China Odyssey 2009

This is the last update to this year's China Odessy Blog.  The rest of the group should be Stateside soon, if they're not already.  I'm in Kuala Lumpur visiting family, and thought I'd put up a few last pictures and thoughts.

First, I'd like to thank Shane, Dr McDaniel, and all of Heifer International for making our journey possible.  This has been a unique experience for all of us, and I know we will endeavor to carry it with us.

Maybe it was just the thin air, I found our time in Shangri-la a little bit magical.  The fellowship's days were drawing to an end, though our surroundings seemed timeless.  All of our eyes were on the bluest skies we'd ever seen, and it seemed like the place was fixed between heaven and earth.

In the morning we visited a lamastary.  It was a vast place with a labyrinthine complex of statue-populated temples and monk-filled domiciles, with architecture spanning the last few hundred years.  One temple was being torn down, while another was rebuilt a few yards away, and all of the roof decorations were plated with gold.  I couldn't find a shot in my camera that I felt really represented the place, so you'll have to settle for one of the big frescoes.  These are two of the four Kings of Heaven. 

After the group split up in Beijing, some of us stayed a few days to explore the city.  It was almost like being in another country compared to the people and places we had seen over the previous weeks.  Beijing is vast, modern, and dizzying, and I'm really not sure I can do it justice here after being there for so short a span of time.  Here are two photos from opposite times: the first from the Forbidden City, and the second from the 798 art district.

Finally, I thought I'd leave you with the view of KL from my bedroom window, because I think its fabulous.  Goodbye everyone!

Tongiht I'm calling from the fabled Shangri-la.  We've just devoured a wonderful Tibetan feast, and the Himalayan chill is setting in as we retreat to our warm hostel.  We haven't had a chance to explore the city much yet, but I'm excited about tomorrow. 

After we spent the morning planting willows and riding stubborn little Chinese horses, we hit the road.  As soon as I start to get used to these mountains, they show me something breathtaking.  Our pitstop today was the Tiger Leaping Gorge, where the Golden Sands river cuts between two dramatic snow-topped mountains.

Soon after we saw our first yak, small stupas and piles of stones gathered by pilgrims began to dot the landscape. 

And that's all I have for you now.  Be well.

This is a short update, I just wanted to let you all know we're doing fine and give you a couple of pictures.  Here you go:

This is dinner in Dui Mei Xia, where we spent the night at one of Heifer's more experienced program villages.

Here we are near the top of  Yulongxueshan (Jade Dradon Snow Mountain) looking out over the glacier.

Since the last update, we've been to the Wa village of Manli, soaked in a lovely hotspring in Tengchong, hiked up a dormant volcano, eaten bamboo caterpillars, visited Yi village of Gangou, and learned a few ethnic dances to share with the folks back home. 

Despite the catarpillars, we're all well and are being cared for, by our countryside hosts, Shane, and our professors.  We've even been promised pizza tomorrow night, and as much as I love the local cuisine, I have to say a little familiarity will be nice. 

The thing I've been thinking about lately is how easy it is to communicate with just a few words.  "Please,"  "thank you," and "hello," combined with a smile and some charades, can get you farther than I ever expected.  In Manli, Lauren and I made a fast friend, who walked along with us hand-in-hand through her village.  Though we spoke in two very different languages, the content of the conversation was clear - love is everywhere.

I know what you're thinking...blah blah blah, that's great and all, but show me some pictures.  I want to see my kid/friend/significant other doing cool things in China.  Alright, you've been heard!

These are thumbnails, so click on them to make them big (da ee chien!)

Monday morning was spent in very interesting meetings with a few NGOs in Kunming, among them PEAC, an anti-pesticide group, an agriforestry group, and of course Heifer's regional office.  This sort of meeting was new to the Heifer study tours, and I think we all enjoyed it very much.  It was especially interesting to me to be able to see the relationship between these organizations and how they operate in the Chinese legal system.

That evening, we hopped on a plane, then a van, and ended up in Longli.  We rested well and then traveled along winding stone roads through the Himalayas, finally arriving at an A-Chang village, the first of Heifer's projects that we've visited.  Our welcome was spectacular, and we were literally greeted with drums and dancing.  Everyone was smiling and happy to see us.  A stone to commemorate the event and Heifer's influence in the village was unveiled with speeches and firecrackers, and we were served tea as we met with representatives from the six self-help groups to ask each other questions about the project and our cultures.

After the meeting, we visited the homes of a few of the villagers, who allowed themselves to be interviewed.  We have a little video of these proceedings, and hopefully we'll get to share with y'all sometime soon.  After the visits, we returned to the village center for a wonderful feast, followed by performances in our honor.  The younger A-Chang sang and danced to a blend of modern and traditional music, and we even jumped in with renditions of Take Me Home, Country Roads and This Land is Your Land, followed by Jamie with the popular Chinese song, The Moon Represents My Heart.   We were taught a traditional dance that circled around the fire (we'll show you when we get back), and then were given a grand exit to complement our arrival.

All in all, the students have agreed that it was one of the most incredible nights of our lives.  We were totally blown away by the hospitality and kindness of the people we were there to help.

See you soon

Sam

Oh my, our first couple of days have been full and fascinating.  I'm not really sure where to start, save the beginning.

The plane ride was very long, but, aside from a few updrafts and some Chinese officials with thermomotor, uneventful.  We arrived safe and tired in Kunming around 9 pm, met with Shane and were swiftly asleep in the Hump Hostel, right in the heart of the city.  Our experience of Yunnan that night was limited to the restless street filled with scooters, bikes, and minivans, lit by colorful advertisements for who knows what, and accented by the occasional scents of barbecue, exhaust, blossom, and decay.

This morning we were greeted with a traditional Chinese breakfast of sweet rice gruel, steamed pork dumplings, and eggs boiled in tea and anise.  After a short wander through the tourist district and a tea-tasting, we set out to the Western Hills.  A cable car took us over the Dianchi Lake, once crystal clear but now livid with an algal (or cyanobacterial) bloom, and up over a stunning sheer cliff face to the Dragon Gate.

History Lesson of the Day:  The Dragon Gate is a complex of temples built into the cliff face, begun 400 years ago by a single monk with a pickaxe.  The blend of Buddhist and Taoist imagery in the network of pagodas, tunnels, enclaves, and many, many stairs reflects the complex local folk tradition.

The bus ride back took us around the lake, showing us the fringes of the city.  An architectural mix of simple tidiness and tumbledown beauty teemed with people both busy and still.  I am quickly finding generalizations more and more difficult to make the longer I am here.

This evening we met the regional second-in-command of Heifer in the province, and went to an overwhelming banquet to get to know each other.  I've just returned from this with a belly full of Peking duck and mysterious vegetables, and tomorrow morning we're catching a flight to a city I've forgotten the name of to meet with more of the Heifer staff and discuss lots of important things.

I'll let you know how that goes the next time I run into the internet.  Until next time,

Sam

ps- pictures are coming soon

Hi everybody and welcome to the China Odyssey's blog!  We're all gearing up for our departure on Saturday, and I know I for one an getting pretty excited.  I'm Sam, by the way, and I'll be your narrator as you follow our journey!

Please note the handy links to your left - they've got lots of cool information and some great background reading to get you up to speed.

Here's a link to our itinerary so you can see what we're up to.

That's all I've got for now, but check back for an update around Sunday.  Peace!