I Was A Cane Cutter on a People's Farm Crew!

Well, not really. David actually laughed at me when I asked if we were on a community farm, and told me that “everything is private now.” In any case, I was assigned a service project to clear a few rows of sugarcane (and I have the pictures to prove it!)and we later visited a processing plant to see how the Chinese make sugar (I passed on that option in Hawaii, so I can’t make a comparison). We have passed through a fascinating combination of special-interest areas, but Tengchong County is really intriguing, with hot springs, wetlands, dormant volcanoes, Anti-Japanese war memorials (and, for your information, it was the Chinese who held the land north of the Salween and defeated the Japanese, but the Flying Tigers helped. I saw a memorial to the airmen at Lijiang today), lesser pandas, tree climbing fish, double-headed snakes, Burmese jade ...it really was a great area.
Leaving Tengchong, we went to Dali and I am now in Lijiang, another backpacker town, art community and a place where you can get all manner of batiks and great artwork. We saw a Bai peoples' funeral procession, and I was told that seeing a coffin was good luck. So, lucky me! I am sooo very glad that I didn’t try to cycle in this area-no way is that going to happen! Professor Cha wasn’t kidding when he said that traffic rules in China are merely suggestions.
Unlike in the cities, Spring Festival remains a giddy time the countryside, with firecrackers going off at ALL hours. Lanterns are up everywhere in anticipation of the Lantern Festival on the 26th. Trash collection trucks here play ice cream truck music and it is the adults who come running out to greet the trucks, teahouses, noodle shops, garage-fronted stores, FRUIT!!! market days,cobblestone roads that go on forever... Last nights menu included dragonflies, raw pork and yak meat. (Now I know what to say to the
Goddess of Mercy when I visit a Buddhist temple). Entertainment was Chinese-rules pool after the dragonfly feast. And, for reference to those of you who are thinking about being Survivors, their little legs stab your tongue like needles.
Things you hear here:
“Just a few steps.” Like 300, at mile-high altitude.
“I’ll knock you up for dinner” (British influence).
“Phones that play Jingle Bells” (Davids. Unfortunately.)
“My mother forgot whether I was born on the 15 or the 25th, and all the records were destroyed in the Big Earthquake”.
Today, just outside of Lijiang, we went to Yak Meadow in the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, which was stunning. I have pictures, but they don’t capture the sound of the ethnic Tibetan girls'singing (great lungs!) echoing across the valley. I believe the altitude there was over 11,000 feet, and I was just beginning to feel it when we broke for a reprise of roast yak and water. We saw the Greatest Camelia Tree in the World (over 500 years old and tenaciously guarded by a Tibetan lama, and people who digress the “no picking” rule have to write a letter of apology which is then posted for all to see).