Monthly Archives: March 2010

Yunnan Exploration Project

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Places Visited:  Three cities in the Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province China: Yuanyang (元 阳), though I stayed in Xinjie (新 界), Gejiu (个 旧), and Jianshui (建 水).

 

            This Exploration started with me and my three companions (Erin, Cara, and Alexa) taking a overnight sleeper bus from the West Kunming Bus Station to Yuanyang, specifically a town called Xinjie.  We started out on a funny note:  We bought tickets for 7:30 PM and asked the bus driver if this was the correct bus.  7:30 came and went.  We find out that we had actually boarded the 8:00 PM bus to Yuanyang, and the bus driver didn’t tell us we were on the wrong bus.  Well, when the bus started moving, we were all glad that we weren’t kicked off.  When traveling by sleeper bus with unassigned seating, plan on getting on the bus about two hours before it leaves if you want good seats and places to store your belongings.  We got on the bus an hour or so before the bus was scheduled to leave and we got the last four beds.  I was forced to take the top bunk, which is very small, and I felt like I could roll off at any time.  Another thing about sleeper buses or trains is that they reek of feet.  So if you want fresh air, look for a window bed.

            When we arrived at the Xinjie bus station at 4:30 AM I was fast asleep.  Since the buses don’t leave again anytime soon, passengers are allowed to continue sleeping on them until about dawn (6:30 AM), but even before 6:00 AM we wake up to flashlights going around and in the bus looking for foreigners and tourists.  A few people approach us about hiring them to take us to all of the viewing areas in Yuanyang in one day for about 500 kuai.  We turn all of them down until a particular pregnant lady named Belinda gets on the bus and speaks to us in English.  She convinces us to hire her friend Bai Xiansheng (Mr. Bai) for 250 kuai for the entire day.  Dividing that among four people is not a bad deal.  We couldn’t decide if this was going to be sketchy or an amazing experience – it was definitely the latter.  We leave the bus station before dawn, and, after buying the entrance fee to the terraces for 30 kuai, we arrive at the farthest possible viewing area just after the sky started getting brighter.  

            One major obstacle for taking pictures of the sunrise is that it is very foggy in the mountains.  The terraces range from 140 meters to almost 3,000 meters above sea level at its highest.  At the first viewing area, I saw the mist blow in from the peak of the mountain and from the low valley.  It was breathtaking.  The two different directions met in the middle over the rice terraces.  Most of the viewing spots Bai Xiansheng took us to were at the top of the mountains.  As the wind rushed by my ears, it sounded more like waves crashing along a shore than wind. 

            http://mappery.com/maps/Yuanyang-Rice-Terraces-Map.thumb.jpg This map shows the one or two main roads that go through these mountains.  This is a large mountain range with tiny towns spotted all over the place.  In one glance from any area, you could probably see two to three small villages that were off of the main road.  In the Yuanyang area, there are 928 villages with the majority of them inhabited by only one ethnic group.  On top of the villages, you can also see tiny huts and houses alone in the middle of the terraces.  Throughout the day, I saw about 50-60 people working in the fields, but I’m sure there were more out there. 

            The terraced rice paddies were created at least 1,300 years ago by the Hani ethnic minority.  The Hani and the Yi are the original inhabitants and builders of Yuanyang.  Over time five other ethnic groups joined the area, including the Miao, Yao, Dai, and Zhuang, and Han Ethnic Groups, though only four of those are ethnic minorities.  The women of these minority groups still wear traditional ethnic costumes.  On the side of the road I could see many Hani people hand-making their very colorful ethnic dress.  They would then sell these items to tourists (I bought some beautiful handmade Hani items). 

            Our driver for the day, Bai Xiansheng, is a member of the Yi Ethnic Minority.  If my group had chosen any other driver, I don’t think our day would have been as enjoyable.  Bai Xiansheng knew this area like the back of his hand.  He stopped at places just at the side of the road when he saw that the sun had hit the water perfectly so that it glowed orange.  Although he spoke no English, between the limited Chinese of all of us, we could easily communicate.  He spent about eight hours that Friday driving us around to different locations. 

            We could see the measures that the Xinjie and the surrounding areas were taking to conserve water.  Water to the restrooms was turned off over the entire area at 2:00 PM.  This is an understandable measure to take when the drought threatens the crops all over Yunnan, especially when terraces full of water are required to grow rice.  At a glance, I would say that about 15-20% of the terraces were completely dry from the drought.  There has been no rain in about six months, and this drought is called the worst drought in 60 years.  Bai Xiansheng kept saying gan, gan, gan (dry 干).  All over Southern China, the drought has left millions of people without adequate drinking water, and in some areas, the soil is too dry to start spring planting. 

            After two nights in Xinjie, we took a 25 kuai bus to the nearby city of Gejiu.  It is actually a very mountainous and scary two-and-a-half-hour bus ride.  The driver got so close to the edge of the road that I found myself actually praying that I would please make it to Gejiu without first rolling into a ditch.  The bus ride had some spectacular views of the mountains.  As soon as I stopped seeing rice terraces, I saw whole mountainsides full of the famous Yunnan banana trees.  As we looked up the mountainsides, we could see the lines where the banana trees stopped and pine trees and a wide variety of deciduous trees began.  All I kept thinking about during this ride was how beautiful China is, and I’M IN CHINA!!! WHEEE!!! 

            Gejiu, the fifth largest city in Yunnan Province, was an easy one-day stop.  Gejiu holds China’s largest tin deposits and about 90% of the city’s industry is mining.  There is only one way into the city through a narrow mountain pass.  Gejiu is an extremely modern town with a beautiful lake in the center of the town.  The lake was actually created by a mining accident, and after a huge flood they decided to make it a park.  On Sunday afternoon, there were hundreds of people walking around the lake flying kites or playing Chinese checkers and majiang.  Because Gejiu is located in a crater-like valley with steep valley walls, the city has built up with densely-packed modern high rises.  Lonely Planet says that Gejiu has a definite European feel to it.  I could see that Gejiu did not look like most other Chinese cities, and there was some strange European-looking arches and buildings randomly scattered throughout the city. 

            Gejiu is not a cheap place to find accommodations and food for foreigners.  There are guesthouses in this city, but they are reserved for Chinese tourists.  We ended up paying 270 kuai for a four-bed suite for one night.  The only criteria we had was that the room had a working toilet and shower (since we hadn’t showered in three days while in Yuanyang).  The toilet worked, but it was ice cold water.  We ate at a place called French Café (Lonely Planet recommended it).  The funny thing is that you would think French Café serve French food – absolutely not.  The restaurant served a mix of Chinese, Indian, and Italian Food. 

            One interesting find for our group was the discovery of a little kids’ fair on the lake.  There was a pottery-painting place, and for 20 kuai, we painted a statue of two little pigs on a boat – we named it S.S. SIT (for our SIT study abroad program).  We were planning on giving it to our Academic Director, Lu Yuan, but the pottery did not survive the bumpy bus ride from Gejiu to Jianshui.  The brown pig has Cara’s eyes.  She is half Irish and half Chinese.  The pink pig has Erin’s Japanese eyes.  We were going to say that this pottery represented the diversity of our SIT Study Abroad group, but I think we were just having fun painting with random colors!

            In the morning we found Baohua Park.  There is a chairlift in this park that takes you to a 600-700 year old Daoist Temple.  I don’t think I would recommend that anyone would take this chairlift up or down the mountain.  I would have walked up if I didn’t have my camping backpack with me.  Towards the top of the mountain, the chairs we were sitting in started swaying and going in circles.  It was very nerve-racking.  Once at the top of the mountain, we found the pagoda and main temples all under renovation.  New buildings were also being added to the temple complex. 

            Gejiu is not generally a foreign tourist attraction, so four American girls walking down the street got stared at a lot.  This was not a problem though.  The cutest thing was when the old men would just turn their heads, you would say ni hao, and they would give us the biggest smile, a thumbs up, and say hen hao.  Every time one of us would say anything in Chinese to the people in Gejiu, they would react this way after the initial shock of seeing four foreigners walking randomly by. 

            By the lake, while we were sitting on a bench, a man with the cutest dog came up and told us, “My dog can do tricks, want to see?”  So the dog proceeded to do the cutest tricks.  It seemed like the man just wanted an audience to show off his dog.  We ended up talking to him for a while about his dog and why we were in Gejiu.

            We were told that Jianshui is something that could be seen in one day.  So we decided to go there before heading back to Kunming.  The bus ride from Gejiu to Jianshui was only an hour and a half long and cost 23 kuai.  We choose our hotel from the reviews that Lonely Planet gave. (Side note: Lonely Planet is a very safe and solid starting place for travelers, but in the end, get out of the book and just walk around.)  In the evening, that’s what we did.  I thought we were completely lost, but apparently we were going in a circle the whole time.  How did I not realize we were turning corners all night?  We stumbled across old cobble stone streets that had traditional Chinese-style architecture. 

            Jianshui is known for its traditional architecture, and everything worth seeing within the city is within a fifteen minute walk from the city center.  Marking the city center is the old city gate.  This is not too spectacular, although it might be one of the highest points in Jianshui.  To the west about fifteen minutes from the city gate lies the 1,200 year old Confucius Temple.  This is one of the largest Confucian Temples in China and is well kept and breathtakingly beautiful.  I spent about twenty minutes listening to a musician play his Erhu in the pavilion on the lake in front of the temple.  The front area that is directly outside the part of the temple where a ticket is needed is used as a peaceful recreational area for members of the community.  I saw a group of elderly citizens practicing some Beijing Opera, many tables of men playing games, and countless numbers of grandparents walking around with small children.  Inside the walls of the temple, the music died away, and there were significantly less people.  I think that the temple itself is purely a tourist attraction now.  Even with student ID’s, it cost 30 kuai to get a ticket for this part of the temple.  I saw only two tour guides with groups of Chinese tourists following closely behind.  One man took out his camera and took a picture of me. 

            The other major in-city tourist attraction is the Qing Dynasty family home.  This family spent 30 years building this beautiful home in the 1800’s, but after supporting the wrong causes and uprisings, they were executed in the early 1900’s.  When the Communists took over in 1949, this 22,000 square meter house and garden was used as a dormitory for a school and government offices.  Ten years ago, the government decided to restore it to its previous glory and open it to the public.  The living quarters were turned into a hotel.  I think this family home now holds upwards of 100 hotel rooms.  These rooms remain in the Qing Dynasty fashion so that the guests can understand how people lived in the past.

            Even when I’m in the process of seeing the tourist attractions in different cities, I often became the tourist attraction for Chinese tourists.  It is something almost every westerner who looks different from Chinese people has to deal with when going to smaller and less popular tourist sites.  This happened in all three places on this trip.  In Yuanyang, Chinese tourists at the different viewing sites asked to take pictures with the entire group of American girls with the rice paddies in the background.  In Gejiu, Alexa and I went into a store to buy a shirt we liked and the ladies helping us took turns taking pictures with each of us.  And in Jianshui, the tourists at the Confucian temple took pictures of me a number of times.  99% of the time this is completely amusing and fine.  Just give them a smile and move on.  Chinese people also take more pictures of the stereotypical blonde hair blue eyed westerners.  I’m not either of those, so I get less attention than some travelers.

            This week taught me that even with limited Chinese language skills, I can get around China easily.  It is very exciting for me to be able to do this!  The next step is to get the courage to talk to more Chinese people I meet along the way so that I can practice the language skills I am learning.  Another exciting thing when on the road is to realize that I can make sense some of these Chinese characters!!!  With the combined effort of me and my three companions we could often read something and understand most of it.

This is exciting!

My First Experience With Beijing Opera

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Beijing Opera is considered to be a Chinese national treasure.  It is a traditional Chinese theater that combines acrobatics, music, and dance with beautiful vivid costumes.  Despite the name, it is not performed only in Beijing.  Yunnan Province actually has its own troupe.  SIT arranged for the students to watch a community performance of Beijing Opera.  The leader and teacher of this group is a retiree from the Yunnan Beijing Opera Troupe.  The rest of the group is made of local, retired men and women. 

 

The leader gave us an example of how each of the characters would be played.  The different men include an old silly man, an old wise man, a middle aged man, a young man, and a small boy.  Each of these characters would wear different costumes.  The main different between the ages would be the color of the beard, going from black to a light gray, and the way they move.  The old man would wobble around like he had no sense of balance.  The middle-aged man would slowly stride around the stage as if he owned the world.  And the young boy would dance around.  It was really amusing and made everyone laugh when the retired Beijing Opera player put on the little boy’s wig and danced around the stage as if he was ten years old.  

 

The leader even demonstrated the different female roles.  The main differences with the women’s ages are how graciously the woman walks and uses her water sleeves.  For the older women, they are more dignified in the way they walk.  For the younger women, it is more about flirtation and being graceful with the water sleeves.

 

The costumes of both the men and women vary with the rank of the character being played and the age of the character.  The leader emphasized that it doesn’t matter the age of the man or woman who is acting because the makeup will either make them look younger or older. 

 

After about two hours of watching the amateur Beijing Opera Troupe, most of us had such a headache from listening to the really loud music.  Beijing Opera is really exciting at times with the martial arts, acrobatics, and dancing; however, the same music accompanies everything, and when it is an amateur troupe playing the music, it can really make your head hurt.  I’ve heard that most people who see a professional performance do not stay the entire time because of the headache it can generate. 

 

After seeing a tiny glimpse of Beijing Opera, I want to see a professional performance, at least for a little while, to experience this great Chinese national treasure.

 

Hope you are all well,

Cassie in Kunming

 

 

Toilet Trash Talk? 中国 的 厕 所（中國的廁所）我不喜欢中国的厕所！

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This is a long overdue blog.  After this past week’s experience with traveling and Chinese toilets, this topic is needed to orient you fully about China.  I think Chinese people have stomachs

of steal.  You would never guess that any food negatively affects their digestive systems, but for westerners, digestive issues are weekly, or even daily, problems.   Digestive issues, especially the dreaded 拉肚子 (lā dùzi) or the plugged up opposite, are topics in daily conversation with people in the SIT program, which is definitely a first for me…

 

Types of toilets in China:

oThe western throne is, of course, in China; however, these are not very popular.  I’ve heard that the Chinese people think that because you sit your tush down on the seat that it is unsanitary.  Even when there are thrones, you often see footprints on the seat because some people don’t feel comfortable using this style of toilet.

oThe squatter is by far the most common and popular toilet used in China.  The squatter is exactly how it sounds, a squatter.  You place your feet on the rectangular sides of the toilet and squat.  Generally, this is just a ceramic bowl on the floor.  Some squatter’s can flush and some can’t, although there is sometimes poor water pressure, so flushing sometimes doesn’t even matter.  If it doesn’t flush, you are often greeted with a very unpleasant picture, but if you have to go, grin and bear the smell and image.  A few of my new friends commented that they never knew that they, as girls, would ever have to learn to aim, but without good aim, you’ll get some unmentionables all over your jeans with a squatter.

oIn rural areas, you can’t find any thrones, and only in modern buildings do you find flushing squatters.  What do you find?  Trenches.  There are two types of trenches: the forward facing trench and the sideways facing trench.  Two to three feet high walls usually separate these stalls, so lingering while pulling your pants up is not an option, unless you want to flash everyone in the restroom.  These trenches do not flush, and in rural areas, I would not be surprised if local farmers used the collection of feces as fertilizer (which is a reason to thoroughly wash ALL fruits and vegetables that you cannot peel in China!).  Another added bonus to trenches, and some squatters, is that there are rarely doors. 

 

Some fun facts about Chinese bathrooms and toilets:

oOnly organic objects can go down the average Chinese toilet; therefore, all paper products, like toilet paper & sanitary products are put into a trash bin that is usually in every stall. 

oToilet paper is not provided at most restrooms.  So bring your own EVERYWHERE!  You never know when you’ll need it.  Toilet paper, like most other things in China, is extremely cheap.  I’ve seen people carry around the little tissue packs or huge rolls of toilet paper. (Funny side-note about carrying around toilet paper.  I usually carry toilet paper in my purse or backpack, but when I am walking around without either of those I put some rolled up toilet paper in my back pocket of my jeans.  When some friends and I were walking around Jianshui (建水) yesterday, somehow that long bunch of toilet paper came out of my pants and I was trailing a tail of toilet paper.  Luckily, Cara pointed it out, but I was extremely embarrassed.)   Toilet paper is also handy for a runny nose after a very spicy meal.

oBathrooms in homes usually have the showerhead directly over the toilet, be it throne or squatter.  Most families will mop up the water right after everyone has showered, though in my dorm room, I just let it air dry. 

oOn Western Street in Kunming, most cafes, like the one I’m in right now (Salvadore’s), say in both Chinese and English “Please no shit!”  Some older pipes in China can’t handle this.  Most restaurants will charge you for clean up if you do happen to break this rule.  I would hate to be the 服务员 (fúwù yuan) who had to clean that up.

oLittle children and babies often wear what I called split pants.  They do not wear diapers (except, I’m glad to say, while traveling on trains, buses, and airplanes).  Instead, parents often hold their tiny kids over trash cans or just in the parents squatting lap to do their business on the street in public.  I can’t seem to get used to the idea of the little kids just going on the street, but the split pants are absolutely adorable!  I think that once children stop wearing split pants, they should use regular bathrooms – this is not the case.  Just today, I saw a mother holding, what looked like, her ten year old son over a trash can on the street.  I just can’t get used to that, but then again, I grew up in a society where disposable diapers are the norm.  Disposable diapers are extremely expensive, even in China.  Unless a parent is traveling with a child who is not potty trained, there is no need to buy expensive diapers when the alternative is free.

oOften for disgusting public bathrooms, a fee of three to five 毛 (mao – ten 毛 is equal to one 元 ﹣yuan).  So it is really cheap to use the public restrooms, but you still have to pay.

 

            As I mentioned earlier, stomach problems are almost daily problems for westerners in China.  Chinese food does not contain a lot of fiber, and, especially when you are traveling, it is hard to get your hands on nutritious food.  This past week, while traveling in Yuányáng (元 阳) I could definitely see how the worst drought in 60 years was affecting this rural community.  Throughout the area, running water in bathrooms was turned off at 2 PM everyday.  This meant we couldn’t use the restroom in our guest house room.  Instead we had to use a public bathroom, which at least had doors that didn’t lock.  Let’s just say, three of us ate something that didn’t sit well and all three of us got lā dùzi right at 2 PM.  Having lā dùzi on a squatter was when I think I had my first ”fed up with China” moment – the moment when nothing makes sense and you just can’t see why this is happening to you.  (Sorry to anyone who is not comfortable with swearing, but the way every westerner in China seems to describe these really annoying moments is actually a ”f*** China” moment).  My first “fed up with China” moment left as quickly as it had come, but it was still, unfortunately, memorable. 

            Everyone asks, “when will my stomach get used to the food?”  Sometimes never.  Chinese food affects westerners differently.  Even though the food may be absolutely delicious, like the first time I got sick in Kunming, it still just “kills” your stomach.  There are foreigners in China who never get sick, but then there are those who, after years of living here, are still hugely affected.  I just hope, for my sake, that I can avoid more of these major digestive issues some of which I have already experienced. 

 

If you are really interested in seeing images of different things I talked about today, here you are…

http://p-standingup.com/pee-standing-up/wp-content/chinese-toilet1.jpg

http://www.molon.de/galleries/China/Yunnan/Lijiang/Misc/images01/04%20Chinese%20toilet.jpg

http://greenbabyguide.com/files/2009/01/diaper-free-baby-in-split-pants.jpg

http://www.beijing-kids.com/files/u4/split_pants_0.jpg

 

Until next time…

Religions in China – March 15th 2010

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The Western Hills is a tourist trap about an hour outside of Kunming. Despite this, it is absolutely beautiful. The temples on the Western Hills also are used as a social gathering place for local people. Having our Buddhism lecture in a temple was relaxing and serene. I learned a few interesting things about Buddhism in China.

            Yunnan Province in one of the only places in the world where all three types of Buddhism are practiced: Theraveda Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, and Tibetan Buddhism. Theraveda Buddhism focuses on training the mind through meditation. The main goal of meditation is to achieve Nirvana. Theraveda Buddhism is mostly practiced in Sri Lanka, Laos, and Cambodia. Because Southern Yunnan borders Laos, Theraveda Buddhism is widely practiced throughout southern Yunnan Province. Mahayana Buddhism, derogatively known as ‘Hinayana’ or small vehicle, doesn’t focus on escaping the suffering of life into nirvana, a person returns as a Bodhisattva to the world for the sake of other sentient beings. Mahayana emphasizes the duty to help relieve suffering of others. Mahayana spread into China around the first century C.E. This sect of Buddhism is the main sect practiced within China. The main focus of Mahayana Buddhism is the Bodhisattva Vow. Once a person achieves the point where they don’t have to be reborn (nirvana), they can choose to be reborn to help as many others as possible achieve nirvana or enlightenment. Tibetan Buddhism is not always considered a separate sect of Buddhism. It is sometimes considered a type of Mahayana Buddhism, but it embraces different texts and teachings not found in Mahayana Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism uses texts from Theraveda and Mahayana Buddhism, as well as other Buddhism Tantras. Tibetan Buddhism uses dynamic polar opposites to help achieve enlightenment in one lifetime. Northwestern Yunnan borders Tibet and Tibetan communities live within Yunnan as well.

            Lamas (including the Dalai Lama) were created by the Mongolians to create a hierarchy in Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th Dalai Lama is actually considered the living reincarnation of Guanyin (Guanshiyin 觀世音). Guanyin may be more important than the Buddha himself in China. As Buddhism crossed over Asia into China, Guanyin transformed from a male to a female. She is a Bodhisattva who is the embodiment of compassion and the bestower of mercy and gifts.

            After having a lecture in a Buddhist Temple, we continued up the mountain to the entrance of the Western Hills Tourist Spot. We went on a Wednesday so it was very busy. Scattered on the mountain are many different Daoist Shrines. I made it to the end of the path at the top of the mountain. It was the most beautiful view of the city that I could have ever seen. The day was bright and warm and absolutely perfect.

 

            On Friday, we visited a mosque in Kunming. We watched the Friday 1:00 PM prayers and then went to a private room for a discussion. In China, the Chinese Government classified people practicing Islam as a separate ethnic minority called the Hui. This group is the largest of all Muslim groups in China. Most other ethnic minorities in China share a geographical area, culture and language. The Hui do not share any of these characteristics with other Hui. The only thing that classifies them as a minority is their religion.

            Islam came to China in the seventh century C.E. by Persian traders. It moved primarily along the northern Silk Road through Xi’an. In the 10th century, Northwestern China adopted Islam, including Mongolia. In the 12th century, the Mongolians began conquering Asia. The Mongols brought Islam to Yunnan Province, and, to this day, there is a Mongolian community just outside Tonghai. The Mongolians brought Yunnan into the Chinese realm, as well as bringing Islam to Yunnan.

            There are ten ethnic minorities in China that practice Islam. Many of them have their own nation states that split with the break of the Soviet Union. In Yunnan, the majority of Muslims practice Suni Islam. There are about 500,000 Muslims in Yunnan: 8 million Hui in China: and 17 million Muslims overall in China.

 

On Sunday, I went to a small Christian Village about two hours outside of Kunming to watch the Sunday church service. The village is called Xiao Shui Jing, and the 480 residents are all Miao Chinese ethnic minority. All of the adults in this village are practicing Christians. This village is nationally known for their church choirs. While in this village, I saw one of their choirs sing a Chinese version of the Hallelujah chorus, accompanied by accordion and piano. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard.

            Christianity in China has a rough, but long history. It could have come to China as early as 220 C.E.; however, the first documented evidence is from the 7th century. In China, Christianity is seen as an outside religion. Christianity has been through several stages in China where it was welcomed and then forcibly pushed out. When the Mongolians created the Yuan Dynasty in the 13th century, Christianity was welcomed. Even Genghis Khan’s daughters became Christian. The Mongol government was itself viewed as a foreign government. I think the Yuan Dynasty welcomed Christianity because it was seen as more foreign, therefore trying to make the dynasty look less foreign. After the opium wars, the role of missionaries and the Christian church in general faced many challenges. During the Boxer Rebellion, which was a reaction against foreign influence, over 100,000 Christians were killed. They were seen as western evil.

            Things started looking up for Christians in the early 20th century because some powerful Chinese leaders, such as Sun Yatsen and Chiang Kai-shek, were baptized Christians. Madame Chiang Kai-shek is also a very famous devout Christian during this time. Perhaps Christianity would be thought of in better light?

            In 1800, there were only 250,000 baptized Christians in China. Even in 1949, the population of Christians had only doubled. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), who took over governing China in 1949, considers religions to be superstitious. (In elementary school textbooks in China, religion is defined as the ignorance of natural science.)  Atheism is supposedly the main religion. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, all missionaries were forced to leave by the CCP (reluctant exodus). During the Cultural Revolution, Christians were persecuted by the Red Guards, government, and the army. Some Christians, including a 94-year-old man, Mr. Huang, who talked to my class, were sent to prison for ten or more years simply because of their beliefs. Mr. Huang was put into prison for twenty years because of his beliefs, and to this day is afraid to go to church publicly.

            After the 1970’s, the CCP relaxed control over religious matters. For all religions in China, they created the three self’s principles. All religious organizations must be self-supporting, self-administrating, and self-propagating. All practicing Christianity must worship in a registered church and must officially register with the CCP. Another limitation is that people can only enter a church and be baptized at age 18. Missionaries also are banned from China. It is illegal to be or become a missionary.

            In the 1980’s, small house churches, which are not officially registered with the CCP, began popping up throughout most of China. Because of these house churches, it is hard to tell the real population of Christians in China. In 2006, an independent census showed that there are 40 to 130 million Christians in China. That’s a big statistical gap, right?

 

Anyway, enough from me for now.

 

Cassie

Schedule and Orientation Week

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Schedule for the semester:

2/26     Drop off assignment

3/1       Classes start at Yunnan Nationalities University

3/19     Yunnan Exploration Project

3/25     Come to Kunming after Exploration Project

3/26     Kunming Homestay

4/11     Field trip to Northwest Yunnan

4/26     Start Independent Study Project (ISP)

5/27     Finish ISP Project

6/1       Go to Beijing

 

A week or so has gone by since my last post.  Since then, I have completed orientation week for my study abroad program.  Before this week, I thought that everyone who talked about Kunming and Yunnan Province were exaggerating about the perfect, spring-like weather.  It was only a few days after arriving that the beautiful weather started.  During the day, the sun is bright and the skies always seem bright blue.  After the smog of Beijing, seeing the sky in China is a wonderful thing.  The temperature during the day ranges from 65 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, with early morning and evening getting much chillier.  There is no heating system in the buildings, so during the day, when inside, I still need a few layers, and I even have two quilts on my dorm bed for sleeping.

 

The first two days of the SIT program we spent in Tonghai, a town of about 40,000 people.  During our stay in Tonghai I experienced new temples, a flower festival, bound feet, climbing fences to get into the hotel, knife fights, an English school, and a fun nightlife.

 

So far, I have witnessed two near-fights occur in China.  The first was my second night in Tonghai.  Jeff and I were sitting in the hotel lobby waiting for his roommate when along comes a pretty agitated guy who proceeds to pull out a switchblade and uses it to try to cut leaves from a standing plant.  A friend of his comes along and pulls out a long blade.  Then, a few people come down from the second floor and start shoving the guy with the switchblade.  He runs to grab a fire extinguisher to use as a weapon.  Jeff and I jump off of the couches and run outside the building to get out of there.  It was one of the scariest experiences I’ve ever witnessed.  After Jeff and I walked a big circle around the hotel, we saw a police car pulling away from the front entry.  I don’t know what actually happened, but I’m glad we didn’t hang around. 

 

The second fight I saw was scarier, but it didn’t seem to be an immediate danger to me.  This fight was in Kunming a few blocks from campus.  At first I saw a man being dragged out of a local restaurant by two men.  Next, I looked inside only to observe five people holding back a cook with the largest butcher’s knife I have ever seen.  I felt so nervous for the people trying to restrain the cook. 

 

On our second day in Tonghai, I met the head of the local English teaching school, Alfred.  I didn’t expect to randomly meet all of the young students of this school as I climbed down an ancient temple-filled mountain.  So here I was walking down with a friend and about sixty kids, ranging from four to fifteen years old, who bombarded me with questions like I was a celebrity.  A few minutes later, most of my study-abroad group had climbed the mountain and were receiving the same kind of treatment by those adorable kids.  Most asked questions like what my name is, where I’m from, how old I am, etc.  Some were extremely shy, and others were very brave for their limited knowledge of English.  The entire time that we were on the mountain, and even later, the kids plied us with gifts of candy and other Chinese snacks.  I left with my hands, pockets, and purse full of snacks.  Eventually, we went down to the kids’ school and one little girl, Alice, got really attached to me.  She was the most adorable eight-year-old girl.  Her English was really good, and she helped me with my Chinese as well. 

 

I really enjoyed the two days in Tonghai.  My favorite part and least favorite part was the time Mr. Li came to dinner with people from different counties.  They showed us their toasting culture.  The drinking songs were fun and entertaining and I never expected Chinese minorities to have so many drinking songs nor did I expect the drink baijiu to be such a big part of the evening.  There was one point in the festivities when a lady, who seemed to have a stomach of steel, came up to me when I was trying to get back to my seat and toasted me.  I had tried baijiu before, so I really didn’t want to taste it again. I relented a little and put the cup to my lips, just intending to take a tiny bit.  The lady tilted the cup back and sort of forced me to down half a cup of baijiu.  People at my table said I looked like I was about to throw up.  When I finally swallowed, the lady looked satisfied.  Fifteen minutes later, the same lady came around pouring more baijiu around my table.  I covered my cup and said no a few times.  She gave me a look and then poured the amount that I would have gotten in her cup as if to say, ‘look what I can do.  Why can’t you?’

 

Back in Kunming, after a few more days of orientation, on Friday my academic director split the class into five groups and gave us a drop-off assignment.  Each group was given a place to find around the Kunming area.  I was with David (a mostly fluent student), Zebin, and Cara.  We were told to find and get to the Bamboo Temple.  We started by asking a man at the front desk if he could point it out on the map I had.  It turns out that it was so far away from downtown Kunming that it was off the map.  We then decided that we would try to find the number 70 bus.  When we found it, David asked the bus driver if this was the right direction.  The driver said that we were on the wrong bus and we should get off at the next stop and ask someone there which bus to take.  David asked someone at this stop and they said take the 83 five stops.  Then we asked around at this stop and no one knew where to go.  It took about fifteen minutes to find the right bus that would take us to the Bamboo Temple.  We got on this bus and drove for about ten minutes before we hit a dirt road.  There was dust flying everywhere.  After about 300 meters, the bus turned onto a mountain road that had a speed limit of five kilometers an hour.  From this mountain, there were beautiful views of the city.  The bus ride lasted about half an hour and dropped us off right in front of the Buddhist Temple.  I was very happy to note that commercialism was not a problem with this temple like there were with other temples I have been to in China.  The temple was a well-kept temple that people who actually want to practice Buddhism and even Daoism can come here.  (In this area of China, it is common to combine Buddhist and Daoist figures in the same temple.)  The main part of the temple seemed to still have the original architecture and paint, while near the rear of the compound there was a new walkway and pond.  This was a beautiful and serene area for this temple.  I will go back there while I am still in Kunming so that I can try to talk to the monk who lives there.  This day was some of the most fun I’ve had so far because I was forced to use public transportation and not know where I was.  It was a big challenge!

 

Official classes started March 1st.  I have oral Chinese class in the morning from 8-10, Taijiquan from 10-10:30, and comprehension Chinese class from 10:30-Noon.  The nice thing about Chinese class is that I am in my own class.  I have one to one teacher ratio.  I also get two different teachers for each Chinese class: Zhang Laoshi and Wang Laoshi.  The toughest thing for me right now is learning simplified characters, but my comprehension is pretty good. 

 

Well, I have to start my Chinese homework and preparation for tomorrow’s classes.  I hope to write more later this week. (P.S. I’m getting pretty homesick.)