I Got Carried Away Again....

I also got carried away with the Bai material. I cheekily admit that I bought 3 large rectangle pieces and 1 round piece. I have no idea what I will do with them but I really like their designs and for $15 UDS each I couldn’t resist. Pashminas were another great Yunnan deal – which lead to another strange purchase. A lot of Chinese carry large (& surprisingly VERY sturdy) plaid plastic zipper bags around instead of suitcases. They are about $1.50 (USD) in price and come in all sizes. Cathy and I had purchased so many Yunnan ‘bargains’ that we ended up having to buy a suitcase-size plaid plastic bag to stuff it all in. The only problem was locating it at the airport baggage claim among the many other plaid plastic suitcases.

Ok - I May Have Gone A Little Overboard

When you visit China you learn that most cities seem to have a product theme. Some cities have lots of electrical supplies, or wood carvings, or silk or plumbing supplies, or socks or tea, or Bai tie-died material, or ceramic beads. Only exception seems to jade and pearls – you can find those in most cities. Anyway, back in 2004 I bought some beads at the Great Wall and used them to make ID tag lanyards and necklaces. Since I have returned to China I have kept my eyes open for more beads to bring back and keep my little fingers busy for any idle time I have. I had no luck finding ANY until this Yunnan trip. I was worried I would never see them again so I went a little overboard. The pushy ladies in the markets sure loved me. So hopefully everyone will want a Katie-made lanyard or Chinese accented necklace when I return.

The Ultimate in “Kodak Moments”

August 12, 2006
The next morning we drove a couple of hours to the “Stone Forest”. It is so picturesque that you wanted to take photos at every turn. This 400 sq kilometer area is made of limestone structures that were underwater about 270 million years ago and over time rose and eroded into some pretty neat shapes. There were thousands of people and thousands of steps (most of them slippery as per Chinese tradition) and thousands of opportunities to take photos.

We had a typical lunch at a nearby tourist restaurant with lots of different things to try, beef, duck, a green vegetable that tasted like mustard greens, fried goat cheese (which was great!) and a soup that had a very pale melon looking vegetable in it.

After living here more than 4 months, I thought I had become jaded to the Chinese driving practices. Nope - and remember that ignoring lanes, honking, and passing with minimal distance or visibility is the norm. Even I was shocked when on our ride back our driver passed a car that was passing a truck with a bus approaching. I was thankful that it was the last day with that driver, for the rest of the trip we lucked out and had a great driver called Mr. Mao.

On the way back through the countryside we were fascinated by how much of the land is utilized for farming. Since they do all their farming by hand they can and do cultivate every inch of hill and mountain. This manual labor intensive type of farming would never be profitable in the US.

Weddings at the Kunming Hotel

August 11th
Pictured above is a decorated Chinese Wedding car. We arrived at the hotel in the late afternoon during one of the weddings. The Kunming Hotel with its beautiful lobby, had at least 4 weddings during our 2 nights stay. The rooms looked nice but our tub did not drain so only one of us could take a bath each day. The room had the typical hard Chinese beds, and very little AC and unfortunately the “eternal spring” Yunnan Province was having a hot spell.

That afternoon we walked around town and found a western restaurant. It featured Italian, Mexican, and Chinese food (cooks were Chinese, owner was English speaking). I had pizza, which was pretty good. Cathy decided to try the lasagna, which she said tasted like hamburger helper.

Chinese Sunscreen

It’s cheaper and it doesn’t smell or stain your clothes, the only drawback is having to hold them up all the time. (And if you are tall – you need to avoid getting hit in the eye with other peoples’ sunscreen end spokes). I have noticed that it seems to be an unwritten rule that guys can’t use these Chinese sunscreens. Unlike the boring black, gray, and dreary ones Americans carry around, most of the Chinese Sunscreens are in a variety of pastels so it really looks very colorful to see groups of them on a sunny day.

Side Note: Cathy and I went to WuMei today and as we were leaving we noticed it was pouring outside – Of course we had both forgotten our Chinese Sunscreens so we decided to buy a couple while we were still dry in the store. We tried pantomiming that we needed an umbrella but all they brought me was a comb. I have to start carrying my language book around with me ALL the time. By the time we got the salesgirls to understand what we wanted and bought them it had stopped raining.

Chinese Recliner

Who says you have to forego all comforts of home when traveling in a foreign country? Just Adapt! I have taken a beach chair, foot stool, and various pillows to approximate my nice leather recliner. All I am missing is my dog in my lap.

Bored In LAX

August 6th-8th (remember you lose a day in translation)

Don’t get into LAX 9 hours before your flight cause you’ll have nothing to do. I am sitting up in a restaurant with no Internet connection and not even a connection to pay for – whats'up with that? Brunswick Jet Port has free Internet access. Albuquerque Airport lets you charge and surf for free with nice comfortable padded desk chairs. LAX and no Internet? Strange, one of the most plugged in areas the world and no free Internet. Side Note: - Hong Kong Airport did not have free Internet access either but it did have an Internet you could pay for.

I got to ride from Salt Lake City to LAX in first class. No champagne but all the diet coke and snacks you can drink and eat. I bought a sandwich in Salt Lake Airport so I had that for lunch. Can you tell I am bored out of my mind – typing about buying lunch in an airport (pastrami on rye). So sorry will make this one short. On my wanderings I went by the LAX Chinese Food stand and sort of chuckled at how UNCHINESE the food was. The people serving it were speaking Mexican. I couldn’t even show off and say Ni hoa!