China – 2012

China – Stone Forest – 01

China – Stone Forest – 02

China – Stone Forest – 03

China – Stone Forest – 04

China – Stone Forest – 05

China – Stone Forest – 06

China – Stone Forest – 07

China – Stone Forest – 08

China – Kunming Market – 01

China – Kunming Market – 02

China – Kunming Market – 03

China – Kunming Market – 04

China – Kunming Market – 05

China – Kunming Market – 06

China – Lunch in Kunming – 01

Our hotel was full of impressive jade carvings. Here is a close up.

China – Lunch in Kunming – 02

Several roads led to Kunming in past times. This bronze represented the Tea Road, Kunming being an important trading center.

China – Lunch in Kunming – 03

And there on the sidewalk was another bronze sculpture of men playing a game and smoking from a water pipe.

China – Lunch in Kunming – 04

The blocks on this wall are made from dried and compressed tea.

China – Lunch in Kunming – 05

Notice the dishes, the typical service includes a tea cup, a rice bowl, and a saucer. This restaurant provided silverware to the foreign tourists, however, many places only offered chopsticks.

China – Lunch in Kunming – 06

The glass Lazy Susan often included a dozen different dishes to add to the rice. I was sipping a clear broth from the rice bowl. Broth is often served first before the other dishes arrive.

China – Shopping – 01

The 150 year old pharmacy was selling herbal medicines, a large establishment employing at least 15-20 people, a very busy place. It included a waiting room for people to see the doctors and many employees were making bundles of herbs to be boiled down in a pressure cooker, then the liquid becomes the medicine. The bundles were the size of grapefruits, filled with dry ingredients before “cooking”. The herbal remedies and modern medicine seem to go hand in hand with the herbal ones being more popular in the isolated countryside.

China – Shopping – 02

Here are the doctors prepared to evaluate each patient and write prescriptions.

China – Shopping – 03

The area where the bundles are made.

China – Shopping – 04

Nearby were some street stalls, In this one a girl was taking music lessons on a flute type instrument.

China – Shopping – 05

Water pipes for sale.

China – Shopping – 06

And this shop sold birds.

China – Shopping – 07

And one with a variety of turtles, snails, crawfish, etc.

China – Shopping – 08

This street vendor was peeling a hot sweet potato and roasting peanuts. The aroma from the vendors was wonderful.

China – Green Lake Pond – 01

China – Green Lake Pond – 02

China – Green Lake Pond – 03

China – Green Lake Pond – 04

China – Green Lake Pond – 05

China – Green Lake Pond – 06

China – Green Lake Pond – 07

China – Animals – 01

This first photo was taken from the bus, showing plucked ducks hanging from the vendor’s stand by their necks. Surprised me that the owner was nowhere to be seen.

China – Animals – 02

Most all dogs on the street were small. None on leashes. In need of grooming, but by saying that I put my values on the situation instead of local values. Never saw any dogs abused, aside from neglect issues.

China – Animals – 03

The farm animals had pens off the courtyards. I really don’t know if they were ever let out of the dark pens for time in the sunshine.

China – Animals – 04

And some chickens, also in the courtyards.

China – Animals – 05

Most courtyard watch dogs were chained. I don’t think this was just because we showed up because our visits were unannounced.

China – Animals – 06

Some courtyards were beautifully landscaped, others were more like a barnyard. The ducks certainly looked healthy.

China – Animals – 07

More pigs

China – Burma Road – 01

The Burma Road was built by manual labor in 1937-38 so that the British in Burma could help supply the Chinese with munitions to fight off the Japanese. Later the road was captured by the Japanese and aid was flown in. These large rollers were used to level the cobblestones on the road. Rolled by hand. Totally amazing to me, what effort needed to do this project!

China – Burma Road – 02

Yunnanyi people are the locals from the province of Yunnan. Many are from minority groups. This monument dates to 2005.

China – Burma Road – 03

Our tour bus.

China – Burma Road – 04

Burma Road Monument

China – Burma Road – 05

This is the only photo I took of the bathrooms on the road in China. It was clean, considered “top” of the list by the women in our group. No toilet, no paper, no water, no soap. Also no doors on the stalls. All tissue goes in the garbage can, not down the hole. The range of other toilets were much worse, like a row of holes, not clean and no stalls, no doors, no privacy. The stunning part was that sometimes you even had to PAY for the privilege of access to these facilities. At the hotels all bathrooms were up to Western standards.

China – Burma Road – 06

The Burma Road from the WWII era, as it looks today.

China – Burma Road – 07

Burma Road

China – Burma Road – 08

Mom and baby. We saw very few pregnant women in China and not many children, due to the 1 child policy.

China – Horse Museum – 01

Here is the entrance. I take it that most visitors come from English Speaking countries, thus the sign also being in English.

China – Horse Museum – 02

The horses, riders, paniers full of trade goods, all came into the protection of this “Inn”. The round ceramic container in the center was the horse water trough.

China – Horse Museum – 03

Inscription written on the inside of a horse hide vest. Again I was surprised it was in English.

China – Horse Museum – 04

Notice the size of the jingle bells around the horse’s neck. Golden bells adorned the mules used in the funeral procession of Alexander the Great. And the packhorses, mules, and camels of the caravans were equipped with bells. Both master and beast of burden were cheered by the bells’ gay tinkle; bells helped to locate stray animals-and guided any masters who themselves strayed.

China – Horse Museum – 05

Paniers which carried tea and other trade goods.

China – Horse Museum – 06

The round disks are compressed tea. The saddles from a time long ago.

China – Horse Museum – 07

A stone mill for grinding grain into flour.

China – Dali Market – 01

This is Lisa, our guide in Dali. She dressed in her traditional clothing. Considering it was raining, I was concerned about the elaborate hat and white slacks, but she managed to keep it relatively clean.

China – Dali Market – 02

Just amazed at all the things I didn’t recognize. To the right, the baskets with star shaped things, very hard and sharp.

China – Dali Market – 03

China – Dali Market – 04

To the right of the woman with the dark hair are some of those giant watermelons. Or maybe they weren’t watermelons at all, but a type of squash?

China – Dali Market – 05

China – Dali Market – 06

China – Dali Market – 07

China – Dali Market – 08

China – Dali Market – 09

China – Dali Market – 10

These ladies are debating whether or not to buy the pots and pans or dishes.

China – Dali Market – 11

China – Cooking Lessons – 01

My journal reads: take the dough for the crust, form a flat circle approximately 8″ round, add ingredients to the center and fold up the sides. Then roll it out again, add a Tablespoon of lard and rub it over the top.

China – Cooking Lessons – 02

This is the oven, consisting of a bottom round unit filled with charcoal. The pizzas sit on top of this unit. The top unit of hot coals is on a swinging handle, it slides to the side as the pizzas are put on top of the lower unit, then it slides back on top, giving the pizzas an “oven” heat from both top and bottom. The fan provides enough wind to keep the coals glowing at the desired temperature. It took about 15 minutes, and with some additional lard the pizzas were browned and ready to sell.

China – Cooking Lessons – 03

This is the final product. We all commented that lard is not a standard to American cooking any more. My favorite was the sausage one. Also note there was no cheese added.

China – Cormorant Fishing – 01

The next event was a horse cart ride. One small horse pulling a cart with 8 hefty Americans, at a trot, in the rain. We left the market, taking the horse carts to the edge of the lake.

China – Cormorant Fishing – 02

When the rain was heavy enough, the driver added the blue tarp. Our horse was this white one, jingle bells on his head harness. He had no bridle or bit, just a halter. There are some gunny sacks on his back because of the rain. Getting me up to the high wagon seat required Jim pulling and Pete pushing! We rode in the horse cart a little over a mile to the boat dock.

China – Cormorant Fishing – 03

What a gentle creature. My heart went out to the little horses.

China – Cormorant Fishing – 04

We boarded an open boat, approximately 18′ long. We sat on tiny footstool benches, suitable for the butts and short legs of 2nd graders. Very low, only 1′ off the floor. The woman rowing all of us weighed 100 lbs, strong as hell, buck teeth and looked about 50! God bless her, what a hard way to earn a living. She rowed us out onto the lake about 1/2 hour, stopping near the cormorant fishing boat.

China – Cormorant Fishing – 05

Two fishermen had about a dozen cormorants. At first the man took bird #1 and put him on a long pole to check out the water below. I assume the cormorant was trying to spot fish. After a while this first bird dives and the fishermen push all the birds into the water. Due to the neck rings the birds can only swallow small fish. Larger ones are brought back to the boat.

China – Cormorant Fishing – 06

The cormorants didn’t want to let go of the larger fish either! The fishermen threw treats in the water to reward the birds for a job well done. Nowadays, cormorant fishing is mostly done for tourists. It’s a skill from generations past. See the fish in his beak?

China – Cormorant Fishing – 07

The birds looked rather scruffy. Well trained and know what’s expected of them.

China – Cormorant Fishing – 08

Our boat went to shore, along with the fishermen, to take photos of us holding the birds. Great fun.

China – Cormorant Fishing – 09

Great fun, even with the rain.

China – Cormorant Fishing – 10

My poor hat! Back in our boat, for the trip back to the dock.

China – Bai Family – 01

Another cooking lesson, on stir frying, in a wok over a charcoal stove. I helped stir vegetables, about 5 minutes each, a dozen different dishes including rice, 3 with meat/tofu and vegetables, 8 without meat. Really delicious, added spices were excellent, whatever they were. The ingredients were beef, chicken, pork, mushrooms, corn, onion, pea pods, cabbage, bean sprouts, celery, peppers, zucchini, eggplant, etc.

China – Bai Family – 02

An addition to the roof of the house, a solar hot water heater! The house of our hosts is typical, based around a courtyard with a covered veranda, benches and tiny stools, like for preschoolers. The kitchen had a concrete floor. The son teaches elementary school. I’d say they are upper middle class, not near as poor as the two country families we met yesterday.

China – Bai Family – 03

This is our hostess.

China – Bai Family – 04

China – Bai Family – 05

Pete and the host family.

China – Bai Family – 06

Another cooking lesson, the Three Tea Ceremony. #1 with tea leaves and roasted rice. #2 with cheese, sesame seeds along with ginger and brown sugar. #3 with tea and red chile and honey. All the cups were very small, enjoyable, and perhaps fun to try at home sometime. I have more details about the tea ceremony but have to locate the information.

China – Way to Lijiang – 05

We stopped to see the Baisha Buddha murals and learned about the Naxi minority people. Our guide commented that Naxi women do all the work and the men like to be waited on hand and foot. The men on our bus wanted to convert to Naxi.

China – Weishan – 01

This shop was selling wreaths for funerals.

China – Weishan – 02

Meant for tourists these are fake tiger pelts. Actually goat hides, spray painted with stripes the color of tigers. It was pretty hokey.

China – Weishan – 03

Interesting shop with canes made from a very bumpy type of wood.

China – Weishan – 04

And along the way we looked in on some domino players.

China – Weishan – 05

Amid all the good luck trinkets were a stack of cowboy hats on top of the stools. Here you can see two sizes of stools. These are the typical chairs in most of the homes we visited. For old knees, it was challenging for us.

China – Weishan – 06

In my pouch I had one more balloon, Pete blew it up and we gave it to this little girl. Her father was playing dominos.

China – Weishan – 07

One of the gates into Old Town Weishan, China

China – Taoist Monastery – 01

China – Taoist Monastery – 02

China – Taoist Monastery – 03

China – Taoist Monastery – 04

China – Taoist Monastery – 05

Notice the Ying and Yang on the pavement. It was incredibly lovely. The women who offered us tea were living in the buildings to the right of this photo.

China – Taoist Monastery – 06

There were 200-300 steps up to the top. Along the way Pete and I stopped for some quiet R&R time in the woods.

China – Taoist Monastery – 07

China – Way to Lijiang – 01

This tree is decorated with good luck charms at the hotel in Dali. Many trees and houses and businesses are decorated in red like this. I thought they were stunning!

China – Way to Lijiang – 02

Passed houses with clay cats on the roof, for good luck and to ward off evil. Superstition abounds, like the cheap apartments near the highway, cheap not because of noise and traffic but because that area isn’t “lucky” and demons flow off the highway, gliding over exit ramps by the new apartments. I’m serious, the apartments sit empty even though they are attractive and inexpensive.

China – Way to Lijiang – 03

Today on the bus we talked about what symbol we were born under, like I was born in the year of the Monkey and Pete was born in the year of the Snake. Apparently a snake and a dragon make a really good married couple, so I teased Pete that he should have searched for a dragon-woman. Our guide told us about wedding and engagement traditions, including matchmaking which still plays a role in Chinese society. When a woman marries she becomes a servant to her mother in law. Or at least that was the opinion of our young newly married guide.

China – Way to Lijiang – 04

Our bus stopped at these check stations. Our passports were checked not only at hotels but every time we crossed into a different district. This was a check station where our guide had to inform the authorities that her tour group was traveling north, our itinerary, and how long we’d be in that region. The next town up the road is Shangra-La. The Communist system kept really close tabs on everyone, locals and tourist alike. Stopped to have lunch along the way, my favorite was the duck. And the pit toilets had the privacy of a door! There was a dog under the table where we ate on the patio (it had stopped raining at that point). Pete and I both fed the little guy.

China – Way to Lijiang – 05

We stopped to see the Baisha Buddha murals and learned about the Naxi minority people. Our guide commented that Naxi women do all the work and the men like to be waited on hand and foot. The men on our bus wanted to convert to Naxi.

China – Way to Lijiang – 06

Largest fern leaf hedge willow, absolutely gorgeous.

China – Way to Lijiang – 07

About fern leaf hedge willow

China – Lijiang Embroidery – 01

It amazed me that the women’s eyes could see the fine detail hour after hour and day after day.

China – Lijiang Embroidery – 02

The designs all have significant meanings.

China – Lijiang Embroidery – 03

These are written testimonials regarding the embroidery from Joseph Rock, Austrian-American explorer, Peter Goullart, Russian explorer, and CL Chennault, American commander of the Flying Tigers. Also Marco Polo as mentioned above.

China – Lijiang Embroidery – 04

The embroidery workshop. I was very surprised to see what looked like NM red chile ristras on the post, only these were done in silk.

China – Lijiang Embroidery – 05

The frames are simple

China – Lijiang Embroidery – 06

This woman was the head master.

China – Lijiang Embroidery – 07

Intricate details

China – Lijiang Embroidery – 08

I am holding the silk cocoons.

China – Lijiang Embroidery – 09

After leaving the work area we went into the sale gallery. Fell in love with and bought this one of goldfish. The number 9 is significant, meaning “forever”. The swimming tells of “freedom” and the goldfish represents “prosperity”. The picture was taken out of the simple black metal frame and rolled/inserted in a tube. When we returned home we had it reframed. I celebrated my birthday in China, Pete bought me such an outstanding gift.

China – Lijiang – 01

I took this photo of Pete while standing in the doorway of the hotel.

China – Lijiang – 02

The hotel is lovely, without elevators, we are on the second floor.

China – Lijiang – 03

One of the tourist attractions is horseback riding, These tough little ponies are rented out to tourists, mostly Chinese. In fact I didn’t see any Anglos on the horses. We had dinner at a noodle place on the plaza. A tray of vegetables arrived first, then a bowl of rice noodles, and finally a large pot of very hot, nearly boiling broth. The waiter picked up the veggie tray and noodles and dumped them into the soup. It was really very good. We also ordered spicy BBQ yak on skewers. I thought it was good, even with the yak being a bit tough and fatty.

China – Lijiang – 04

Photographers were also set up to photograph tourists on the horses. The rain continued off and on. The temperature was mild. I loved Lijiang. It’s population 1.2 million. Notice the padding/pillow on the saddle on the photo above.

China – Lijiang – 05

Waterways run through Old Town, absolutely beautiful….only crowded.

China – Lijiang – 06

This narrow waterway was near our hotel.

China – Lijiang – 07

Your guess is as good as mine…..No one in our group could figure out what Warm Prompt meant.

China – Lijiang – 08

And this sign was in the bathroom. Only there was no button. We searched. The others in the group couldn’t find their EMER GENCY BUTTON either.

China – Shaman of Dongba – 01

We got a lesson in pictographs.

China – Shaman of Dongba – 02

The Shaman danced for us using cymbals and hand drums.

China – Shaman of Dongba – 03

The priest is paid by the people who ask him for birthday blessings, house blessings, weddings, burials, etc. You can also pay him for absolution from your sins.

China – Dongba Museum – 01

This is the museum. It did have some impressive art, although as museums go, this was small. Some language comparison charts were interesting to Pete. The diorama of a family home included a large pig bladder filled with water hung over the fire pit. The larger the pig bladder, the wealthier the home owner.

China – Dongba Museum – 02

From the museum.

China – Dongba Museum – 03

China – Dongba Museum – 04

The central courtyard of the Dongba Museum

China – Dongba Museum – 05

There were two jade carved murals on room divider screens which were for sale and absolutely stunning. The cost, $6,000. In my opinion, worth every dollar.

China – Dongba Museum – 06

Frequently money is stuffed into the mouth or under paws of the jade dragons.

China – Dongba Museum – 07

Pictographs of the Dongba culture.

China – Dongba Museum – 08

This is a representation of the Peaceful Buddha, credited with bringing serenity into the home he blesses.

China – Dongba Museum – 09

Magnificent headdress

China – Dongba Museum – 10

This is my personal favorite, the panel screens of cranes in jade on dark wood. Cost $5000.

China – Dongba Museum – 11

There is money inside the mouth of this dragon.

China – Dongba Museum – 12

Pete at Dongba Museum

China – Black Dragon Pool – 01

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

China – Black Dragon Pool – 02

The signs were charming and funny.

China – Black Dragon Pool – 03

Pete with statue

China – Black Dragon Pool – 04

Sign at Black Dragon Pool

China – Black Dragon Pool – 05

Another humorous sign

China – Black Dragon Pool – 06

We saw a tree that they make mahjong tiles from. It’s considered a lucky tree, so everyone wants to touch it. Our guide said that one version of mahjong is called “Steal the Rent From the Landlord.”

China – Black Dragon Pool – 07

Louise & Pete at Black Dragon Pool

China – Black Dragon Pool – 08

Traditional costume

China – Black Dragon Pool – 09

Black Dragon Pool

China – Black Dragon Pool – 10

Another sign

China – Streets of Yunnan – 01

On the walk to the Formal Tea House we passed a man sleeping on the sidewalk. I have no idea what the circumstances were for him.

China – Streets of Yunnan – 02

Pete was amazed again by the vast assortment of dried mushrooms.

China – Streets of Yunnan – 03

A shop selling metal ware items.

China – Streets of Yunnan – 04

The Chinese version of red chile pepper. The aroma reminded me of home.

China – Streets of Yunnan – 05

This fellow was a “street dentist” selling teeth. Look at the bench in front of him and you’ll see little teeth lined up on the cardboard sheets. Our guide said he didn’t have a license to be a real dentist, so he takes a chance of arrest by setting up shop on the sidewalk. I have no idea how someone would attach the loose teeth he has for sale.

China – Streets of Yunnan – 06

Further down the way was a store selling satellite dishes. Remember when I mentioned the high thresholds? Notice the one into the satellite store.

China – Streets of Yunnan – 07

Not many signs of the Mao era, this statue was one of the few we saw from the bus window. Alvin commented that many were destroyed by earthquakes. Pete added that this one needed a stronger earthquake. Everyone in the bus laughed, including Alvin.

China – Streets of Yunnan – 08

Our guide, Alvin, was translating everything the woman giving the tea demonstration had to say. We were offered multiple types for sampling. I asked Alvin if when he had friends over, did he serve them tea? He said no, he’d offer beer and coke, whereas his parent’s generation would certainly offer tea. Times and customs are changing. We were offered tea with and without caffeine, green tea, rose hip tea, etc. It was interesting to put so much emphasis on tea ceremony including pouring the first cup from each pot onto the tea “pets”, clay figurines of little animals. No milk, no lemon, no sugar, no honey, just tiny cups of tea, constantly being refilled. Some had a nice aroma. We were given instructions on how to hold the cup, how to sniff and then to chew before swallowing. It is also correct to slurp it.

China – Streets of Yunnan – 09

Dinner in Old Town included the usual dishes and also yak on skewers, fried silk worms and grasshoppers. The yak was excellent, the insects were OK considering they were fried in oil and spices. The grasshoppers were better than the silk worms in my opinion because they were crispier. The sea weed was rather yucky, sort of like eating boiled weeds.