From Grits to Chopsticks

After a 3+ month sabbatical from mountain biking, I finally had the chance to get out and ride this morning.  My student / biker buddy showed up at 8:35 and had us to the edge of the mountain within 15 minutes.  It’s really great to have something so interesting this close to our home.  The white dome of our school building is just over my left shoulder in the photo below (click to expand) with our apartment another mile beyond over my right shoulder:

Although we walk for miles everyday here, it didn’t take too much climbing to remind me of how out of shape I am.  Of course, the altitude (6300 ft) doesn’t help much either.  The trail is a mixture of rocks and GA red clay with a bit of Arizona tossed in:

There was also a pretty spectacular cliff area near the starting point:

Yunnan Province has been having a terrible drought for the past nine months, so things near the bottom are quite dusty and hardpacked.  After climbing for a while, you move out of the rocky zone and into one with more grass and softer clay:

Behind the first mountain, you ride into a heavily forested section, more remniscent of the southeast US.  At the top of the trail, we reached our destination – a temple built about 400 years ago during the Ming dynasty:

It was interesting to think that these buildings were here just as the first settlers were arriving on the shores of America.  But my contemplative moment was cut short when my friend told me that, although the temple site was etablished 400 years ago, the temple itself was actually rebuilt just ten years ago.  The buildings certainly look much older, but then, many buildings in China look pretty old within a few years of construction.

We walked across the grounds and bought some peaches from an old man.  While we peeled and ate them, my friend talked about a long bike journey he took last year.  They ran out of food after a week or so, but were glad to find peach trees (just like these) in the mountains.  Unfortunately, shortly after eating them, his group all had a very bad case of “la du zi” (say it a few times and you’ll understand).  He believes that the hairy surface irritates your stomach, which is another good reason to peel them before eating.

Many people come here to fill their jugs at the temple spring, believing the water to have unique powers.  While I don’t think that the water is anything special, it’s obvious that the climb up and down the mountain has some positive health effects on a number of the very old people who do it everyday.  We also enjoyed lunch prepared by the caretakers (for only 4 RMB each = 59 cents): a bowl of rice, beans, cabbage, tofu, potatoes, and some other things that I didn’t recognize (not an unusual occurance here).

I wish I could’ve taken some photos on the initial descent, but I was too focused on survival to give much thought to documentation.  There were some really great rock ledges to test out the new bike (and the old arms).  And my friend was long gone before I had a chance to hand the camera to him.  But he let me catch up in time for one final shot of him heading down the dry rocky section:

Very few people on this trail have ever seen a mountain bike, so they are pretty surprised to see someone coming down the trail on one.  And in case you’re wondering, the temporary sign on the right says “Protect the forest seriously – punish the man who sets fire to the forest.”  This further reflects the serious drought conditions we have here in our Province.  Two weeks ago, we had a rapidly spreading fire on an adjacent mountain which filled our city with smoke and ashes and almost destroyed a 500 year old temple (http://www.gokunming.com/en/blog/item/1549/bamboo_temple_escapes_forest_fire_unscathed).

According to the McKinsey Global Institute, over 350 million people will be moving from the countryside to the cities in China over the next 20 years (http://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/publications/china_urban_summary_of_findings.asp).   Just try to imagine the entire population of the US relocating to apartment buildings in such a short time!

We see the evidence of this unbelievable process right at our doorstep.  Every time we ride the bus, we pass by massive apartment projects – almost too many to count.  Across the street from our complex (with white and yellow buildings) is a new project called Colorful Days II.  As I have walked by it on the way to school for the past month, they have already dug the basements and built the foundations for the next four towers:

Here are a few more within a mile of our apartment:

Construction is everywhere, so you have to watch your step when crossing the streets (the big blue trucks don’t stop for pedestrians).  And the dust is a constant challenge if you actually want to try to clean anything.  Here’s a shot of Susan walking to the new apartment of a friend behind our school (a project with “only” 12 buildings):

I haven’t done the actual math, but I’d estimate that over a half million people will soon be living within a one-mile radius of our apartment.  The needs and opportunities are staggering…

Since our school is located near the western edge of town, I get to walk toward the mountains on my way to classes each morning.  Most of my 20 minute walk is along one of the bike lanes built adjacent to a new highway:

Other than a formal trip in October to Western Hills Park, we haven’t yet had the chance to explore some of the nearby trails (too busy setting up an apartment and learning to be a teacher).  But those rocky peaks have certainly been calling my name lately, so you can imagine my interest when a student said that he rode each weekend with a mountain bike club.  I’ve been thinking about getting a bike, but wasn’t sure whether I should get something for the trail or for the city (the most likely use).  It wasn’t too hard to convince me that I should at least get something with a front shock and a few gears.

I never really considered myself to be very tall, but that perspective has changed after spending an entire day visiting local bike shops in search of a large frame.  After finding a few candidates, I finally narrowed in on a UCC Dynamite 1.0 with some low-end Shimano parts:

After cranking up a steep hill, jumping a few curbs, and noting the wrong picture and misspelling of “Porducts” on the official company website (http://www.uccbicycle.cn/en_products.asp), I knew that this was the bike for me.  Almost everyone that I know in China has had their bike stolen at least once, so the price seemed about right ($300 with the ergonomic grips).  I also broke away from Chinese tradition and bought a helmet ($17.50), standing out like a sore thumb among the thousands of other bikers as I rode through town.

It’s certainly not as fancy as my Salsa ElSanto with XTR components back in the States, but here are the standard close up photos for my biker-geek friends:

Since we moved into our apartment, we’ve been wanting to repaint the walls in our guest room and study (bright pink and dirty green respectively).  We’ve always been kind of do-it-yourself house painters, but this time, we decided to hire a locally recommended painter to do the honors.  After paying for some decent quality paint, the labor charge (~$25) for the multiple coats on both rooms seemed like a wise way to steward our time and money.

Advance preparation is not the strong suit for some of the local maintenance professionals, and painters fit into that category as well.  Early in the process, he asked to use one of our dining room chairs for access to the highest part of the wall, but then, needed to improvise with another chair and stool to really reach the top.  All of my former DuPont nerve fibers were cringing:

Although he made a token effort to put down some of the newspapers we had accumulated, we soon realized that he was being paid to paint the walls, not to avoid painting the floors.  At the end of the first day, he came walking through the dining area into the living room asking for “shui, shui” (water).  We quickly routed him toward the bathroom shower area, watching the paint drip a steady path from the bucket he was carrying.  In the bathroom, he cleaned his gear and was probably challenged by the presence of a western toilet instead of the usual squattie potty:

Although Susan probably spent about 3 hours cleaning up after our painter, the rooms definitely look better than before.  In our world things will never be perfect, so it’s best to be content with “better than.”  We also had him paint some furniture that was left by the landlord, making it a bit more functional.  Here are the before and after shots of the bunk beds and study walls:

After two busy months in China, Mark was finally able to carve out some time to get his haircut.  As with almost everything we do, it’s always good to have a student along to translate and be sure you get things done the way you want.  This particular hair salon is located in the village behind our school.  Unlike a haircut in the States, they actually wash your hair before and after the cut:

It was pretty long and bushy before the courageous stylist attacked it (note the student’s reflection in the mirror as he takes the photo).  I’m not sure that they’re used to American hair, especially with a blend of gray:

The hair stylist had an audience during the process.  Not sure if they were laughing or just a bit fearful for him:

I guess that the double-hairwashing raises the price, so the whole deal ended up costing 8 RMB (about $1.25).  It was really hard to capture the finished product, but it seems to fit in quite nicely with the local culture:

(PS.  just in case you’re wondering, this photo was slightly doctored with Microsoft Paint)

Every Monday and Tuesday, I meet and eat with a group of students from my International Trade classes. In order to spend time with as many students as possible, we typically get together in groups of three or four. I really enjoy getting to know them better and to hear their personal perspectives on things that are hard to share in the larger classroom setting.

One requirement is that the students pick the restaurant and the food, helping me to find and experience places where I would never go on my own. There seem to be hundreds of places to eat within a short walk of campus, so it’s good to get the advice of students when choosing one. This week while I was eating with some students, Susan happened to be joining friends for lunch at the same place, giving her the chance to shoot a photo of our little group:

For those of you new to China, here’s a bit of advice for choosing a restaurant: stick with the cheaper, “home cooking” places and avoid the expensive ones.  Those fancy, upscale restaurants serve the “exotic” food while the budget ones are actually pretty good.

While I’ve seen some beautiful dogs here, I’ve also seen some others…

Most local dogs are small, tough survivors. It’s amazing to see them cross busy streets…

Here is a low budget approach to “dog sitting”:

Yes, the owner actually does perch this dog on the fire hydrant box for safe keeping while she works.

As you can see in this final photo, many local dogs live pampered lives. According to the news, dog ownership has risen significantly in our city, probably due to smaller families and an increase in discretionary income:

One big difference you’ll see in our city is the number of 3-wheelers and the various loads that they carry. Here’s a sampling:

Now that we’re finally settling into our apartment, we were able to hold our first English Corners today. The student response was so overwhelming that we had to limit attendance to 15 at each session (afternoon and evening). Here are some photos of the kids in the afternoon and evening groups giving us ideas of what they’d like to do in future sessions:

“English Corner” is a broadly used term to describe a gathering of people to practice oral English, usually with native speakers. It’s a great chance to get together informally and talk, play games, share stories, etc. We have a great group of students and really look forward to spending more time with them.

Here are some pictures of the differences you’ll find in our part of the world. They are in no particular order:

1. The container next to every toilet. Guess what this is for?

Thankfully, our apartment has western toilets. Most businesses and homes have a squat pot. Here is an unusually clean one at a Kentucky Fried Chicken.

And just for fun, here is a picture of our second toilet. Notice how interestingly the owner decorated it!

2. You’ve seen this picture before, but the ubiquitous water cooler is a reminder that you’re in a different country and can’t drink the tap water. When the bottled water runs out (usually after a week), Mark must call the water supplier and ask for another bottle…in Chinese!

3. Our oven on top of our microwave. Most Chinese do not use ovens (they use woks), so built-in ovens are rare. We recently bought this little one, but as with most of our appliances, we have trouble figuring out how to use all the features because the instructions are written in Chinese characters. That is why our microwave still doesn’t show the time.

4. Bags, bags, bags! It’s expected that you’ll bring your own bag to the stores, but we keep forgetting, and end up having to buy new ones. Hopefully, we’ll learn soon!

5. Napkins! This is a small difference, but it’s noticeable. There are many packages at the stores, but hardly any are provided at restaurants. You usually bring your own. It’s easy for me to keep a spare package in my pocketbook, but when Mark eats out with a student, he’s oftentimes napkinless.