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Saying Goodbye

View of Kunming from XiShan, a nearby mountain.

Tomorrow morning, I get on a flight back to DC! It's going to take me around 24 hours and three planes, but I'll get there eventually! It's so exciting to think about coming home. I'm excited to come home in the winter for a change, because it means I get to wear my bulky sweaters and coat on the plane... packing has been a little easier this time around.

Saying goodbye to China this time around has been hard! When I left after studying in Beijing, I had in my head an idea that I might come back. When I left Shanghai last year, I had already made plans to come and study in Kunming. And now, leaving Kunming, I'm not sure what the future holds for me and China. I have some serious concerns about living here but they always balance out with the great experiences I've had here. It's been especially nice this semester to close some (but not close to all!) language gaps and meet other people who are just as interested in life here as I am.

Today, on my last day, I went to Yuantong Temple, which is only about 15 minutes away from the university but I hadn't managed to visit before. I was surprised how large it was! I also was there around lunchtime... which means vegetarian meals for 5RMB (a little under a dollar) per person. After walking around the temple, I got in the lunch line and got a heap of steaming rice, beans, tofu, and tons of veggies. I sat down at a table, and since it was so busy, I soon had tablemates. Once I finished my meal (the pressure to clean your plate at a Buddhist temple is strong!!), I asked the ladies across from me about the price... I hadn't seen anywhere to pay. They answered (along with two other helpful listeners from a nearby table) that it was free today... woo free lunch! As I said goodbye, one of the women told me I was 太漂亮了 "so beautiful"! Haha. Let the record show that it's currently Wednesday morning and the last shower I had was on Sunday morning. So many people have been so nice to me here, way beyond this polite compliment. I'm lucky to have had the experiences I have here. Not everyone who lives here has an easy life, and even though being a foreigner can come with huge privilege, sometimes that doesn't happen. I'm grateful for the experiences I've had and all the people I've met here.

Pictures from the temple:

On Monday, we took a little overnight trip about 4 hours out of the city to see the Earth Forest... it was very cool! Yunnan is known for some beautiful natural scenes and this one did not disappoint. Pictures below!

Professional train sleepers:

Think there were enough people at the train station?

Travel Updates

After taking a Chinese proficiency exam, Karlye and I embarked on a self-appointed vacation!

This was our route:

We flew from Kunming to Bangkok and then took trains and buses south, stopping at a beach island, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore. From Singapore, we flew back to Kunming.

Keep scrolling down to see my posts from each place. Or, you can follow these links:

Bangkok

Koh Chang

Kuala Lumpur

Singapore

Part 1 of 4: Bangkok

It's crazy to me that this place is only a short 2.5 hour plane ride from Kunming! It was such a different city than I was expecting (in a great way). As I type this, it's in the low 40s in Kunming and it's in the low 90s in Bangkok. Awesome. We landed in the late afternoon and found our hostel, tucked away in a quiet neighborhood. The alleyways looked like this:

We walked around for the rest of the evening and found the Thai equivalent of a diner (delicious noodle soup) and found a night market and shrine hidden in plane sight on a busy city corner. This was dessert: shaved ice, syrup, and tons of sugary "fruit" (think maraschino cherries).

This is what crossing the street in Bangkok looks like:

We got to see a huge golden Buddha statue in a beautiful temple- Wat Traimit. This is the outside view of the temple:

The Buddha statue the temple is famous for is about 5.5 tons of solid gold. It's around 700 years old, but the fact that it was gold was only rediscovered in the 1950s, as it was covered in plaster for hundreds of years to prevent looting.

This was the first of many temples on the trip where we had to remove our shoes and make sure our legs and shoulders were covered.

As you can see from the picture below, portraits of the king are EVERYWHERE. He's on billboards, in shops, roadside shrines, you name it. It's a serious crime to disrespect him or an image of him.

Next, we said goodbye to Bangkok and headed to Koh Chang for a beach day!

Part 2 of 4: Koh Chang

I had read online that it was a 4-5 hour bus ride to the island. Technically, this isn't a lie, but reality of travel plays out a little differently. First of all, Karlye woke up early on the day we were supposed to head to the island with an awful case of food poisoning. After taking it easy, drinking lots of water, and an adventure to a Thai pharmacy, we decided to make the trip anyway. A heroic combination of stubbornness, exhaustion, and sheer desire to see a sunny beach somehow got her through the trip to the beach, which went like this....

1. A walk from the hostel to the subway. 2. Subway to the monorail. 3. From the monorail, a walk to the bus stop. 4. From the bus stop, hopping in a van to get to the ferry. 5. 5 hours in the van, worrying all the way that we were going to miss the last ferry, which departed at 7:30. 6. Managing to catch the ferry, and riding it for about an hour.

Here's a partially food poisoned Karlye, sitting next to the bountiful amount of life jackets (Hi Mom).

Here's the moon from the ferry... this picture doesn't do it justice, but it was SO bright and beautiful!

7. From the pier, we hopped in a group taxi (there's one road that loops the island, so everyone's going the same way eventually) which consisted of two benches in the bed of a pickup. 8. About 30 minutes in the pickup/taxi to our hostel. 9. Checking in our hostel, where our room was situated above a very bumping bar (think music that makes a glass of water vibrate). But it was a nice room and we were too exhausted to care!

The next morning, we got up with trepidation to say the least. Was the schlep worth it?

I would definitely say yes! The beach was BEAUTIFUL! I've never been in such clear or warm water. The first time we got in the water, I couldn't stop laughing... I was just so happy to be there.

We stayed on the beach for the whole day (lots of places to eat and drink along the beach). Food in Thailand just amazes me. Such different flavors... it was all so fresh and cheap (unbelievably, cheaper than Chinese food). We ate well on the island! Pad Thai was around $1.20.

This is what the little town around the beach looked like. Lots of cafes where you can get fresh fruit drinks and coffee.

After only a day at the beach, we said goodbye to Koh Chang and did the taxi/ferry/bus/subway back to Bangkok to catch our train to Malaysia.

Leaving the hostel:

View from the ferry.... bye, Koh Chang.

Part 3 of 4: Kuala Lumpur

Alright, I should explain our transportation situation. I had read a blog about how easy it is to take trains... and how nice, cheap, and convenient sleeper trains are to travel south through Thailand to Malaysia. Much like the travel advice I read about getting to Koh Chang... it's not technically false, buuuutttt.... reality:

1. Get on a 2:30pm train in Bangkok. When we went to buy train tickets, they were sold out of tickets to the Malaysian city where we planned on changing trains (you have to switch at the border). The ticket agent told us we would be able to catch a train to Kuala Lumpur from the city (called Hat Yai) so we said sure. Once on the train, we stretched out on our sleepers, had a great dinner, and relaxed.

2. Get off in Hat Yai about 7am the next morning... and.... we're still in Thailand. Crap. We go to the ticket office and they tell us the next train to Kuala Lumpur is at 4pm.... and will take us another 15 hours....... and there are no sleepers, only seats. Hahaha. We buy our tickets and head out of the train station to see exactly where we were.... and were pleasantly surprised. If you ever find yourself there, the area around the Hat Yai train station is pretty pleasant... lots of cafes, food, markets, and shops. We got some coffee and wifi (and consulted a map to see exactly where we were). That afternoon, we met some really nice other backpackers, and chatting with them really lifted our spirits. It seems really unfathomable to me to just be continuously traveling for months on end, but people do it! Also, I got to see the most well-loved (beat up) American passport I've ever seen. Ha ha.

3. 15 more hours on the train and we're finally in Kuala Lumpur! At 6am. Hahaha.

4. Short taxi to our hostel (which mercifully had 24 hour reception) and we took a deserved nap/shower before heading out into the city.

Our first stop was the Batu Caves... a bit outside of KL but accessible by metro. It's one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside of India. It was IMPRESSIVE. You can read more about it here.

Not pictured are all of the MONKEYS. Monkeys everywhere. They scared the crap out of me to be honest! They were sliding down the banisters while we were climbing the stairs into the caves so I was scared to touch the railings. Yikes. Here's one eating a garland someone left as an offering:

Back in the city, we went to visited Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown (of course... what else would we do when traveling outside of China?!) and got some awesome food. Anything that's served in half a pineapple is ok by me!

The next morning we visited a mosque... the first time I'd visited one outside of the U.S. The man at the gate was really welcoming... he gave us huge robe cover ups and head scarves to borrow and we left our bags and headed upstairs to see the prayer hall. It was impressive and very quiet, as visitors are only in during certain hours.

Next, we were on to our fourth and final destination... Singapore!

Travel Part 4 of 4: Singapore

A note on border crossings: they're weird to do over land. The Thailand/Malaysia crossing went very smoothly. You disembark at the border, enter a building, they stamp your passport to exit Thailand, walk down a hallway, they stamp your passport to exit Malaysia, then you hop back on the same train and continue on your way! I did have to scan my index fingers for the first time in my life to enter Malaysia so... I'm in the system now. Hmm. The Malaysia/Singapore crossing was a bit weirder... we exited the bus and went into a massive building and were stamped out of Malaysia... and then the building just ended in a massive parking lot where we had to run around and try to find where our driver decided to park. Then we drove for about 20 more minutes (in what country I have no idea) until we reached another building where we officially entered Singapore. After scanning my bag, the woman at security asked if I had any mace or chewing gum... guess those are about equivalent in Singapore. No chewing gum, spitting, littering... lots of rules and fines. I saw so many souvenirs with the logo "Singapore is FINE city" (har har). There's actually a mandatory caning sentence for vandalism (even applies to foreigners). Here's a sign I saw in the subway:

(5,000 Singapore dollars is about $4,000 USD). Also, durians are a very very very fragrant fruit... they smell like rotten things that look like this and are surprisingly not horrible tasting.

Anyway, in spite (no... maybe because of) all the rules, Singapore is really beautiful and clean. There's such an interesting mix of cultures (and a lot of Mandarin speakers, which was awesome). Our hostel was right outside of Little India.

On our first day, we visited the beautiful Botanic Gardens.

It was a beautiful way to see some more green before returning to Kunming. My favorite was the prehistoric garden (pictured below) the path served as a timeline tracking what kind of things were growing since the beginning of earth. There was also a really interesting healing garden with all kind of plants used for medicines around the world.

Good eating in Singapore. Lunch was laksa, a seafood soup with a coconut broth.

Next we headed to, you guessed it, Chinatown. It was a pretty cool Chinatown, I won't lie! The facades of the buildings were beautiful.

Our destination was the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. If there's one thing I love to see as a tourist, it's relic. So I was SO excited. While you weren't allowed to take pictures of the actual tooth itself, the temple was stunning and also featured a very informative museum about Buddhism on the upper floors.

The next morning, we visited the harbor area of the city. There's an enormous park there and... SUPERTREES! I remember reading this article in 2012 about the supertrees and thinking wow, the future is now. Never thought I'd actually go see them. They are outfitted with solar panels, capture water from the air to supply the park's conservatories, help moderate temperature, and serve as a framework for vines to grow on them. You can see them on the right of the photo below... they're huge!

The height of the walkway among the supertrees is the height rainforest canopy.

Other highlights of the area were the Arts and Sciences Museum (beautiful photography exhibit that reminded me of my dad!) and this helix bridge.

As I mentioned above, we ate well in Singapore. All of its cultural influences really pay off in the form of food! What I would call "street food" in China is organized and regulated into "hawker centers," which are basically giant cafeterias with so many cheap and delicious options. For our last dinner, I opted for Indian. Yum.

And one final note on this enormous blog post... I need to talk about the Singapore airport. I was in awe. Free wifi everywhere, beautiful architecture, great shopping (there was an entire bookstore, not just newsstands! and even a Tiffany's), free foot massage chairs everywhere, a 24 hour "snooze lounge," tons of outlets and charging stations, a butterfly garden, lots of playgrounds for kids, a 24 hour food court... and best of all, you didn't have to go through security until you reached your gate as there was security set up for each individual gate. It was basically personalized security. Woo hoo.

It was a big shock to my system to land in Kunming... as I mentioned, it's been low 40s here. And since we're too far south to qualify for central heat... it's been tough. I'm writing this in two pairs of socks, three sweaters, three layers of pants, a scarf, and hat. Brrrrr! We snuck a contraband space heater (apparently they cause electrical problems in the building so are technically not allowed) but it doesn't do too much in our concrete, high-ceilinged dorm room. Whew. On the bright side, the warmest places I've found are the public buses, so maybe this will be my impetus to get on the bus and leave the bubble of campus to see more of the city!

cnnpolitics

Obama’s reaction when Chinese President Xi avoided a question about press access in China

Life and Travel Updates

I was inspired by a piece about living in China to post some updates of my own. You can read it in full here. I'm lucky every day I get to experience living here. I've been surprised about the ways of thinking and doing that are opposite from mine: crossing streets, seeing world maps that put Asia smack in the middle, not being able to accept compliments, never quite nailing gift giving etiquette, asking "why?" and having "no why" as an acceptable response, censoring nearly 620 million internet users, getting "hello!" shouted at me by strangers, plus, trying to write a fraction or calculate a sale price at a percentage discount? Flips my Western math mind right upside down.

I've been astounded about the things that are absolutely the same: hospitality, kindness, curiosity, ambition. One of the best things about travel is you realize that everywhere around the world, people are just trying to live out their daily lives. There are news stories of extremism and hate, and while I don't deny those are an enormous reality, they can also be perception distortions. Anything that tries to talk you out of seeing people as people has an agenda. Anything that suggests you shouldn't do your best to seek perspective on the world has its own twisted motive.

I plan on coming back to the DC area mid January when my semester ends. Things I look forward to include: being with family and friends, sleeping on a mattress, central heating, breakfast cereal, access to a washing machine (and drier!), wifi in my home, showering with hot water even if it's cloudy (water in our dorm is heated only by solar power), uncensored internet, and cheese. Things I will miss: just about everything else.

Some recent photos:

Tons of people gather on a certain section of campus because the trees are a famous type and they're turning a beautiful yellow color. This crowd gathered because of a squirrel. Ha.

This is where I have to go to pick up packages since they're coming from outside the country. It's quite a place.

Hotpot! Boiling pot in which you cook your own veggies and meats. As you can see in the picture below this one, brains are included. This meal is awesome not only because of the amazing flavors (the side of the pot closest to the camera is spicy, the other is more mild), but because it really warms you up! The weather here hasn't been too cold, but the fact that there's no heat makes my days pretty chilly. Plus, my hot water is solar powered, so if it's rainy or even cloudy for more than two or three days, I'm taking cold showers. You're welcome, earth.

You know you're in for a good meal when you get plastic aprons! In this case, we're about to enjoy some Korean BBQ.

This is what a lot of my day looks like.... note the red pen corrections :)

Karlye and I on Halloween... representing American decades!

#living abroad #China #brains

More pictures

Photos from last month's trip to Shangri-la (late I know!)

View from a nearby monastery:

Outside a local "super market":

This is what a lot of Shangri-la actually looked like... there was a fire last January and so much rebuilding is happening.

At the temple closest to the city center:

Turning the MASSIVE prayer wheel (clockwise, three times!). Took the combined strength of about 10 people working together. It was a great experience... once we finally got it moving, everyone was so excited.

A family that asked for their picture with us:

And a note about how we got back to Kunming... sleeper bus. Beds were pretty narrow (three beds are in the picture below!). You get kind of snuggly with your neighbor to say the least. It took us 12 sticky hours on this bus to get back (driving through the night, including a break for the driver, bathroom breaks for everyone as there's no bathroom on board, and a flat tire). It was probably the closest I've felt to a freak out due to travel conditions in a long, long time. Karlye loved it, as you can see from the picture, and promptly slept the whole ride. Wish I could've been so lucky... definitely an adventure.

#China #Travel #Shangrila #Buddhism

Some reading about Hong Kong...

Back from my trip and (finally) invested in a VPN that gets me over the "Great Firewall" of internet restrictions. And speaking of internet restrictions.... I've noticed they've seriously constricted over the National Holiday this past week, coinciding with the protests in Hong Kong. Here's a list of blocked terms. I've been able to see BBC's coverage without a VPN as well as some posts on Tumblr (but none of the links).

Now that I have the program that allows me access to unrestricted internet, I'm glued to coverage of this protest. A couple good articles I've found so far:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-27921954

http://www.vox.com/2014/9/28/6860493/hong-kong-protests-mike-brown-ferguson

A longer post about my travels this past week is on its way.

#hong kong

Ganden Sumtseling Tibetan Buddhist monastery. Originally built in 1697. Site selected by the Fifth Dalai Lama. Beautiful views and alters. We saw many interesting offerings, including Snickers bars and Coke cans. Spent a lot of time here today walking in a clockwise direction, spinning prayer wheels in a clockwise direction, and peering into all of the halls. Then we took a bus back to Shangri-la and ate some yak noodles, baba bread, and butter tea.

#Buddhism #china #travel #monastery

Hotpot in Shangri-la. Tasted yak meat. Verdict: delicious.

#travel #China #Yunnnan #火锅

gulou

“It was an image that fascinated the world—a sea of lights coming from thousands of Hong Kong protesters waving their lit up mobile phones in the darkness. That’s what you get from a city that averages more than two mobile phones per person.

Occupy Central, aka the Umbrella Revolution, may be the most high-tech protest ever, using wireless broadband, multimedia smartphones, drone film making, mobile video projectors, and live streaming video to communicate and to broadcast their cause to the entire world in real time. The victor in this conflict will be determined by who holds the streets, and who rules the digital space.”

For more, see Andrew Lih, “In Hong Kong’s Protests, Technology is a Battlefield,” Quartz (2 October 2014)

Image: Carlos Barria / Reuters