Tour 2003 - Yunnan and Kunming - almost home: safe, sound and SARS-free

Dear Family and Friends,

I have now arrived home, safe, sound, and SARS free.  Internet access was not so readily available as one would like in western China, so I wasn't able to send off an e-mail report of my China wanderings.  I have decided to send a couple more e-mails to you all to finish my 2003 journey.   So, delete it if you don't want to read it, otherwise, here is the first of two China journey notes. 

I left Hanoi on March 21st by train for Yangshou, a picturesque little city set in the beautiful limestone kharst hills where Kara and I really began our tour of China last year (Hong Kong doesn't count).  From Yangshou, a group of ten of us, with an Aussie woman as our leader, flew to Kunming for a tour of Yunnan Province, China's most south-westerly region.  Yunnan is the most geographically varied of any Chinese province with tropical rainforests and icy Tibetan highlands.  It is home to more than 20 of China's minority peoples; almost one-half the population in Yunnan are of minority peoples (whereas in China overall, more than 95% of the population are of the 'Han' majority). 

For centuries, Yunnan was ruled by minority groups who successfully resisted all attempts by the Chinese Han from the north to conquer them.  But, Kubla Khan finally succeeded in overtaking Yunnan by 1274, and it was integrated into China at that time.  However, Yunnan remained quite rebellious and quite isolated.  Moreover, victims of China's countless political purges were often exiled here, thereby adding to the province's rebellious nature.  However, those times are now passed, and today Yunnan is firmly in the Chinese fold. 

We spent one night in bustling, modern Kunming, Yunnan's capital, a city of some six million people and the starting point for most people who visit this Province.  The main streets in Kunming are broad, tree lined avenues lined with skyscrapers, department stores, shopping malls and shops that would not look out of place in any western city.  Along with Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and KFC, Wal-Mart now has a presence with two stores recently opened. 

It is not possible to overstate how significant tourism is to China.   Chinese tourists are flocking to Yunnan.   I read in the local paper that over 51 million visitors came to Yunnan last year, over 1 million of them foreigners.   It is, likewise, impossible to overstate how ubiquitous cel phones are.   China mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, Motorola, and many other cel phone providers have shops and signs everywhere.   It is not unusual to see all four of these big companies lined up side by side.   In major department stores counters of cel phones usually occupy the prime retail space that we reserve for cosmetics.  

The morning after we arrived in Kunming, we caught a bus to Dali some 250km west.   Dali has been a hot spot for travellers since China opened up to tourism in the mid 1980's.   Kara visited here in 1987 and I recall her writing home and telling us about growing tourism even then.   Across the street from her hotel, an early entrepreneur had put up a sign in English "Hot Bikes for Cool Prices".  

Old Dali is a quaint little city sitting at an altitude of 1,900 metres (6,000 feet) and backed on the west by the 4,000 metre (12,400 feet) high Cangshan Mountains (Jade Green Mountains) and the lovely Erhai Lake on the east.   The streets in Old Dali are paved with ancient cobblestones.  (We were told, however, that the cobblestones had been paved over with concrete after the Communists took control in 1949.    When the government later discovered how popular cobblestones are with tourists, the cobblestones were quickly uncovered.)  The buildings of Old Dali, many of which are several hundred years old, are made largely of wood, and have the tile roofs with the upturned peaks at the ends which we all recognize as Chinese. 

Our first day in Dali was spent hiking up the Cangshan Mountains and then along 'Cloud Road', a stone walk that hugs it way around the mountains for some 15 to 16 kilometres.  It was a great day for a walk and was, I am sure, intended as a test for us so our leader could see if we are fit enough for the trek we are facing through the Tiger Leaping Gorge in the upcoming days. 

The real appeal of Dali, however, is in the profusion of minority peoples who live in the surrounding area, mainly Bai, Yi, Hui (Muslim), and Naxi.  Our group was taken to two nearby small cities, Xishou and Miaojie, in an area just opened to tourists two years ago, the Beijing government having determined it was 'safe' to show this area to the world.  The surrounding area was the center for opium growing until the Communists took over in 1949.  Now all manner of produce is grown.   But as it is the part of China in the 'Golden Triangle', the area remains active in the drug trade.  Many new large homes dot the landscape, all owned by drug dealers according to our guide Jim.  Jim was born in prison to a Tibetan father who was jailed for 21 years during the Cultural Revolution, and a Bai mother who worked in the prison as a cook.  As you would expect, Jim shares the hatred of all the minorities here for the Han Chinese.  He told us that Chinese Han will not visit this area alone and there are many stories of them disappearing when they do so. 

We visited the markets in Xishou and Miaojie, and were the center of attention and a huge diversion to the locals in each.  Horse cart is the mode of transportation in this area, and hundreds of carts were caught in a gridlock traffic jam in Miaojie.  Lunch was in another small town, Dian Zhong.   Our restaurant featured a freshly butchered beef hanging over the kitchen stove while the head lay in a bucket in the back. 

After lunch we trekked for about one hour to a Yi minority village, Yong An, which can only be reached by foot or on horseback.  This is the first place where I truly felt off the 'tourist trail' in China.  Few westerners, and none of the millions of Chinese tourists, have visited Yong An.  My two trips to China have taken me to several major cities and most of the significant tourist sites.  It was great to finally get to visit true rural China.  I can only tell you life for these folks is very rustic.  All buildings in Yong An were absolutely basic.  They are made of red adobe brick, most incorporate pens for pigs, chickens, or other animals, and all showed considerable wear.  The locals were very interested in us and several were anxious to sell us their clothes, brightly embroidered traditional clothing, right off their backs. 

This is the first half of my China tour and so I will leave you here.   One other note, much of the discussions between us travellers centred on the increasing concerns over SARS.  In western Yunnan where we were, we were about as far from the center of the outbreak as it is possible to be in China.  I had no personal concerns about contracting the disease, but I, along with others in my group, did worry about having homeward travel plans disrupted.  Regards to you all. 

Merv.