex, they're in retreat 正在闭门修練, so we need to keep our voices down. When we got closer to the complex of the "living buddhas". Our "guide" said, the living buddha doesn't usually see people, but today since you've come all the way here, it's a kind of fate 缘分, you should go in and see him. We said, oh it's ok, we don't want to disturb him, and the guide said, it's ok, if the buddha said to see you, then you should go in. So out of curiosity I went in.
The "buddha" looked 20-something (ok, may be meditating has made him look younger, or may be he's just really gifted to have achieved what he's achieved at this age), then he asked me where I'm from, and asked me to silently make 3 wishes (which I did not), when he leaned forward, he faintly smelled of alcohol (may be it's just my faulty nose). Then after all the ceremonial stuff, he suggestsed I obtain 6 Tibetan flags outside, so he can pray for my wishes to come true. I walked into the adjoining room, there's a big sign that says, 30 yuan per flag. A living buddha that usually sees no one, but will see me today, a one-stop shop that leads from the buddha to the flag-selling room, a Tibetan village inside a tourist cultural village. Oh please. My "guide" said it's a real pity I'm not getting those flags.
Oh motherland.
Sleeper Bus
This is just to show Sheryl I've used the DIY sleeping bag at least once. I covered my face with it to avoid the smell of feet.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Wal-Mart, China
The one ond only sight I visited in Kunming (thanks to Sheryl) is this: 
This is exactly like any Wal-mart in the US, and a lot of people (Chinese people of coure) were shopping here. Many will see this as a symbol of globalization. Some Americans might see the irony in all the Wal-mart and China-bashing in the States these days, when the Chinese are also increasingly buying from Wal-mart, and are having their own union problems with Wal-mart. 
What strikes me though, is as far as shopping habits go, how potentially similar the two countries, China and the States are. I first read about Wal-mart's global attempts here. Many such attempts have failed elsewhere in the world, but they're expanding in China. Wal-mart expanded quickly since it first opened stores in China in 1996, now there are 86 stores in its 46 cities according to its corporate website, and will increase its presence even more rapidly this year with its new acquisitions. China and the States: - are both large countries with lots of space, - people are spread out (increasingly true in China with all the newly planned urban areas in China) and therefore will buy in bulk when they take time to go to the stores. - with the rise of middle class, people here drive. Anyway, to conclude, let me bring you a few more seconds of Wal-mart, China:
This is exactly like any Wal-mart in the US, and a lot of people (Chinese people of coure) were shopping here. Many will see this as a symbol of globalization. Some Americans might see the irony in all the Wal-mart and China-bashing in the States these days, when the Chinese are also increasingly buying from Wal-mart, and are having their own union problems with Wal-mart. 
What strikes me though, is as far as shopping habits go, how potentially similar the two countries, China and the States are. I first read about Wal-mart's global attempts here. Many such attempts have failed elsewhere in the world, but they're expanding in China. Wal-mart expanded quickly since it first opened stores in China in 1996, now there are 86 stores in its 46 cities according to its corporate website, and will increase its presence even more rapidly this year with its new acquisitions. China and the States: - are both large countries with lots of space, - people are spread out (increasingly true in China with all the newly planned urban areas in China) and therefore will buy in bulk when they take time to go to the stores. - with the rise of middle class, people here drive. Anyway, to conclude, let me bring you a few more seconds of Wal-mart, China:The Beginning
Haven't done this for 2 years. I was going to get a new Maglite for the trip, but Erik told me they are long out of fashion... Wonder if I can still go solo for a month.
The night before departure, Sheryl helped me sew together this sleeping bag (Em provided the spiritual support). It's a bedsheet folded in half and sewed together. This is much lighter than a regular sleeping bag.
The night before departure, Sheryl helped me sew together this sleeping bag (Em provided the spiritual support). It's a bedsheet folded in half and sewed together. This is much lighter than a regular sleeping bag.
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