Sunday in the Park - Kunming, China

After five days of traveling with 24 other "close" friends (our students), we all looked forward to a free day on Sunday, November 9. We were in Kunming at the time.

Jim and I opted to spend our free time in the city park. We idled away our first hour or so reading a novel. Then, I got up to stretch my legs and found that a musical performance was about to begin. I sat down on the ground to watch, but quickly someone brought me a short stool to sit on. I had a front row seat.

I loved the little girl dancer the best, but the musicians were all fascinating to watch. (Connie)

Pandas!

All this time in China and I have not yet talked about pandas. And, yes, we saw them during our trip to Chengdu. There they have a Giant Panda Research Center.

With fewer than 1000 pandas left in the wild, breeding is the focus here. Mating occurs in the spring - and if lucky, the baby pandas appear in fall. We were fortunate enough to be there when they had five baby pandas in the 'nursery.' All five shared one human baby crib.


Most of the adult pandas we saw that day were either sleeping or eating. (They have a "thumb" that helps them strip the bamboo leaves off the stalks, and handle the shoots and stems.) These three "teenagers" were quite playful, so we watched them the longest. I couldn't decide which was cuter - they, or our own Nakita, Marty, and Hallie!(Connie)

Bai Batiks in Dali China

Also in Yunnan province, we visited Dali on November 7-8. The Bai people are Dali's principal minority group. They are noted for their blue and white batik.

I met this women in old town Dali. She liked me enough to take me to the backyard of her shop. There she showed me the stitching technique used to make the batiks. She also showed off her indigo plants growing there; they provide the blue dye.

When I asked to take her picture, her hair was down and very long. She said, dong yi dong. (Wait a minute.) She wanted to fix her hair.

I wish I would have taken pictures of the whole process! First, she braided her hair. Then, I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but she put on her hat and wrapped the braid around the hat. (Her braid is the black line you can see.) Then, she wrapped several strands of yard around her braid. As you can see, the end result is beautiful. (Connie)

Shi Lin "Badlands"

Last week we visited near Kunming a stone forest Shi Lin. It reminds me of the badlands of South Dakota. We were riding by bus near a pretty lake, and then all of a sudden "wham!" there are these stone mountains, pillars, and other odd shapes.

Jim and I went walking on our own through this area. We walked down many small steps to 'the jail' area, and we walked up to one of the peaks. It was a beautiful day weather-wise so we could see forever! (Connie)

Many Ways to Say "Keep Off the Grass!"

In my work back home, our company encourages governmental agencies who must enforce laws to think about ways to "win" people's compliance with the law. In other words, you can always threaten people with fines, sanctions, or punishments if they fail to comply. You can police them - and that's what most compliance organizations emphasize.

But we have found that compliance rates are even higher if you supplement enforcement with helping people see the reason for the law and making it easy or motivational for them to voluntarily comply. So, I smile every time I see a Chinese version of our compliance theory in practice.

How do you react when you see a "KEEP OFF THE GRASS!" sign? Does it make you want to step onto the grass? (It does me.) How much more willing would you be to stay off the grass after seeing one of these Chinese versions of the same message (all of which I've seen here)-

* Leave the grasses at rest.
* Protect greening so as to endow benefit to descendents
* Every emotion of grasses relies on your affectionate care. (Connie)

Lijiang Memories

We have just returned from a five day whirlwind trip of Yunnan province. One beautiful spot we visited is Lijiang, right next door to Shangri-La. We were blessed with wonderful weather. The skies were blue with white puffy clouds, which we all appreciated after weeks of gray in Beibei.

Jim and the students went up 15,000 feet to the top of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, and enjoyed a gorgeous clear view of the surrounding Qianhu Mountains. Some of the students took the opportunity to have a quick snowball fight.

Because I was having some respiratory problems, I stayed behind and explored the lower altitude of old town Lijiang. Crisscrossed by canals, bridges, and a maze of narrow streets, old town has shop after shop selling special teas, silver, woven cloth, leather, and other local crafts.
Jim later bought me a beautiful silver bracelet, hand-hammered into a dragon and phoenix design. (I have chosen as my Chinese name Long An - meaning peaceful dragon - so this bracelet has special significance to me.)

I also enjoyed seeing more non-Western native dress here than anywhere else in China to date. China has over 50 ethnic minorities. The majority of them live in Yunnan Province. The Naxi minority women wear the blue and black outfits seen here; the seven circles on the back of their blouses represent the stars. The Naxi descend from Tibetan people, but have lived in Lijiang for 1400 years so I think they're here to stay!

They are a matrilineal society. I enjoyed learning about the matriarchal influences in their language. Nouns enlarge their meaning when the word for female is added, and the reverse is true when male is added. So, for example, 'stone' plus female means boulder. 'Stone' plus male means 'pebble'! (Connie)

Obama Wins!

Watching this election from abroad, I can report that the my corner of the world has great hopes for Obama. We watched the debates together over here - international students from Columbia, Vietnam, China, America, Kyrgyzstan, Bosnia. I asked them first - what did you think? They mentioned the new spirit that Obama brings to the world. They are very hopeful for a change in America's international relations.

And, I will always remember where I was when we heard the election results. I was riding on a bus over the hills of Yunnan Province in China. We had had no news contact, but had asked Chinese friends to telephone us with the news as soon as they heard. Finally, one of our students who is Taiwanese received a call from a study abroad student from Kyrgyzstan who asked to talk to her boyfriend who is from Columbia who then announced to all of us Americans on the bus that Obama had won! A cheer rang out.

What an international telephone relay. What an international cheer I heard! (Connie)

Valentin, the Rock Star

Southwest University in Beibei recently sponsored a talent contest. Two of our most intrepid students - Dylan Ronan and Valentin Sierra - entered. They knew nothing of the popularity or scale of this event. Arriving the first night (and thinking that it would involve only a few people), they found that over 500 people had entered originally; that people were there in formal dress; that professional lighting and sound people were there ... It was a BIG deal.

Both of our entrants did us proud. And, after all the voting, Valentin ended up making it to the final round, where only fifteen entrants remained! This final round was this last Saturday night, November 1. Held in a large auditorium, the event was packed with a crowd estimated at 800 people.

Valentin, who is an international student at St. John's from Columbia, chose to sing three songs overall - one in English, one in Spanish, and one in Chinese! Groups of five entrants sang at a time, after which one was "voted" off. Valentin had a hard time because everything was in Chinese - so he stood up on stage, smiling and nodding, but not having a clue whether he was supposed to stay or leave. Often he would look as if he were heading off the stage, and they would indicate that he should stay.

Finally there were only 5 contestants left, then four, then three, and at last only two. One was Valentin and the other a Chinese young woman. The five adult judges voted - four votes for the young woman, one for Valentin. But, each college of the University had one student who voted as well. After the student voting, the young woman won first place with 18 votes in total. Valentin had seventeen votes in all! He came in second, but was the heart-throb of all the Chinese girls in the room.

They tried to interview him afterward, but it was all in Chinese. So, he summed up his Chinese language training and shouted, "Wo ai nimen!" (I love all of you.) The crowd went wild. He was swarmed for autographs.

Congrats, Valentin! (Connie)