Tour De Franz

Franz in Catalca

2009-11-15T16:00:00.020+01:00

Hallo Ihr Lieben,

vom 7.10. -15.10. flog ich mit meinem Freund Hellmut Lutz nach Istanbul, um im Kinderheim der Stiftung Vakfi in Catalca bei Aufbauarbeiten nach der Flutkatastrophe zu helfen.

2 Tage bei der Aufbauarbeit.

Zur Stiftung Vakfi und Aziz Nesin könnt ihr einiges im Internet nachlesen:
http://www.ibka.org/artikel/rundbriefe05/nesin.html

Nun bin ich für eine Woche mit Hellmut in Catalca westlich von Istanbul.
Ihr habt alle von dem katastrophalen Hochwasser im Großraum Istanbul gehört.
Das Wohnheim für Waisen und Kinder aus problematischen Elternhäusern der Aziz Nesin (berühmter türkischer Schriftsteller)Stiftung hat es besonders heftig erwischt. Aziz Nesin hast hier ein Paradies für Kinder geschaffen. Zur Schule gehen sie in staatliche Schulen in Catalca, die großen in weiterführende Schulen oder an Unis in Ancara oder Istanbul. Dann wohnen sie nur in Ferienzeiten oder an Wochenenden hier.

Wir sind also mit 40kg Handwerksmaschinen und voller Handwerksausrüstung nach Istanbul geflogen, die persönlichen Sachen im Handgepäck.

Was hat uns erwartet?
Gott sei Dank ist der Schlamm bereits weggeschafft. An Möbeln und Wänden kann man noch den Wasserstand sehen. Die Küche und die Wirtschaftsräume standen voll unter Wasser. Die Waschmaschinen sind schon entsorgt und vom Küchenherd gehen nur noch 2 Gasflammen. Die Bibliothek und der Nachlass von Aziz Nesin ist teilweise zerstört und bereits entsorgt.
Mehr will ich gar nicht von den Schäden erzählen.
Jeden Tag kommen Delegationen (wegen der Bedeutung der Stiftung in der Türkei und nach den Berichten der Presse über die Katastrophe). Gestern war Mercedes aus Istanbul hier. Sie wollen neue Möbel für die Bibliothek stiften und ein neues Solardach.

Was machen wir hier? Wie kommen wir überhaupt hierher?

Klaus, der Spiritus Rektor des Heimes hatte eine Professur an der Uni Bremen für Türkologie und Deutsch als zweite Sprache. Hellmuts Frau Nevin war seine Studentin im ersten Durchgang. Klaus lebt die meiste Zeit hier und ist das Herz des Heimes in Catalca. Nevin und Hellmut sind Mitglieder der Stiftung und haben schon im Sommer 3 Wochen hier alles repariert, was zu reparieren war.

Das machen wir jetzt auch. Nur dass zum Reparaturstau (Türken reparieren scheinbar nicht gerne, da improvisiert man lieber) noch der aktuelle Wasserschaden dazukommt. Die Wunschliste der Betreuer ist lang.
Heute haben wir Türen gerichtet, die nicht mehr zu schließen waren. Seit der Überschwemmung geht die Eingangstür z.B. nicht mehr zu schließen. Ob Wasserschaden oder schon fast immer so, vermag ich nicht zu entscheiden. Mein Elektrohobel war auf jeden Fall Gold Wert. Heute Abend gingen alle Türen wieder.
Morgen besorgen wir Ersatzfliesen Kleider- und Handtuchhaken für die Waschräume der Kinder und bringen sie an. Ganz konkret verwenden wir dazu die Geldspende von Christine und Eddy, die sie mir an meinem Geburtstag mitgegeben haben.

Daneben genieße ich die herrlich warmen und wolkenlosen Herbsttage hier. Die Äpfel im Garten und die Walnüsse schmecken vorzüglich und Ibrahim der Koch zaubert ein Essen nach dem anderen aus Gemüse des eigenen Bauernhofes, der höher liegt und nicht in Mitleidenschaft gezogen wurde. Heute Abend gab es auch Bratkartoffel mit gedünsteten Blumenkohlröschen und kleingeschnippeltem Gemüse - vorzüglich. Ibrahim verriet mir, dass er gerne Indisch kocht, allerdings wäre das für die Kinder zu scharf. Bei ihm gibt es auch immer Caj und heißes Wasser für Kaffee und ein Schwätzchen in der Kellerküche. Und dies nachdem gerade vor vier Wochen das Wasser bis zur Decke und Kühlschränke und Essen unter der Decke schwammen.
Mert, der hier ständig alles sauber macht und zu Hilfe geht, habe ich mit Hellmuts Dreiecksschleifgerät die Eingangstüre anschleifen lassen. Nach mehrfacher Einweisung in die Handhabung war er ganz stolz auf den Erfolg. Seitdem muss ich nicht mehr in den Keller zu Ibrahim. Mert fragt nach ob er mir noch einen Caj oder Kaffee holen soll.
Jetzt werde ich trotz Caj müde.

Ein weiterer Tag:

Jetzt ist es 22 Uhr und ich komme endlich zum Schreiben. Wir, Hellmut, Andreas (als erfahrener Käser soll er hier im Bauernhof dem lokalen Käser einige Rezepte beibringen. Er müht sich, aber hier verhält sich die Milch anders als zu Hause) und ich sind bei der Leiterin Nuran und sehen uns die Katastrophenbilder auf ihrem PC an.
Die Bilder von der Flutkatastrophe waren interessant, da wir jetzt eine Vorstellung davon haben wie alles aussah - unglaublich - und was sich alles schon mit übermenschlichem Einsatz geändert hat.
Also von vorne. Heute früh um 7:30 bin ich aufgestanden. Köstliches Frühstück mit reifen Tomaten vom 5-Sterne Koch Ibrahim.
Danach fuhren wir zum Marmorladen, ein Freund von Abbas, der uns die fehlenden Marmorfliesen für unser Gästebadprojekt natürlich kostenlos zurechtschnitt. Die Fliesen wurden heute Abend wirklich ohne Berechnung angeliefert. Das Maß der erforderlichen Fliesen maß ich gestern abends aus.
Nun war die Vorbereitung des Untergrunds dran (mühsam mit Hammer und Meisse).
Katri der Busfahrer und angeblich Spezialist für Maurerarbeiten haben wir das Prozedere des Marmoranbringens versucht verständlich zu machen. Aber er wollte nicht verstehen und sagte, dass die Marmorlieferanten das Bad auch gefliest hätten. Ich falle vom Glauben ab.
Dafür nimmt Kadri Hellmut und mich beim Abholen der Schulkinder mit dem Bus mit nach Catalca.
Eineinhalb Stunden verbrachten wir im Sanitärladen um alles nötige auszuwählen. Es geht natürlich mit Tee los. Auf dem Rückweg zum verabredeten Abholplatz kaufe ich noch einige Mitbringsel ein, alles vegetarisch. Katri ist nicht mehr da. Dann nehmen wir halt den Dolmus zurück nach Hause. Es kostet 75Ct umgerechnet für jeden von uns.
In der Küche gibt es noch leckeres Essen, Tomatensalat mit Rukola, eine super Mischung, frittierte panierte Hähnchenstücke und Makkaroni mit Tomatensoße.
Hellmut wühlt gleich wieder weiter und ich mach erst mal ein Mittagspäuschen. Danach kommen die Türen aus der Küche und dem Keller an die Reihe die im Wasser standen.
Dann wurden die Marmorfliesen angeliefert und Gott sei Dank haben sie Kadri erklärt wie er sie anbringen sollte.
Für die Kinder geht das Leben seinen gewohnten Gang.

Aus Istanbul kehrten Abbas und die Zivildienstleistenden aus einer Wohnungsauflösung (aus dem 10. Stock) erschöpft, aber mit reicher Beute inclusive Klavier zurück.

In dieser Woche ist schon so viel passiert!

Zu den beiden Zivildienstleistenden aus Deutschland kamen gestern noch vier 19 bis 20-jährige Mädchen in ihrem freiwilligen sozialen Jahr dazu. Sie kommen aus Stuttgart, Straßburg, Spanien und der Griechenland.

Sie alle starten mit Enthusiasmus.

Nach dem Essen war ein Meeting aller Kinder mit den Gästen und Mitarbeitern.
Wir alle wurde kurz von Klaus vorgestellt und dann durften die Kinder auf Englisch fragen, was sie über uns wissen wollten. Es war sehr lustig.

Bis Übermorgen in Bremen

Franz

last day in Kunming

2009-04-17T12:01:00.001+02:00

Today I got up early and put all my belongings on my bed in a structured way, so I can get ready pretty soon. After going to Süli´s office I got my leather jacket (which was helpful in Shangri-La) back from the shoe maker in the block. He sew a new zipper on my jacket (the old one was broken and my German shoe maker refused to repair it). He charged me 15Yuan and I gave him 20Yuan since he broke 3 needels and it was a hard work. That´s why my shoe maker refused to repair it. How many jackets would I have to get repaired her to get the flight for free?
8,9yuan=1EURO and 6,7yuan=1US$.
We were on the way to visit a Tibetan Buddhist Monc in his apartment who lives in Beijing and part of time in Kunming. He is the master of one of Süli´s friends. It was interesting to talk to him. Süli translated, so I got most of the conversation.
Afterwards we had lunch in Xiao Wei´s restaurant with her. On her first day off she enjoyed to talk to her friends there in a very friendly manner.
In the picture you see them lining up which they do several times a day to get instructions.
I wonder if she really will start to work for Süli. First of all she did not get her salary, you never know what kind of pressure the Chinese boss can put on her.
Then she called with her mother and Süli told me that her mother does not want her to work in a household.
The taxi driver (woman) mentioned that she is lucky with her new boss and the only thing that counts is to do the work as well as possible. That´s what Xiao Wei answered too, the most important thing is to do the work as well as possible. And that she is very happy with us because Süli and me we are so happy people. And that she had to suffer so much.
Will she work for Süli, what do you think?
After coming home I packed because it was not possible to have a nap before.
Now it is 7:00 and Süli will say soon: " Franz, I am hungry, let´s get out for dinner."

So I will end my time online in China by now and leave Kunming tomorrow morning by 8:05am.
A summary I will write from Germany after a few days.
Good bye China (especially Kunming and Xishangbanna), I will come again.
I met so many friendly people, great countryside, enjoyed wonderful food, gained a lot of experience and made new Chinese friends including Süli.

West Hill of Kunming

2009-04-16T15:52:00.001+02:00

Today we wanted to walk up the West Hills of Kunming. Xiao Lin stayed home to do the housework. Maybe she knew that the walk will be long and exhausting. So we just picked up Xiao Wei who brought a boy from the restaurant where she worked with her. We took a bus and I had the opportunity to photograph interesting people.
We had to switch the bus. But the second one did not show up so we took the taxi to the entrance of West Hills. The bus was 2Yuan for each of us and the Taxi 30Yuan. Of course Süli and me payed for all of us since the boy and Xiao Wei only earn 400-500Yuan a month. And Xiao Wei did not get the money for the last working period. Besides most of the money she sends home to support the family.
At the entrance we first had lunch. My inspection of the kitchen was successful and the lunch turned out to be delicious. By 1pm we finally walked up the winding road. The special thing about the West Hills is the vegetation with fir trees, the temples and the Dragon Gate on top towards the east rim of the hills which is very steep. In former time they carved paths and tunnels into the almost perpendicular rock to connect temples and pavillons.
On the way up we visited a temple with a wonderful garden, which you can see on the3rd picture.
Finally by 4pm after 10 kilometers we reached the visitor center and took the cabin lift to the very top of the hill. It was sunny and very warm, but the shade of the trees helped us to survive.
For the next time I suggest to start at the visitor center and enjoy the narrow paths along the steep rocks and visit all the temples.
In the 4th picture you can get a feeling how steep it is. On the left side is a temple carved into the rock and in the center you see the Dragon Gate. I touched the dragon´s eye like all the Chinese people did. That will bring a lot of happiness to me.
Besides we had a wonderful view over Kunming from these sites.
Back to the visitor center we bargained to get a taxi ride all the way till the center of Kunming for finally 55Yuan. It took the taxi driver more than an hour to get there.
Of course a big Chinese dinner followed in a nice restaurant. It is always fun to eat with Chinese people. With the chopsticks you just eat from all the dishes on the table which were ordered, you share your food. After the long walk the Dali Beer was delicious.
Now it is almost 11pm and the blog for today is about to be finished.

Still 3 days in Kunming left

2009-04-15T17:03:00.000+02:00

Today I got up late by 9am, took a shower and walked to Süli´s office. Usually you find him in this typical working position.
Out for breakfast and back to the office, I checked my e-mails (You can write to me, I am online everyday). I enjoyed to look at my pictures and videos, I did so far. By 12 Su Lu came to the office to our date. We talked about Xishuangbanna and I showed her my pictures and videos, I took there. I was interested how she got along with her tourist group, which she accompanied as guide for 4 days. It was an Italian group of photographers who wanted to visit Yuanyangs rice terrace fields. Photographers go there in the hope to catch fantastic photos of sunrise and sunset there. So Su Lu was still a little tired. With the Italians she got along well, I am sure. And her English improves every day.
Then we strolled through the Cuihu Park where people relax, dance, play music and games or just sit and listen to one of the many performances. I can stay there for hours, listening and take photographs of the actors of this wonderful park.
In a teahouse, me and Süli we ordered icecream and Mango juice. Süli did not like his ice cream so I finished two, no problem for me.
Su Lu, aware of her weight like most of the girls all over the world just ordered a mineral water with lemon juice. May be we had too much of this wonderful chocolate in Süli´s office. Su Lu, please do not loose any more weight!
In the evening we went to the restaurant to visit Xiao Wei who will do Süli´s household together with Xiao Lin. This was her last working day in the restaurant and Süli insisted that she can eat with us. So Süli, Xiao Wei, Xiao Lin and me, we had a wonderful dinner in a VIP room, just the 4 of us. I just realized, that I took only videos from the dinner.
Xiao Wei was told by an employee, that the boss will be back in a few days and then he will calculate her salary.
As a girl from the countryside she had to start to work for the family (mainly to support her brother who is the best in school). She had to leave school in the 11th grade without finishing highschool and go to work into the next town, which is 7 hours away from home. She talked about the pain and suffer she had to endure. For example she worked in a cool house to freeze vegetables, from 5am to 6pm with only a little break for lunch.
besides lunch she only could leave the cold to unload vegetables from the cars. Salary was 500Yuan for women and 2500Yuan for men. Since she had to give up after 15 days after getting frozen fingers she did not get any salary and spent her last money (a few Yuan) to get to Kunming to search for her girl friend......
Now heaven will come, when she will start to work for Süli this Friday.
Tomorrow we 4 will make a big family tour to the west mountain of Kunming.
Now it is time to go to bed.

Day with Xiao Ying in Jinghong

2009-04-14T17:47:00.000+02:00

Still to Monday: After pool and rest from the heat I went back to the Tai restaurant from the first day and then followed the fireworks to Mekong River. The fireworks lasted at least for 1 hour. Never the less I arrived too late since I had to swim against the stream of people returning downtown from the festival. But after the fireworks hundreds of lantern disappeared into the sky. That was a silent and a wonderful view. To see it better I walked up the bridge. Standing on the reeling of the bridge two English students in the 1st semester started to asked me questions. What´s the festivals program for tomorrow was my question. Xiao Ying and her friend invited me for tomorrow to come to Man Ting Park with them.
Next day by 10 Lian and me were on the way to the place we wanted to meet, but no way. From all the side streets groups of beautifully dressed dancers were on the way for a big gathering.
It took us almost till 12 to make it to the place where we wanted to meet, thanks to the communication with handy phone.
On the way I could not stop taking many pictures and videos from the groups.
No taxis around, so we took one of the small carriers with 3 wheels, well we had to share 2 of them. It´s fun to get a ride and the wind makes you forget about the heat for a short time. Man Ting Park is very beautiful with a lake and many flowers and trees. Today there were people everywhere and various chances to eat food.
In the picture you see Xiao Ying on my left side with 3 of her friends. Lian took the picture and she enjoyed to be with Chinese girls and not just with me and hardly no conversation. We all had fun. I enjoyed the atmosphere of the park and the accompany of these cheering girls very much. By 3:30 I went back to the hotel with Liane to pick up my luggage and changed cloth to swim in the pool. How wonderful after the heat or this day. In the airport I had to wait for an extra hour since the plane was delayed for more than an hour. So I got some food outside the airport building and drank coconut juice out of a coconut, very delicious I can tell you. Arriving in Süli´s office by 10 we went out for dinner. We ended up in an Italian style restaurant. I tried Spaghetti Bolognese. Besides one not definable Chinese spice it tasted well.
Now it is half past twelf and I am ready for bed.
Jinghong was just hot but Kunming has a warm breeze even in the night.

dragon boat race in Jinghong

2009-04-13T12:30:00.001+02:00

Today it is terribly hot and I am amazed how well i do with the heat.
11am I took the taxi downtown with Lian. We strolled towards the Mekong River. Everybody must have been on the way to the dragon boat race. The race seems to be just a vehicle to sell all kind of things from toys to cloth to live animals and to have a fair with food supply, games, gambling and all kind of things and even more you can think of.
The paddling on the boat was done by women in wonderful cloth, men were standing on both ends of the boats to give commands. To get close was almost impossible with that many people and the heat. Once a while there was a little breeze from the Mekong River.
Of course we had lunch in one of these many tents where they offer food.That was a good chance to sit down and relax in the shade. By two we decided to go back to enjoy the swimming pool of my hotel.
In the third picture you see just some wonderful dressed women and children to have food in the shade, too. Everybody was dressed up, especially the women and girls with colorful and shining dresses. Well this seems to be the most important festival of the year.
After resting and writing this block. I will go out again to get the feeling of the festival in hopefully less heat. It cools down slowly at night.

Wild Elephant Valley in Xishuangbanna

2009-04-12T16:37:00.000+02:00

Surprise! When we wanted to start Lian got nervous. She phoned with Süli and after a while I knew that I was right. The taxi driver just wanted more money. Instead of 200Yuen he demanded 500Yuen for both ways because of the traffic jam. Well, there was no jam at all. So Lian worked hard to find out how to get there by bus. Well there is no bus to the park just to Simao north of the park. So you have to take this bus and get out at then Park entrance. So she finally managed tom find the right bus as you can see on the picture. It only took us 1 hour to get there driving on the expressway (freeway) and the cost was only 15Yuan one way.
First of all we visited the butterfly and birdcages and then we walked along the path in the Wild Elephant Valley along a winding brown (probably from the heavy rain we had yesterday) creek, where elephants only show up in the early morning.
The noise in the rain forest was permanent and just like in the movies I saw. The humidity is high and intensifies the smell of the soil and the trees. All the trees host other trees and plants. I enjoyed just to walk, smell and admire the trees around me. It was worth while coming to Xishuangbanna just to see this.
>>Outside there is a big firework going on as part of the opening ceremony of the festival.< For the way back we took the cable car to be above the trees. That gives you a great view over the forest and the flower hedges along parts of the path where they had to cut down the trees for the cable car.
An old bus just stopped outside the park when we left the park. The bus driver assured that he is on the way to Jinghong and there were exactly 2 places left. So we entered the bus full of farmers and boxes. The box next to me started to shake and made me step back. Of course everybody in the bus laughed at me. I opened the box a little and besides a terrible smell I saw a big duck on the way to Jinghong.
At the several stops the driver opened the door with a long rope and my job was to close it since I sat next to the door.
After a shower and a nap I went out for dinner, roasted octobus and 2 roasted frogs tasted delicious. Then I got a haircut (perfect job) and a hair wash with head massage, including ears neck and every spot of the head. I thought it is just a hair wash, but it was a whole body Thai massage. I enjoyed it and with a sudden she was on my back with her knees and massaged my back with her knees. She was light enough that it did not hurt at all. The massage was wonderful and I will sleep heavenly by soon.

welcome to Jinghong in Xishuangbanna

2009-04-11T16:12:00.000+02:00

From the coldest point in Yunnan I flew after a one day break in Kunming to Jinghong. For the first time with an Airbus 319 from Szichuan Air. In Jinghong heat with high humidity waited for me. At the Airport a hostess from the hotel Dai Garden Hotel lined up with many others to wait for me. There was just one problem, all the names of the guests expected were written in Chinese characters. I said my name to the most beautiful girl but she did not speak English and did not understand my pronounciation of my Chinese name. So I called Süli to talk to her. Yes I was right. The driver of the hotel together with this beautiful hostess drove me in a well air conditioned car to the hotel.
I did not find anybody who spoke English including my guide Lian, Süli organized for me. So whenever we had serious problems in understanding we just called Süli and he translated and talked to both of us. This way worked out fine, China Mobile sure likes us as clients.
Today we visited the Botanical garden. This garden with all the tropical plants is worth will visiting. Of course I could have chosen a tropical plant for the picture, but I have never seen such a fancy Bougainvillea before, which is my favorite flower. There was little warm rain in between, no problem. When a tropical rain started we luckily found shelter. There we waited for almost an hour. The way back with taxi I ordered to stop at Wei Wei Coffee. In my guide for China this coffee is recommended as expert for organizing tours from Jinghong. I had a hard time to communicate. So I decided to hire a taxi to bring us to the Sachale rainforest with the wild elefant valley. Süli did most of the work in coordination with Lian. It worked out fine. By the way, Lian has long hair down till her legs. They start black and turn to dark brown, she knows their hair is pretty.
We had dinner in a Thai restaurant. My fish was outstanding and the fresh mango juice was delicious. With 2 more dishes I just had to pay 45 Yuan, about 5 Euro.
The way back to the hotel I stopped downtown. The evening was just like a warm summer night in the Mediterranean. Everybody was on the street, the shops were open and there were several events going on. How will it be tomorrow, when the festival will start in the evening and last for 3 days with dragon boat race on the Mekong River, big fair and water spilling. The more wet you get the more lucy you will have.

back in Kunming

2009-04-10T13:48:00.001+02:00

I had to wake up early to get the flight to Kunming. After reading the results and the report about the UEFA Cup game Werder Bremen versus Calcio Udine 3:1 the cold weather could not bother me anymore. Today I tried the tea with yak milk and roasted barley which the hotel manager Lily recommended to me. Sorry, but today I preferred the western food which you offer.
Warm weather and sun welcomed me in Kunming. Süli waiting at the exit. We took the taxi to his place.
Today our main business was to get a hotel in Jinghong and a flight for tomorrow. Wei did not book the flight because he needed a hotel reservation for Jinghong. I tried Chinese booking machines, but all the hotels were booked out, so Wei was right. With Google I finally found the 4 star Tai Garden Hotel offered. Now Süli´s work started. He called the hotel and booked for 3 nights. All the nights have different prize because of the water spilling festival starting April 12. The hotel needed the booking number of the flight. So I asked Wei to buy a flight ticket for me. He could not believe how I could get a Hotel in Jinghong, well by using German internet! We took the taxi to Wei´s office of Comfort Travel in Kunming. On the way we stopped at Walmart to buy a bathing trouser for me. The hotel has a swimming pool and Jinghong is very hot.
After lunch we got the tickets and called back to the hotel to make everything perfect. Somebody from the hotel will wait for me and bring me to the hotel.
Soon I will go out for dinner with Süli and then get everything ready for tomorrow

Shangri-La

2009-04-09T15:55:00.001+02:00

At 8:15 I had to leave my wonderful hotel room for breakfast. Today only tea, banana and some delicious cookies for me. This morning my driver Leun brought me to the visitor center of Puda Tso National Park. The setup is just like in the National Parks of the USA. Just the lodges are missing. I took the shuttle bus to the lake and took the 2.5 km walk along the lake with Prima. I walked slowly and used all the toilets along the way. Besides the altitude of 3500m slows down. Then we used the shuttle bus to see the view spots and skipped the additional walks. I took pictures from yak meadow, lake with fantastical view of snow mountains and huge fir trees. Lunch we had in old town Shangri-La. Well, I had just a delicious fruit salad with yak yogurt (I little more sour than yogurt from cow milk). Two Tibetan children just looked very interested through the window next to our table. Leun drove me to my hotel to rest for one and half of an hour. The guide as well as the driver just realized, that I need some rest. In general the guides are very busy to fulfill all the wishes of their clients and even to discover their possible wishes. To the driver and guides I give good tips. They deserve it. Besides I have to fill out evaluation sheets for all the local guides and drivers. After the nap we started on the way to Songzanlin Monastery also called Little Potala. You can see the whole Monastery on the picture. The Temple and the praying house are from 1679 ( 2 left of the top buildings) and restored after the cultural revolution. The right building of the top three was just built last year. Rich people donate money and the tourists help too with their entrance fees.
To climb ut the steps to the top needed some rest in between. There you feel the 3400 meters in altitude. This evening I asked the Hotel Manager for her advice about the different massages they offer. Her recommendation was the Angsana massage, a very good advice. After 2 hours of massage with well smelling oil I feel like new born. The 490 Yuan was worth evry Yuan. To help me over the time I had to wait for the massage the Hotel Manager invited me to ginger tea. This delicious tea cured me. You want the recipe? Crushed old ginger (keeps longer in the soil and thus is stronger than the ginger we buy in store) cook together with Chinese black tea and then add some honey.
The Hotel Manager asked me for the recipe of Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte.
Now it is 11 o´clock and I am not tired anymore. I´ll try if the bar is open to drink a local Dali beer. You see, I am fine again.

on the way to Shangri-La Mittwoch, 8.April 2009

2009-04-09T12:10:00.000+02:00

Today we are on the way to Shangri-La. The weather is sunny and warm. The first stop is in Shigu, a village at the 1st bend of the Yangtse River. At the first bend Mao crossed the Yangtse on his long march. It took him 7 days with his 18000 solders. We stroled around in Shigu which is a picturesce village.
At Zhongdian county border I switched guides. Now Prima, a young tibetan man is my guide. His favorite guide work is trecking. So we went down the Yangtse Tiger Leaping Gorge on save stairways. You can see me in the picture.
On the way to Shangri-La, officially called Zhongdian it got colder and colder. In a Tibetan village I stroled arround to take a few pictures. I took a picture of a Tibetan man with his two boys. He invited me to his huge house. It is built from wood and the two side walls are thick claw walls.
He heated the oven with firewood in a very relaxed manner. Tibetan are very peaceful and relaxed people. Prima showed up to translate. His wife is still in the fields and after returning she will do the cooking. He earns his monney with yak, pork and grops from the fields. In former time he made his monney by wood cutting work. There were plenty of up to 500 years old firtrees. After international companied cut the trees on a large scale, there were few left until the state forbid any more cutting. Only the Tibetans can get a license when they built a traditional house, well it is a Tibetan county.
I stay in Holyplace Hotel. My room was dammned cold and it took quite a time to make it cosy.
I managed to eat a hot pot and then a diarea showed up. The time I write this blog on Thursday evening I already feel better, for a Chinese dinner it is still too early.

Yak meadow at Jade Dragon Snow Mountaim

2009-04-07T17:18:00.000+02:00

up to yak meadow

2009-04-07T16:13:00.000+02:00

I just return to my room from a nice dinner, dumplings with hot sauce and beef, mushrooms and green beans chopped into small pieces. I sat in the open air next to the creek watching the fish.
The morning started with sunshine and it stayed like this all day long. In the first picture you see the Dragon Snow Mountain heading the new town of Lijiang. The new town of Lijiang was destroyed in 1996 by earthquake and rebuilt with 4 floor buildings in general. The old town was not destroyed much, since it is built mostly of wood.
I have to correct myself. The Snow Mountain has many peaks with 13 above 5000 meter. Well we did not get up that high, but 3400 meter is enough for me. That´s about the hight of Shangri-La my next place.
The driver stopped at a parking place, where "Disneyland" started. Leun waited at the parking place for 4 hours and I proceeded with Lily. We skipped the drum show and took the shuttle bus uphill for half an hour. I saw Azaleas and yellow primula (Schlüsselblumen) which I have in my garden, too. Besides the grass was brown from the snow. From the bus stop we took a lift up to the yak meadow. Where we only could walk on wooden paths just like in Yellowstone National Park.
The view was fantastic as well as the air. I just walked a little slower. Halfway we had a break and I enjoyed the coffee I brought from the hotel in my thermos.
We stopped in Yuhu village to have lunch there. This time I insisted, that the driver shares lunch with us.
Yuhu is a Naxi Minority village. People live there with own primary school where kids learn Mandarin Chinese as well as Naxi language. We could see the farm life, buildings under construction, busy people and nice houses, all with a yard. In J.F. Rock´s house is a museum showing the pictures he took around 1930 to document the life of the Naxi people. A very old man was watching the pictures, too. It seemed he knew some people on the pictures.
Lily let me try Spirulina, a natural nutrition food locally made from plants in a lake near by. I asked my nephew and expert Christian about Spirulina by mail and he answered right away with a long essay about Spirulina and how to find out if it is natural. Well Lily will buy it for me to make sure it is natural and i am not cheated. The one I tried from her just fulfills all the criteria for natural one Christian told me. The prize is one fourth of the prize in Germany.
Have to get up early tomorrow morning to leave for the Tiger Leaping Gorge of Yangtse River. I will hike down together with Lily and up for about two hours. Lily is tough since she eats Spirulina three times a day. Then I will proceed with Leun to Shangri-La and Lily takes the bus back ti Lijiang to manage her next group from Taiwan.

Welcome to Lijiang

2009-04-06T16:24:00.000+02:00

9:30 my guide Jieqiong and my driver Leun picked me up at the hotel. Till 2:00 Jieqiong had a tough program for me for Dali area. In Xishou we visited a farmer´s market. From an old lady I got a nice copy of a book with Chinese characters and drawings offered. Jieqiong warned me not to start to bargain. Well I payed to much, but what was worse, the other old ladies didn´t give up to offer me other things till we left the market. "Well I told you, you will be in trouble."
After a show with the 3 tea ceremony the Bai Minority usually welcomed guests and dances we stopped for lunch in a restaurant where we sat in the yard. Sorry Jieqiong, but the picture of our lunch did not turn out fine. You enjoyed to eat with me since I share the food from the plates with chopsticks just like the Chinese do.
Good bye Jieqiong, but I am on the way to Lijiang. Do not forget will cook Chinese dishes together when you are married and will have a big house, children and big kitchen.
Mr. Leung drove me carefully and safe to Lijiang. He honked whenever he saw a pedestrian or bicyclist or a vague situation with an other car. That means, hey I saw you, but please make sure you see me too and be carefully with me. This way both pay attention and give the right of we to each other. In case of accident both are guilty after Chinese law. That makes both care for each other no matter who has the right of way.
On the way to Lijiang I saw wheat fields and fields with beans already harvested and closer to Lijiang the fields were still green, since Lijiang is at the hight of 2400 meters. But there it was sunny and above 20 °C today.
On the way to Lijiang I had the feeling not to be in a foreign country anymore, although I do not speak the language. I start to understand the thinking and way of living of the Chinese people. And I admire the beauty of that part of Yunnan where I am right now. All the people I met so far were so friendly to me and gave me a warm welcome.Thanks!
My new guide Lili showed me the Lijiang Dayan ancient town and we climbed up Lion Hill and Wangulou Pavillon on top. The marvelous view over the old town you see in the second picture. The third picture shows a picturesque place at one of the seven creeks running through the old town. There I had dinner with Lili.
The Jiannanchun Hotel in the center of old town is just like heaven, full of flowers, nice yards for peaceful rest and wonderful architecture.
Lijiang is protected as world heritage by Unesco, now I understand why.

Welcome to Dali

2009-04-05T14:58:00.001+02:00

By the way, if you do not want to write comments on my blog, just send me an e-mail.
With Lucky Air I took the 35 minutes flight from Kunming to Dali. I arrived at Kunming Airport just in time to catch the flight starting at 7:45. So I could practice for my flight back to Germany from Kunming at 8:05 April 18 which I should not miss.
My guide, a pretty girl from the Bai Minority, could not believe that I am German, they usually are formal and stiff, not me! Around Dali there live about 1 Million Bai with their special tradition.
She told me that the driver wants to have time off to walk up the
mountain to see his ancestors for the yearly celebration. Well I changed my plans and went up the mountain with them. Dali is already 2000 meter high and we walked up for one hour together with many other people. At the grave they did some prayers, gave food to the ancestors and then Mrs. Yuang prepared cold noodles with some additional spices, vegetables and chicken, meat and claws. I just took the meat. Nevin, the claws were for you. My driver and his family were very friendly to me and even invited me to dinner in their house. I refused, that would have been too much expectation from their friendliness and I wanted to discover the old town of Dali.
After getting down to Dali by 1 pm my new driver from Lijang waited for us. He drives a comfortable Pachero, a Tojota I guess. He will be my driver for the rest of the time.
Miss Yuang, my guide leaded me through the Buddha Temple Area with the 3 Pagodas you can see on the picture. The Pagodas survived all the earthquakes and the cultural revolution. The temples are rebuilt with two new ones built for honor of getting Hongkong and Macao back to China. The area is so huge that we took some electrical bus uphill to the highest stage of Buddhism and walked down getting through the lower stages.
After a nap back in the hotel, which is built in a traditional style with calla flowers everywhere I strolled through the old town of Dali. I had dinner in a restaurant where they only make and serve wong tons. I hope I got the right spelling. The small pieces of dough stuffed with meat were delicious. You see the two cook with the steaming device. They are so fast, I know how difficult it is to make them.
Old Dali is the most exotic place I have ever seen so far. Modern shops just next to all kind of restaurants. Well most of them you would not call restaurants and better do not eat the food there.
After writing the blog, I will go out again to see old Dali by night.

German lunch - Chinese Dinner

2009-04-04T10:45:00.000+02:00

Today is the cooking day. Well, first of all I want to show my bedroom to you. Bed and "Kleiderständer" for my cloth. The shower is hot. What else do I expect from a stay over night. After shower we went downtown by Taxi to have breakfast. All the employes (about 40) had to line up to get instructions from the boss. That is quite unusual for us. The food for the German lunch we bought at Metro. Yes the German Metro, where the commercial clients buy their food in Germany.
So we bought Penne and Grained Swiss Cheese to make my world famous "Käsespätzle" with Salad and white reddish.
Of course we want to serve German beer and there we found several German beers. Believe it or not, we found Kaiserdom beer from Bamberg, made by my friend and schoolmate who owns the brewery. Please let Schorschi know, that we enjoyed his beer. You can see the beer can on the second picture. Well Süli does not have plates, so we ate the Käsespätzle with chopsticks. Su Lu and her boyfriend Wei liked it a lot.
For desert we had Prosecco with Mango, which are smaller than the ones we know, but much tastier. Süli cooks pancakes with lots of cinnemon and small bananas. Just perfect.
Later on we will have lunch at Wei´s grandmother´s home. I hope to learn how to cook some Chinese dishes from her.

All the dishes were already prepared, I could watch just one.
Heat oil in the wok, fry chicken cut like worms for about 2 minutes stirring it all the time and then put it to the side in the wok and fry the green of garlic (cut into short parts about the length of the chicken) for 1 minute, put it to the chicken aside and fry red pepper (not a hot one, same length of garlic) for 1 minute, too. Then mix everything and fry it together for about 2 minutes, but do not forget to stir. Add some salt and sugar (they added glutamat MSR, too. I think that is not necessary)
Sorry I forgot to put the storage card into my camera, so I couldn´t take any pictures.
It was a big family gathering, which they have every Saturday in grandma´s apartment. There was Wei´s mother and father and two uncles and ants. Family is very important for Chinese.
Only Wei lives with his grandma in this apartment.

Su Lu kindly translated for me and always made sure I understood everything and made everything right.
Oh, back in Süli´s office the electricity went off in the whole apartment blocks around. So I have to save the text some place else and load it later.
We will go down the street, since it is Saturday and all the shops are open and out of the trunk sellers are around.
Good night. I have to get up by 5:45 to catch the plane to Dali.

After half an hour electricity is back.

2009-04-03T19:08:00.000+02:00

Downtown Kunming

Kunming, view from Golden Temple

Cooks eat after work altogether

day with Su Lu

2009-04-03T16:52:00.001+02:00

This morning I took the taxi to see Su Lu at 10:00 at Southwest Forestry College. For all the ways I use taxi. Today the prize differs from 8 till 30 Yuan for longer distances within Kunming. I just get the address written down in Chinese characters and show it to the taxi driver. So far it worked.
Su Lu showed me around in her College (it looks like an American College with dormitories, sport fields and a lot of green) on a hill above Kunming. We took the taxi to Golden Temple again. This time we took time to see the whole area. Today kids from kindergarden and several school classes were introduced to the Temple.
Well here is to see the biggest temple in China made of copper. Besides they display masterpieces from the bronce time.
Sue Lu just demonstrates how to use this sculpture as a pillow. It is wonderful to have a personal guide. Su Lu explained all the details and besides we had a lot of fun. After lunch with spicy chicken we visited a second temple downtown just in the middle of Kunming. Entering Yuantong Zen Buddhist Temple, you do not hear the noise around anymore.
The monks just started their ceremony when we walked by.
The Golden Temple we visited before was not only for Buddists but also for Confucionism.
After visiting the flower and bird market we needed a rest and stopped in a western style restaurant . With cappucino (just the way I like it) and ice cream we relaxed and talked.
The flower and bird market is better called jewelry and cloth market, we did not see a single bird. With time the markets change I think.
The two gates with golden horse and golden hencock Su Lu showed me very proudly. These view old pieces almost disapear within the trafic and the modern city, but they are restored with care.
For the end of the tour Su Lu got a ticket for me for the show Dynamic Yunnan. It is a fantastic show about the dances of the minorities of Yunnan.
Süli is walking up and down in front of me, since the restaurant around the corner closes in 10 minutes and we both are hungry.

with Süli in Kunming Donnerstag, 2. April

2009-04-02T19:06:00.000+02:00

My first day in Kunming. Well yesterday after my arrival I needed some rest, had to adopt to the altitude of 1600 meters and to the warmer climate. Besides going out for dinner there was no program.
We slept in Sülis apartment and got out for breakfast to the same restaurant again. As you can see we are already friends with the workers in the restaurant. The cook in the back gave me a hard time to photograph her. In the kitchen she did hide herself behind the stove. I had over the bridge noodles one of the most famous dishes of Kunming. A pot with boiling soup is served. Noodles, slides of chicken and vegetables are served separately. Then you put all the ingrediences in the boiling pot. It tasts great.
After a nap we went sightseeing to the Golden Temple.
You see two young girls doing a buddhist ceremony there. To be in a Temle area is wonderful. It is so peaceful and calm with wonderful flowers and gardens. Out of the hectic Kunming with all the people everywhere.
We took the taxi to Green Yade Park. Every 50 Meter of walk we stopped at an other group of Chinese performing Music and dancing. I could have stayed there much longer and will return for sure, but we had an apointment with Su Lu my tourguide for tomorrow. We enjoyed a hot pot with plenty of roasted spicy shrimps in it. Su Lu is a College student and speaks English verry well. She enjojed the food too, since she ate noisily. We planed the scedule for tomorrow, I will see her at her College and then we walk up the West Mountain (or tahe the lift) to see temples and the park. There was a garden exhibit with exposure of Chinese provinces.
After getting her a taxi to see her home I took a taxi with Süli to the English Corner in the Green Yade Park. That was very interesting. Every Thursday mostly young people gather there to practice their English. Chinese talk to one another in English and for almost two hours chinese gathered arround me to ask questions. To talk to many people was very challenging, a great idea.
Now I do my officework again with a bottle of beer from Dali.
What a great sunny and warm day in Kunming.

Cycling in Yangshou Tuesday, March 31

2009-04-01T07:44:00.000+02:00

Today Mo got two mountain bikes for me and we cycled out into the countryside. I used the red bicycle shirt I got from Edgar as a birthday present to start my tour de Franz finally with the right equipment.
We cycled along the Dragon River saw farmer prepare their rice fields with a buffelo and stopped many times for photographs. To cycle in this georgous landscape is a special gift.

George, how about cycling up these peaks. Well, we did not have enough time to spend more than 3 hours for a round trip.
Just when we returned to Yangshou it started to rain again. After lunch and a walk along western street (coffees and tourist shops). Mo accompanied me back to Guilin by car to catch the train to Kunming.
I waited in a lobby for the train and there I met Erika and Brien from Amerika again. All the three of us were in the touristbus to Longji rice terraces. It turned out thet had the same soft sleeper cabin in the train.
So we did not need to worry about our valuable things in the luggage. Erika and Brien work in Japan for three years as native speakers to teach the highschool kids in English. So they use the chance to visit other asian countries in their time off. Tank you Erika, thank you Brien we talked a lot and I dived back into my student time in California.
After sleep I had a chinese Breakfast in the dining compartment. The train passed many tunnels and between them we had always a short time to see the landscape.
Now I sit in Süli´s office (an apartment with lots of computerequipment) and write the blog for today after drinking a beer. He just returned from his apartment. He cycled there to clean it up just to please me.
See you later.

Li River Cruise

2009-03-30T18:27:00.000+02:00

Many cruise ships lined up at the landing station. So today it was good to have a flag for panda group. Well the today tour I did with a larger group mixed from different countries. I was at a reserved table inside the ship together with a Chinese family and two French people. To the Chinese I could not talk but I learned from them how to eat snails.
It was good to have a table reserved, since after a while it started to rain all the way till Yangshou. On top we could seek some shelter underneath a roof but it did not really protect from rain. Pictures from sunny Li River are not as pretty as the mystical ones with rain and some fog. That was our comfort. Never the less it was fantastic. After 4 hours we arrived in Yangshou and I saw Mo already looking for me.
After check in in Paradise hotel, Mo showed me to the farmers market. There I saw for the first time how they prepared cats and dogs. They burnt the skin with a big bunsenbrenner and chopped the animals into small pieces. Inside the meat was still raw.
Since it rained we postponed the bicycle tour to the halfmoon hill till tomorrow morning. For the evening Mo organized a ticked to the lightshow on the riverstage. It was just fantastic with an audiance of 2800. Even today they had to do the show twice although it was raining up to the beginning of the show. Mr. Jheng, the choreogragher of the opening show of the Olympics in Beijing did this show with elements from the olympics, just fantastic. The theme of the show was a wedding of a minority girl, where I am expert by now. I just made a mistake in the jesterday report, my bride was a Jao girl, excuse to her.
One picture i remember from the olymics: many long sheets of silk which actors in between moving them up and down like waves. Today fisherman on small boats did that with red silk. 600 actors participate in this show.

After the skow we enjoyed catfish and beer. Mo went into the kitchen to make sure that they use enough garlic since he knows that I like it.

Now I feel completely relaxed after a whole body massage in my hotel.

Fazit 1

2009-03-30T10:46:00.000+02:00

Joi eating bamboo rice

Back to yesterday:

I forgot to telI you that Joi likes to play soccer and admires German soccer. From Werder he knows Diego, Frings and Wiese. He thinks Wiese is the best goalgetter in Germany. and that Diego will transfer to Turin for 20 Million Euro.

Up in the mountains he just checked the internet with his handy and told me that the German team won versus the Liechtenstein 4:1, I think to remember. Well Sebastian already corrected me that we won 4:0.

Fazit 1:

Guilin has about the amount of inhabitants of Bremen. With the cosy walks along the river and lakes I don’t feel there are only people, people and people surrounding you like I had last time.

China has deep contradictions in its society.

I ask myself what keeps it together?

There is the different way of living city versus countryside. Farmers still live the old way and in the cities there is “modern” live and booming economy. People are well dressed in western style, move independently with self confidence.

In the countryside the old structures still exist with a few modern buildings in between.

Young generation doesn’t care much about the paty and political issues, pursues its own life what ever this is, is styled very modern fashioned and behaves with confidence looking for a fulfilling life on their own in western life style. Old Generation has difficulties to cope with the economical development.

You don’t see police in the streets, but the party controls the politics and major decisions. Young people just let them do their thing.

Handy everywhere, well I have a Chinese Mobile SIM card, too.

Traveling in China is well organized, easy and comfortable since you have plenty of people in all kind of services. First of all one thing is unusual for us. If you want to buy something in a shop, there are several employees around you, talking and help you find what you want. Service everywhere, mostly young ladies, at least one head smaller than you. If you ask for something, it´s done in a minute.

I can call my tour consultant Foring (almost) anytime for help.

It is only a pity, that with almost all the people I meet, I cannot talk to.

Sonntag, 29. März 2009 Longji dragons backbone terrasse rice fields tour

2009-03-29T16:49:00.000+02:00

You see
Longji dragons backbone terrasse rice fields just below the Zhuang village Ping an. We are in the land of several minorities.
They live in wooden houses and live of tourism and their agricultural production.
This day´s tour I did with Joi who is one of Chinas young generation. (see further down) Joi and me we were the Panda Group with a Panda on a white flag. After showing it on the way up to the Zhuang village to distinguish us from the green group, Joi put it back into his backpack. Well there was no use for it. Joi was my personal tour guide for the whole day.
But first we had a two hours bus ride and the bus driver passed all the cars, motorcycles and buses without caring about curves impossible to see upcoming traffic.
Better do not use buses in China to visit the countryside!!!!
Joi was a perfect guide and we talked a lot about all kind of questions. He agreed my experience I made so far that young people do not care about politics, the do their thing.
We drove up a steep and narrow valley. So the villages we visited seem to be in a hidden valley.

Me with two old Zhuang ladies in front of their house.

We walked up the steep hill with many other tourists along many
houses where the minority people sold handmade things. I could not resist to by a colorful blanket for a small table. I think Joi rolled
his eyes.
On the way up we had a stop around noon for lunch. Bamboo rice
and bamboo chicken we ordered. The rice as well the chopped chicken are stuffed into the bamboo with small pieces of vegetable and the chicken in addition with slices of ginger and dried hot pepper.
Then the bamboo is grilled as you can see.
The rice was a little sweet from the bamboo, the best rice I ever had. The chicken was juicy with an overwhelming taste. I still can feel it in my mouth.

After descending we visited a show where girls from the Zhuang minority in traditional cloth

showed traditional dances. Then they were looking for volunteer men. Of course I volunteered and was married to a minority girl. They demonstrated a traditional wedding, where I for example had to sing, dance, beat cooked rice until it was like clue (for wedding balls with nuts in it as a special dish).
Well I sang "Muss i denn, muss i denn zum Städele hinaus...." of course in the German version and not the Elvis one.
Besides I had to lift the curtain from my "brides" head, drink rice wine and carry her on my back around the hall and back to the stage. It was fun especially for the audiance.
Now i am back in my room in Guilin, midnight again and tomorrow I have to check out and leave by 8:15. Then my next guide will show up for the highlight:
4 hour boat ride to Yangshou on Li River though the most picturesque landscape in China and the light show at Li River in Yangshou done by the choreographer of the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing.
Hey and tomorrow afternoon I finally ride the bike up the Moon Hill from Yangshou. After seeing the chaotic trafic again in Guilin, I rather walked in Guilin. Distances are as short as in downtown Bremen.

Photos from Saturday

2009-03-28T18:13:00.000+01:00

me holding a crispy stick with crab in front of Elephant Trunk Hill
inside the Buddha shrine at Fubo Shan
view from top of Fubo Shan

Samstag, 28. März 2009

2009-03-28T16:58:00.000+01:00

Today the Guillin tour starts at 9:30. Mo, tourist guide is humorous, relaxed and speaks English quite well. We talk about everyday subjects besides informations about the spots we visited. Just political questions he just did not hear.
Our driver brought us to the flute cave. I have never seen a cave like this with so many different shapes created by the steady water drops within million of years. Just see the pictures above.
After climbing Elephant Trunk Hill we had lunch at Fubo Hotel. There is a nice story about the Elephant Trunk Hill: Surrounding Guilin there are many rice fields. At a terrible drought gog just sent an elefant to Guilin to spray the water of the Li River to the fields with his trunk. Well and he is still there. After lunch we visited the Fubo Shan Hill (sieging the waves). Time by time the waves of the river created caves into the front of the hill. Some of them used to host "1000" buddhas. From top of Fubo Shan we had an impressing and wonderful view to the skyline of the peaks arround Guilin.
In the evening I went with Mo to the rivercruise through the iluminated Guilin, an absolute highlight. There was only one seat vacant in the ship. So Mo just left me with the Chinese guide. Luckily a lady from Taipeh translated some of the information the chinese guide gave without any interruption. Well I always get along somehow. Well almost all the people I met in Guilin only spoke the Chinese language.
Before the boattrip Mo took me to a restaurant where they had fish, turtles, snakes and other animals just alive. A fish was taken out of the basin with a net and smashed on the ground and the weight of duck was measured. There it was......the bamboo rat in a cave. It looks like a grey ball of fir. I rather ordered chicken Szechuan style, which means hot sauce with lots of red pepper in it. Sidedishes were vegetables, soup and tofu. The chicken was chopped into small pieces together with bones including one claw and the fried head. I tried averything and Mo certified that I will have no problem with traveling in China after eating this meal. He had to get some medicine for his stomach.
I forgot to mention, for Leni I got an oldfashioned dress at the flute cave after bargaining it down to 150 Yuan. ...you say a prize, you say a prize.....

Now I got my 600mL bottle of local beer out of the freezer of my bar.

Tomorrow, well it is already today, I will do the one day Longji Dragon´s Baqckbone Rice Terraces Tour, starting 8:15.

Park Hotel in Guilin, Friday March 27

2009-03-27T09:00:00.000+01:00

View from my room.
I forgot to mention:
It rains here a lot, but it is warm rain and it rains only softly, like the Irish say. Then it stops again, so you really do not get wet.
It is warm, in the (high?) 80ies.
I picked the rainy time of the year. Beginning April, the farmers start to plant the rice fields and in July the second plant starts.

This morning I strolled around in Guilin. Two worlds confront each other. The elegant one with well dressed young people, the shopping malls, main street Zhongshan Rd. and wonderful parks along the lakes and the Li River. Just next to the mall is the market for the farmers with life chicken, dugs (one for 15 Yuan I found out) and fish. Vegetables, spices, meat and food prepared and raw. I took some nice pictures and videos. I will try to add some next time, but it takes awfully long time to load them up. I need help from my computer specialists. Outside the market there are all kind of shops, looking dirty and old. Places we know from our last tour to China in 2001.
After a rest in the afternoon I met Foring, my tour consultant in the lobby of my hotel to go out for dinner.
She chose a huge restaurant famous for goose. So we enjoyed the goose in two different styles, crispy baked the way we know from Christmas and chopped into small pieces fried with delicious sauce. The first part of the goose was cut into handy pieces with bones, which you eat with chopsticks without fingers. The other one we wrapped into a sort of small Tortilla together with thin sticks of onion, cucumber and pepper. This was my favorite. Of course the waitresses brought delicious soup and vegetables besides. I had a local beer and Foring coconut juice and together we drank some tea with white flowers. Foring, I hope I did not forget any essential part.
The smile in her face was natural, although I asked her to say Niko Niko (the name of the shopping mall) which means smile smile. She smiled all the time and it was wonderful to talk with her. She smiled all the time only partly due to me, she still is in honeymoon just married since two months. Besides political issues in China and informations about Europe we talked about the question if it is better to have one or two children. Well she actually is allowed to get two children, since she and her husband come from a single child family. So the question is not purely academic and she tends towards two children. Foring, thanks for the time you spent with me. I really can recomend her as tour consultant if you plan visit China. She is very professional in her job.
Good night, after the computerwork I´ll go to bed. My guide for the Guillin tour will pick me up at 9:30 tomorrow morning.

26.3.2009 1.Tag in China

2009-03-26T18:35:00.000+01:00

First day in China
for my English speaking friends. My German friends all can read the text in English language. So it is fair to write in English.

Now it is Thursday 22:00 and I am not tired yet.
I like my room in Guilin Park Hotel with access to internet. I just came home with taxi because I got lost and it is less than 10 Yuan (1 EURO equals about 9 Yuan)to take a taxi within downtown Guilin.

Let´s start in the beginning. Yesterday Inge brought me to the Bremen Airport and I started to Amsterdam at 11:25. I booked a place to the aisle for all the 3 flights. Inge alway says that I need more than one place and she never has enough place for her arms whenever she sits next to me. Well on the flight to Amsterdam I was sitting next to a mother from Africa with her 2 year old boy on one seat. The airplane to Amsterdam has only 2 rows with 2 seats each. So I was lucky to sit next to the aisle since this queued boy didn`t want to be fastened with the seatbelt, an extension of his mother´s. He tried to crawl under the seat and so on. We both, his mother and me stayed cool in all this chaos. Well during landing procedure Emanel felt asleep and his mother tied him on her back with a towel.

In Amsterdam airport I had to wait for 5 hours for my flight to Peking. I was not really successful playing Suddocu while waiting. The flight with the Jumbo was ok, but 9 hours and I only sort of slept for 2 hours. I didn´t sleep since then.
In Peijing I transfered to the domestic flight to Guilin, one longnose together with all these Chinese. No problem to get along. All announcements were in Chinese and English. And I met a Chinese businessman living in Australia with business branch in Guilin. We talked a lot.
At Guilin airport In was picked up by a German speaking (fluently) tourist manager with her driver (what a luxury, just for me) to bring me to the Guilin Park Hotel through the heavy traffic where we arrived by 17:00. I ordered the transfer at Meiers Reisen, a German agency, in order to get the first day settled for sure.
By 14:30 I arrived at Guilin Airport with Southern China Airlines, 20 hours after leaving Bremen. You can imagine how much I enjoyed to take a shower and change cloth. I checked the hotel and saw that they have a studio in the basement for foot massage, 1 hour for 60 Yuan. I tell you the massage was great and the young Chinese lady did a good job. It turned out that besides the feet, she gave massage to my legs, back, neck and head. I was glad she didn´t massage my belly. She pressed hard and I didn´t know that massage can be so painful. But afterwards I felt like in heaven and I walked quite a bit.

Guilin is fantastic what I could see in dark. The Li river, bridges, lakes, hotels and parks along the water are illuminated.
I walked down the main street with all the shops. In 2001 Inge and me, we were in Peijing and Shanghai, but that is nothing compared to Guilin today. The Quality of cloth is high with modern fashion. February in Venice Inge and me, we admired the well dressed young ladies. Now I know where the cloth, shoes etc come from.
I went into a gigantic department store for cloth, jewelry, electronics and all kind of high quality you can imagine. All written in Chinese, just the name of the labels I could read.
Inge what size does Leni have? For example I found "Lackschuhe" in Leni´s size f0r 68 Yuan.
Nevin, I almost bought shoes for me.
I couldn´t find the name of the departmentstore, all written in Chinese. At the side entrance I finally found "Niko Niko Do Plaza".
In the upper flor, there is a restaurant, very convenient for tourists. All kind of dishes are displayed. From the waitress you get a receipt and then you ask the cooks behind the many displays to stamp the number into the receipt. Then the waitress gets the food for you. I chose duck with rise. Tee was served in addition. I payed 18 Yuan for the delicious food.

The saying "living like God in France" should be changed to "living like God in China".

I wonder where Foring, my tour consultant from Guilin will take me to dinner tomorrow with her collegue. I read in the tourist guide, that bamboo rats or snake soup are specialities of Guilin.

Well now I will drink a cold Tsingtao beer from the minibar of my room and then go to bed.

My tour to China so far

2009-03-19T15:51:00.000+01:00

Meine Route: - Guilin - Kunming - Dali - Lijiang - Zhongdian – Kunming organized with Sinowaytravel

Kunming - Jinghong - Yuanyang – Kunming organized by myself together with Süli, one of my former students. He studies economics in Kunming

Day 1 Mit 25-März-09 Flug mit KLM von Bremen über Amsterdam und Peking nach Guilin.

Day 2 Don 26-März-09 15:20 Ankunft in Guilin und Transfer zum Park Hotel in Guillin

Day 3 Frei 27-März-09 in Eigenregie mit dem Fahrrad Guilin erkunden.

Day 4 Sat 28-Mar-09

Guilin

Program: Wave Subduing Hill, Reed Flute Cave, Elephant Trunk Hill, Evening cruise on Li River and surrounding lakes,

Meet our guide in your hotel's lobby in the morning.

Wave Subduing Hill (fubo hill): has the Xinxi Marquis Temple built during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The title of Xinxi Marquis was given to Fubo General Ma Yuan, so the name of the hill. Half of the graceful peak is in the river and the other half on land. During flood season turbulent currents lash the hill rocks. On top of the hill one will see an exquisite scenery like a traditional Chinese painting.

Reed Flute Cave: the cave is one of the largest known examples of what each tropical karst cone conceals within it.This cave was called "The Art Gallery of Mother Nature". Colored fluorescent lights which cast shadows and illuminate shapes of imaginary animals, fruits and vegetables complete the unworldly effect.

Elephant Trunk Hill:Located at the conjunction of the Li River & the Peach Blossom River, the whole hill looks very much like a giant elephant with a long trunk, it is the symbol of Guilin city.

You will enjoy the evening cruise through Li River, Fir lake, Banyan Lake and Peach River, which was part of the ancient moat surrounding Guilin.

Accommodations: Guilin Park Hotel(Own arrangement)

Day 5 Sun 29-Mar-09

Guilin

SIC tour (Seat-in-Coach Tours) today

One Day Longji Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces Tour.

Route: Pick up at the lobby of your hotel in early morning (our tour guide will call you one evening in advance, to tell you the exact pick up time) → drive for 2 hours to Longji, walk up to the top of the moutain to visit the Longji Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces → Chinese Lunch in local restaurant on the mountain, later transferred back to Guilin to your hotel.

Accommodations: Guilin Park Hotel(Own arrangement)

Day 6 Mon 30-Mar-09

Guilin

Program: Cycle in Yangshuo, Moon Hill, Big Banyan Tree,

SIC tour (Seat-in-Coach Tours)

One Day Li River Cruise Tour

Tour Itinerary: Pick up at the lobby of your hotel in the early morning (our tour guide will call you one evening in advance, to tell you the exact pick up time) → drive for 40 minutes to the Zhujiang Dock, take the Li River Cruise to Yangshuo with lunch aboard (boat departs at 09h00 or 09h30) → Yangshuo, stroll around West Street to withness the daily activities of local society. Stay night at Yangshuo.

The total cuirse journey is about 30 km and takes 4-4.5 hours. On the way you'll see the most beautiful landscapes and pass throw the local villages. Tips: The cruise lunch may not be as good as your expectation, please be sure you are well fed this morning at the hotel.

private tour in this afternoon.

Biking in Beautiful Yangshuo: When you escape onto the country roads, lanes and tracks of the distinctive and beautiful Yangshou countryside, you would see rice paddies, farm house, green limestone hills. Biking through the paddy field and orchards that surround the famous mountains will give a fascinating insight into life in rural China. Centuries old farming methods sit side by side with mobile phones and satellite dishes.

Moon Hill: Moon Hill has a natural round cave at the peak and from a distance, the cave (a hole in the peak) resembles the moon, hence the name. The fantastic view from the top of the Moon Hill has made this hill one of Yangshuo's best attractions!

Accommodations: Yangshuo Paradise Hotel, Guilin (4 star)

Tel:8822109, Fax:8828550

http://www.sinowaytravel.com/hotels/hotel-overview.aspx?ID=175

Day 7 Tue 31-Mar-09

Guilin / Kunming

Transfer via: by overnight train for soft sleeper K393(1653-1120+1)

Program: Transfer to train station for your train to Kunming.

Accommodations: On the train

Day 8 Wed 1-Apr-09

Kunming trainstation at 11:20+1

Program: Free time for a whole day,

Accommodations: Own arrangement

Day 9 Thu 2-Apr-09

Day 10 Fri 3-Apr-09

Day 11 Sat 4-Apr-09

Kunming

Accommodations: Own arrangement with Süli

In Kunming wohne ich bei meinem ehemaligen Schüler Süli, der in Kunming Wirtschaft studiert und kann hoffentlich möglichst viel über das Alltagsleben in Kunming mitbekommen. Die Sehenswürdigkeiten in und um Kunming will mir Süli zeigen.

Day 12 Sun 5-Apr-09

Kunming / Dali

Transfer via: by air morning flight CZ3481(10:35/11:10)

Program: Transfer to airport for your flight to Dali. Upon arrival at the airport, pickup by our English speaking tour guide and drive to hotel, Three Pagodas, Dali Ancient Town, The Ancient Wall and South Gate,

Meet our guide at your hotel's lobber in the morning (noch zu klären, da ich von Sülis Wohnung starte)
Three Pagodas: are located northwest of Dali at the foot Cangshan Mountains. With Qianxun Pagoda, completed in 876 during the Tang dynasty (618-907AD).

The ancient Dali town:built in 1382 and is one the 24 most famous historical and cultural cities in China.

Accommodations: Landscape Hotel, Dali (4 star)

Tel:86-872-2666188, Fax:

http://www.sinowaytravel.com/hotels/hotel-overview.aspx?ID=59

Day 13 Mon 6-Apr-09

Dali / Lijiang

Transfer via: by van

Program: Xizhou House, Enjoy the tea ceremony of Bai Ethnic, Dayan Ancient Town, Lion Hill (Wangulou), escorted tour to Square Street,

Xizhou House: live Bai minority people. You will see the their typical traditions, dresses there.

Since the Ming Dynasty, it has been common practice for Bai ethnic group people to receive and show hospitality to guests by serving three cups of their unique Bai tea (Sandaocha), which literally means "treating guests with three cups of tea".

Lijiang Dayan Ancient Town: has a history of over 800 years. It is one of the few places in China with well-preserved old style folk buildings.

Lion Hill: Both the hill and the wooden structure called Wangulou provide good views of the Old Town and the surrounding countryside. You may enjoy the beautiful sunset (if the weather is permit), overlooking the old town and the great Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is in the distance.

Accommodations: Jiannanchun Hotel, Lijiang (4 star)

Tel:086-0888-5102222, Fax:

http://www.sinowaytravel.com/hotels/hotel-overview.aspx?ID=62

Day 14 Tue 7-Apr-09

Lijiang

Program: The Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Taking cable car up to Yulong Snow Mountain at Yak Meadow, Yuhu village, the old house of Joseph Rock,

The Jade Dragon Snow Mountain: The mountain has 13 peaks of which the highest is 18000 feet above sea level. It is a treasure of wild plants and rare animals.

Yak Meadow: It got its name because the local people like to pasture their Yak here.

The landscape rises and falls on the meadow. In spring and summer, Yaks with black and white skin wander in grass and all kinds of flowers. In autumn and winter, the mild edge of th meadow becoms a sharp contrast with the peaks of the snow mountain.

Yuhu Village: a village at the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, where Mr. Joseph Rock, a famous Russian Scientist lived for 27 years from 1922 to 1949, enjoy hundreds of photos and articles of the culture in this area.

Joseph Rock: lived in a village at the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain for 27 years from 1922 to 1949, left us thousands of photoes and articles of the culture in this area.

Accommodations: Jiannanchun Hotel, Lijiang (4 star)

Day 15 Wed 8-Apr-09

Lijiang / Zhongdian

Transfer via: by van

Program: First Bend of Yangtse River in Shigu, Lijiang, The tiger Leaping Gorge,

The Tiger Leaping Gorge: one of the world's four great gorges - is located in Hutiaoxia Town in Zhongdian County,is honored as one of the deepest and most marvelous gorges on the globe.

Accommodations: Holypalace Hotel, Zhongdian (4 star)

Tel:86-887-8229788, Fax:

http://www.sinowaytravel.com/hotels/hotel-overview.aspx?ID=204

Day 16 Thu 9-Apr-09

Zhongdian

Program: Puda tso national park, Tibetan Family visit, Songzanlin Monastery,

Puda tso national park include Shudu Lake and Bita Lake.

Songzanlin Monastery, or 'Little Potala' as it is affectionately known, is a spiritual place that invites you to discover the mystery and traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. Since the 5th Dalai Lama chose the site through divination in 1679, the monastery has grown into the most important community of its kind in Yunnan. If lucky, you might see the Lama having their evening lesson.

Accommodations: Holypalace Hotel, Zhongdian (4 star)

Day 17 Fri 10-Apr-09

Zhongdian / Kunming

Transfer via: by air MU5934(08:50-09:50)

Program: Transfer to airport for your flight to Kunming.

Service Ends;

Weitere Planung mit Süli von Kunming aus.

Day 18 Sam 11-Apr-09 Kunming bei Süli

Day 19 Son 12-Apr-09 Flug nach Jinghong in der Provinz Xishuangbanna

Day 20 Mon 13-Apr-09 .Sanchahe Naturschutzgebiet mit Bannas Tal der Wildelefanten (tropischer Urwald) Übernachtung im Naturschutzgebiet

Day 21 Die 14-Apr-09 weiterer Tag im Sanchahe Naturschutzgebiet

Day 22 Mit 15-Apr-09 Busfahrt nach Yuannyang mit seinen Reisterassen

Day 23 Don 16-Apr-09 Busfahrt nach Kunming

Day 24 Frei 17-Apr-09 Kunming

Day 25 Sam 18-Apr-09 Abflug von Kunming um 08:25 über Peking und Amsterdam nach Bremen, Ankunft um 21:25