Jessie writes:
Today we left the De Xin hotel in Lijiang at approximately 8:30 and set off on the four hour journey to Dali. Most of us slept during the long bus ride or read a book. I read George’s school assignment, Samurai Shortstop; a short and sweet novel about a boy learning the ways of the Samurai during the period in Japan when the emperor ordered everyone to be commoners.

When we arrived in Dali we visited a local tie-dyeing shop. There we learned about the traditional tie-dyeing method for cloth. The first step is to apply the design. This used to be done by hand, but now a design is a stencil cut from plastic sheet that’s placed over the cloth and painted so as to apply the design faster. After the design dries workers tie off and sew the design into clumps of cloth. The tightness of the sewing keeps that portion of the cloth from getting colored when you dye the whole cloth. The cloth is then hung to dry and when dry the threads are removed to reveal a beautiful design that’s original to Dali. We stayed at the tie-dying shop for a while examining beautiful curtains, sheets, bags and clothes, but soon were off to a great lunch at the Hui Da Yuan restaurant before arriving at the Twenty-First Century School.

We arrived to the school early and were warmly welcomed by the school’s principal, Mr. Dai, who showed us to a small auditorium filled with seventy or more Chinese students. We were given front row seats as two minority dances were presented and two Chinese instrumental pieces were performed. We received beautiful gifts from Mr. Dai before being asked to join the dancers in a simpler version of one of the dances we saw. The whole auditorium watched as we laughed and smiled at our attempts to follow the dancers.

We were split up amongst the students throughout the auditorium and each of us gave our U.S. culture presentations to one group at a time. In between the presentations the crowds of students were practicing English with us and asking for signatures or email addresses. Many pictures were taken, gifts were exchanged, and friends were made in the hour and a half we spent in the crowded auditorium.

This experience at the Twenty-first century school was exciting because we got to spend so much time with the students one-on-one. We made even more friends when we played basketball, volleyball, and soccer with the students. Maygan and I hadn’t played volleyball in a long time, but after a few practice plays, we were ready to play with the welcoming and friendly Chinese students.

Some students even came to dinner with us. We ate in a dining hall on the campus and the number of students allowed to eat with us was limited so we had a nice time relaxing and having close conversations with a few students during dinner. I met one of the dancers who had taught us one of the minority dances and both of the girls who performed Chinese music for us. They were all very expressive and interested in us despite their lack of English experience. All too soon, we had to leave the Twenty-first Century School and head to our hotel in Dali Old Town, the Bu Luo Ren Hotel, where a good night’s sleep awaited us.

After lunch our next stop was the First Century School in Dali.

There was a full auditorium for the cultural sharing.

This is a Yi minority dance

Principal Dai presented us all with beautiful gifts.

All the AACE students gave their PowerPoint presentations. Maygan’s was on famous artists of the USA.

Jessie and her new friends share dinner at the 21st. Century School in Dali.