Travel to Yunnan, China

The Kanba Art Festival, which occurs once every three years (at different locations) is one of the most important events for the Tibetan people. Tibetans come from all corners of the region. Some travel 1,000 km to attend. Estimates put the attendance at the opening ceremony was estimated to be 70-100 thousand. Roongnapa and I were 2 of about a dozen that were not Chinese or Tibetan.

The opening ceremony was incredible. It lasted 4 hours and showcased a couple dozen different Tibetan tribes/groups (not sure what word to use). Many wore their most ornate costumes and most groups demonstrated traditional dances. In the afternoon we saw acrobatic horse riding and horse racing. In the evening we went to a cultural show. There were additional events as well. For all of this we had Chinese press passes thanks to our tour company which was also supporting the provincial TV network and others who required them. With the press pass we could go anywhere even behind the scenes to see what was going on. The festivities gave me the opportunity to shoot more slides than ever before. I set a new record of 16 rolls in one day!

Here are some of the other highlights and observations during our journey:

- We arranged the entire trip electronically.... via the Internet and fax. When we arrived we were a little apprehensive about what would await us. We were greeted by a Frank and Jack (their English names). Frank was the guide who could speak English well and Jack was the driver who spoke no English. All looked good till the 4 wheel drive vehicle broke down half way from the airport to their office. We had to take a taxi to the office. Fortunately that was the only vehicle problem for the trip.

- You can't get a cold drink in Yunnan if your life depended on it! Everything including Coke and beer is consumed at room temperature. They have refrigeration but don't use it for drinks. On rare occasions there was consumable ice at the fancy places.

- We got stuck in a traffic jam at Yon Sou for more than two hours. This happens on a daily basis thanks to the local market which makes sure there isn't enough room for two lanes of traffic to get through. The result is gridlock causing backups for many miles. There are no alternate roads. Of course the jam eventually clears when the locals have sold enough stuff for the day. The police do nothing.

- I shot a total of 55 rolls of slides during the 10 days including the 16 on the festival opening day. Some of you may be shocked by this but it's not uncommon. I, as many photographers do, live by the motto "film is cheap". It's much cheaper to throw away the slides that didn't work out than going back to try again. In many cases a shot may be once in a lifetime opportunity. I typically shoot varying perspectives and exposures to increase the probability of a perfect shot. It's especially hard with action shots where you don't know what was actually captured till the slides return.

- While standing around an Yon Sou I met a Dutch man who is growing tulips in Zhongdian. It turns out Zhongdian has a perfect climate to grow tulips. They hope to eventually supply tulips regionally from this Chinese base which is much cheaper than in Holland.

- Yunnan province has 25 different ethnic ("minority" is the Chinese term) cultures within. There's incredible diversity going from town to town. It's interesting to note that the "minorities" are exempt from the one child policy. They can have two (5 years apart) in an effort to increase their dwindling numbers.

- In Kunming some 'enterprising' individuals routinely break bottles or lay glass at key intersections. The key is the proximity of their bicycle tire repair businesses!

- In Yunnan their wine should be renamed fire water. It's powerful stuff! We were obligated to toast with this on several occasions.

- Food has been generally good but there are some thing I'm not even willing to try (Roongnapa wouldn't either) like caterpillar fungus soup. It was one of 20 courses at one banquet we attended for photographers at the festival. In general most food is spicy. Steamed rice is the only sure bet for not being spicy. Breakfasts are noodles (spicy), sometimes dumplings, wet rice (soup)..... thank god for the granola bars I packed.

- We usually had to ask for rice with meals... they consider rice to be food for poor people. It's a filler when there isn't enough other food.

- Zhongdian we had a "Hot Pot" dinner which consisted of a boiling caldron over a flame in the middle of the table. It's kind of like a Chinese version of Fondue. Just throw all the raw stuff in and then try to fish out the cooked vegetables, meat, etc with your chopsticks. It's a real test of your chopsticks skill level. If you can't fish out the food you can go hungry (unless you get help from those who might take pity on you). I did fairly well but some slick items had to be stabbed to get out!

- Pollution in the cities is really bad. There is constantly a cloud over Kunming which I though was bad until we arrived in Jin Jang toward the end of our trip. Jin Jang is a center for steel, iron and coal.... put it all together and you have a real mess!

- The 'scenic' toilet is a much better option than any public toilet. A majority of public toilets were downright disgusting. Searching for a bush or tree to hide behind is much better. All facilities except for those in nice hotel rooms were at best a hole in the floor.... no sit-down toilets to be found :-(.

- Part of the time we traveled around with an LA based travel writer that specializes in China. Fred Ma is also a chief photographer for Chinese World Television and a freelance reporter for a Taiwan newspaper. It was interesting to see how he worked.

- It also made me stand out in the crowd so to speak. I was interviewed by Shanghai TV and showed up on the ceremony broadcast for other stations. A friend in Bangkok said I was on CNN there for about 10 seconds during a news clip. I haven't seen any of it.... I'm working on trying to get a copy of the broadcast tape. The only problem is the inability to mail out video tapes from China. There are a couple of folks who might hand carry out a copy for me in a couple of months.

- We took candy and pens to give to kids during our travels. On one occasion Roongnapa made the mistake of giving candy to a couple of kids just outside a village school. In a flash, dozens of kids were running out surrounding her. She gave out her whole stash for the day in no time. It was actually quite amusing (to me and the guide anyway).

- Roongnapa was cold much of the trip since out lowest altitude for the trip was 5,000 feet. The days were warm when the sun was out but the evenings were quite cool especially in Zhongdian which is above 10,000 feet. Most of the time we were above 10,000 feet with the surrounding peaks reaching 15-17,000 feet.

- There was only one souvenir that I really wanted during the trip but decided to pass on it when I found out the store was trying to gouge me. It was an ornate Tibetan knife. When our guide asked to look at it he was told the price was about $10. As soon as they saw I was the one interested in it the price suddenly was 'wrong'. It was changed to $100 (10x increase!).

- We visited a couple Buddhist monasteries during our journeys. They were quite interesting including an isolated one with only one lama. There were no students so the future of this remote monastery with over 800 years of history is in doubt.

- I carried my notebook computer on our journey to do class assignments which would be due during the trip. The only problem was getting on the Internet to post them and get e-mail out. The travel company had indicated that Internet access would be available while in China. They just didn't say how easy it would be. It turned out to be a major hassle. There was one cyber cafe in Dali but we were only there on the second night of our trip. The rest of the time was frustrating at best. Even my backup plan of making an international call to the US or Japan was extremely difficult since direct dialing an international call wasn't available in any hotel rooms. When I inquired about dialing out from the room I was told it was "quite impossible". I could theoretically do an operator assisted call but didn't even try. Just think about trying to get an operator to place a call to a carrier tone. Even if they would do it by the time I could try to connect the ISP would have timed out. In the end I was able to get on the net once from Li Jang by putting my notebook on the hotel front desk and plugging directly into their switchboard. Two failed attempts and an eventual 10 minute connection cost me $41!

- In Zhongdian we went on a hike that nearly killed me... at least that's how it felt at the time. The 'walk' to see a lake turned out to be a 3 hour climb up (2 hours down) a rocky trail, across wet marsh areas and up streams. This climb was from 10,000 to 12,000 feet. My lungs just couldn't suck up enough oxygen. I normally walk all day in cities taking pictures w/o any problems. This was probably the low light of the trip. Roongnapa was the smart one. She turned back after only 10 minutes. She took a nap in the Toyota Cruiser while we 'hiked'.

- We visited a couple Tibetan homes near Zhongdian. They were quite big even by western standards. Each one had a central kitchen with a wood burning stove. The smoke was vented through the attic to the outside. One house was built over a livestock pen so it provided protection for some of the animals in the winter.

- A fairly common mode of transport was made from what looked like modified roto-tillers (the kind with rear blades). There were no blades. The 'vehicle' typically towed a trailer which could carry a phenomenal amount of stuff (or people). The engines are cold water cooled. As the cooling water boils off they add more water.

- Bicycles are everywhere especially in the cities. They're oblivious to cars and pedestrians. They get nailed a lot because they just don't look. When walking you have to be careful not be run into by the hordes of bikes.

- The scenery in the countryside was spectacular. I felt like crying on a couple of days when the landscape was picture perfect but the weather prevented any worthwhile shooting.

- Rice was growing everywhere at lower altitudes. Above 8,000 feet barley appeared to be more prevalent. There were lots of plots terraced into hill sides as well.

- There was a great amount of heavy work done by hand. We saw very few heavy machines. - The Chinese like menthol flavored mineral water.... I think it's nasty stuff!

- We attended an interesting traditional Chinese Naxi music concert. This is said to be THE ancient Chinese music. The average age of the musicians was over 80! The music was used in ancient China as part of an elaborate musical ritual. Followers of Confucius used it to promote inner peace. The music would probably have been lost if it weren't for one remarkable man. Xuan Ke grew up a rich kid who ended up becoming conductor of the Kunming orchestra at age 23. His life seemed to come to an end when the Dali Lama fled Tibet. Since Xuan Ke was a distant relation (by marriage) to the Dali Lama he got 20+ years in prison plus many years working in coal mines. Through it all he didn't forget his Music or English. After he was freed he discovered the Naxi music that was being played in small villages by old men. They had learned it by ear passed down through generations. The music wasn't written anywhere and would likely die with the current musicians. He put the music to paper and spread the music with his good marketing and English skills. The musicians have enjoyed international attention. They will be a featured part of the Vienna 1999 new year's eve concert.

- Taking two camera bodies proved to be quite useful especially when one jammed during the opening ceremonies. The rest of the time having two allowed me to shoot freely without constantly changing lenses.

- Land slides: The hills along roads are not shored up very well. We saw a number of landslides including a couple with rocks the size of mini-vans.

- Traffic Laws: Basically non-existent except for the general guideline to stay to the right if there's oncoming traffic. Enforcement of any rules appear to be arbitrary. Usually it's when the police need to make some extra money. They'll come to an "agreement" with the driver to not impact their driving record for small offenses. We were stopped for passing a truck loaded with rock going up a hill at about 5 mph. It happened to be a no passing zone and the police were hiding behind a hill. Our driver negotiated the "fine" down to half the asking by saying the truck appeared to be stopped or having problems. They can stop you any time for any reason. We heard of instances of stops for 'paper checks' and then requiring a check of the entire car. Any offenses were negotiable.

- Tiger Leaping Gorge: The walls of this gorge between two towering mountains are made of beautiful marble. It can clearly be seen where the had just blasted away the hill side for a new road.

- This trip reinforced my prefferance for private/individual travel but sometimes it's necessary. We had our own guide and driver but I still prefer to drive myself which makes it easier to stop whenever I want. I would have preferred to spend more time exploring a couple of locations but there wasn't enough time.

- Almost every event was delayed while waiting for Gov officials to arrive. Most things won't start until they're there to watch.

- My digital camera (new toy) proved useful on a couple occasions where subjects were apprehensive about having their picture taken. Shooting a digital picture and showing them on the LCD screen what it looks like is a good ice breaker. I had originally intended to e-mail out some digital pix but the poor net connectivity changed that.

- Credit cards weren't accepted anywhere we went. Cash was the only option.

- Many of the hotels only have hot water 3-4 hours per evening... that's it.

- I discovered a guaranteed weight reduction plan. Just eat some food with bacteria. From personal experience I don't recommend this plan!

- The service and hospitality was quite good for a majority of our trip. The exception was any State run business which offered very poor service and quality. The worst hotel we stayed in was State run.

- Pirated CDs were seen everywhere. They were even sold in traffic jams. Our driver bought a few video CDs while we were stuck in traffic for only $2.25 each.

- When we stayed near a huge hydro-electric dam which is under construction I questioned why the foreign (US & Europe) engineers choose to live on the mountain top. We had to stay in town. Do they know something we don't :-)? They live above the flood plain if the dam breaks.

- Even mailing post cards to those without e-mail was an experience. We went to the post office to buy stamps. The window which sold stamps didn't have enough change and the worker wasn't willing to get any. We had to go to a different window to get change and come back. Then the stamps had no adhesive on them. We were confronted with a large vat of liquid glue and chopsticks as applicators. Trying to glue 3 stamps on each card proved to be quite messy. It took almost 20 minutes at the post office to mail 10 cards!

If you're interested in traveling to Yunnan check out Yunnan Adventure Travel company. Ask for Frank as your guide. He speaks excellent English. Ask for Jack as your driver. Jack and Frank made our journey quite enjoyable.