From Grits to Chopsticks

Our 11th floor apartment overlooks an unoccupied 4 story building.  But recently, the building has been undergoing a renovation, where the walls are being busted out and rebuilt.  Here is the building at the beginning of the project:

A major part of any building project are the laborers.  These men and women possess an amazing amount of strength and determination, carrying debris down and hauling new materials up:

While they work on a project, they take up residence wherever is most convenient.  Since the weather has been nice lately, they’ve been spending most of their time on the roof.

Unlike suburban America, everyone’s lives in our compressed city of 8 million intertwine.  Each time we look out our window, we catch a glimpse of their simple lifestyle.  Using just a few tools, they cook and eat some delicious looking meals:They do laundry:Work on projects (with minimal safety equipment):Wash hair:and, time permitting, play cards and relax:When we moved to China, we downsized and simplified our lifestyle.  But after watching our new neighbors, we have a long way to go on the path toward true simplification.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, we explored the northeast corner of Dianchi Lake, walking into some of the areas that were formerly active fishing villages (pre-pollution).  A few things that we saw along the way:

a snack of quail eggs:A fisherman on his make-shift boat:Some goats grazing alongside the highway:fishing boats that appear to have been idle for a long time:Some men using a large drop net, occasionally extracting a small fish from the green lagoon:and middle-aged women, wearing their typical sweaters and hats:As we got deeper into the old section, there was a small roadside market with fish cleaners and shrimp sorters: We walked the narrow road alongside the channel,and there were huge spider webs overhead, just waiting to snare a tall foreigner:Down one of the alleyways, we saw a man and woman plucking ducks,and some very rich farmland, probably hand-worked the same way for generations: We emerged onto a road with a huge advertisement for a spa-resort:As we entered the front parking area, we were surprised to see a derelict climbing wall:and huge, empty conference facilities:As with most of our life in China, we never know what to expect when taking a walk.

A few weeks ago, we visited the Yunnan Railway Museum:It is very well done (especially if you’re an engineer), charting the vivid history of railroad construction and modernization throughout our province.The English descriptions throughout the museum were unusually clear.  Documentation included strong adjectives that didn’t gloss over historical perspectives :The museum contains relics and photos of the massive project to build a railroad between Kunming and Haiphong, Vietnam (530 miles).  250,000 workers spent seven years on the project which opened for traffic in 1910.  The terrain was formidable and claimed over 60,000 lives: The sections of rail came from all over the world, including America:The corridors of the museum are well decorated and begged for a typical family pose:A huge train room houses locomotives and cars:including this engine that ran on the original narrow-gauge track to Vietnam.  Made by Baldwin in Philadelphia, it weighed in at 25 tons:When you look at the “control panel,” it clearly took an engineer to operate:It didn’t take too long for things to grow, as you can tell by this wide-gauge locomotive produced in China at an operating weight of 140 tons:Now, we have high speed, elevated trains spreading across the country.  Things have certainly changed since those first explorers scouted out the best routes for new rail lines!

We recently joined the 100’s of millions of people who traveled during the National Holiday, heading north to visit Tim and Caitlyn in Chengdu.  It was wonderful to spend time together talking, walking, and eating.  Our first walk took us toward the downtown area where things were a bit crowded (Timothy is the tall guy with dark hair):Along the way, we stopped at CoCo for some pearl milk tea:We then went to “The Blue Frog” for some real hamburgers (a rare treat):One of my Kunming students gave us some moon cakes from northeastern China, so we conducted a taste test together:Our second walk was a bit more peaceful:We eventually ended up at a genuine southern barbeque restaurant, a unique experience for all of us in China:It was amazing – mouth watering ribs and tender pulled pork:The slaw and bread were different than we might’ve expected, but they actually had “South Carolina Mustard” BBQ sauce:Other than the usual air pollution, the weather was nice.  Timothy and Caitlyn worked hard to clear away a huge pile of demolition debris, allowing us to sit on their rooftop and play Bananagrams:A short walk from their apartment, you will see many idol shops and religious bead sellers:

There is also ethnic food.  We went to a nearby minority restaurant and had MoMos and meat pies:While it is often hard to breathe the air in Chengdu, it certainly has some of the best food and family in Western China:

One of the interesting things about living in a different culture is the opportunity to enjoy new foods.  There’s nothing quite like a plate of fried bamboo worms to start off a meal:

We actually ate them and they weren’t too bad.  We’re still not sure which end is the black part, but we hope it’s the head.  We also recently had our first experience eating unprocessed hawthorn, which is sticky and sweet:

And we still find it interesting when our nearby restaurant receives a side of beef, throws it on a table out front, and chops it up before cooking:

On a significant shift from our usual cheap restaurants, we were recently asked to attend the Provincial “Foreign Expert” dinner.  It was a very classy affair:

For those of you who don’t know, Susan’s analytical side often emerges at dinner time.  It’s typical to test duplicate items and rank according to preference.  This time, we had two tests, one for baked fish and another for baked beans:

We occasionally have the opportunity to visit a Starbucks coffee shop here in China. Unlike the Starbucks in America, the Chinese stores do not have powdered creamer.  Susan happened to have a packet of her own, prompting a comparison with local cream and milk:Since she likes her coffee scalding hot, I was not surprised when she preferred the “Coffee-mate” sample.

We recently celebrated the Chinese mid-Autumn festival and received quite a few moon cakes from the school and from friends.  Of course, we tested seven of them to identify our favorite:

We enjoyed the pineapple one the most (on the far left).  The worst was the second one from the left, which reminded us of moldy licorice.

In the interest of broadening world views, we brought back America’s answer to moon cakes and shared them with our students this year:

It’s nice to do our part to bridge the culture gap!

Last weekend, we made a quick trip to the nearby city of Dali to spend some time encouraging a dear old friend who is in the final stages of cancer.  But (as we expected) his deep faith and love for others probably encouraged us more than vice versa:At his house, we enjoyed a delicious home-cooked meal with other friends:

Dali is a beautiful city, bordered on one side by Lake Erhi and on the other by misty mountains:Although most of the Dali old city has been rebuilt, it has maintained a special feel and charm:

We stayed at the Sleepyfish Lodge, home to two very lazy golden retrievers:At $45 (including breakfast and bikes), it’s a good place to stay.We also visited some friends who teach at Dali University.  I’m trying very hard to avoid coveting the grounds of their campus:Another friend made this amazing coconut crème pie:Speaking of food, we had some tasty fish for lunch:If you come for a visit, we would love to take the trip back to Dali together!

Here are a few more photos from our weekly market.  This is the day that farmers and collectors come to town and sell their stuff, like freshly gathered walnuts and mushrooms:beehives and bees in a bottle:Roasted chestnuts and seeds:Freshly made chips, seasoned with a few cigarette ashes:fresh goat meat:and hundreds of other fruits and vegetables:

If you get sick, there are plenty of Traditional Chinese Medicine vendors to help you out:You can also buy the latest fashions, dishes, toys, etc:Here’s a tiny video clip of me entering the market (click Market Day).  But to get the full effect in-person, come visit us on a Thursday!

It’s always interesting to walk through the Thursday market nearby our apartment and see the variety of products and services for sale.  If you’re willing to take a small risk, you can get your hair cut…… or you can take a bigger risk and get your teeth fixed:You can buy traditional Chinese musical instruments……or you can just sit and listen to old guys play them (click Market Music to listen):You can buy huge smoking pipes……or you can eat smoky barbeque and stinky tofu:You can buy fish and reptiles for pets……or you can take some home for supper:You can take a risk and eat some very spicy stuff…… or you can play it safe and eat apples (currently in-season here):I could also risk making this blog too long, or I could post more photos from the market next week…

The school year in China is underway, bringing a new group of freshmen to campus.  On this rainy afternoon, they assembled in the school plaza for firefighting training:

Most of their time is spent marching.  For the last two weeks, we’ve been listening as they counted “yi, er, san, si” on the nearby field (click here to watch Marching Freshmen): Perhaps this group leader is inspecting the uniformity of pony tails:Here is a picture of my students on their first day of school.  Because of the coming holidays (“Victory Day”), about 20% were not present:The Victory Day holiday (see previous post) was celebrated on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Like most holidays in China, the lost time had to be made up.  Here is a shot of the new primary school students across the street on Sunday morning.  As you can see, they start working as a group early in their lives:The rainy season is upon us, with clouds and rain almost every day:Here is an opportunistic umbrella salesman in front of our apartment complex:And here, the students are taking advantage of a rare dry day to do their laundry:We also find ourselves wishing for a clothes dryer – even though our laundry hangs inside of our enclosed porch, it takes about 3 days to dry!

Seventy years ago, on September 2, 1945, the Japanese foreign affairs minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on board USS Missouri.  Prior to the Japanese surrender, the American Volunteer Group fought alongside the Chinese from their base in Kunming.  This cooperative effort is memorialized inside of the Kunming City Museum:Their nickname, the “Flying Tigers,” came from their amazing success as fighter pilots:Contrasted with our modern military equipment, it is interesting to see the implements that these pilots used for navigation and survival:If you’re ever in Kunming, the Flying Tigers exhibit is worth a visit:Based on a comment from a friend, we recently discovered that Susan had a minor connection with the Flying Tigers.  During the 1970’s, she attended church in South Carolina where this man was a member:Even though he was quite old at the time, Dr. Greene Strother showed a spirit of enthusiasm during each service.  Interestingly, he was in Kunming long before us – serving as the chaplain for the Flying Tigers!