Day 3 at the Shangrila Arts & Craft Centre?
Thu 5/15/08 9:57 PM
Hello again family & friends,
I started doing volunteer work for the Yunnan Mountain Heritage Foundation Monday 12 May 2008.
The first two days was spent doing translation for a local herbal store and a local hotel.
Yesterday I visited a nearby village. You will see new photos from this visit at the following link.
After yesterday's visit, my immediate task is to translate from Chinese to English the description of this village for the village leader, to help him attract foreign visitors to his village. My near-term task is to help find labor and resources to install a donated solar hot water system and have a bathroom constructed at the village school house. Another near-term task, once I return to Hong Kong, is to solicit financial support for school supplies, including a DVD and a computer, for the village school house. My long-term task is to help the village leader write a business plan and solicit financial support to expand the village farms to grow expensive flowers for export.
As you see, I have been keeping myself quite busy and meeting people everyday. My Putonghua seems to be getting better, or at least I am able to communicate. I most enjoy joining in the traditional Tibetan dance at the town plaza in the evening. Santa Fe's free music at the Plaza bandstand is good, but this is even better in uniting people. I will try to send a video later on, when I am not so busy dancing (more like stomping & hopping) myself.
More later,
Belinda
http://picasaweb.google.com/bwongswanson/YunnanTravels2008?authkey=z3c54rqPemQ
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Yunna Travels 2008
Mon 5/12/08 9:37 PM
Dear Family & Friends:
I wish to thank everyone who emailed with concerns about my safety. The Great Power Above has been watching over me. Even though the epicenter is nearby, we at Zhongdian did not feel the earthquake at all. Typical of my usual oblivious self, I did not know anything until I started receiving messages to see if I was OK. Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart with your concerns and prayers for my safety. Oops, I run out of character limit. Bye.
More photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/bwongswanson/YunnanTravels2008?authkey=z3c54rqPemQ
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Day 2 in Kunming
Tue 5/06/08 4:40 AM
Well, I was not able to find the guide-book advertised hot spring, not even swimming pool. That is the second time I have personally experienced (and getting fooled by) a Chinese hotel advertising in its hotel website a non-existent hotel swimming pool - most annoying.
Last night, I wandered into a Muslim neighborhood near the hotel and enjoyed a wonderful dish of bitter melon with pork - best bitter melon I ever had. It came with tea and rice, all for a mere 13 Yuan.
Today I got a even better deal - a whole bamboo tray of steaming meat & vegetable buns (Shiu Loang Bao) for 4 Yuan only! This may be the start of a new book - Eating well on the cheap and on the road.
I spent about 3 hours walking in the areas of CiuHu (Green Lake) and Yunnan University. I wanted to walk on the grounds of the Yunnan University but the guards would not not let me in, apparently not open to visitors.
I have to get up at 4 am to get to the airport in time for a 7 am flight to Zhongdian. If I miss it, the next flight is at 7 pm. It's now almost 9:30 pm and I've got stuff lying all over my room. Hmm, I better start packing.
Attached is a sample of photos I took today. It was taken from my hotel room looking north, I think. I will upload my photos to a website later.
Cheers,
Belinda
http://picasaweb.google.com/bwongswanson
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Arrived Safely in Kunming?
Tue 5/06/08 4:40 AM
Dear friends & family,
Hello from Kunming, China. It has been a long trip but I finally got here.
I had a 12-hr layover in San Francisco in order to use a roundtrip freebie between Albuqurque & SFO, then had another 5.5 hr in Hong Kong. My total flight time of 15.5 hr (13+ hr SFO-HKG, & 2.5 hr HKG-KMG) was less than my layover time! Unless I am totally desperate, I don't think I will ever choose a 12-hr layover. I was near nuts with boredom. Since I was by myself and had to lug my backpack, carryon & purse everywhere, I could not walk around much, other than the necessary biological relief.
The layover in Hong Kong was great. The highly efficient public transportation in HK allowed me to get from the airport to the City Center in less than 45 minutes, where I was able to meet my friend Miguel for breakfast, then went to my sister Caroline's house for a much needed shower. Caroline was kind enough to accompany me back to the airport, just in time to catch my flight.
Once I reached Kunming, for a while, I was in a jam as I did not know the Chinese name of New Era Hotel. (Eventually I learned that it's called Shen Tse Yuan). After getting through of where I needed to go, then it was trying to find the right price to the hotel. I had wanted to take the bus but was told that I would need a transfer. Again, given my heavy load, I decided not to try my luck. In spite of my poor Putonghua, I was able to bargain a little for a ride to the hotel. Hey 10 yuan is 10 yuan when you're on a budget.
This hotel is supposed to have a hotspring so I will have to try it out. Tomorrow I will just walk around town, may be even be a little adventurous and try to get around by bus. I thought about joining a tour but decided to save my RMB's.
So long for now. Will write again when there is interesting news to report and I have access to the internet.
Belinda
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My Trip to Yunnan, China
Sun 5/18/08 8:48 PM
I am spending 6 weeks in Yunnan, China, from early May to mid-June, 2008. I plan to visit Zhongdian (renamed Shangrila) and the villages nearby, to meet with the various local ethnic minority groups and live among the local people. The goals of my trip are to:
1. learn about their history, culture and values, especially their views on economic development;
2. determine the infrastructure needs (e.g. clean water, electricity, sewage, medical clinics, schools), if any, of these communities;
3. examine feasibility of local involvement in building the infrastructure and operating business enterprises;
4. learn about the traditional building methods, historic, cultural relics and natural environment that must be preserved;
5. enable open communications between various stakeholders to jointly solve problems together.
I will report my findings to the Yunnan Mountain Heritage Foundation (http://www.ymhfshangrila.com/), to help the Foundation build relations with the local communities, and to enable it better understand the needs of the nearby communities as it tries to improve their standard of living and economic well-being.
I hope to put photos and my travel journal on this site to share my experience with you all. Come back often to find the latest news.
http://www.ymhfshangrila.com
