New Photos of My Trip to Yunnan and Hong Kong
Sun 7/06/08 8:55 AM
Dear all,
I arrived back in Santa Fe, NM the evening of July 1, 2008. The plane
had to circle over Albuquerque for a while due to a rare thunderstorm.
Other than that, the flights from HK to SFO to Las Vegas to ABQ went
smoothly.
I am still trying to recover from jet-lag, sleeping from about 6 pm to 11 pm.
The link below leads you to my China trip photo album, some taken
while in Hong Kong.
--
http://picasaweb.google.com/bwongswanson/YunnanTravels2008?authkey=z3c54rqPemQ
Have a nice summer,
Belinda
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Shangrila update - 12 June 2008?
Wed 6/11/08 10:27 PM
See latest photos at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/bwongswanson/YunnanTravels2008/photo?authkey=z3c54rqPemQ#5210827785862314754
Hello everyone,
I can't believe I only have three more days here. I am running out of time to shop for souvenirs and pack them with my winter clothes and mail them by sea.
Yesterday almost the entire town shut down to watch and celebrate the Olympic Torch coming through town. I did not see it but I saw lots of people holding China national and Olympic flags, and shouting in support of China and the Olympics. The last few photos in this link were taken the night before, 10 June. They show the town's people excitement in anticipation of the Torch's arrival.
All the best,
Belinda
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Shangrila Update #3
Tue 6/03/08 9:32 PM
Hello everyone,
It's been a while since I last wrote. Things have been quite busy around here although 2 Sundays ago, I did manage to visit Bai Shui Tai (White Water Terrace), a limestone formation about 3 hours from here each way. The ride goes through narrow and curvy mountainous roads. Just the ride to/from there was quite exciting. The White Water Terrace was OK, may be if the whether has been sunnier, it would have been more impressive. Last Friday (30 May), I tied my weekly visit of the bee colonies at Hamugu with a hike behind the village, with PiChu the village leader as my guide. The day was sunny and bright, the wild flowers were in full blooms, and there were so many varieties I could not take photos of all of them. The bees should be happy with so many wild flowers to feast on. They seem to be doing well.
This latest additions to my photo album, (http://picasaweb.google.com/bwongswanson/YunnanTravels2008?authkey=z3c54rqPemQ) include a photo of the baby kittens at the Shangrila Handicraft Centre. They were about 2 weeks old when this photo was taken.
The towns people are excitedly awaiting both the traditional horse racing day and festivities, as well as the arrival of the Olympic Torch. I have heard rumors that the horse racing day activities have been cancelled because it is too close to the date of the Olympic Torch coming through but I have also heard the locals would hold their own anyway. The date of the Torch arrival is also unclear, I have heard June 8/9/11/12. The people are so friendly and kind here I can't imagine any problems arising from either event. I want to witness both events.
So long for now,
Belinda
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Shangrila Update #2
Fri 5/23/08 10:37 PM
Hello from Shangrila,
This week was just as busy as last, but the weather improved a bit. Sunshine in the morning, rain in the afternoon, slightly warmer. I have never appreciated my 2nd Street Brewery hooded sweatshirt and Jerry's Land's End down jacket so much.
The highlight of this week was the addition of new baby kittens to the Handicraft's Centre house cat Lily. The German intern Berit and I acted like new parents and went on the internet to learn about how to care for baby kittens. Lily is eating like a horse. Yesterday she decided my yogurt was much better than her cat food (dog food since we were not able to find cat food the last time we went to the store). Strange cat - we tried to feed her milk since it's much cheaper than cat food but she won't eat milk, yet she ate my yogurt. The attached photo showed Lily with her kittens, two black & white and one tan & white. There was a fourth, the first one to come out. She took very long to come out, Lily abandoned her so she did not make it.
The bee project is going well. The Hamugu villagers are very excited about starting the beekeeping project. Only 19 of the 20 bee colonies ordered survived the journey as one box tipped over while the van went through a flooded area. The sunny warmer weather is going to help quite a bit. The village is full of wild flowers right now. We hope to start collecting honey in a month.
I started teaching English to a 16-yr old Tibetan girl who runs a Tibetan weaving store with her mother and grandmother. She in turn is teaching me a little Shangrila Tibetan. I learned that the Tibetan language is not one language, it varies even just among the nearby towns.
Berit and I stay busy updating the Handicraft Centre's store inventory and adding photos to it, and we continue to work on putting together a booklet on Yunnan herbal medicine in English, with photos, brief background description, indications and dosage.
We continue to do translations for local business owners, including one for a shop that sells grilled yak meat and mutton. We made a sign for them in English with the various meat offerings and prices.
Haven't had a day off yet. Hope the weather cooperates tomorrow (Sunday) so I can do some hiking.
So long for now,
Belinda
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Shangrila Update #1
Sun 5/18/08 8:48 PM
Dear friends & family,
I am starting my second volunteering for the Yunnan Mountain Heritage Foundation.
The first part of this week will be spend attending bee keeping training. A bee keeping expert is here helping Hamugu Village to raise bees for honey and other medicinal purpose as an enterprise. It should be fun as I like to learn stuff like this.
Thank you for all those who inquire about helping with school supplies. I hope to buy what I can afford this week. I continue to talk to people here and plan to visit mountain villages in the next few weeks. I have been told that the schools in the mountain villages are much greater.
I hope to identify a sustainable project plan to help the schools after my visits and doing more research.
Best regards,
Belinda
p.s. It's been cold and rainy all week. I am so glad I have my winter clothes and down jacket. The day I visited Hamugu village was the only day of sunshine all week. The bee expert is afraid the current weather is too cold to start the bee keeping project.
