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Jess,
today's writer, and her new friend, Li Jing, from New
Century Middle School in Dali.
AACE students shoot a few hoops with the Chinese students
Principal Kang Cheng leads
discussion with students
Ms.
Sopper writes:
The big event this morning was our visit to Dali Middle School Associated with
the Yunnan Normal University. (Middle School means high school here). Twin impressions
struck me: the first was how much of an investment China has made in building
this huge, beautiful school; and the second was how happy they were to see us
and how dedicated they were to our shared goals of building understanding between
our two cultures.
First it is hard not to be stunned by the size and seriousness of this school.
Their sports grounds, where we (led by our fearless Drummond) joined them in
morning exercises, was at the center of the complex. Behind us were the academic
buildings. To our right was an enormous, shiny gymnasium. In front of us was
a track and field. And to our left were the student dormitories and greenhouse
and garden space.
Students were arriving at the exercise square just as we were. Music was playing.
Some students were picking up snacks from carts around the periphery. Many approached
us to say hello. Our group joined in shooting baskets and then, following directions
from a loud microphone, got to the business of morning stretches. In our red
shirts surrounded by Chinese students we represented the approximate proportion
of Americans to Chinese, about 1:11.
Following exercises we visited an English class and took a brief tour of the
school. We ended up in the very impressive offices of the Principal. There we
exchanged thoughts about the balance between subject mastery and creativity in
education and the relationship between our two schools. Throughout the conversation
the very thoughtful and dignified Principal relied on a young woman for translation.
Forty days before exams that will determine her college options and her future,
she was a little nervous, but did an extraordinary job of translating complex
ideas from Chinese into English. We met with students who had previously traveled
to Vermont and all were in a similar state of anticipation. These exams couldn't
be more serious. We exchanged gifts and e-mail addresses and left the school
very much wishing we could have spent more time with these very gifted students,
teachers, and administrators.
Ms. Greene and principal Kang Cheng exchange
gifts while a Chinese student translates.
The countryside between Dali and Lijiang.
Traditional
old style Yunnan architecture.
The tea ceremony and tasting different types of Pu Er, traditional
Lijiang tea reputed to lower cholesterol and help the
digestion.
A corner of the tea shop; note the paper wrapped wheels of
dried tea. This tea is grown locally and shipped all
over the world.
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Jessica
writes:
This morning we had a lovely breakfast of noodle soup. It was quite good. Then
we checked out of our hotel and set off to visit a Chinese high school. There
were several students at this school who visited Vermont last summer. They showed
us around the school a little bit, and brought us outside to their sports area
to join in their morning exercises. The exercises are very light; they are mainly
to get the blood flowing. I attempted to follow along, but gave up after a minute
or two; Drummond and Mike really got into it though. At the end of our
visit the principal and assistant principal gave us all very nice tote bags,
and we gave them gifts as well. It is great that we get to do this sort of thing
because I think peoples from both the American and Chinese cultures can learn
and
grow from working together. We had a very nice, very long bus ride to Lijiang.
The
rural
parts of the country we drove through were quite beautiful.
After arriving at the hotel and having dinner we went out to shop and ended up
in a teashop sitting around a table while the shop owner served us several different
kinds of tea. I had never had loose tea before so it was interesting to see how
it was done, plus it tasted great.
Lijiang seems very nice so far, and also easy to get lost in with its winding
narrow alleys filled with little shops and houses. Fortunately there is a main
square that all roads lead to eventually. 
New Century Middle School in Dali, attached to Yunnan University
Visiting English class.
Taken through the windshield of the bus (note the good
luck tassels left and right): on the road near Dali. Farmers
lay stalks of grain in the road so vehicular traffic will
thresh it. Another photographer's view of this same process
in Dali can be found at: http://www.terragalleria.com/asia/china/dali/picture.chin4964.html
note there other wonderful photos of China on this site
by QT Luong, who uses a large format camera in his work.
Jess has gotten very proficient with her chopsticks!
Strolling the streets of Dali on "Foreigner's Lane", a street
of souvenirs and traditional Chinese crafts.
Our Lijiang hotel
Streams run through Dali and are used in traditional ways,
in this case washing food, clothes and dishes.
Ms. Sopper, continued:
A beautiful drive to Lijiang took us on a detour through
small villages where no amount of honking could persuade
little old women with terrifically heavy-looking baskets
on their back from the center of the road.
Like every place
we've visited so far, construction is a constant. We found
ourselves in a new hotel in Lijiang as a big conference in
town made those rooms unavailable and got to exploring the
old town. We visited a tea shop where we sampled the world
famous Pu Er tea and many of us bought some. There was also
shared umms and ahhs over the very fragrant jasmine tea and
a great deal of appreciation for the more unusual Ace of
Aces selection and the aged Pu Er that came in solid blocks.
The tea shop served us at a table intricately carved from
the base of a tree. Individual serving surfaces all drained
to the center where the tea server sat. We noted that before
making each new batch of tea, she rinsed the leaves. Then
she made a concentrate of the tea in a clay container and
from there poured it into the glass carafe from which she
distributed it among all our tiny glass cups.
I'm getting very spoiled by all the incredible food. The
new food of the day was a fried corn sweetness. It was partly
shredded, partly whole grain, lightly fried, and sprinkled
with sugar.
A traditionally dressed Naxi couple.
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