Kunming''s Beautiful Park , China's Military School, Ancient Village

After staying in Chuxiong, the Fire City in China, for three days, we started our joureny home towards southern China. One of the cities we wanted to spend a little more time there was Kunming. A beautiful city with lots of history and parks and natural beauty. There were many places to go and lots of things to see therefore we only focused on three things that were close by and interested us the most.

One of the places we enjoyed visiting a lot on this trip were the parks in China. Parks are favourite places for CHinese people who gather there for various activities such as exercising, dancing and meeting friends. I have found that parks in China are usually quite huge and spacious, often with winding paths, lined with huge mature trees, some are over a few hundred years old.

We visited the Jade Park in Kunming. On the afternoon of our visit, there was an elderly gentleman, looking fit and strong, standing at the entrance to the park and conducting a phathom orchestra. He set up the sound system playing some nice classical music which we could hear about half a mile away. He was directing the invisible orchestra with such enthusiasm and strength that he drew quite a crowd gathering around him. We stood there enjoyed this free concert for sometime. From what we could oberve, Chinese people are quite free to do what they want to do in their daioy lives as long as they are not doing something illegal. Life is China is not as opperessive as what we think.

We aslo visited China's first Military College which is located just across the street from Jake Lake. I learned a lot about Chinese history and some of their heroes who fought valiantly for their country during the wars.

We visited our third minority tribe ancinet town on this trip in Kunming. At the beginning of our China trip, I used to think the ancient towns were some rare towns discovered and preserved for Chinese people and visitors to visit. Having visited three of them, I realize it is the CHinese government policy to promote racial harmony and unity among the 56 different tribes of people within China as well as using this Minority Tribe Village concept to promote understanding and respect OF the minorities' cultures/ customs and thereby also promoting tourism and creating jobs for these communities and lifting these sometimes backward tribes out of poverty. What a smart idea and great way of creating jobs and helping with the tribes' economy! Keep up the great work! RT Kunmin, Province of Yunnan China

Experiencing A Fire Festival Firsthand in Chuxiong, China

We were supposed to be in Chuxiong which we picked as a random city to visit in China. Having learned about the annual Fire Festival being held here for the weekend, we decided to extend our stay here to a 3 day visit. Today was our third and last day of our visit to Chuxiong, China. We stayed at two different hotels. The first night we stayed outside the ancient town and the next two nights we were right inside the Yi Tribe ancient town.

One of the most enjoyable experiences we had in Chuxiong was watching the light and firework show at the waterfront park here in the Yunnan province! There were a number of free activities planned throughout the city to celebrate this annual festival. We went to the park where the show was supposed to take place. But after a walk around the park for thirty minutes, we arrived at the gate and were informed by the personnel at the entrance gate that the tickets were sold out for this evening‘s performance but tickets were avialable for the next few evenings. J. told the staff that this was our last night in the city and that we would not be able to watch the other evening shows. The staffer was very kind and accommodating. She called her supervisor and got permission to sell us the three tickets!

We got in and were seated at the VIP seats with excellent service from the staff. With the ticket we purcahsed, we were served with fresh frutis and nice desserts laid out beautifully in a buffet style. This was served to all guests with tickets which was 165 yuens each with no discount for seniors. What an evening! What a spectacular show with real performaers singing and dancing on a stage built in the middle of the lake. The program was followed by a laser show and firework display accompanied by beautiful music! Absolutely first class entertainment ! I always enjoy shows with an educational component. This show was informative regarding the history and achievement of the Yi people. A wonderful show indeed! For people who didn’t get tickets or could not afford them, they could still watch the show by the water’s edge. I think socialism works in China. Whether you are rich or poor, you can still take part in the celebrations with the more well to do having a better seats while the less affluent population would not be deprived of the festivities.

After the light show, we walked out of the park by the lake and came to a main street. Most of the street was blocked off with many huge fire bowls set up on stands. Kids and young people were walking around with lit torches which they could buy at a nearby stand set up for that purpose. It was something I NEVER SEEN BEFORE. People swinging fire torches around them, unreal! Then come pouring rain and we had to run for cover. We huddled under a bus shelter with many people. Rain kept getting heavier and we were soaked, with lighting and thunder, we were afraid that we could be hit by lightening, It went on for almost 30 minutes and I kept praying for God's protection. I have never experienced such heavy rainfall for such a long time. It didn't seem it would ever end. We were soaked to the bones. The only good things was that the temperature was not cold. Otheriwse we would have been frozen to death. Finally it died dwon a little and we walked in the light rain into a billiard hall for cover. While We were waiting for a cab for almost an hour, J. and Dad played a game of billiard for about 45 minutes while waiting. I couldn't remember the last time father and son played a game together for this long. An excellent bonding activity for the two of them! It was an exciting adventure! RT, Chuxiong, China 08102023

Meeting Some Very Honest People in CHUXIONG, China

We learned that we were in Chuxiong just in time for the annual Fire Festival, therefore we decided to extend our stay from a day to three days so that we could participate or join in the fun festivities. We moved into the next hotel which was right inside the old town, how convenient was that! After breakfast, we went to the train station and have our tickets refunded and purchased new ones to Kunming. J. wanted to pick a random village to visit in order to experience the real rural life of the farmers in China. So we did.

We went to this village randomly picked out by us. We walked around the small village with just a few houses, bought a snack at the only convenience store and then visited the roadside market with fresh produces being laid out on the ground sold by the local farmers themselves. We saw some nice pears and asked them how much, replied the farmer:" 3 kgs for 10 yuens!" Unbelievable price! Since we were travelling, we didn’t want to carry a heavy bag of fresh fruits so we dropped off 10 yuens and took about 2 kg of pears.

But the farmer insisted that we took the full 3 kg weight before letting us go. How honest was this person? We were willing to pay full price for less but he would not allow that. He must sell us the full weight of what we paid for! We tried to have an early dinner by 5 or 6 pm so that we would not go to bed with a full stomach. We picked a restaurant close by a small river flowing through the old town and had our dinner there. We learned that there were a few programs planned for the Fire Festival in Chuxiong. But in order to control the crowds, some of the activities charged an admission. Tonight the celebration at the Old Town charged 150 yuens, but for me and Stan, it was free as we are seniors. There were singing, dancing, fire swallowing performances as well as the MC inviting participants to join in the fire walk around the stage they set up in the Yi Village. I learned that the Yi people worship the fire God so I didn’t want to go forward and danced with them. We stayed on the side and watched the performaces for a bit and soaked up the atmosphere. RT, CHUXIONG, CHINA 08092023

Chuxiong - Learning about the Yi Tribe people in Yunnan, China

ERHAI -Lakeside RESORT TOWN in Dali, Yunnan, China After leaving Wamao Inn in the old town of Dali, we moved to another hotel situated within a stonethrow away of Lake Erhai and spent a couple of days enjoying this beautful area. We got up and had breakfast at the hotel this morning and met three young women travlling together , one was a doctor, another was a teacher, nice talking to young people in China. We explored the lakeside in the morning after breakfast and spend a bit more time enjoying the lakefront. Absolutely beautiful and the weather was mild. I now understand why so many tourists came to Dali and Yunnan -it’s the Hawaii of China, nice weather all year around, not too hot in the summer nor not cold in the winter. Chinese people come to this cool city to escape the heat in the summer. We won't mind coming back here at all in the future. We took the faast train and went to another city – Chuxiong, a city we never heard of and randomly picked it out from the map just to see if other unknown cities in China are as developed and nicely serviced. It only took an hour and we were there. There were so many people travelling that the only tickets available were first class and we were sitting at different seats. J did an excellent job booking our hotel and it was right near the old town.

WE dropped off our lugguage and had an early dinner and walked to the Yi Tribe Old Town. Upbeat music and happy people including the Yi tribe people in their colourful costumes along with happy tourists were dancing together in the big square just past the entrance gate. I rarely saw such enthusiastic participation by the audiences.

Everyone there was ready and willing to join into the dance even though we didn’t know how to do it. A Few of us stood by trying to figure out the dance steps before joining in the dance. It was such a happy, vibrant atmosphere. It was delightful to see the minority people integrating well in the society, their customs, clothes and cultures being appreciated by the majority of the Chinese society. We walked around the old town taking in the beautiful old buildings all lit up like a Christmas tree. It was getting late but gave us a taste of what to expect. RT, Chuxiong 08082023

Enjoying the Beautiful Scenery by the Lakeside in Dali, ChIna

The new hotel where we were staying is close to the lake and has a spacious balcony on the second floor. We stood out and admired the waterfront. Then J started to show S. and me how to do some exercises. He especially wantd to point out his dad's problem area and wanted to help him to correct them. What a good son!

There was a restaurant close to the hotel and we went for a brunch there. We had a good meal, reasonable priced at a beautiful venue. Always desiring to support local business, we all bought a shirt and had some nice pictures taken with our new white blue Bai tops. After that, we ventured out to explore the lakeside area. BEAUTIFUL! I had never seen such beautiful scenery and stated to cry while making the video since having lived in the west for the past five decades, everything we heard from the mainstream media about China was negative. I thought China was like a hell and its people were monsters. How ignorant and wrong have we been misunderstanding such kind and hardworking people!

It was raining a bit so we went in a restaurant for lunch and to waited out the rain. After lunch, we went near the water. J wanted to sit by the lake and we chose a rock and stayed there for a little while enjoying the water, the scenery and the quietness. It was peaceful and tranquil! No loud music blasting from iphones nor motor vechicle noises from nearby autos. It was nature at its best, peaceful, quiet with a blue blue sky and mountains close by. J went in for a dip, and swam for a few minutes, then he asked his dad to join him to wet his feet a little. I went wetting my feet. It was a nice relaxing time and it reminded me of our old cabin by the lake in Canada. I kind of missed that lovely lakefront place in Ontario.

I wished we could have stayed around the this lovely lake side area longer but we needed to go to the train station to fix S’s train ticket as there was a mistake on the passport number when purchasing the first ticket. After a little while, we were no longer able to purchase online tickets as it must be done in person to correct that mistake. We called a cab to go into Dali’s downtown train terminal. It was painfully slow as the traffic going in and out of Dali’s ancient city was always heavy creating a big traffic jam both night and day. The 14 km trip took over an hour. By the time we went to town, it was getting dark and we didn’t see much of the city. We went to a nice restaurant in Dali downtown and enjoyed an early dinner. We have discovered on this trip that there are a lot of nicely decorated restaurants serving delicious food everywhere we go. It's not a problem finding a place to have a good meal at affordable prices in China. After our nice dinner, we went to the train station and bought our tickets for tomorrow to Chuxiong. The train staff was very polite and patient, taking the time to help us. We appreciate their help a lot. We had to move to another hotel for the night becasue we got mixed up with the date in booking. We were exhausted at the end of each busy day; we slept well. RT Dali, Yunnan, China 08072023

Wamao Inn, Dali - the best quaint little Inn to stay in Dali and Staying at a Lakefront Hotel in Yunana, China

We stayed in the best hotel ever on our trip in China! We would have loved to stay at Wamao for our entire time in Dali. Wamao, a quaint little privately run hotel in Dali, also the best run place by the most hardworking and welcoming innkeeper couple. Giving us a very warm welcome from the onset to helping us find aonther hotel, to helping to celebrate my husband's birthday with a delicious birthday cake with birthday hats and plates and cutlery and finally seeing us off with a beoautiful gift, the owner/ innkepper couple was always trying to providing us with services that would make our stay a very pleasant one. We absolutley love Wamao Inn in Dali, China! Of all the hotels and inns we have stayed, we have never had such personal and excellent services from any hotel owners or managers. We recommend Waomao highly to any visitors coming to Dali, China. Wamao is popular; becasue we didn't book our entire stay ahead of time, sadly, we had to leave after three days there.

Before checking out of Wamao, I even squeezed in sometime to share some words of wisdom with J. from Samuel, PLT! We were a little sad to leave this lovely inn. Leaving our luggage at the front desk, we headed out to local worshipping place for the 2pm service. These days young people are not thinking of spiritual things therefore, I was praying hard for J to join us for the service. We went to a local church which is about 120 year old. We actually went there yesterday to make sure that we could find it today. J. did go and sat through the whole service though he was a little distracted at times. Slowly and surely, I hope that J. will be drawn back to the almighty. After the service, we ate at a restaurant nearby.

We went back to Wamao hotel to retrieve our luggage and said good bye to Evan and his wife who gave us a couple of gifts, the coat rack and a can of Yunnan coffee. They were the best hosts we ever have had! From receiving us till we seeing us off, the owners of Waomao were there looking after us, thank you so much for your wonderful services! We took a cab to our next hotel by the lakeside. The traffic was painfully slow, crawling most of the way. It took more than an hour to get there. Then J. found out he didn’t book a room for tonite but he tried to correct this. The manager was good enough to connect us to another hotel nearby, owned by the same owner. We waited for a long time to have this sorted through and we were chauffeured to another hotel. J. went back to the old town to meet his new acquaintances.

It was dark and the alley leading to the other hotel was narrow and we were seated in a golf cart in order to be transported there. One of the ladies helping us had a flash light in her hand. Totally exhausted by 12a.m when we settled in this hotel with a queen size bed and a tatami but with a see though bathroom. What stupid design was that? It was raining and it was dark. I prayed for J’s safe return as he was there with other young people he just met. God listened to our prayers as J. returned safely about 1 or 2 am, not sure, praise God! RT, 08062023

Learning About the Bai People at the Yang Liping Opera House, Dali, China

We celebrated S's birthday with J this year! We went to a nice restaurant in the ancient city, ate an early hot pot dinner, a typical Bai people’s meal. After the early dinner, we walked around the ancient city also looking for the church which we would attend the next day, Sunday. We found it and hurried to the concert hall for the concert later.

Always interested in other people’s cultures and music, we wanted to learn more about the Bai people through their songs and dance. J. was able to get us the tickets to watch a musical performance at the Yang Laiping Opera House not far from our hotel. We did the walk from our hotel to the opera house in about 20 minutes. A nice, comfortable walk with light breezes blowing on our faces. It was an hour long show and we were introduced to the Bai people’s customs and traditions through songs and dance. Excellent indeed!

What I appreciated most about the show was the importance it placed on the contributions of women in the Bai society. The show was good, but it was not a full house. The Yang Liping opera house is a beautiful building! After the show, we took time to go around and admire the structure and took a good view of the city from the roof section of the building. We were pleasantly surprised to find a small night market just not too far from the Opera House. We went in for some snacks and drinks and met a couple of girls from Yunnan itself. We had a nice exchange. Always nice to meet with other local people and learned from them. We walked back to Wamao hotel. It was around 930p.m., our innkeeper was waiting for us and brought out a birthday cake, with paper plates, candles and cutting knife for us to celebrate S. birthday, what a nice gesture from our hosts! RT, DALI, CHINA 20230805

Enjoying the Ancient Town of Dali, China!

It was too bad that the Wamao Hotel where we stayed for the first night in Dali didn’t have room for us. But Mr. and MRS. Zheng was so nice that they found us a double room in another inn nearby. So we moved all our luggage and into the new hotel and stayed there for only one night. Since we were staying close to the Dali ancient city, we were close enough to enjoy the shops , cafes and all the nice things Dali has to offer. We had a busy day yesterday so we took it easy for today. We had breakfast in the nearby little place and then parked ourselves in a café shop playing nice soft western music and caught up with our paperwork and emails etc. It was raining all afternoon and we stayed at the café, a nice place indeed providing free WiFi and plugs for power. I caught up with my blogging notes.

We walked around the ancient city, and saw how the mountain water was carried down via the waterway bringing water into the town. We love Dali! It has character and is a beautiful city, e,g, even the garage containers looked like clay flower pots! The streets were busy, full of tourists and vendors trying to sell their wares.

We came across an open eating area where musicians were serenading diners enjoying their food with families, friends and listening to the singers. The place was humming with young people, families with little kids, local people as well as tourists alike. The place was lit up like a Christmas tree with numerous strings of lights hanging overhead brightening up everything. We were entertained by three different musicians while we were there enjoying Yunnan’s famous hot pot dinners. This outdoor eatery was alive with sounds and music and laughers! People were happy and enjoying themselves! We passed by many music bars and went into one. Ordered some drinks and really enjoy the music. There was a 15 musicians line up and we heard 3 who were quite good. It was another enjoyable day but less busy. RT, Dali, China 08042023

A Visit to An Ancient Town of the Bai People in Yunnan, China!

This was our first day in Dali, Yunnan. We all got up around 8am in the morning. I did my bible reading while J. did his I hour game on his cell. I thank God that S. was able to share a verse about love with J. who was quite receptive about our sharing. I prayed that this would be a pattern of our travel, sharing a passage from the bible daily with our son whom we didn’t do our part in teaching them God’s words when they were children. God please forgive and help us. We went out for breakfast at a place close by the hotel and met a lady trying to sell us a day tour. Since we had a good experience with the Stone Forest tour, We bought this tour without much hesitation. ( 100 Y/ person) We jumped onto the bus seating another 20 tourists and joining them for this day trip. The traffic was painfully slow. Our bus tour guide gave us some excellent info about the Bai people, the inhabitants of the Yunnan region.

We were blown away by the beauty of the region and the ancient town of the Bai people. We only had about an hour to explore this old town. There were lotus flowers blooming in the lake which I have never seen before until now. The buildings were constructed in the style of the Bai people with the exterior walls of the houses decorated with their ethnic art work and paintings. I was surprised at the reasonable condition of these buildings as this town existed since a hundred years before Jesus was born. Our tour group had lunch at a local restaurant and while eating, the local vendors kept coming to our table trying to sell their goods such as local snacks, crafts and souvenirs . They kept asking our son who seemed to have gotten their attention.

After lunch, we were given an hour of free bike riding. Since S and I were having some problem with our balance, we told Y to go ahead and explore the area on his bike while we tested our bike riding skill in the nearby empty parking lot. Our legs seemed to have become so stiffed that I was having pain while stretching my legs on the pedal. It was a good opportunity to refresh ourselves on the bike riding activity.

After the biking activity, the tour bus took us to a place constructed in a style similar to the Greek style. It attracted a lot of tourists and has become a tourist attraction. But it started raining cats and dogs and we took shelter in a café half way up to the buildng therefore we didn’t see much.

On our way back to the city, we passed by Lake ERHAI. The scenery was breathtaking! With the majestic mountains as the backdrop, palm tress lining the roadways, it was beautiful! RT, Yunnan Region, China 08032023

Travelling by Train from Kunming to Dali, China

I was pleasantly surprised that J. set his alarm at 730am and were up while I was praying. I was glad that I could share a passage from 1 Samuel about how God looked at the inside of man, not the outward appearance. J. was a little distracted, unable to focus the whole sharing time. But this was the first time. I do pray that there would be more sharing time and that he will improve his attitude and attention. While I was getting ready, both father and son went downstairs to get some breakfast. They bought back some soya milk, eggs and vegetable buns. Yummy for less than 15 yuens. We set out to go to a market and went into two teashops to taste the famous Yunnan tea. We were warmly welcome to taste this famous local product. We learnt that as there were a great variety of teas being produced in the Yunnan region, therefore there were a wide range of the prices for teas. It was a valuable

lesson tasting and learning about the production of teas. We checked out of our hotel at around 230pm and took a taxi back to the pedestrian market and bought the tea where we tasted the night before. The lady who served us came and we bought the tea from her. I do hope that this tea will help me to have a better sleep. My goal is to find the tea which would help me and y friends to have a good sleep. Just after we bought the tea, rain started pouring down as we were trying to get a cab taking us to the train station. The tropical rain was quite a downpour. We tried to get a cab while standing under a small shelter. Finally, a cab came taking us to the train station and we made it to the Kumming train station in time for our 5:30pm train. Praise God! Sitting separately at three different seats, we were scattered on the train but lucky to get a ticket to Dali. Some poor souls had to stand all the way as there were no more sitting tickets available. I caught up with my writing about our travel during this train ride but were unable to post any of them within China. After 2 and ½ hours we arrived at Dali. What a scene! Huge number of visitors kept pouring out of the train station and coming into Dali. Not knowing how long it would take to get a cab, we went to the nearby restaurant and had our first dinner in Dali. After waiting for over 40 minutes for a didi as there were 90 some passengers before us, we finally got a cab taking us to the ancient city. The traffic was jammed pack with cars and it took more than half an hour to travel the 15 km from the downtown train station to the ancient city. Our hosts were waiting for us at the main road, greeting and welcoming us warmly to their newly renovated hotel. They came to our room with a bowl of fresh fruits, how nice was that! This was a beautiful place! I would take a better look tomorrow as we were tired from travelling and went to bed right away. RT, kunming to Dali, China 08022023

A Day Trip to the Spectacular Stone Forest, Kunming, China

We signed up and paid for a one day bus tour and needed to be at the bus station to board the bus at 8am. It was raining all night and when we got up, it was still raining. In fact the weather forecast that it would rain all day and everyday for the rest of the week in the region. We were agonizing whether we should call the tour company and cancel our trip booking. But the tour company assured us the trip would go ahead with about 20 other toursits. It was not an easy decision as we were concerned about our safety and that the roads might be slippery creating a driving hazard. I prayed quietly myself and felt a snese of peace so I agreed with Y. not to cancel the trip since we already paid a deposit of 100 yuens.

I looked forward to the day trip to Stone Forest ( SHILIN). Since our hotel didn’t offer breakfast, we bought some take out – 3 boiled eggs and 3 buns from the mom n pop shop next to our hotel. We were fortunate that when we got to the assembly place the bus was still there so off we went. As the tour bus drove out of Kunming the weather started to clear up. Prasie God! We had a Yunnan lady tour guide on the bus explaining to us the customes of the Yunnan people. Throughout the two hour bus ride, she gave us good information on various things. After we arrived at the Stone Forest, our bus tour guide handed us over to a local Yunnan guide dressed in his Yunnan costumes. I never heard of the Stone Forest and was surprised to learn that it has been desingated as an UNESCO Geo museum. The Stone Forest Park is a huge park. I saw for the first time how China handle its huge crowds on its public transportation systems and how passengers lining up and going through the train and subway gates etc., the system is amazingly efficient at dealing with huge crowds!

The Stone Forest is quite unique, I have never seen anything like this, with huge boulders jetting up from the ground in various sizes, shapes and with crevices in between these huge rocks. I remember visiting the Grotto in northern Ontario. The Grotto is nothing comparing to the Stone Forest. Things that stood out for me: 1. The spectacular beauty of this natural scenery – never in my life could I imagine I would see something so unique and breathtaking! 2. The huge number of visitors to this site – we have travlled in many different parts of the world. The most crowded place we ever seen was this place and Tokyo. 3. The Stone Forest was clean, well managed and the visitors to this place were well behaved. I didn’t see too much littering, empty bottles lying around etc. Pleasantly surprised! We finished our walking tour of the Stone Forest in a couple of hours, having seen only a fraction of what it has to offer. We met our bus guide back and she took the group tour passengers to a nearby restaurant for a lunch and this concluded our tour.

After more than an hour and half bus ride, we were dropped off at the Pedestrain Market where we did some shopping and tasted the different famous Yunan teas. But Y. thought we should not buy the tea there until we shopped around more and see if this type of tea could help with my insomnia. For dinner, we dined at the local vegetarian restaurant serving diners the various local grown mushrooms as the main course. It was our very first mushroom hot pot dinner. It was surprisingly delicious! One of the servers was very friendly to us and we chatted with her quite a bit. We found out that she was a university student working part time to support herself. We were happy to learn that Chinese young people could find part time employment to support their higher education as this was not common years ago. A good thing for the young Chinese! The young people exchanged their wechat no. Hopefully they would keep in touch and we wish this nice hardworking young lady all the best. We went back to our hotel, relaxed and watched cctv for a while, enjoying the positive reporting about the military and its people. I went to sleep at around 12pm sleeping like a baby! RT, Kunming, China 08012023

Riding a Sleeper Train to Kunming, China

July and August are the months for many Chinese people to travel around, therefore we could not get a ticket to Dali, Yunnan, directly. However, J. was able to solve the problem by buying more expensive sleeper tickets for the three of us from Guiyang to Kunming and from there we could take the fast train to Dali. We got up early for an early train at the Guiyang train station for a ride to Kunming. We got to the station a little before 8am and bought some snacks at the train Station - a huge, clean and modern station. There were many shops open where travellers could buy what they needed. I was surprised to see many special massage chairs on the main level of the train station where travellers could have a massage while waiitng. The self check in system for boarding was efficicent too. Since J. typed in 1 number wrong when purchasing the train tickets online, we could not use that automatic check in system and must go to the in person check in for assistance. The train personnel was efficient and we got on with no problem at all.

This was the first time we ever rode on a sleeper train. All of us were in the same sleeper cabin. It had 2 bunk beds and could sleep 4 people comfortably. There were the three of us and no one else was in the same cabin. We had total privacy and no one bothered us at all except for the conductor checking our tickets. It was quiet, private and comfortable. One could easily has a good sleep here. The scenery on the train was spectacular as the fast train speeded past mountains after strangely shaped mountains!

J. went to sleep while I caught up with my blogging notes. We were on the train for about 2 ½ hours and arrived at Kunming. Again, we saw a huge, modern and efficient train station. We were able to take the subway directly from the train station, a 40 km distance for a few yuens in a modern, clean and comfortable train. We got to our destination in less than an hour. Amazing! Kumming is a city with about 8 million people. From what we observed - the streets were clean, many of which were lined with colourful flowers growing from planters hanging on both sides of the road. It was about noon when we checked into our hotel room which came with two beds and a nice sitting area.( 260 yuens) This hotel was not renovated as nicely as the one we stayed in Gui Yang, for 560 yuens, double the amount we paid. However, it was centrally located and we were able to get to the old street shopping area conveniently. We had fresh fish hotpot for lunch in a restaurant in the shopping centre. It was a good fish meal served with pork belly, lunch meat, beef and veggies. (197 yuens, good price for a freshly made fish lunch for 3!) After lunch, we strolled in the old street shopping area and went in a tea shop for a latte. This used to be an old shop belonging to a merchant who had a packaging business. The place was over a hundred years old with beautiful wood cravings all around. It was a busy cafe but with a tranquil setting tucked away in the middle of the Kunming shopping district. We enjoyed the latte, the chic decor, and nice ambience. We could have easily spent the whole afternoon reading a book and just relaxing there. After the coffee break, we went shopping in a mall called Joy CITY. I bought a fresh durian ( 180 Y) but later found out from the bus tour guide that it should had been only about 80 -100 yuens. My family always teases me that I am a sucker always falling for the tourist trap things.

Since we had quite a big lunch, we didn’t want to have another heavy dinner. I ate a lot of the durian for dinner while S.and J. had some tofu and potatoes. We sat outside of the mall where there was a big stage set up for a music festival. I had never been to an open concert in China, therefore it was quite a treat for me enjoying the music with the locals while sipping the local beer. I was happy to see so many local Chinese able to enjoy a free open concert just like us in North America. They did even better than us as the Chinese were allowed to sit where the beer drinkers were drinking without having to buy a drink from the beer company sponsoring the show. Very nice indeed for those who didn’t drink or for those who could’t afford it. We sat in the square, enjoying the breezes, nice fine weather and a free musical performance, a far cry from the hot weather in Guangzhou. It was another fun day! RT Kunming, China 31072023

Our First Week in Guangzhou, China, 2023

Before the end of 2023, I would like to include our wonderful trip to Asia in the summer of 2023 so that we can look back in the future and remember the joyful time we had there. I will edit my posts on China later and will include pictures in them. If your are reading and are interested, please check back later as I am currently having problems uploading the pictures to my blog posts. Day 1 - China After spending a few days in Taipei and stayed at Rev. V's house, we flew from Taipei to Guangzhou. It was not a good experience at the airport. China was supposed to use an automated arrival procedure but the machines did not work for fingerprintes and I was surprised that there was only one uniformed officer available to help the travellers. He was busy helping everyone and he gave us a lot of assistance to make it through the process. At the Chinese custom, the officers were efficent. One of them took our pictures and finger prints, then off we went. J was waiting and he met us at the arrival gate. We were so glad to see him and he looked good! We had some big hugs as we haven't seen him for almost 4 years! Our first experience with the subway system in China. J. helped us bought a subway card each.(59 Y each) We took the train to the subway station closest to J's apartment and from there we took a taxi home. We arrived at J's apartment and he was proud to show us his place. We could see that he was very proud of buying the place himself. Small, but a very functional and convenient place in the heart of a big city. So glad that he has a place of his own! J. ordered take out from his cell phone and within 20 minutes, his beer and water were delivered. (25 y)

Day 2 - First Breakfast in Guangzhou and exploring the neighborhood We strolled around the neighbourhood and discovered there were number of nice North American style coffee shops. We chose one closest to the apartment and ordered lattes and pineapple buns for our simple breakfast. We also bought sheng fun from the next shop. We were informed by BOBO, our coffee shop server, that we could order the food, bring and eat in the coffee shop. That was convenient indeed! In Canada, the shop owners would not like that at all. As we sipped our latte, we talked to Bobo and started making our first friend in this big city of almost fourteen million inhabitants! The next thing we did was buying a sim card for our cell phones so that we could communcate eaily with one another. China Mobile was not too far and for 239.00 yuens, we could have unlimited talking and texting for a month in China. We also went to the Bank of China and exchanged some Canadian currency to Yuens there. We enjoyed our first dinner at a nearby caferia style restaurant. I had fish, veggie soup, congee (22 Y) J n S. had meat, veggie (22 Y). The meal came with soup, rice and tea. A evry inexpensive dinner! After our nice dinner, we walked to Walmart looking for a fridge. There were so many people there! I noticed that Chinese Walmart stores mainly sold groceries and clothing. We couldn't find any shelving or storage accessories there. We took the bus back to J'S place. It was a busy day. Day 3 I did my daily devotion in the morning and was getting ready to share something from the B.book with J. Amazing Delivery System in Guangzhou we had coffee n cheung fen for the 2nd day from the neighborhood's small restaurant. We have also befriended a nice server, Bobo, who helped me to send a parcel to my brother's friend in another part of China. Bobo found us a delivery company which came and picked up the parcel within 30 minutes for 11 Y, about 2 Canadian dollars. Bobo used wechat to pay the company on our behalf. The delivery system was so efficient in China! It saved us a lot of time not going to the post office and waiting in line to have the parcel weighted, then buying the stamps and sending it etc. Absolutely amazing! After a couple of days, we received a message that the intended recipient received the parcel.How cool was that!

Birthday Dinner at a Hot pot Restaurant We celebrated my birthday with our son in China! The last time we celebrated my birthday with him was more than nine years ago. Therefore this birthday celebration was very special for me. J. took us to a nice restaurant located within a shopping mall where We had my birthday dinner. The restaurant was called Hai Di Lao, a chain hot pot restaurant.(My husand told me there are three of this restaurant in Toronto. I never knew about this.) Hai Di Lao - a beautiful, spacious, clean, modern and welcoming place. The service was good; the food was delicious and different while the ambience was elegant and great for conversation. Since we were there for an early dinner, it was not too busy yet. We all enjoyed the food and the calm atmosphere a lot! Close to the end of our meal, the restaurant staff came, put a birthday hat on my head and presented us with a birthday treat - a plate of beautifully arranged sliced fruit with a candle on top of it. How creative was this. No sweet cakes, I liked it a lot since I was trying to avoid sweet desserts and watching my weight! They sang birthday song, took a picture of us and by the end of our dinner presented the birthday picture to us in a nice picture frame! That was a nice gesture by the restaurant to the customers.

One interesting thing I noticed was that for a diner eating alone, the restaurnat placed a huge stuffed animal sitting opposite from the diner giving the illusion that this lone diner had company with him/her while eating here. Very interesting!

After dinner, we went to watch a Chinese movie with English subtitle in the same shopping mall - Chang On 30,000 miles - a newly released movie about one of the most famous poets in China. An excellent animated movie produced in China, educational and informative. We all learned a lot about some Chinese history and the famous poet. I had and a great time with my family on my birthday. Thank God for His blessings! Day 4 Since Guangzhou was very hot for the past few days, we asked J. to take us somewhere cooler and we decided to leave town for a while. I got up early today and cleaned as much as I could before leaving for Gui Yang. I felt good that I could help J. doing something in his apartment. He made a comment 'Now the kitchen looks great! My apartment looks like a home now." This made me very happy that I could help him. I couldnt believe that it took me almost two hours to pack and got ready for our trip. We bought some takeout food and got to the train station. Unfortunately, J. made a mistake in S.'s ticket information and it took a little time to explain and correct it at the train station. We took the fast train at about 330pm. Our first experience riding on the Chinese fast train. It was a clean, spacious modern train. We sat comfortably along with lots of other families travelling. We arrived in Guiyang after 9pm and took the subway to our hotel. We only needed to walk a few minutes passing by a mini night market on our way. We bought a duck leg and other food from a street vendor, my first night market food purchase, and checked into our hotel. We slept like babies! RT, Guangzhou 07282023

Ridding the Gondola Up the Maokong Mountain in Taipei

On our visit to Taipei, we met up with Anita and Johnson at the Maokong station via the Tapie subway at 10;45am on a weekday. It was about a 45 minute ride from our area - Tian Mu to Maokong.

Victoria bought us each a subway card loaded with T$ 500.00 and we used it the whole time we were in Tapei. It was convenient and sped thingw up a lot while entering and exiting the subway as there was no payment of fares by cash, giving back changes or visa cards not working etc.

Taipei's transit system is efficent, clean and very affordable for the average resident. There is really no need to buy yur own vehicle as one can go pretty well everywhere via pubic transit. If one cannot get to where one wants, the taxi system is equally efficent and affordable.

We were surprised to find out that our transit metro card could also be used for the Maokong gondola rides taking us up to the mountain and allowing us to board the shuttle on the mountain as well. Very convenient indeed.

There was a long lineup at the Maokong Gondola. We were informed of two options; 1. Ride the regular gondola and the wait would be about 10 to 15 minutes, or 2. Ride the glass bottom gondola and the wait would be about 45 minutes

We chose to ride the galss bottom gondola from where we could see what would be under our feet on our ride up. It was worth the wait.

The Maokong gondola ride was pleasant and comfortable. Since we were in the glass bottom gondola we could see the trees and canopies beneath us. The ride was not merely a 5 minute ride but a good 15- 20 minute ride allowing us an excellent 360 degree view of the city of Taipei.

I never knew that Taipie has so many mountains and very green. Farmers actually grow their own teas right in this area. Lots of nice tea shops on this mountain.

I just wished that we had time to sample some of the local teas and spend more time to explore this lovely region.

It was a breathtaking view from the top of the mountain1! We had lunch in an open air patio of the restaurant commanding an excellent view below.

We enjoyed a western style lunch - a full roasted chicken, pizza and some delicious trimmings.

Most important of all, we had some great honest sharing, meaningful conversations and sincere fellowship with our church friends.

Prasie God for this great trip in Taipei and fellowship in Taipei.

Taipei, Taiwan July, 2023