Planet China

36 hours later, I was in a hotel room. A dark one, to be sure- Chinese like neon, but not incandescent- and really ready to sleep! China is really far away, folks.

Impressions of my first day; As long as there is a China, Carolina's tobacco farmers have no worries.
China has a lot of scents, mostly unfamiliar. I can't understand Chinese. I can often not understand English spoken by Chinese. The Chinese food served by the Dragon China restaurant in the strip mall is not very Chinese. Hospitality in China = an overabundance of food I cannot eat. Mao and the Cultural Revolution missed a few pieces of Chinese historic culture when they were wiping the slate clean, and for this we can be thankful.

View from our first room's balcony

We were met at the airport by Louisa, who speaks English very well, is very pretty and would fit in my pocket despite her everpresent 3" heels. In my zombie fog, we were taken to a little van, and managed to fit in all luggage and 7 passengers. These were, Huz, me, Louisa, the driver, Dr. Alyssa (from Colorado State U.) Dr. Natalie (German, but working at Louisiana State U.) and Dr. H.G. (Malaysian but working at Purdue U.) Kunming city was very dark. I think they go to bed early. That was also my deepest desire. I think staying here is somewhat like camping. The beds are so firm, you might as well be in a sleeping bag on the ground, and you can't use the water, so it is bottled for brushing teeth. But there are toilets- everywhere else there are squatting holes, no toilet paper. I have learned to swipe the nifty napkin packets they hand out at restaurants to carry in my bag. I slept well, fortunately, and was up for breakfast the next morning.

Louisa met us all in the lobby and took us to the breakfast buffet, kindly telling us what things were, as best she could explain. Dr. H. G. who also reads and speaks Chinese, is also super handy to have around. I ate poufy things with bean curd in the center, and some greens of indeterminate species. I had hot soy milk to drink and a soup of rice wine with rice balls in it. I had watermelon (yeah! familiar and delicious) and talked my husband out of eating a pear the size of a quarter (probably washed with tap water).  We then met "Nixon" whose real name I believe was Ni Xiang. He was our guide for the day, a sightseeing venture around Kunming City.
He was very interested that we understand some Chinese history and therefore the Chinese Culture. He was very informative (maybe), but I think I might have been the only one listening, as he was difficult to understand, and since I get carsick easily, I had positioned myself in the middle  of the first set of back seats, and was the closest face to Nixon. "Begori" is a very common word in the speeches of Nixon. Haven't figured that one out, but I'm pretty sure it is either the word "because" or, an affectation as in the word "like". Like, you know, begori. We went to see temples, beautiful ones the product of General "Wuzhowzhang" (maybe) of the Ching dynasty.(maybe) We ate lunch in a local Kunming eatery (it occurred to me that some things were local because no one else will eat them) but some of the food was very good. We American's don't order anything, of course, the hosts order for us, and it is a LOT of food. We also went to Green Lake, a park in Kunming and the Military Academy from the early 20th century. We then visited a market. Begori I will show pictures.

In front of the entrance to the Golden Temple Scenic Interest Area. Dr. Alyssa, Huz, Me, Dr. Natalie and Dr. Louisa. Dr. H.G. behind the lens.

Huz and I at Buddist Temple in Kunming. In three minutes there will be a downpour. In 9 minutes it will be sunny.

Dapper fellow. The Chinese are very well dressed.

Nixon, Louisa and H.G. at start of lunch feast.

Bugs du jour. Fortunately not chosen for our menu by kind hosts.

At Green Lake Park. In the parks, there are impromptu group dances everywhere. If you don't have music, sing!

Flowers in the flower market. For all the gorgeous lilies and Birds of Paradise live flowers, there were many more not alive flowers.

View of Kunming from the Bell tower at Golden Temple Scenic Interest Area

Even when there are English translations, they are often open to interpretation.

Dinner Feast. Dr. Louisa, Dr. Natalie, Dr. Alyssa, Huz, me. I had water in a bottle. In the center front of the picture is "steamed Chicken" a whole, steamed chicken. Including legs and head.

By dinner I had no appetite, still suffering from lunch, and was in zombieland again. Dying to go to bed. The only problem was we didn't have one yet, as they decided to switch our room, only they took away our first room without having the second one ready, so we waited for a long time in Dr. Natalie's room for the room to be ready for us- "very special room". We finally got to bed, disoriented and numb, and then the phone kept ringing, the front desk asking about a deposit. Sadly, the only word they know in English seems to be "deposit" and the only word we know in Chinese is "xie xie" and "ni hao ma". Neither which are helpful when you want to inform someone that if they don't leave you alone you are going to have to come down to the front desk with Mother Eyes. Hopefully someone who speaks Chinese can't get that all sussed out before midnight tonight.
Meanwhile, the conference has begun. So, I am on my own in China. Um, Like, begori.