On the road again

For the last two weeks or so, some friends, fellow teachers, and I have trekked through Yunnan province in S.W. China, boardering Tibet, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Laos. It has been amazing beyong words. First we hiked through the mountain region called the Tiger Leaping Gorge (China's Grand Canyon, often mentioned by Tom Friedman) and it was not for the faint of heart. At one point we were hiking at almost a 75% slope through crags and mountain rock. It was great! The map said that there were '28 bends' or turns on the trail, but they cruelly lied to us. It was more like '48 bends.' The sight at the top was as breathtaking as the hike, however, and it made the trip all the more worthwhile. That night we met some British guys (also teaching in China) who's path we seemed to cross at every stop. Good fun.

After that, we relaxed in the town of Kunming for a few days before heading south to the XiShuangBanNa region on the Chinese boarder with Lao and Myanmar.This invloved staying in minority villages tucked into the jungle. It was an amazing experience. We didn't have a map, so we had to reconfirm our path with every passer-by. That made it all the more exciting. By night, we were invited into a villager's home for a meal and a sleeping pad. Over dinner we spoke in (my) broken Chinese. If the individual words did not come across, at least the meaning did, as we were all fascinated with each other. I felt like I was on a National Geographic tour!

Village women painted their teeth black, which they believed made them more attractive, and wore traditional clothing. Most men joined a Buddist monestary for a year or two during their youth... much like my CCD except that St. Odelia didn't shave my head. Like us, religion and family play paramount roles in their lives. They had never seen a map before, so they had many questions about Chinese geography. They also had no concept of an int'l time difference. (Which I explained as: "Right now, we in China eat dinner meal, after, go to bed. Right now, my Dad in USA eat morning meal, after, go to work. Now, here, sun goes to sleep. Now, there, sun wake up.") Yet, they settled all of our differences in one easy question: "Are your stars the same as ours?" Instantly, the 5 year old came out in me and I thought of the cartoon American Tale, when Feivel looks at the stars and sings to his sister looking at the same stars. Sappy, I know, but it was a moment... In the morning they treated us to a simple meal of ramen, rice, eggs, and vegetables and gave us a warm send off.

Although both the Gorge and XiShuangBanNa are 'protected' as UN World Heritage sites, development will vastly change this area in the coming years. The Gorge is being surveyed for a dam (terrible idea) and XiShuangBanNa will soon become a commercial land passage to S.E. Asia, so the trail we were on will soon be a 2 lane paved highway. I'm just happy I was able to have seen these sites before the dynamite does...

more to come, more to be added later.

paul.

Trouble is afoot in the Middle Mountain

Zhongshan is the peaceful yet booming coast town in China's Guangdong province that I have called home for the past year and a half. In the past ten days, Zhongshan has been the tipping point for the struggle between rural peasents and their affluent neighbors. This has been a quiet, yet ongoing struggle in much of Guangdong and the highly developed eastern coast. I never thought it would hit so close to home.

Recently, two government officials were released for the way they've handled this growing unrest. Last Saturday, a 13 year old girl was killed - almost certainly by police forces trying to disperse group protesters - and many others were beaten.

Here is a premium story from the South China Morning Post (SCMP.com) detailing the dismissal...

Officials to pay price for teen's death
KRISTINE KWOK

Two party officials in Zhongshan, Guangdong, face dismissal and another is likely to be jailed over the death of a schoolgirl last week during a crackdown on protests over land seizures.

A source said he was told by officials that it was likely that Zhongshan city party secretary Cui Guochao and Sanjiao township party secretary Guan Jianxiang would be sacked over the handling of the unrest.

Protesters blocked a section of the Nansan highway 10 days ago in protest against inadequate compensation for farmland that was forcibly seized a decade ago in a number of villages.

The crowd swelled to about 3,000 last Saturday, when police used stun batons and tear gas to disperse the protesters.

Feng Meiying , 15, was said to have been beaten to death and up to 100 protesters injured.

Word of the possible official shake-up came after Guangdong party secretary Zhang Dejiang repeated his warning to officials on Thursday to acquire land through proper procedures or face investigation and dismissal.

Hu Dahai , party secretary of Panlong village, where most of the protesters were from, was also expected to be jailed.


"He was arrested a few days ago," the source said.

But a Panlong government worker denied the arrest.