On Monday, we left Kunming in the wee hours of the morning and flew to Beijing where we were met by 2 Graduate Students from the  Beijing Institute of  Botany.  They escorted us to our hotel which was located in the Northwest part of the city and not far from the BIB and also the Beijing Botanical Garden (this bit of information will be important tomorrow).

The hotel seems to be  more of a convention center,  but the rooms are clean, the  bathroom has a tub AND shower and the air conditioner works so life is good!!!    Because it is not a tourist hotel, there is very little English spoken so we are once again resorting to pointing and smiling!!!!

Michael’s host, Xiao-Ru picked us up and took us to her office in the Botany Institute and she and Michael spent some time talking about her research.  We were given a short tour of the facility, including posters featuring each of the Primary investigators in the institute and telling about the work that they were doing.  It was a great way to promote the work and people.

We left the institute about 5:00 and drove to the Summer Palace which is also located in the Northwest part of the city. 

Now, one of the first things that we noticed was the intense smog in the city.  The sky looked as if there was a heavy fog just below the horizon and the sun was only a light spot.  We were told that the Summer Palace was built because the air quality was so much better!!!   Michael and I both looked at each other and laughed and then realized that this palace was built in 1750 and there probably wasn’t a lot of smog back then!!!!!

It was built as a temporary palace and imperial garden of the Qing Dynasty.  In 1860 the Palace was burned down by Anglo-French forces and was rebuilt in 1888.

By the time we got there, it was too late to get into the palace itself, but we spent an enjoyable 2 hours walking around the grounds.  75% of the Palace is made up of two lakes and the walks surrounding them are gorgeous……except for the smog!!

Here is a view of the palace from across the lake……

This Bronze Ox was erected in 1736 and is thought to help control the floods on the lake……

This bridge is called the “Seventeen Arch Bridge”and was built in 1750……

Across the span of the bridge there are 500 lions carved in different poses…… 

I loved the extent that they had gone to save this tree.  There was an entire metal structure built to support each branch……

 

Some of the areas were quite rugged with the buildings seeming to rise out of the stones……

 

I love the stone sculptures that adorn the corners of the houses……

And the colors and designs in the buildings are gorgeous as well…..

I took this photo to give you some idea of the smog.  You can barely see the mountains off to the right, you cannot see the sun at all but can see it’s reflection in the water……

 

This is one of the many gates that we passed thru on our walk……

Here is the actual palace that we did not go into.  Personally I am glad that we didn’t have to walk up all of those steps……

Now, for me, comes the really interesting part of this palace.   While Michael and Xaio-Ru strolled along and droned on and on about science, I (as usual) had my head down looking at the floor.  AND, guess what I found……..drum roll here…. …..QUILTING designs!!!!   Can you see them???

 

In each of the stone paths, there were larger stones placed in various designs.  They were difficult to see, but I had a great time looking at them and trying to burn them into my memory.

To help you visualize them, I used Photoshop and added the somewhat shaky lines to show a couple of the designs….

 

I also have NUMEROUS photos of my toes…..

 

We left the palace and headed back to our hotel, but first stopped for dinner at a WONDERFUL restaurant.

Xiao-Ru  was given the menu, which was a HUGE bound book with page after page of delicious treats.   She studied it for about 10 minutes before she made our choices……

Our drink of choice was Tsingtao beer, but the bottles were completely different from the ones in Kunming…..

 

We started off with cold chicken that had been boiled in salty water…..

Next came this treat that looks like a sweet……

…..but is in fact made of slabs of cold yam, topped with pureed green beans and a pimento.!!!

My favorite for the evening was this spicy lamb.  It was tasty and beautiful as well.   I just loved how they presented the dishes……

 

This was a Goose Liver Pate and was probably our least favorite, but once again, how can you say no to something that looks so good!!!!!

This dish is made of cucumber slices with eggplant……

….and finally, tofu “pockets” served with a green vegetable of some sort.   Look how they used a stem of the green vegie to “tie up” the little bun…… 

We returned to the hotel and had a wonderful, restful night sleep in a bed that was soft, in a room that was quiet and with an air conditioner that kept the temperature at the perfect condition!!!!

 

On Saturday Michael and I visited a UNESCO World Heritage Site called the Shilin (or the Stone Forest).  It is a a massive collection of grey limestone pillars that have been split and eroded by wind and rain.

Our friend, Colin, had arranged for a driver to drive us to and from this place and it made for a fun, fun day!!!

We met him at 9:00am and began the 1-1/2 hour ride southeast of Kunming.  The trip there was fairly uneventful and we soon joined the hoards of people entering the forest.   These were some of the scenes that we were met with….

It was a fairly grey sort of day so the colors aren’t as good as they could have been, but, on the other hand, it was not nearly as hot as it could have been.

We were interested in this group of workers as they weeded the grassy areas…

There were tons of tourists around, but we had read a review that said the way to get away from people was to find a small track that went UP…. Sure enough, a little climb and we were virtually all by ourselves.  The only people that we saw were five 20-somethings….. 

The views from the top were wonderful and well worth the climb….

As we walked back down the track, we encountered a series of “gates” that had to be navigated.  It reminded us a bit of fitting into our shower back in Rome…..     The got shorter…….

…..and shorter……

  …with the final one being this narrow beauty….. 

We loved the shapes that you could find in the rocks, from this “flower”….

 

…to this one that reminded us of a “Four Horseman” statue in Italy…. 

There were many “official” shapes.  This one is called the “Wandering Woman and Child” (however the word was spelled “chirld”!!!

While this one is the “Reflective Monk”  (you can see him walking away from you with his hands behind his back)…….

One of the most interesting sights were looking at long stretches of rocks that all had the same “fault” lines in them……

At one point, we got off of the main track and followed a footpath down to this corn field.  Can you imagine trying to plow this area with all of the exposed rocks?? 

We had to take two final photos before leaving the forest and decided to get into the Chinese spirit of photographic poses…..

Just as we started walking out of the forest, the heavens opened up and it started pouring down rain.  We were SO glad that it held off as long as it did.

We found our driver again and he started out on the trip home.    We couldn’t figure out why he would not turn on his windshield wipers, but he only used them sporadically. 

We were reminded again that traffic is fluid in China and that just about anything goes.  At one point, there were two large trucks, side by side ahead of us and another truck coming toward us.  Not to be deterred, out driver split the difference and passed in between all three of them!!!!

We tried to enter an expressway, but there was a huge traffic jam at the entrance to the toll gate.  People had left their cars and were having an enjoyable chat with their fellow travelers.   When we found out that they had closed the expressway (still do not know why),  our driver simply made a U-Turn and headed a different direction.

This new route added about an hour to the trip, but we got to see some new things as we drove thru a more rural area.  The first thing that we noticed was that EVERY inch of land was cultivated.  Some of the crops were planted on steep hills, some under the highway over-passes, and some along the shoulder of the road. 

Every so often there would be a small track leading from the road and up the mountain, and this would deliver the worker at their small field.   When it started raining, we saw lots of workers climbing down these tracks, with their mattock hoe over their shoulder, probably glad for a reason to rest!!

Sometime during this leg of the journey, we went thru a toll booth, but I still cant tell you what road it was for.    I have since read that the Chinese government is cracking down on illegal toll booths and perhaps that was one.

One of the roads had a 2 block stretch that was a mixture of huge potholes and mounds of dirt.  I felt really bad that he had to drive his nice car over such rough terrain.

We had a wonderful day and ended our time with a meal at Salvador’s……this time we had HAMBURGERS with LOTS of protein!!!!!

If you have followed any of these travel blogs, you will know that one of our favorite things is to visit a local market so I was THRILLED when I came across this one not far from our apartment…… It was made up of stall after stall, each selling a few items.  Interestingly, they each seemed to specialize in certain things so the variety was infinite.

The vegetables consisted of a lot of greens and were very artistically displayed, although we didn’t know what a lot of them were….

I loved the curve in these green onions…..

And these beans were cool, especially with the stems and leaves still attached….

The color combinations were gorgeous…..

By the way, they have MANY different types of eggplant, ranging from the size of your thumb to these huge beauties….

The gnarled ones in the middle are Bitter Root…

There was a huge mushroom section….

Interesting forms of meat, from tail…..…..to trotters…..

I love the whole chickens with their feet in the air.  The one on the right is a special black chicken.  Michael had Black Chicken Soup one day for lunch and said that it was wonderful….

And, what market would be complete without a few dead ducks……

Fish was in evidence with many tanks holding the live fish for you to choose from….

or you could get them dried….. …..or how about some squirmy squid…..There were a number of stalls that were selling pre-made food.  This is a condiment stand, selling all sorts of pickled vegies and other goodies….. 

These are roasted eggplant and looked SO good.  Of course, we would have added salt!!!! 

We loved this cold chicken soup….especially the foot in the mixture…..       

I have taken SO many photos of this type of scene, but I am just drawn to the colors and textures of the bean and rice markets…..

We had seen a pea green paste that people were buying and wondered what it was.  Then we saw this lady using a hand grinder to prepare the paste.  She acquiesced to our request for a photo, but took a lot of grief from the women around her…..

 

There were huge tofu sections in the market but we were most intrigued by this “stinky tofu” that is covered with a hairy mold.  This vendor was doing a brisk business!!!!

 

   We are not sure why the eggs are covered in this grain.  It could simply be the stuff that the eggs were packed in, but we are thinking that they might  be fermented in the grain…..    

There was one stall that held the machinery needed to make noodles and then this stall with the noodles hanging to dry……

 

This noodle seller also stayed very busy…..

This woman was making dumplings and it was fascinating to watch her fill the thin pastry with the pork mixture, and then basically tie them into a bow….We love to find people with quiet smiles and this woman fit the bill for a great photo…..   

While walking back to the apartment, we passed two things that I just have to share.  

The first is this clothing store…..

….and yes, the name is “Unsightly and Peculiar”!!!!!!

 

And, although this is not a good photo,  can you see the dentist chair sitting in the window?   Wouldn’t you love to have the world walk past and see you with your mouth numbed and hanging open while you drooled on yourself……   

And finally, another in the “Bike Photo” series…..

We had asked Jialin if there were any cultural events that we could go to and she came up with one….a program called “Dynamic Yunnan” that described itself as “a fusion of traditional ethnic folk music and modern dance”.

It sounded like fun, so we decided to make it part of my birthday celebration.  We took a taxi to the performance hall and wondered if we would be able to tell where it was.  So many times the places that we are looking for are tucked away down streets and are not marked exceptionally well, so we were concerned for this one.

But for this performance, there was no problem with finding the place…..

We had excellent seats on the 6th row….of course we had to have someone read our tickets and tell us where to sit!!!!!   The seats were comfortable and were covered with light blue seat liners.  This was our first glimpse of the stage which gave a hint of the events to come….

We laughed as we watched people take photos of the scene.  In China, they seldom take photos of a structure….unless there is a person standing in front of it, and they were no different here.   There were steps leading up the center of the stage, and many people climbed up the steps and sat on the top one for their photo to be taken.   One brave photo subject even climbed up on the stage near the pile of stones on the left and smiled broadly for the camera.  At this point someone came out and told people to stay off of the stage!!!!  If he hadn’t been there I figure that some of them would have been “riding” the peacocks!!!!

Through out the show, there was a narration running on the side walls, written both in Chinese and English.    Unfortunately some of the English was misspelled and grammatically incorrect, but it certainly helped us to follow what was going on.

The program was made up of 6 chapters, each with a theme and a wonderfully choreographed dance.  Each of the dances had a particular element of sound or visual interest that managed to capture our imaginations.   The performers  are from the Yunnan ethnic minorities and the costumes were authentic for the area.

Early in the program they made two announcements…..please silence cell phones, and  that photography was not allowed during the performance.  Well, that notice didn’t deter people one little bit.  There were phones ringing all over the place and flashes from cameras and the whirring of video cameras through out the program.   After the 2nd dance, I decided to be Chinese and out came my I-phone camera as well!!!!  (some of the next photos are mine and some were taken from the brochure)…..

 

The first act was “Creation” and the entire dance focused on tribal drums.  At one point there were at least 75 drums on stage (including Sun drums, Barrel Drum, Elephant Foot Drum, Bronze Gong, Cymbals and a Spirit Drum), all banging away in a cool beat, and since we were at the front…..IT WAS LOUD!!!!  I couldn’t help but think how much Brian would be enjoying this particular dance!!!

The second act was a moon dance that was done in silhouette against a beautiful moon background.  It was amazing the different shapes that she could form with  her body and the entire dance was beautiful…..

The next act was called “The World of Women”.  They all wore huge hats that were kept low on their head and you could never see their faces during the entire dance.  Michael commented at the end of the dance that he thought that some of them were men and, sure enough, in the final curtain call, several men showed up dressed in those costumes!!!  The dance was very stylized and they had eyes drawn on the palms of their hands so that when they all put their hands toward the audience, it looked as if you were being watched!!!  They also had bells on their arms and legs which added greatly to the music.

 

This dance was called the “Flowery Waist” dance….no idea why!!!   It was about the meeting of young men and women and their courtships.  It ended in a comical way with one of the “boys” trying to walk while carrying one of the girls in his arms.  He kept dropping her and finally, she stood up, picked him up and carried him off of the stage.  The crowd roared!!!!

My favorite act was called “Pilgrimage” and was about the pilgrimage that the Tibetans make to their holy sites.   Many people believe that their entire bodies must physically touch the ground during their travels (they “kiss” the ground with every step), so they make a stylized movement where they put their hands above their heads in an attitude of prayer, move their hands down in front of them and then prostrate themselves on the ground.  They then stand up and repeat this process..  OK….long description about the pilgrimage, but the cool thing was the way that they incorporated this movement into the dance.  

This photo is from the beginning of this act (the native costumes were wonderful!!!)…. Then the show started falling  (lots and lots of  it), and the scene became magical……   

Then came the prayer wheels and the gods….. 

….and then a rendition of the prayer flags.    In one sense this is a horrible photo, but I love the movement…..

One of the most interesting things about the snow was that they used their feet, hands and flags to make it swirl as they danced.  I gave the impression of blizzard conditions…..

The final act was called “Spirit of the Peacock” and the main dancer was the woman from the “Moon” sequence.  When she first entered the stage, one hand was holding her skirt out behind her while the other was bent in the shape of a peacock head…..VERY cool.

Here is my photo…..notice all of the other people NOT taking photos….

…..and here is the photo from the brochure.   It gives a better idea of what the costume looked like.

At one point they turned on special lights and the “eyes” in the peacock tails reflected those colors…..it was exquisite!!!

The entire program was well done and we both were sad when it reached the end!!!!   It was the PERFECT way to end my birthday in China.

Our hosts dropped us off at Mark’s work place and he took us out for a quick lunch at a local cafe that was located next door to a machine shop…..

This stand specialized in noodles and it was fun watching her prepare the dishes.  She put some pre-cooked noodles into the strainer and dipped it in the boiling broth for a few seconds to heat them up.  She then added herbs and spices to the strainer and dipped it again.  The noodles were poured into the bowl and a broth was poured over the whole thing……

It was served with picked cabbage, onions and a slice of lime that you squeezed over the soup.   It was yummy!!!!!!

Underneath the blue basket are 4 dishes of condiments including chili powders and pastes that could also be added to the soup.

Mark dropped us off at a store that we wanted to visit and then we wandered around the street waiting for Anne to pick us up again.

We ended up in a temple and weren’t really sure that we should be there.  However a Monk walked passed and gave us a welcoming smile, so we walked around for a few minutes…..

• I loved the dragon sculptures on the edges of the  buildings.  It is hard to tell in this photo, but it was made from colored glass and really glinted in the sunlight.….. We returned to Mark and Anne’s house and packed for the return journey to Kunming.   We were sorry to say good-bye, but hope that we will see each other again before ANOTHER 25 years has passed……

One thing that we will also miss from Chiang Mai were the Geckoes.  They were so cute and made such wonderful sounds at night.  Their call sounds like someone tapping on a table with a metal ball, and it is LOUD, which is amazing considering their diminutive size!!

So farewell to Thailand…..we WILL be back!!!!