Saturday, September 25, 2010
New Blog Address
We're now at http://peterjudy.weebly.com We've moved because blogspot is blocked in China now
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Yangtze Cruise
Andrew and Anna came back to Kunming and it was time for us to leave. After sad "Goodbyes" to our good friends, Chinese and foreign, we flew to Chengdu where there is an excellent panda breeding programme. It was a great thrill to see the pandas in almost their natural environment, including a 2 week-old panda cub in an incubator (giving nature a hand!). Our visit took place in some of the heaviest rain they have had in Chengdu and we were soaked to the skin (literally!) but the rain made the pandas more active than usual. In Chengdu we enjoyed spending time with Christine Carver, a good friend from Tewkesbury.
Next to Chongqing to join the "Victoria Prince" for a 6 day cruise down the River Yangtze to Shanghai. The ship wasn’t easy to find - they hadn’t warned us that we needed to take a passenger lift to get to the quayside so we stood with our luggage, baffled and frustrated, knowing the ship would soon be sailing but totally unable to see where it was berthed or how to get to it! But once aboard and in our comfortable air-conditioned cabin we were able to relax and enjoy the holiday.
It was wonderful to relax and watch China go by. The ever-smiling crew looked after us wonderfully well, serving us with excellent food as well providing high-quality entertainment in the evenings.
The most interesting and beautiful stretch is the "Three Gorges" where the river winds through narrow gaps in the mountains as it finds its way from west to east. A large dam has just been built here which has formed a reservoir many miles long up the Yangtze and its tributaries. The water level has already gone up 80 metres with another 20 metres to go. So the gorges are much easier for a large ship like ours to navigate but they’ve lost a lot of their previous grandeur. Still pretty impressive though.
It was fascinating to listen to some of the millions of local people whose homes were flooded and who have been rehoused. The older people mourn the loss of their old homes but the younger generation love living in modern homes with electricity, running water, etc. Some of those who have been given new jobs in other parts of China where the customs, culture and language are quite new to them are finding it hardest to adjust.
Judy and the dam
Trips from the ship included going by cable car up the Yellow Mountain (covered in cloud so not much to see!) and a museum with fascinating items from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng (yes!!). The latter is not as vast as the Xi’an terracotta warriors but more varied and just as interesting - Google it and have a look.
The Yangtze was in flood (remember all that rain in Chengdu?) so we were delayed by nearly a day getting through the locks at the three gorges dam - I couldn’t understand why as the locks seemed well able to cope with all that water) - so the ship had only got as far as Nanjing by the time we were due to leave her. The final leg to Shanghai was by bus.
During the voyage we got the exciting news that our newest grandchild had been born. Mike and Kim have their first child. Isla is a beautiful baby (not that we’re biassed!)
Next to Chongqing to join the "Victoria Prince" for a 6 day cruise down the River Yangtze to Shanghai. The ship wasn’t easy to find - they hadn’t warned us that we needed to take a passenger lift to get to the quayside so we stood with our luggage, baffled and frustrated, knowing the ship would soon be sailing but totally unable to see where it was berthed or how to get to it! But once aboard and in our comfortable air-conditioned cabin we were able to relax and enjoy the holiday.
It was wonderful to relax and watch China go by. The ever-smiling crew looked after us wonderfully well, serving us with excellent food as well providing high-quality entertainment in the evenings.
The most interesting and beautiful stretch is the "Three Gorges" where the river winds through narrow gaps in the mountains as it finds its way from west to east. A large dam has just been built here which has formed a reservoir many miles long up the Yangtze and its tributaries. The water level has already gone up 80 metres with another 20 metres to go. So the gorges are much easier for a large ship like ours to navigate but they’ve lost a lot of their previous grandeur. Still pretty impressive though.
It was fascinating to listen to some of the millions of local people whose homes were flooded and who have been rehoused. The older people mourn the loss of their old homes but the younger generation love living in modern homes with electricity, running water, etc. Some of those who have been given new jobs in other parts of China where the customs, culture and language are quite new to them are finding it hardest to adjust.
Judy and the dam
Trips from the ship included going by cable car up the Yellow Mountain (covered in cloud so not much to see!) and a museum with fascinating items from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng (yes!!). The latter is not as vast as the Xi’an terracotta warriors but more varied and just as interesting - Google it and have a look.
The Yangtze was in flood (remember all that rain in Chengdu?) so we were delayed by nearly a day getting through the locks at the three gorges dam - I couldn’t understand why as the locks seemed well able to cope with all that water) - so the ship had only got as far as Nanjing by the time we were due to leave her. The final leg to Shanghai was by bus.
During the voyage we got the exciting news that our newest grandchild had been born. Mike and Kim have their first child. Isla is a beautiful baby (not that we’re biassed!)
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Hunting for Cerana Bees
Peter set out to buy bees with Asing, an Indian who has been honey hunting in his home state of Nagaland. The professional beekeeper recommended by a professor in the Agricultural University Beekeeping Department had no bees for sale, but Asing had heard of bees for sale in a mountain village north of Kunming.
After a two hour bus ride to Wuding and another two hours by minibus over terrible mountain roads, we arrived at the village in a beautiful mountain valley which reminded Asing of his home area. The villagers were Miao, except for one Lisu family.
The Miao and the Lisu are two of the many minority peoples of China. The crowning glory of the Miao women seemed to be their hair which they wear piled up on their heads, looking almost as if they are wearing a hat.
The Lisu have their own written language - “Fraser script” - invented by JO Fraser about 100 years ago and much easier to read than Chinese characters. The Miao have a similar script, probably created by Sam Pollard, although these villagers seemed to be saying that it came from the Rev. Berkeley (may not have the name right!). It was very moving to hear one of the Miao reading familiar passages to us in his own language.
Asing had phoned the Miao beekeeper to tell him we were coming but he was not at home, so we went on to another village where someone said there were bees, but no luck there either. As we walked, we kept stopping to visit homes or chat to people by the roadside, so it was supper time when we got back to the first village, and the Lisu family generously invited us in for a meal.
Meanwhile the beekeeper had returned. When he saw that a foreigner wanted the bees, the price immediately doubled from that agreed over the phone. Furthermore, the bees were not in hives but in hollow logs, a traditional method but not what we wanted. And he was going to have to remove the combs, including the brood (eggs and larvae), which would otherwise have broken as the minibus bounced around on the journey back to Kunming. Plus, Cerana bees have a habit of absconding, especially if they have no brood, so very reluctantly we returned empty-handed.
The journey home was a nightmare! The minibus had no full beam head lights and we would suddenly encounter a lorry parked in the road with no lights, seeing it only just in time to avoid a smash. The minibus engine kept cutting out and the driver had to stop at intervals to fiddle with the wiring or pour water into the radiator. Much of the road surface had been broken up by hundreds of heavy lorries so we had to go really slowly in those places. Also, our driver constantly overtook on blind bends, somehow managing to dodge a head-on collision with the lorries coming the other way.
We were most thankful when got home at one o’clock in the morning. No bees, and stomach upsets for several days afterwards, but a fascinating glimpse of another side of life in China.
After a two hour bus ride to Wuding and another two hours by minibus over terrible mountain roads, we arrived at the village in a beautiful mountain valley which reminded Asing of his home area. The villagers were Miao, except for one Lisu family.
The Miao and the Lisu are two of the many minority peoples of China. The crowning glory of the Miao women seemed to be their hair which they wear piled up on their heads, looking almost as if they are wearing a hat.The Lisu have their own written language - “Fraser script” - invented by JO Fraser about 100 years ago and much easier to read than Chinese characters. The Miao have a similar script, probably created by Sam Pollard, although these villagers seemed to be saying that it came from the Rev. Berkeley (may not have the name right!). It was very moving to hear one of the Miao reading familiar passages to us in his own language.
Asing had phoned the Miao beekeeper to tell him we were coming but he was not at home, so we went on to another village where someone said there were bees, but no luck there either. As we walked, we kept stopping to visit homes or chat to people by the roadside, so it was supper time when we got back to the first village, and the Lisu family generously invited us in for a meal.
Meanwhile the beekeeper had returned. When he saw that a foreigner wanted the bees, the price immediately doubled from that agreed over the phone. Furthermore, the bees were not in hives but in hollow logs, a traditional method but not what we wanted. And he was going to have to remove the combs, including the brood (eggs and larvae), which would otherwise have broken as the minibus bounced around on the journey back to Kunming. Plus, Cerana bees have a habit of absconding, especially if they have no brood, so very reluctantly we returned empty-handed.The journey home was a nightmare! The minibus had no full beam head lights and we would suddenly encounter a lorry parked in the road with no lights, seeing it only just in time to avoid a smash. The minibus engine kept cutting out and the driver had to stop at intervals to fiddle with the wiring or pour water into the radiator. Much of the road surface had been broken up by hundreds of heavy lorries so we had to go really slowly in those places. Also, our driver constantly overtook on blind bends, somehow managing to dodge a head-on collision with the lorries coming the other way.
We were most thankful when got home at one o’clock in the morning. No bees, and stomach upsets for several days afterwards, but a fascinating glimpse of another side of life in China.
Monday, July 6, 2009
6 July 2009
A Tale of Two Cakes
Sorry we have not updated this blog for two months. For some reason, access to our blog site from China has been blocked. Probably our comments about the buses have upset the powers that be! If you can read this it’s because we have emailed it to UK for one of the family to upload. If you can’t read it, that idea didn’t work either.
We had an excellent visit from Richard and Hazel Padfield in May. We went together to Dali and Lijiang, two old Chinese towns which have been restored for the benefit of tourists like us. In Lijiang we stayed in the Naxi Tea Horse Family Guest House, a traditional Chinese courtyard building in the centre of the old town. The Naxi are a local minority people and the tea horses were used to carry tea along the Silk Road. It was really interesting travelling by bus to these two towns, especially for Richard who is a farmer. It was rice planting season so we saw hundreds of people bending over in the paddy fields, quite different from the mechanised farming in UK.
With less than four weeks to go before we leave Kunming we have started taking photographs of the people and places we have come to love, and Judy has gone into ‘last minute buying’ mode, because most of our stuff will need to be sent off by sea in near future. We can’t believe how much stuff we have managed to accumulate in just over a year!
It’s the rainy season here and it has been particularly wet and cold this July, we look at the people ploughing up and down the swimming pool below our window and think how hardy they are!
Judy has been making jam and cakes, with varying amounts of success. She bought some Chinese wheat flour and added some extra baking powder to the recipe (to make up for the altitude) - you can see the result in the sneaky picture Peter took. 
It was supposed to be lemon drizzle cake, but ended up being Niagara Falls Cake as it erupted from the tin and cascaded into the oven.
Things went much better on Judy’s birthday, when friends 
brought over a magnificent cake and plenty of candles to go with it! We had supper in the revolving restaurant on the 21st floor of a Kunming Hotel This turned out to be a fascinating experience, as different parts of the floor (and ceiling) appeared to revolve in different directions and at different speeds. It was also tricky for the staff, because they would step into the room in a different place each time they brought the food, then they had to trot around the circle until they found our table. We were convinced that only the outer section and core of the restaurant were moving, and we were staying still, until we got up to leave and realised that Kunming University Library had moved!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
The mystery of the Kunming buses continues.......
Judy spends a lot of time travelling on buses to and from work. However, life has been complicated by the decision to make some buses ‘Express’. One Friday evening, Judy trotted off to No.6 Bus Station to catch her bus to the staff meeting. There was no sign of a Number 69 for some time, but then a double-decker swept into the station and the crowd who were waiting piled on board. Instead of turning left at the usual crossroads, this one carried straight on towards the city centre. Judy was pleased to see that she was not the only one to be totally baffled by this, many Chinese commuters were remonstrating with the driver (who ignored their questions completely). Judy managed to get off the bus fairly near her school and walked the rest of the way. Later that weekend we discovered that certain buses had been designated ‘Express’, but it seems to be a fairly random system, so life ‘On The Buses’ continues to be an adventure.
This week we decided to go swimming in the open-air pool on the other side of Kunming. This included a ride on the Number 130, a bus the size of a school minibus with no suspension. This bowls happily along the road, lulling you into thinking it will be a comfortable ride, then it suddenly takes a sharp left up a crowded alley and gives you a fascinating tour of the stone yards and timber yards of Kunming. The weight of the heavy lorries carrying tons of stone has broken the road surface into chunks, so that you bounce from one to another at high speed. If you are unlucky enough to be on the back seat you have to hang on for dear life as your head meets the roof and then you fall back to earth again. After about 20 minutes you are deposited beside a huge gold Buddha, which is sitting outside an ornamental masonry shop waiting to be sold. Next to the Buddha is the statue of David (last seen in Florence) which is considerably smaller and stockier than the original and has a coy grin on its face. We couldn’t tell whether it was made of white marble - or white plastic.
The swimming pool was lovely, outdoors, but heated to about 28°. Judy had to buy a swimming cap, there was a choice of two and she chose the nylon leopard skin one (she refused to have her picture taken in this new fashion item!)
Feeling clean and invigorated, we trudged back through the stone yards, where huge lorries drove past, covering us in red dust. We caught the bus along with a group of elderly ladies in their blue national dresses and embroidered slippers. They had large wide-brimmed pink and blue sun hats on, so it was obviously the WI outing. They were far too smart to sit on the back seat, but they enjoyed watching us bounce up and down enormously!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Xi'an
We had a few days to spare this week so we went to Xi’an, a 2 hour flight from here. Domestic flights in China are easy and usually on time. Check-in closes 30 minutes before take off and the main hassle is getting to the airport through the Kunming traffic and ever-present roadworks. At the other end of the flight, the airport shuttle bus took us straight to our hotel in the city centre. (We had been advised not to use taxis in Xi’an.)
Our main reason for going was, of course, to see the Terracotta Warriors (or "worriers" as they were described on a packet of postcards we bought.) So we signed up for a trip which included a visit to a silk factory and another tourist attraction, the Big Wild Goose pagoda. This is actually a large Buddhist temple complex with the pagoda as its focal point. The pagoda is modelled on an Indian pagoda of the same name, so called because a wild goose is said to have dropped dead at the site! The visit led to some interesting conversations between ourselves, the local tour guide, (Sean - good Chinese name!) and the American Jewish couple who made up our small group.
At the silk factory we were fascinated to watch the fine silk threads being unwound from the silkworm cocoons. The larvae are used for food and each cocoon yields over a kilometre of thread! Before we left the factory there was the inevitable opportunity to buy the products.
We had seen the excellent warriors exhibition at the British Museum last year which was a good introduction to seeing them in situ. It was so impressive to see the rows of thousands of warriors, horses, etc. which were uncovered by chance in 1974. A farmer made the discovery while digging a well and when we arrived he was on hand to sign copies of the guidebook. He is a lot richer now but looked as if he might have been happier as a farmer.
Our hotel was in the tourist area with lots of shops asking tourist prices. Just over the road was Starbucks which we don’t have in Kunming so we treated ourselves to several lattes while we could. We enjoyed wandering among the fascinating variety of shops and stalls in the nearby Moslem quarter. It was there that we were accosted by a couple of female students who are studying Business English at one of the 75 (!!) universities in Xi’an. They told us that they make a practice of speaking to foreign visitors in order to practise their English. They were good company as they helped us to identify the mysterious objects we came across and encouraged us to bargain for the best prices - not very British! We must admit we introduced our new friends to MacDonalds. They were a bit puzzled by the ‘jam’ in their beefburgers – so were we until we managed to identify it as melted cheese!
We are now back in Kunming where it is getting warmer but still not really hot - Kunming is known as Spring City - and looking forward to seeing Richard and Hazel Padfield visiting from Gloucestershire next week
Our main reason for going was, of course, to see the Terracotta Warriors (or "worriers" as they were described on a packet of postcards we bought.) So we signed up for a trip which included a visit to a silk factory and another tourist attraction, the Big Wild Goose pagoda. This is actually a large Buddhist temple complex with the pagoda as its focal point. The pagoda is modelled on an Indian pagoda of the same name, so called because a wild goose is said to have dropped dead at the site! The visit led to some interesting conversations between ourselves, the local tour guide, (Sean - good Chinese name!) and the American Jewish couple who made up our small group.
At the silk factory we were fascinated to watch the fine silk threads being unwound from the silkworm cocoons. The larvae are used for food and each cocoon yields over a kilometre of thread! Before we left the factory there was the inevitable opportunity to buy the products.
We had seen the excellent warriors exhibition at the British Museum last year which was a good introduction to seeing them in situ. It was so impressive to see the rows of thousands of warriors, horses, etc. which were uncovered by chance in 1974. A farmer made the discovery while digging a well and when we arrived he was on hand to sign copies of the guidebook. He is a lot richer now but looked as if he might have been happier as a farmer.
Our hotel was in the tourist area with lots of shops asking tourist prices. Just over the road was Starbucks which we don’t have in Kunming so we treated ourselves to several lattes while we could. We enjoyed wandering among the fascinating variety of shops and stalls in the nearby Moslem quarter. It was there that we were accosted by a couple of female students who are studying Business English at one of the 75 (!!) universities in Xi’an. They told us that they make a practice of speaking to foreign visitors in order to practise their English. They were good company as they helped us to identify the mysterious objects we came across and encouraged us to bargain for the best prices - not very British! We must admit we introduced our new friends to MacDonalds. They were a bit puzzled by the ‘jam’ in their beefburgers – so were we until we managed to identify it as melted cheese!
We are now back in Kunming where it is getting warmer but still not really hot - Kunming is known as Spring City - and looking forward to seeing Richard and Hazel Padfield visiting from Gloucestershire next week
Some of the Terracotta Warriors
.......... and some who escaped to seek a new life in the city!!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Easter Wekend in China
Easter greetings! Actually, Easter weekend in China is not very different from any other weekend, so it has been good to tell our Chinese friends about how we celebrate it in England, including the flying of kites on Good Friday. You didn’t know that was an English custom? Well, it is in our part of Cheltenham!
Last weekend was cold and the blankets we
thought we had put away for the summer were back on the beds. This weekend is warm again with hot sunshine mixed with thunderstorms. Good weather for rainbows. One thing Yunnan has in common with England is the totally unpredictable weather!
We had heard nothing from Andrew Hay since the death of his mother following a fall in a storm at sea on their trip to Scott’s base hut in Antarctica. Her father had been part of Scott’s team which was the reason for the trip. Sadly, she died a few days before arriving at the base hut, so Andrew had to complete the pilgrimage without her.
Several weeks later the ship arrived back in Auckland and, with considerable difficulty, Andrew was able to make the arrangements for his mother’s cremation and to obtain the necessary paperwork to take her ashes back to Spain for the memorial service, a job which was completed only hours before his flight was due to leave.
On the flight from New Zealand to Thailand, Andrew developed deep vein thrombosis in his right leg and was unable to walk for several hours, so he rested in Bangkok for 24 hours before continuing his journey to Spain, exercising vigorously all the way. After the memorial service, he and Anna were planning to take a few days holiday in Spain before returning to Norway, but severe chest pains put Andrew in the hospital trauma ward with a pulmonary embolism resulting from the DVT. He came out of hospital last week and has been banned from flying for a few months so cannot go back to Norway for a while.
He had planned to come out to Kunming in May which would have given us the opportunity to discuss progress on the water projects and make plans for the future. I had hoped that together we could recruit a local person to continue making the circuits for the UV light water purifiers after I leave at the end of July. Something we need to be thinking about. We are still hoping Andrew and Anna will return to China before we leave.
Another of the many examples of Chinglish we see every day. Can the dogs read?
Last weekend was cold and the blankets we
thought we had put away for the summer were back on the beds. This weekend is warm again with hot sunshine mixed with thunderstorms. Good weather for rainbows. One thing Yunnan has in common with England is the totally unpredictable weather!We had heard nothing from Andrew Hay since the death of his mother following a fall in a storm at sea on their trip to Scott’s base hut in Antarctica. Her father had been part of Scott’s team which was the reason for the trip. Sadly, she died a few days before arriving at the base hut, so Andrew had to complete the pilgrimage without her.
Several weeks later the ship arrived back in Auckland and, with considerable difficulty, Andrew was able to make the arrangements for his mother’s cremation and to obtain the necessary paperwork to take her ashes back to Spain for the memorial service, a job which was completed only hours before his flight was due to leave.
On the flight from New Zealand to Thailand, Andrew developed deep vein thrombosis in his right leg and was unable to walk for several hours, so he rested in Bangkok for 24 hours before continuing his journey to Spain, exercising vigorously all the way. After the memorial service, he and Anna were planning to take a few days holiday in Spain before returning to Norway, but severe chest pains put Andrew in the hospital trauma ward with a pulmonary embolism resulting from the DVT. He came out of hospital last week and has been banned from flying for a few months so cannot go back to Norway for a while.
He had planned to come out to Kunming in May which would have given us the opportunity to discuss progress on the water projects and make plans for the future. I had hoped that together we could recruit a local person to continue making the circuits for the UV light water purifiers after I leave at the end of July. Something we need to be thinking about. We are still hoping Andrew and Anna will return to China before we leave.
Another of the many examples of Chinglish we see every day. Can the dogs read?
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