And this is what we do in China...

So I hope many of you have had a chance to glance at the Picasa web album I sent out via email.  I had really hard time accessing the blog yesterday, it kind of comes and goes.  But now I will put up a few of those pictures that I feel need explanations.  The first half of the photos, roughly, are of Vietnam.  The first pictures I took in China are of Brook and Christa, individually, sitting in the hostel followed by the pictures of the cute cat that reminded me of Eva.  This kitty loved me.  It was so cute, she was always jumping up on my lap no matter where I was sitting or what I was doing.  Here name was black bean,  and she was very sweet.  We rarely saw here eyes though, she was constantly asleep. 

These two girls are from Norway!  We were so excited to meet them and hear they were Norwegians that they were quite confused.  When we explained that we were from Minnesota one of the girls got really excited too and said she lived there for three years and completely understood why we were so excited that they were from Norway.  She knew us Minnesotans have a lot of pride for the homeland!  They had just arrived from a month long stay in India and had beautiful henna tattoos (temporary) on their hands, arms, feet and shoulders.  We were very impressed.  We spent a long time chatting with them as they waited for their boyfriends to arrive, who were joining them for their month around southeast Asia.  It was nice to have some people to connect with and chat with right away on our journey.



The flower and bird market in Kunming that I wrote about before was filled with interesting flowers and birds.  Rachel or Karen or Mom, please let me know if you recognize any of the strange looking ones!  I know there were quite a few orchids, obviously I know the blue sparkly ones are roses (albeit dyed and covered in glitter), but a few others were completely foreign!  Also, the birds were very fascinating.  The puppies for sale were to be sold as pets, thank goodness, because in other places they are sold for meat.  I have heard awful stories about markets with dogs for sale that way and I have no intentions of subjecting myself to that mental agony, even though I know it is a cultural tradition that people generally accept here.  So I was happy to see that these puppies were well taken care of and being inspected for friendliness and nice fur instead of plumpness and a nice smell. 

There was a beautiful little pond in the middle of the market surrounded by men selling birds in wooden cages and children playing.  Christa managed to make friends with two young boys who were shooting small sticks and cigarette butts at a dead fish in the pond.  They came very close to hitting it several times which was very exciting.  I loved watching the old men try to sell their birds.  The cages were beautifully made, and birds are apparently highly desired and respected pets here. 

So, Kunming was nice, though not too many things to do. The market was definitely the highlight. We realized it was mostly a stopping point for may travelers on their way to other destinations in the very spread-out southwest of China.  It takes a minimum of 7 hours to get anywhere in Yunnan, and the average seems to be 14.  Now were are in Lijiang and have been here three full days.  Unfortunately, with Christa sick the first two and Brooke sick all day yesterday we have been mostly hanging out around the hostel and just doing minimal activity.  Because of all the sickness, I decided we needed to have a session of "cupping" which is an ancient Chinese practice of toxin removal via small glass bowls being suctioned to the back for about twenty minutes. 

We found a massage center that also offered this type of therapeutic technique and all had the glass bowls attached to our backs, which was slightly painful but oddly satisfying.  The lady first swabbed the inside of each bowl with alcohol, then stuck a flaming piece of cotton inside it before pressing it to the skin where it created a vacuum with the lack of oxygen created within the glass.  Like I said, slightly painful but also a release of toxin and pressure, especially at the end.  Christa felt almost immediately better, mostly because she was suddenly able to breathe, and had much more energy.  Brooke and I also felt great, though we all went home slept a long time that night.  Our bruises are startling gruesome, though not at all painful.  I have a rather creepy one just on my shoulder that every now and then appears in the corner of my eye and genuinely startles me, but otherwise there are no lasting harmful effects.

Lijiang is a very beautiful old town in China.  It was hit pretty bad by the earthquake a few years ago, so much of it is actually very recently rebuilt, but all in the style and exact layout of the ancient town itself.  We have very much enjoyed wandering the streets, doing some window shopping, trying out new foods and people watching in general.  Though the town has been described as overly touristy by some, we have enjoyed the level of tourism so far, especially since we are tourists and still at the beginning of our travels.  Perhaps later on we will seek areas that are less crowded and tourist-oriented but for now it is nice and generally appreciated.  The town is crisscrossed by several small rivers, giving it a nice feel as there are plenty of bridges and lots of waterways lining the small streets.  The center of the old town is off limits to cars and motorized vehicles which is also very nice. 

Make sure to check out the pictures of the food, and also the interesting signs that are on the Picasa site ( https://picasaweb.google.com/maiajoh/China1Mjh?authkey=Gv1sRgCL_nrtHfxM3ukAE&feat=directlink).  The signs are a direct example of how nationally ore\iended the Chinese are expected to be on a daily basis.  They also give some pretty good general advice about life:  "Please do not throw waste and keep a civilized behavior," "Eating out should keep civilized behavior and keep healthy eating in mind," "Everyone please strives to be a civilized resident that push the bike or motorcycle to walk,"  (no idea, really)  "Take care of all your way when travelling sade and civilized are golden," "Don't forget to keep civilized behavior during outing, and also shopping should be rational."  Obviously, that last one is our absolute favorite :).

Lastly, I suppose I should explain the pictures of the river, mountains and creepy ladder.  I decided that I really wanted to visit the Tiger Leaping Gorge, which I believe is the deepest gorge in China, if not the whole world...?  Brooke is not a fan of heights, and as Christa was sick she was not in the mood for a tough hike, so I went by myself.  It was very invigorating.  I did not have time to do the whole two day trek obviously, so I took a taxi to the middle part of the gorge, hiked down to the river and the Tiger Leaping Stone, and then back up to the road.  The entire hike took about two hours and was really quite difficult.  I love those kinds of treks though, and I'm pretty sure I wen down and back up 2,000 meters or so each way.  Maybe I'm exaggerating but it was really steep!  The weather was perfect, chilly but occasionally sunny, and slightly foggy.

The ladder on the way back up was really scary, but rather safe.  I was pretty much by myself the whole way, though there were a few tourist groups, mostly Chinese and Japanese at the bottom.  They did not take the same way up that I did though, which I don't blame them, since it was rather tough.  I'm very glad I did the trek, even though I was alone.  I really enjoy alone time out in the "wild," and I was well prepared with snacks, band aids and plenty of water.  I also had my China cell phone in case of emergency.  I loved the gorge; it was very sublime and stark, and the mountains were quite extreme. It was nice to be alone with just my thoughts and my camera. I felt very much like I was in ancient China, pretty much for the first time the whole trip. 

So, tomorrow morning we are flying to Chegdu, which is in the center of the Sichuan province (known for it's spicy foods, eek!).  We are very excited becuase we will get to see pandas at a research base just outside the city.  We will have a long weekend in and around the city, and hopefully be on our way to Xi'an by Tuesday, where we will get to see the Terracotta Warriors, woohoo!  Alright, time to go wake up the sick ones.... hopefully sick no more!  We are going to the Dragon Pool park today, and maybe a nearby town.

Lots of love from all of us!

Maia