Yunnan Travels, Part 1

Even though I arrived back in Beijing three weeks ago, the memories from my February travels are still fresh in my mind. Because the trip was so long (3 weeks) and so much happened, I'm going to tell you about a few of the more interesting aspects. Moreover, because so many interesting things happened and right now life is incredibly busy, I'm going to split up the Yunnan trip post into a few parts.

First, for a little bit of background, SYA took all 50 of us to Yunnan, China's large, southern province. Yunnan has a very different feel than other places I have visited in China, mostly owing to the huge percentage of ethnic minorities living in this region. Also, the terrain in Yunnan varies from wide grass lands to towering mountains. We spent most of our time in the tropical and rainforest section of the province.

Our group started out in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, to find our Beijing heavy winter jackets and furry mittens completely useless. The weather was stunning and we spent a day exploring the city's temples and pagodas on our own.
From Kunming, we traveled to a small village famous for its special 'dragon dance'. As soon as we got off of the bus a small troupe of dancers and musicians greeted us with a performance. Their costumes were deep, rich colors with intricate stitching and designs, and the dancers clothing had small silver bells attached that dinged wildly with their swirling movements. Not far from the performers stood a small group of little children torn between watching their mothers and aunts dance and looking at the bizarre group of scraggly American teenagers. After putting our stuff away in our very basic accommodations, we went back to the main square to find the group of children waiting. One girl, slightly older than the rest, looked at me in the eye and smiled as she bravely walked my way. Lily, as I later named her, became my tour guide for the day.
Lily, 10 years old, took my friend and I through every nook and cranny in her village. First we visited her grandmother's home and watched as the family prepared dinner. Because the village was primarily non-Han Chinese, the older generations, such as Lily's grandmother did not speak Chinese but rather their own complicated language. After visiting the house, she, took us to a look out point where a farmer was packing radishes onto a truck. She went up to him, said something, and the man handed over his foot long scythe to the 10 year old... After a moment of panic, I relaxed as Lily picked up a giant radish and artfully carved off the skin. She gave both my friend and I our own foot long radishes which we munched on as the tour continued.
From there we were led down the dirt path through the small rundown houses to a large and completely deserted group of buildings. All of the doors were barred and it was slient. Lily grabbed my hand and giggled as she dove into one of the narrow alleys. My friend tore after us and we were completely alone with the sound of our laughter echoing eerily. I later found out that the building was a deserted smoke house to make tobacco.
Lily took us all through her town. We saw the houses of her friends and family, and she was especially proud to show us her family's land. Her family owned a good portion of land on which they grew a variety of vegetables ranging from lettuce to plum trees. There was such pride in her voice when she explained what everything was and that she had helped her family plant them.
I have such a strong mental picture of leaving the village, looking on the villagers from my seat on the bus and seeing Lily's smiling face. The little girl waving to me from below had given me the best glimpse into village life I could ever get.

Expect the next section up soon!
Until then,
Julia

Song of the Week: Colors By: Amos Lee