Disappointingly we were unable to use this blog while in China. We assume that this is part of China's control of social media. Facebook doesn't operate in China either. Following are some thoughts from the trip so far.
*There are a lot of people in this part of the world.
*Remember my comment about the Japanese driving on the left side of the road. Well they drive on the right side in Taiwan; on the left in Hong Kong and in mainland China on the right.....on the left....down the middle, traffic or no traffic....a crazy dance of cars, trucks, scooters,bicycles, and pedestrians all at one time...stoplights optonal. Somehow they miss each other, barely, but they do. Clearly though why Americans are advised not to drive in China. I've driven in a lot of countries and a lot of crazy places in the U.S. but no way do I want to drive in China.
*Fortunately we did not have to worry about transportation in mainland China. Unbeknownst to us Su-Shien's(Aaron's girlfriend. Shirley) relatives in Kunming arranged for a driver and van to take us to Dali, Lijiang, and Shangrila starting on Monday, October 31. Likewise, he carried us all over the countryside. We flew from Shangrila back to Kunming on Saturday night, November 5, so Su-Shien could spend some time with an Aunt and Uncle and two cousins she (I believe) had never met. After a fabulous lunch at a converted railroad station built by the French in 1910 and some shopping we flew back to Taiwan on Sunday night, November 6. Su-Shien had to be back at work on Monday. She writes for and designs some covers for the Chinese version of Esquire magazine. Peggy and I decided to change our tickets so that instead of transferring planes in Hong Kong we delayed our connection for two days so we could get a taste of Hong Kong. We spent Sunday and Monday night and flew to Taipei on Tuesday night, November 9.
*If you are like me you probably never heard of Kunming. It's the largest city in the Yunnan Province of China with a population of 7.21 million. The city, which according to some sources is over 2200 years old, is not considered a large city by it's residents or by China standard's. (Keep in mind, this is more people than the entire state of North Carolina.) Yunnan Province is populated by 28 different ethnic groups (like me you probably thought all Chinese were the same, has a population of over 46 million and covers an area 3 times the size of North Carolina.
*In Dali we were at an elevation of over 7,000 feet, in Lijiang at around 8,000 feet and in Shangrila at around 10,000 feet. You could definitely feel it in Shangrila; it takes some time to adjust. Keep in mind that the highest point in NC is just over 6,000 feet. I estimate that we were at our highest while driving over the mountains at about 12,000 feet. In Shangrila we were closer to Tibet than to Lijiang. Basically we were in the foothills of the Himalayas.
*Shangri-La was a fictional paradise in the novel, Lost Horizon by James Hilton from 1933. The Chinese government got the idea of boosting tourism in this remote part of the country by calling it Shangri-La. The actual name of the place is Diqing. Even though the place is no where near Dali and Lijiang in character, the ruse seems to have worked with tourists flocking to the area. Accommodations are still catching up.
*The books say to check the hotel rooms in China and you better heed the advice, particularly in remote areas. First, the beds. Most everyone in China seems to sleep on what we call "box springs" and it's hard to get a good night's sleep if you are not used to this. In Lijiang we switched hotels after the first night from a 300 year old inn in the old historic village(which I called a Chinese "Disneyland") to the Grand Lijiang Hotel at the entry to this UNESCO world heritage site. What a difference a soft bed and hot shower makes. We called ahead and reserved rooms in what was supposed to be China's version of a five-star hotel in Shangri-La. We got there late at night after a long drive over some pretty rough, mountainous roads(everything in China seems to be under-going re-construction, particularly roads.) The lobby was impressive but freezing and every thing was downhill from there. Suffice it to say, this was the most miserable night's attempt at sleep of the trip. The next day we set out to find other accommodations in the old historic part of town. The first requirement was the rare soft mattress which we insisted on testing. After many unsuccessful attempts at both the soft mattress and a bathroom in the room, I discovered a newly converted facility in the midst of major street(I use the term loosely) renovation in the old town which met all the requirements. The other two requirements were hot water and heat, nothing to assume no matter what the rating or character of the hotel appears to be. We did discover later that there were some other new hotels in the more modern part of the city but I'd make no assumptions as to the quality of the facility without personal inspection.
Since it's now 2 AM and I have an 11 AM luncheon with John Chen I'll sign off for now. Look forward to "Squatters, Toilet Paper and More". Later.
Walter
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