ETHNICALLY DIVERSE, CULTURALLY RICH, AND PROFOUNDLY EDUCATIONAL

We, the disparate students of The Alliance for Global Education, embarked on a field study trip to the Yunnan Province. At the conclusion of the field study trip, I searched for words to describe what I experienced. I found the trip to be ethnically diverse because many of China’s 56 ethnic groups reside in this area. The area is rich in culture and valuable for anyone studying abroad who wishes to develop an educational profile about China’s profound historical significance; hence the title, Ethnically Diverse, Culturally Rich, and Profoundly Educational.
We landed in Kunming, jumped on our tour bus, and hit the road – only stopping long enough to enjoy the local cuisine. Our first stop was in Dali and Dali Dali Dali oh Baby! What a nice pleasant town with a gorgeous mountainous backdrop. The locals in Dali were super-friendly, and the shop owners welcomed my price negotiations. If you want to price-fight, bring your A-game because the folks working at the shops are professionals. My secret to getting the price down: 1) be patient; 2) willing to walk away; 3) make them laugh a little. The best price drop for me was after I explained to the shop owner my wife would beat me severely if she knew I paid his asking price. The shop owner’s wife was in front of the store with their child, and when she laughed, I knew I had him.
After a spell in Dali, we were off to Shaxi Village. Directions to Shaxi:
Go up a mountain, come down a mountain. Go up another mountain, come down another mountain. Turn left at the veggie fields and go straight. Make a right at the goats and go up the mountain on the left. If you see a mountain, you went too far and you are probably in Burma (don’t use my directions – please). Shaxi Village is an attraction to film producers who prefer scenery that is reminiscent to what China resembled in the late 1800s, early 1900s. In other words, I just took a step back in time with the added luxury of Wi-Fi. Shaxi offers great mountainous views and old town charm. This is not a major hub for tourist, so it still maintains an authentic appeal to anyone who wishes to experience an agricultural village with a boat load of historical charm.
Tiger Leaping Gorge was the most scenic part of the field study trip. We were surrounded by mountains that look like post cards come to life. I was genuinely impressed with the Guesthouse we stayed in as well. The locals were really nice and the rooms were comfortable. At night time, the cool mountain breeze, night sky and scenery offered the opportunity for reflection on how grateful I was to be studying abroad in China – then it was hike-day and all bets were off. According to legend, a Tiger was being pursued by Hunters, and to avoid capture the Tiger leaped across the gorge to the other side hence the name. Well, I don’t know much about leaping Tigers, but we hiked to the bottom of the gorge and from my vantage point you need a jetpack to cross. This portion of our trip was isolated, scenic, and breathtaking. Breathtaking because we had to hike back out of the gorge, straight up at times. This was a real hike that lasted a few hours, and at one point my only concern was that they find my body. For future reference I will eat a bigger breakfast before engaging in a 6 to 7 hour mountainous hike and pack more snacks.
After Tiger Leaping Gorge, we flew from Lijiang airport to Xishuangbanna. In Xishuangbanna, it felt like I was a mile away from the sun. At this point, I was battling a small cold that threatened to take over as a priority for me. I don’t know if it was the changing climate or not, but I definitely was not well. The mosquitoes in this region look like hummingbirds. It may have been the heat and my illness tampering with my mind, but I think I saw two humm-squitoes hold down a small dog while a third repeatedly punched the dog in the stomach. Sometimes when these humm-squitoes flew pass, I could hear the last two barrels open on their four barrel carburetor (for the muscle car junkies). In the words of a fellow student, “I’m just going to spray myself with roach spray because they are flying right through this bug spray.”
In Xishuangbanna, we had an awesome lunch at a home in Manluanle village. The area we were in was dominated by banana and rubber-tree crops. In the village most houses were fairly large which hinted to the financial status of the village. Afterwards we played the locals in a game of basketball – they won. We departed Manluanle village, picked up some bikes and engaged in a bicycle tour of the local agriculture and visited a Buddhist Temple. At this point my cold had me exhausted, but I kept my happy-face on display so I wouldn’t attract any concerns. I bet my happy-face looked exactly like my tired-face.
After a sleepless night, we were off to see a much older Dai Buddhist Temple, followed by a hike on another mountain (much easier) where we enjoyed a picnic style lunch. After lunch, we hiked to Aini minority village where we were introduced to bamboo roasted tea at a tea plantation. Some fellow students picked tea leaves, cooked them over an open fire in bamboo tubes. I’m not sure what the tea tasted like because my taste buds were heavily coated in cough drops. Our guide Ricky took us to enjoy a Dai minority dinner followed by fireworks, and then it was off to the airport for another flight back to Kunming.
The remainder of our study tour was all about resting up in Kunming while preparing for our return flight to Beijing. All was well in Kunming until our flight was delayed about 4 – 6 hours. I never complained. Whatever the problem was, I wanted it resolved before I got on the plane. So, the flight and ground crew could take up as much time as needed to ensure we had a comfortable and safe flight.
Now, I’m back on my hamster wheel chasing higher learning. This week consisted of preparing a paper for Chinese Foreign Policy; catching up on my Chinese language class; getting caught up on my capstone for sociology; and, preparing a presentation about our field study tour to Yunnan Province. If I achieve success downloading a video summarizing the Yunnan trip, you guys will be in for a treat. Until next time…