We left our Hotel in Kunming on the morning of Thursday, June 18th to head to the Kunming Railway Station for our six-hour, hard-seat train ride to Dali 大理. Train stations in China are amazing for the sheer numbers of people they are able to funnel through to their destinations each day, but can often be an adventure for Western travelers trying to navigate through security checks, escalators up and down leading to the proper boarding platform, etc. Kunming's new railway station is no different, and has the added complication of a number of security checks where most stations have only one, no doubt in response to the terrorist attack that took place here a little over a year ago which resulted in 33 people dead. Our challenge was not safely, thankfully, but more logistical, particularly since many of us have quite heavy suitcases even more larded down with gifts and knick-knacks bought along the way. Thankfully, everyone and their belongings got on the train, with heavy suitcases successfully lifted up to racks above our seats, and we settled in for the long train ride. It went by surprisingly quickly, with everyone enjoying time to read, doze off, eat snacks, play cards or just shoot the breeze with each other. Here are a few pictures from our railway adventure.
Upon arrival, we were met by Wang Suwen 王素文, Ligaya's colleague and President of the Shambala Foundation, who had arranged for buses to shuttle us to our hotel. Our arrival was actually to Dali new town (aka Xiaguan 下关), which is situated at the bottom of Erhai Lake (洱海) and about a twenty minute drive to the south of Dali Old Town, our new center of operations.
We settled into our new home, the lovely and spacious Sleepyfish Inn (乐游客栈), hosted by an English-American team Max and Tracy, with their two dogs Malo and Asha, as well as four chirpy parakeets. With beautiful views of the Cangshan Mountains (苍山) and the lovely, if touristy, town around us, we were ready for the new stage of our adventure.
Tiffany Long's blog report from our first full day in Dali follows below. Elena and Sue also share short journals about their experiences in a group adventure adventure on Erhai. Happy reading!
- Adam R.
We settled into our new home, the lovely and spacious Sleepyfish Inn (乐游客栈), hosted by an English-American team Max and Tracy, with their two dogs Malo and Asha, as well as four chirpy parakeets. With beautiful views of the Cangshan Mountains (苍山) and the lovely, if touristy, town around us, we were ready for the new stage of our adventure.
Tiffany Long's blog report from our first full day in Dali follows below. Elena and Sue also share short journals about their experiences in a group adventure adventure on Erhai. Happy reading!
- Adam R.
I started the day early and woke up by 7am to journal on the terrace of our hostel, soaking in the breathtaking view of the majestic Cangshan Mountains. The mountain top was shrouded by a sea of clouds that accented the bright blue sky. It all felt like a dream and I was completely swept away by the natural beauty of Yunnan.
After breakfast, we had a free morning to explore Old Town Dali. We dispersed into small groups and embarked on various adventures around town. A group of us rowed a boat out on Er Hai Lake, and enjoyed a traditional Bai-style home-cooked meal with a local Dali family. Others sharpened their bargaining skills as they shopped for local goodies to bring home. We all had an opportunity to experience the customs and food culture unique to Yunnan, including eating fried cheese on a stick, enjoying a bowl of rice noodle and using the infamous squat toilets!
After breakfast, we had a free morning to explore Old Town Dali. We dispersed into small groups and embarked on various adventures around town. A group of us rowed a boat out on Er Hai Lake, and enjoyed a traditional Bai-style home-cooked meal with a local Dali family. Others sharpened their bargaining skills as they shopped for local goodies to bring home. We all had an opportunity to experience the customs and food culture unique to Yunnan, including eating fried cheese on a stick, enjoying a bowl of rice noodle and using the infamous squat toilets!
In the afternoon, we visited Dali Experimental High School in Xiaguan, the “New Town” part of Dali. Our visit started with a general tour of the large campus, which originally opened as a teacher-training institute over a century ago and was converted to a high school in 2005. This prestigious high school is ranked third in the region and has won provincial education recognition, serving over 1,500 students with 127 teaching staff. According to their math teacher, 96% of their graduates go on to college and 55% of those students enter China’s key universities. In addition to the general education classes, students may also major in music and/or dance. After the tour, the CFI participants broken into three groups, two of which observed English classrooms where students watched a series of Ted Talk videos and discussed the major takeaways from each segment. These English classes, incredibly, had over 70 students per section!
I was part of the last group, and we were incredibly lucky to observe a music classes. As we entered the music class, we were warmly received with a standing ovation from Mr. Yu, their talented music instructor, and his class of 35 students. Mr. Yu had a commanding presence in the classroom that drew all eyes on him throughout the lesson; he was calm, composed, and firm, yet passionate, humble and humorous. He led students in warming up their vocal cords, and then broke up his instruction into small 10-minute chunks where he would discuss a key concept and then jump into whole class practice. As students practiced each song, Mr. Yu would guide them with immediate feedback and positive reinforcement. His lesson touched on music theory, discussed the history and origins of the various pieces they were singing, and compared Western and Chinese music. Although Mr. Yu facilitated the class using mostly teacher-centered methodology, he was able to keep his students highly engaged throughout the lesson by infusing humor in his instruction and winning over their hearts with his passionate performances and unquestionable love for music. Mr. Yu had created a learning environment where students were willing to take risks, laugh at their own mistakes and then attempt it again. One of his top students gave a jaw-dropping solo performance to which Mr. Yu offered the following words of wisdom: You have a lot of potential, but you’re not there yet, so keep working hard. My group enjoyed his class immensely, as did his students, but I also realized that apart from the whole class singing practices, only the top students received personal attention and feedback from the teacher during the lesson. There were no formal and/or informal assessments to keep every student accountable for mastering the new knowledge and skills, and not every child was being held to the same set of high expectations. Such observations and reflections were later shared during a meeting between the leaders and teachers at Dali Experimental High School and our CFI participants. Our day at Dali Experimental High School ended with an epic “friendly” basketball competition between their school’s top athletes and our fearless CFI representatives Ying, Annie, Yanmei, Michelle, Kimberly, Wen and Adam. Our CFI team’s commendable effort was the highlight of the game, and as for the final score…let’s just say both teams were in the double digits.
Although there were plenty of exciting and memorable experiences from the day, many of us agreed that our favorite part of the day was when we met up and had dinner with the 11 students who are partaking in Shambala’s first job experience training in Dali. The Shambala Foundation recruited ten Tibetan and one Han Chinese students from Qinghai for an intensive summer course that would prepare these youths for securing their first jobs in a career path that aligns with their future goals. During dinner, I sat at a table with 4 of these youths who shared their aspirations for the future. Their dreams included opening their own small businesses, starting a preschool in their village and becoming a nurse to help the sick in her community. Yet another student discussed her hopes of expanding her parents’ humble vegetable stall into a small grocery store. It was a refreshing and meaningful experience spending time getting to know these students. We cherished the connections we made with these youth as they shared both the personal story of their hopes and fears as well as their Tibetan culture through their songs and dances. It is my deep appreciation for these human connections that guided me towards a career in teaching, and I was reminded tonight why I am so committed and passionate about my work as an educator.
-- Tiffany Long
After a delicious breakfast at SleepyFish Lodge, our group had the morning free to choose any activities we want. One group decided to go shopping and another opted for a walk to the beautiful Er Hai lake. Although really tempted to go shopping, I knew that a walk to the lake would be more relaxing, so I decided to follow the Er Hai lake group. Our group had six people: Sue, Annie, Ping, Tracy, Michele and myself.
We got to the bus station where many of the local people offered to help us and give us advice on the easiest route to the lake. Some taxi drivers wanted to give us expensive rides to the lake, other just wanted to talk. Our spokesperson turned us to be Sue, who soon became our unofficial leader for this extraordinary adventure. Once we got on the bus number 3, Sue started to talk to the local people on the bus and soon befriended this local middle-aged lady who was accompanied by her daughter in law. By the time we got off the bus at the end of the line, Sue very enthusiastically announced us that the local lady invited all of us at her house and that her husband owns a boat and if we want we can go for a ride. Of course, we all said yes. It was like a gift from God has fallen onto our laps. It turned out that our hostess' house is actually a small hotel. She told us that after 28 years of hard work, she and her husband managed to buy the place 2 years ago. Unfortunately, exactly after they bought the place, she was diagnosed with brain cancer and couldn't take care of the place as she would have wanted, so they decided to temporarily lease it out. The good news is that her cancer recovery is going well and she was very hopeful and full of life, but also an astute negotiator. Our hostess seized the opportunity of making some extra money for the family and convinced us to take a ride on the lake in her husband's boat. After drinking some water and eating some fruits offered by our hostess at her house, we did not hesitate to pay 600 yuan for the boat ride. It was phenomenal. Once on the boat, we all had a blast. We couldn't stop taking pictures and goofing off, taking turns at being Rose from the Titanic while Michele was Jack. The scenery was enchanting and I think that all of us were thrilled by the way our day turned. Once we got off the boat, our morning hostess was waiting for us with freshly made noodle soup using organic eggs from her own hens and freshly picked tomatoes. We gladly paid for our lunch and we sat down in the shade in her garden and ate. After, we ate it was time for us to rush back to meet our group at the hotel and start a new adventure. And off we went, this time taking a taxi back that was arranged by no one else than our intrepid hostess.
- Elena Vlad
星期五,吃完早餐,和几位老师一起坐三路公共汽车去洱海。在公车上遇到施大姐,她是酒店的老板娘,她很热心。把我们请到她在洱海边的家。因为我们中午要赶回来参观学校,施大姐特地让游船来她家接我们去游洱海。船上只有我们六人,我们躺在甲板上,尽情的享受着阳光、天空、海风和两岸的风光。上岸后施大姐和她的儿媳妇还给我们做了西红柿鸡蛋面,和小鱼豆腐。又叫车送我们回来。真是有缘千里来相会啊!下午我们参观了大理实验中学。还与老师们来了一场篮球友谊赛。晚上和这次负责接待我们基金会的成员及来自于青海的藏族学生,一起共进晚餐,联欢晚会载歌载舞。
- Sue Geng 耿秀
-- Tiffany Long
After a delicious breakfast at SleepyFish Lodge, our group had the morning free to choose any activities we want. One group decided to go shopping and another opted for a walk to the beautiful Er Hai lake. Although really tempted to go shopping, I knew that a walk to the lake would be more relaxing, so I decided to follow the Er Hai lake group. Our group had six people: Sue, Annie, Ping, Tracy, Michele and myself.
We got to the bus station where many of the local people offered to help us and give us advice on the easiest route to the lake. Some taxi drivers wanted to give us expensive rides to the lake, other just wanted to talk. Our spokesperson turned us to be Sue, who soon became our unofficial leader for this extraordinary adventure. Once we got on the bus number 3, Sue started to talk to the local people on the bus and soon befriended this local middle-aged lady who was accompanied by her daughter in law. By the time we got off the bus at the end of the line, Sue very enthusiastically announced us that the local lady invited all of us at her house and that her husband owns a boat and if we want we can go for a ride. Of course, we all said yes. It was like a gift from God has fallen onto our laps. It turned out that our hostess' house is actually a small hotel. She told us that after 28 years of hard work, she and her husband managed to buy the place 2 years ago. Unfortunately, exactly after they bought the place, she was diagnosed with brain cancer and couldn't take care of the place as she would have wanted, so they decided to temporarily lease it out. The good news is that her cancer recovery is going well and she was very hopeful and full of life, but also an astute negotiator. Our hostess seized the opportunity of making some extra money for the family and convinced us to take a ride on the lake in her husband's boat. After drinking some water and eating some fruits offered by our hostess at her house, we did not hesitate to pay 600 yuan for the boat ride. It was phenomenal. Once on the boat, we all had a blast. We couldn't stop taking pictures and goofing off, taking turns at being Rose from the Titanic while Michele was Jack. The scenery was enchanting and I think that all of us were thrilled by the way our day turned. Once we got off the boat, our morning hostess was waiting for us with freshly made noodle soup using organic eggs from her own hens and freshly picked tomatoes. We gladly paid for our lunch and we sat down in the shade in her garden and ate. After, we ate it was time for us to rush back to meet our group at the hotel and start a new adventure. And off we went, this time taking a taxi back that was arranged by no one else than our intrepid hostess.
- Elena Vlad
星期五,吃完早餐,和几位老师一起坐三路公共汽车去洱海。在公车上遇到施大姐,她是酒店的老板娘,她很热心。把我们请到她在洱海边的家。因为我们中午要赶回来参观学校,施大姐特地让游船来她家接我们去游洱海。船上只有我们六人,我们躺在甲板上,尽情的享受着阳光、天空、海风和两岸的风光。上岸后施大姐和她的儿媳妇还给我们做了西红柿鸡蛋面,和小鱼豆腐。又叫车送我们回来。真是有缘千里来相会啊!下午我们参观了大理实验中学。还与老师们来了一场篮球友谊赛。晚上和这次负责接待我们基金会的成员及来自于青海的藏族学生,一起共进晚餐,联欢晚会载歌载舞。
- Sue Geng 耿秀