Eric, our writer today:

This morning was a very early one. Wake up call was at 5 am; we were leaving the Lotus Hotel at 5:45 am. We rode a large bus to the Kunming International Airport. We received our tickets and entered the gigantic security line. Just waiting in this line was an experience in itself. We got the strong impression that the Chinese do not cooperate with lines. We were pushed and shoved by all kinds of people trying to get into ideal position. This is why it is vital to leave no space between yourself and others. For example, as I was standing before the metal detector, a man walked right in front of me because I left inches there. AACE just barely made the flight in time because of how long security took. We entered the bus and walked up the stairs to the plane. The flight to Xi’an took about two hours. From the airport, we took a forty-minute ride to the city region of Xi’an. We ate lunch at “The Tang Dynasty” restaurant. There was a large buffet that was very good. This restaurant was in a place that seemed to be in a gigantic theater. Not one Chinese group of people was eating here. All eaters were foreigners! Next, we all went to the Xi’an Beilin Museum, where there was a Confucian Temple, stone carvings, and the Forest of Stone Tablets. Here workers were rubbing copies of the tablets and adhering them onto silk. Many of us purchased one because of how great they were.

A Muslim temple was next for AACE. In order for interested people to view the temple, one must travel through a large marketplace (that later served us for great shopping) that is very crowded and we were advised to protect against pickpockets. The Temple was very serene and beautiful. Tonight, we ate dinner at a place that serves “hot pots.” These are personal pans of boiling water at each seat that have a small flame underneath. One puts noodles, lamb, beef, and a variety of vegetables in for best results. This was one of the best dinners yet! It was starting to get late so we all went to the shining city wall across the street from our hotel. We participated in dance and picture taking. Afterwards, we ate ice cream and walked back to the hotel. Tomorrow we will wake up at 6:15 am for a long day that includes a visit to the Terra Cotta Warriors.

Some of the tablets, an art work display on the walls.

At the museum we learned how to do a rubbing of a stele.

This pagoda part of the mosque grounds and gardens. For more mosque pictures click here.

Ms. Sopper writes:

Our visit to Kunming was framed by Chinese banking on arrival and Chinese airport security on departure. Upon our early morning arrival in Kunming we took a “short” stop at a bank to exchange money. To describe this process the term Byzantine does not begin to do justice. Passports need to be checked and verified by one individual at a computer. Travelers Checks need to be processed by at least two individuals: one to copy each number into a notebook, and one to call American Express and check that each individual check is still valid. Each student must fill out a form listing passport number, reason for visit, and address in Kunming. Correctly. Then the bank employees must fill out another set of forms. Then another set of forms. Finally, after all forms are filled out –correctly- and all phone calls have been completed –successfully- and the data cross-checked, a bank employee may begin entering the data in her computer. Once that is completed she will issue red stamps –one large and one small- on each copy, extract yuan from a drawer and run it through a yuan counter and finally deliver it to the client. Highly official. No room for error. Except that one student’s exactly right amount of money was given to another student who had received the other’s exquisitely prepared stack of yuan. My favorite part of all this is that behind the glass wall separating employee from client one can observe the operations of the bank in all detail. Notebooks are stacked on shelves. Filing is piled on desks and on the floor and while I can’t throw stones at anyone’s filing backlog, I can say that I thought the contrast between the intricacy of the process at the front end and the record-keeping at the back appeared to me to be noteworthy. Hence the note.

Our first school visit in Kunming is The Middle School Attached to Yunnan Normal University. In addition to having visited this magnificent school in past years, we have special affection since it is the home school of Twin Valley’s own Yixiao Lin. We were pleased with and proud of Luke, Jackie and Naomi who gave an excellent presentation. After our second school visit, to Gaoxin First Secondary School, the students were formally introduced to their home stay families and left to spend two nights in their new Chinese homes.

The faculty and administration of the Gaoxin School took the adults to a strange and wonderful Tibetan restaurant for dinner where the dancing and singing didn’t stop, nor did the food cease arriving on our plates until we were stampeded by huge dancing yaks and compelled to get up and dance ourselves.

On the next day we visited the Yunnan Nationalities High School on the Pang Long River. The 1,850 students there represent thirty-four nationalities including the Miao, Tibetan, Mongol, Yi, Dai, Lisu, Bai, Naxi and Arshema.