Familiar Places and Delicious Delights

I woke up the next morning feeling the same way I did in Shanghai, refreshed and ready to go! I hadn’t felt that way in weeks…but it felt like forever ago. I keep on saying this, but it’s just really amazing how nice simple comforts really are in comparison with not actually having them. You don’t realize how important something is until it’s no longer there. Anyway, it was a great feeling.

We got ready and used the coupons we were given after renting our room for a free coffee. We took our coffees and sat at the balcony and watched the action of the morning unfold.

#simplehappiness

It was so peaceful just sitting in the cool (but not freezing) air filled with the smell of delicious food, watching the people of Kunming below. In the plaza not far from the two gates, a group of Shaoshu Minzu (少数民族), ethnic minorities, formed a circle and danced traditional dances while going around the circle. Some of them were dressed in full traditional garb, others in partial traditional garb, others wore no traditional garb at all, and some carried traditional instruments and played them as they traveled around the circle. It was a very interesting thing to watch, similar to what I saw the Nakhi tribe (pronounced NAH-shee) do when I went to Lijiang with my friend Min Dan.

If you look closely at these pictures, you'll be able to see some of the people holding traditional instruments and others in traditional clothing. Some pictures you'll see this clearer than others...remember you can click on them to make them bigger.

One thing that I was reminded very quickly of being back in Kunming is how Yunnan province is filled with different ethnic minorities. Not all of them are native to Yunnan, but migrated there as Chinese imperialism spread. Yunnan province is home to the largest amount of ethnic minorities in all of China, harboring 26 different ethnicities, including the largest ethnicity, the Han group. I think I took this for granted when I was living in Kunming, because I really hadn’t seen any other city in China (Shanghai not included), and so I didn’t know what it was like to NOT have this kind of culture being a large part of the culture of the city. Now I’ve seen what most cities are like in China (Xiangyang is a city with no ethnic minorities- or at least very few- which is like most cities in China), and so now this ethnic minority culture stands out to me very vividly and is even more fascinating to me than before.

It’s so interesting to see the different outfits, music, physical appearances, and dances of these different groups. It is a small whisper of a reminder that China used to be many many different cultures…in fact, I am certain that what is now China at once point used to be much more like what is now Europe: a large landmass filled with many different cultures all over the place, each with different art, dance, music, foods, religions, and languages. An event that occurred later in my epic adventures really drove home this idea, but I will talk about that when the time comes…no spoilers.

So after we had our coffee and hung out there for a while, we made our way to the place that is the hub of Western deliciousness in Kunming: Foreigner Street, “Wenhua Xiang” (文化巷).

On this street, if you haven’t read my Kunming blog (I think it’s mentioned there), there is a line of different foreign-style restaurants owned by foreigners, and by some Chinese (not too many). There is a French cafe, a Mexican restaurant, an Indian restaurant, a few Korean restaurants, and many restaurants with certain Western specialties as pizza, pasta, sandwiches, and more.

Most of these restaurants are cafe/bar/restaurants, evolving into these different things at different times of the day. In the morning, they are more of a cafe which serves breakfast foods (most of them at least). At lunch and dinner, they are more full-blown restaurants, especially at dinnertime. At late night, they turn into a bar, and snacks and light meals are served alongside the drinks. In the in-between hours of the day they switch back into a cafe, where people just chill out, use the internet, do homework, and mingle. Of course, you can get anything you want at any time of the day (ex. Alcoholic drinks for breakfast, breakfast for dinner…that is, if you REALLY want to), but in general, most people don’t do that. I’ve had some really great times at these places, and some not so great times. But these restaurants (only a short walk away from Yunnan Normal University) kept me going when I needed some Western food to alleviate my culture shock in Kunming.

There’s something about knowing that something you like exists in a place near you that keeps you from craving it too much…but if ever it’s completely out of sight with no hope of getting it, then that’s when you start to crave it more. Bread and cheese (as I think I mentioned before) was my main thing that I crave when Western food is completely out of sight. There are other foreign restaurants at other places around the city (there’s an Irish pub, several very nice cafes, a New Zealand style pizza place/deli, and of course The Hump Hostel/Bar), but they’re generally isolated and spread out in different places around the city. Foreigner street is probably the biggest smorgasbord of foreign delights in the whole of Kunming.

Anyway, the place we went to first was Salvador’s, the Mexican style restaurant on Foreigner Street. We were all craving some salsa and refried beans. And boy did we get it. I ordered some nachos, and boy did I get some…I thought it would be small, but it was more than I could eat and I needed my friends to help me. But they tasted like heaven. I picked up the first nacho, scooped it into the pile of sour cream, salsa, refried beans, and lettuce, and took a bite. BURST OF DELICIOUSNESS IN MY MOUTH!! It was amazing!

And you have to realize that this is all relative, I’m coming from Xiangyang where the food is so-so and if you’re not SUPER used to Chinese food then you’ll be craving Western food before long, and so I’ve learned to take pleasure from certain simple foods like bread and cheese. Maybe if you’re coming straight from America to Kunming you’ll think, “Oh, the chips were just normal chips, nothing special; the pizza’s too small and thin; the drinks aren’t sweet enough.” But hey, to me, Kunming was the very paradise I needed to recover from Xiangyang. Kunming had been my home, and it will always be like a second home to me even if I never go back there to live, and the fact is that there’s more than just good food here…there’s LIFE. So if you ever decide to come to Kunming, or if you simply just want a true perspective on what Kunming is (and truth once again is all relative), what I’ll say is this: there is hope and happiness here, the people are nice and happy and the environment grows happier every year. The friends you make here will give you a closeness like that of a family, because everyone here has come for a reason and they value the friendships they make that help them get through the day or serve to enhance their great adventures. So if you come here with any form of an open mind, Kunming will welcome you with open arms. Ok I need to stop now because I’m not actually trying to advertise the place.

Anyway, so that meal was really good, and we proceeded on our way. We wanted to visit the schools that me and Malcolm studied at while we were here. Malcolm had studied at Yunnan University, and I had studied at Yunnan Normal University. Both schools are excellent schools and I can’t really compare specifics between them because I only know my own school, but I do know this: what everyone says is that Yunnan University is a great school for Chinese students trying to obtain a general education. Yunnan University is a MUCH bigger school, it has far more diversity of subjects and majors being offered and it’s just a nice place…the campus is huge and beautiful. I had friends that went to school there, foreign and Chinese alike…and it does have its share of Chinese programs. ON THE OTHER HAND, everyone says that while Yunnan University is the better school for Chinese students trying to obtain a general education, Yunnan Normal University is the better school for foreign students trying to study Chinese. At Yunnan Normal University, the program is pretty intensive, and the teachers of Chinese are specifically trained to teach Chinese to foreign students. They have learned teaching styles and learning patterns of efficient ways to teach Chinese to foreigners. When I arrived in Kunming, I could hire a cab and order food at a restaurant and hold simple conversation. When I returned to the United States, I could call myself fluent in Chinese and received an Advanced title after passing my Oral Efficiency Test for my major at Carnegie Mellon University. Because of my time in Kunming and Yunnan Normal University. You be the judge of which school to choose to study Chinese.

But no matter what school you choose, you will not improve a single bit if you don’t try. A huge part of getting better is entirely up to you…you have to put in the work. You can’t just passively sit in a class and hope by just sitting there and just doing the homework that you’ll magically speak Chinese by the end of it. It’s up to you.

So we visited Yunnan University and Malcolm told us what was the same and what was different. Most of it was the same, but the building he had studied in had been knocked down. The place looked very much like how I remembered it to look.

Then we went over to my school…and that hit home to me much more. That place was very special to me, even though the conditions I lived in were far cruder than any dorm you’d find in America. I think in comparing my time in Xiangyang and my time in Kunming, I’ve learned that it’s not necessarily needing to live in super comfortable conditions that will keep you going…it’s having at least something or a few somethings that keep you motivated that’s important. I don’t really have too many "somethings" in Xiangyang…but in Kunming, I had friends that were happy and open and caring, good food whenever I needed it, warm weather, and the promise of an adventure (even if very small) on a regular basis.

My school hadn’t really changed too much, except for some sort of net wrapped around the trees in front of the library. That was really it. And at my school, there were flowers still growing even in the winter when it should be cold. Every time I’ve been at YNNU, there have been flowers growing at least somewhere. It was beautiful. I saw my dorm, and then I saw my classroom building. I was hoping to see my former main teacher, but upon talking to another teacher I had known from before I found out that she was now teaching in Thailand. Wow, that was a surprise.

This was along the path outside of Yunnan University on the way to Yunnan Normal University. They didn't sell these delicious looking beauties when I was there, they only sold fruit at the time. If they had, you better believe this would have been the place I would've grabbed lunch from on a regular basis. I didn't get to sample these during the first week in Kunming, but when I go back I definitely will.

On the way to YNNU (Yunnan Normal)

This was my old dormitory. I was on the third floor, the third from the right. We weren't allowed to go in this time, but it didn't matter. There was no one I knew in the dorms any more, so there wasn't any point. All my friends had either moved somewhere else or left. Most of them left.

This is the classroom building for the foreign language students. I've had friends from the US, England, Russia, Germany, Israel, Thailand, Vietnam, Latvia, Estonia, Switzerland, Holland, Canada, Malaysia, and Indonesia (and more that I can't think of) that have studied here.

This is the pond that they have by the main gate. It's like the focal point of the whole campus.

So after that, we went down to Green Lake and did some walking by there. It was really pretty, and we happened to be there around the time of a kind of holiday they were celebrating...not an official one,just a kind of festival celebration unique to Kunming I guess . There’s a certain time of year when the seagulls come from, well, the sea I guess, and flock over to Green Lake in very very large amounts. And the Chinese people think it’s really awesome, and the only thing I’m thinking is that I hope they don’t poop on my head or bite me.

Here you can see more clearly some of the traditional wear. That dress the lady is wearing reminds me of something I'd see in Mexican clothing, with the bright colors and the stripes. 

These ladies to the left are also wearing a different kind of traditional clothing. They have these aprons with tassles that hang down. I know that the Nakhi tribe has these kind of aprons, but I don't know if that's what these ladies are.

The baby carrier this lady has is a common one here in Yunnan province...the carrier itself is not of an ethnic minority group, but the design I believe is. I'm not certain though, don't hold me to that. All I know for sure is that many women in Yunnan province walk around with this particular design, and I haven't seen this anywhere else. But as I said, don't hold me to it.

Seagulls...

More.

Now this is yet another type of traditional clothing...I have no idea which ethnic minority these ladies belong to.

While we were there walking around the lake, and seeing the hundreds of birds, we also saw more ethnic minorities dancing. They had their traditional garb and their traditional instruments. I find it fascinating that their outfits and traditions reminded me of some of the Native American groups I’ve seen. Many of their outfits have feathers and designs reminiscent of what I’ve seen in America, and it makes a lot of sense because if you look at a map of human migration, that was the path that the Native Americans (as well as any natives to the Americas) took to get there. They started in Africa, as we all did, made their way through the Saudi Arabian peninsula, through Asia, up to Russia, through a strip of land that used to exist at the Bering Strait, and then down through Alaska and Canada, and into North America, Central America, and South America (and then after that the Caribbean).

Anyway, it’s cool to see similarities in cultures because it reminds us that we are not a set of races, we are all one race of humans, all connected in more ways than we even know. It’s a pretty cool thing to be aware of, and the more places I go, the more connections I find between two cultures that I thought were pretty distinct and independent of each other…and then I realize that’s not so. Go to a place like Kazakhstan or Tajikistan or Xinjiang in China or New Zealand and see the natives to these places, or simply meet them face to face, and just by looking at them it will shatter any belief you had that there are distinct races of humans. No sir, we are all one people, all connected…the only thing that makes us different is that the places we live (the geography- be it mountains or rivers, the climate- be it hot desert or endless winter, and the wildlife) influence our methods of survival, how we thrive, how we look at the world, and much more. A future event has also driven this idea home for me, but once again no spoilers.

After we walked around the lake, we went back to the hostel. We grabbed some dumplings and rolls called “bao zi” (包子) at the Chinese restaurant on the second floor below us and then took a break. Before long it was time for dinner, and we decided to go to an Italian restaurant we saw nearby the city center as we were walking earlier in the day. Strangely, I was still “full” from eating earlier in the day. We went there and three of us ordered lasagna. It was delicious, I just wish I wasn’t feeling so full. I couldn’t enjoy it like I wanted to. We went back to the hostel afterwards and then went to sleep.