Wonderful Surprise

The Fall of 2009, I travelled to China - first to Beijing, then to Kunming and then on to Dali.  My tiny bit of research did not prepare me for the grandeau of China,  The country is vast; the people are strong, friendly proud citizens.  The city of Beijing was like any large city anywhere in the world....fast-moving and congested in areas.  Even though there are nine rings around Beijing, traffic can still slow to a crawl.  The nine rings around the city are helpful in finding where you need to go for a particular item or interest.  (Cool design.) A couple of American friends and I went to the place of the Olympics 2008.  The water cube was a cool place to visit.  There are a series of buildings there that were built to  resemble a dragon.  It is affordable to see any and everything in the city as well as other places in China. Afterwards  we went to a phenomial acrobatic show, had peking duck, then went to browse the city the first day/night we were there.  The next day we made contact with some locals and had a phenomial day at the Great Wall. WOW!  We finished the day with a "hotpot" meal.  One day we witnessed a Chinese wedding, while just strolling through the city.  That was cool to see.  We saw Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City one day.  These were both interesting and both are filled with history of past dynasties.  My all-out favorite was the Great Wall!

Kunming is a large city too.  It is definitely not as organized as Beijing.  Matter-of-fact I found it to be a little freaky, because there seemed to be caotic movement around me.    The traffic moves along slowly without much order or rule.  The people are busy trying to make a quick yuan and will scam you in a heartbeat.  Lucky for us, we had a local maneuver us around the city and the bus station.  We caught a bus to Dali, a four hour ride.  The countrty-side to Dalil was spectacular and the ride -  hot and miserable.  We saw many typical rice farms - all maintained without any machinery.  It amazes me that there are still places in the world that do everything by hand and hard work.

Dali is a gorgeous, picturesque village.  It does house two major universities.  It has mountains, lakes, and great views.  The people are mostly young students with a vest for life and learning.  I fell in love with the Chinese people.  They are respectful, humble people who have such a thrist for knowledge.  I plan on returning soon, and perhaps teaching English at the university.