I’d like to begin my first post discussing my favorite of teas, Pu’er.

Named after the small town in the southwest of Yunnan where it originally hailed from, Pu’er is known for its rich aromas and earthy flavor. Unlike nearly every other tea, Pu’er’s large leaves are plucked from the branches of enormous trees by little locals who climb them like monkeys (it’s quite a spectacle). As with fine wines, Pu’er improves with age. I personally enjoy an 8 year aged vintage I picked up while in Lijiang 丽江。

It is originally quite a caffeinated tea, but the caffeine ferments with aging, and it essentially loses its caffeine properties by year 8. Nonetheless, it’s sure to give you a good buzz–that’s why I enjoy it. Chinese Traditional Medicine declares that the best time to drink Pu’er is after a large meal, because it soaks up the oils and aids in digestion and weight loss. My co-workers jaunt because I enjoy drinking it first thing in the morning, substituting for coffee.

I remember the joy of first discovering Pu’er my sophomore year of college. Princeton experienced a major snowfall, and the campus was blanketed in white the months of January and February. Every morning, I steeped a mug of hot Pu’er and trudged through the snow to class, my little heart warmed by the hot cup and natural pick-me-up.

A Bin of Young Pu'er

If you are in China, I suggest picking up a bin and giving it a taste. It might not be your favorite at first, but it will quickly grow on you, as it did on me.

I woke up to bright sunshine this morning.  This is the first time that has happened, and this meant that the day is probably going to be warmer.

The ride to the school was chaotic, as usual.  I still cannot grasp how people navigate through all the lanes, the cars, the motorcycles, the bicycles, and the pedestrians.  To me, it seems as if people go when they see an opening.  Cars would turn and switch lanes while they’re turning as pedestrians dodge between the cars.  At any moment, I expect to see a crash, but none has happened.  The ride to and from the school is definitely a bit of an adrenaline rush.

At the school, I discovered a small fish pond near the entrance.  We waited there while the students did their morning exercise.  I took some pictures of the fish in the ponds and of the students exercising, while waiting for the morning exercises to be completed.

My first class was pretty good.  I had flashcards of the alphabet and use them to check the students’ recognition and pronunciation of the letters.  We spent the whole class time checking and reviewing the letters.  Next time, I will introduce some vocabulary and possibility some sight words.  The students are in the vocabulary building stage of English language acquisition, so they need lots of repetition and practice.

My second class was also pretty good.  They had already been introduced to the words that I reviewed with them to day.  The students were enthusiastic and wanted to show what they knew.  We spent the class going over the words in different ways.  I think this is going to be the biggest challenge for me, finding different ways to review the same five to six words in a 40 minute class.

During dinner, Baoli had a brochure for a dance performance that highlighted Yunnan’s ethnic minorities’ heritage.  It looks interesting, and I hope I have a chance to go see it.  I told Baoli that I want to go see the show, but Cyndy did not want to go.  So, Baoli did not say anything more about it.  It’s really unfortunate that my activities are dependent upon Cyndy joining or not joining me.  She doesn’t want to do ANYTHING!!!!  And she complains that we’re not doing any anything.  This is a woman who complains bitterly that it’s cold in the room, but opens the window, especially at night.  I think she’s bipolar or just plain psychotic.

I can’t believe I just finished the second day at the school.  It feels like I’ve been teaching for a week already.  I have had to put more energy into these classes than my own classes back in the state, yet I do not feel that I have accomplished anything.

Sebentar lagi kita akan memperingati tahun baru China. Gong Xi Fat Cai !!!

Pada kesempatan ini, saya akan mencoba membahas tentang asal usul mooncake atau kue bulan yg biasanya menjadi makanan tradisional saat tahun baru China. Well…memang rasanya ga lengkap tahun baru China tanpa MOONCAKE !!!

Well, ini sedikit info tentang mooncake sekaligus cara membuatnya yg saya ambil dari berbagai sumber, selamat menikmati

Bulat keemasan, sering kali berisi kuning telur asin, bisa juga cokelat atau bahan bercita rasa manis lainnya.Kue ini menjadi tradisi khas masyarakat China.

Dongeng populer China berkisah, pada masa pemerintahan Kaisar Yao (2000 SM), terdapat seorang pemanah ulung bernama Hou Yi. Kala itu, bumi dikitari 10 matahari yang bergantian menyinari bumi. Namun, suatu hari, kesepuluh matahari muncul bersamaan sehingga bumi pun panas tak terkira.

Sang kaisar memerintahkan Hou Yi memanah sembilan matahari hingga tersisa satu matahari saja. Singkat cerita, atas keberhasilannya, Hou Yi pun diberi ganjaran pil keabadian.

Pada suatu hari, seorang penjahat bernama Feng Meng menyelinap ke kediaman Hou Yi dan bermaksud mencuri pil keabadian. Agar tidak jatuh ke tangan yang salah, Chang Er (istri Hou Yi) menelan pil itu. Tiba-tiba, Chang Er mendapati dirinya terbang ke langit menuju bulan.

Untuk menghargai pengorbanan Chang Er dan menyerukan perdamaian di muka bumi serta sebagai ungkapan rasa syukur, masyarakat China mewujudkannya melalui kue yang manis dan buah-buahan. Tradisi ini lalu berkembang menjadi Festival Kue Bulan (mooncake), yang diperingati setiap hari ke-15 bulan kedelapan kalender China.

Konon, hingga kini dipercaya bahwa selama pertengahan musim gugur, saat bulan bulat penuh dan bersinar benderang, tampak siluet bayangan Chang Er, yang kemudian dikenal sebagai Dewi Bulan.

Itulah sekelumit kisah si kue bulan, yang merupakan salah satu versi dari sekian banyak versi asal-usul kue manis bundar berukir tulisan China itu.

Mooncake lazim dibuat untuk memeriahkan pesta atau sekadar berkumpul bersama keluarga sambil meneguk teh China yang pahit. Mooncake juga kerap dihadirkan dalam perayaan rutin tahunan sebagai penanda akhir musim panen.

Fillings

Secara tradisional mooncake isinya bisa dibagi menjadi 4, yaitu:

• Lotus seed paste (lian rong): yang dianggap paling mewah, paling berharga dan paling lezat. Di beberapa tempat, karena tingginya harga lotus seed paste yang jarang terdapat, maka kadang juga digunakan white kidney bean sebagai bahan tambahan pengisi.
• Sweet bean paste (dou sha, sering dilafalkan tau sa di Indonesia), paling banyak terbuat dari azuki beans, sehingga dikenal dengan nama red bean paste. Tapi di beberapa tempat lain terbuat dari Mung bean atau black bean. Ini juga banyak terdapat di Indonesia, yang dibilang isi “tau sa” biasanya berwarna hitam.
• Jujube paste: berbentuk pasta yang manis, terbuat dari buah yang masak dari tumbuhan jujube. Warna dari pasta ini biasanya merah gelap, sedikit asam, ada aksen rasa seperti diasap. Kadang bisa dibingungkan antara jujube paste dan red bean paste. Isi jujube paste ini hampir-hampir tidak pernah dijumpai di Indonesia, karena tidak populer sama sekali.
• Five kernel: isinya 5 macam kacang-kacangan dan biji-bijian yang dicincang kasar, dan direkatkan satu sama lain dalam mooncake dengan maltose syrup.

Jenis-jenis Kulit Mooncake

• Chewy: inilah yang sekarang paling populer di mana-mana dan banyak dijumpai di seluruh dunia. Seperti nampak dalam foto-foto di atas, seperti inilah kulit mooncake yang disebut dengan chewy ini, yang paling banyak disukai dan sudah menembus lintas batas benua. Terbuat dari bahan-bahan sirup gula kental, lye water, tepung dan minyak.
• Flaky: jenis yang ini lebih dikenal dengan nama Suzhou-style mooncake. Adonan kulitnya dibuat dengan menggulung adonan yang terdiri dari minyak dan tepung. Rasa dan tekstur hampir sama dengan model pastry barat atau puff pastry.
• Tender: di beberapa provinsi di China dan beberapa tempat di Taiwan, jenis ini banyak juga.

Mooncake Styles

o    Cantonese-style mooncake: ini yang paling mendunia, berasal dari provinsi Guangdong, dan di tempat asalnya terdapat lebih dari 200 variasi.

o    Suzhou-style mooncake: bermula dari ribuan tahun lalu, campuran yang royal dari lemak binatang dan gula serta tepung. Model yang ini banyak juga terdapat di Indonesia.

o    Beijing-sytle mooncake: ada 2 variasi, yang satu disebut dengan di qiang, yang lebih mirip dengan Suzhou style. Dan satu lagi disebut dengan fan mao, di mana rasanya cenderung lebih flaky.

o    Chaoshan (Tiociu)-style mooncake: ini juga flaky tapi lebih memiliki diameter yang lebih besar daripada Cantonese-style, tapi lebih tipis. Aroma lemak yang digunakan akan lebih kuat untuk style ini.

o    Ningbo-style mooncake: lebih khusus di provinsi Zhejiang, rasa lebih cenderung ke asin dan spicy.

o    Yunnan-style mooncake: cenderung lebih manis.

Mooncake modern sekarang lebih banyak lagi variasinya, ada yang dari agar-agar, ada yang dari ketan/glutinous rice, ada yang isinya keju, chicken floss (abon ayam), tiramisu, bahkan ice cream, coffee, dsb, dsb.

Resep Mooncakes

Classic Moon Cake

Bahan Kulit:
250 gr terigu
130 ml sirup
60 ml minyak kacang
1 sdt air abu

Bahan Sirup :
1 kg gula pasir
750 ml air
1 buah jeruk lemon, ambil airnya
Bahan Isi :
500 gr biji teratai, rebus dengan air secukupnya kemudian blender
sampai halus
1 sdm air abu
350 gr gula pasir
2 sdm sirup
400 ml minyak kacang
50 gr kenari
12 kuning telur asin

Cara membuat :

1. Sirup: Campur semua bahan, masak sampai kental, dinginkan.
2. Kulit: Campur terigu dengan sirup, minyak, air abu, uleni sampai tidak lengket ditangan. Tutup dengan serbet basah. Istirahatkan 3 jam.
3. Isi: Panaskan minyak kacang dengan sedikit gula pasir, masak jadi karamel, masukkan pasta biji teratai, air abu, sisa gula pasir, sirup, aduk rata. Tuang minyak kacang sedikit-sedikit hingga tercampur rata dan bisa dibentuk, angkat dan dinginkan.
4. Masukkan kenari, aduk, bulatkan adonan isi, beri bagian tengah dengan kuning telur asin dan bulatkan kembali, ambil adonan kulit, pipihkan, beri isi, bulatkan masukkan kedalam cetakan yang ditaburi terigu, keluarkan.
5. Panggang kurleb 15menit.

Bahan olesan:

2 telur campur dengan 1sdm air, kocok.

Berbagai Macam Mooncakes dengan Variasi Isi:

Adonan Dasar Kulit Moon Cake /Kue Bulan
Sumber: Sedap Sekejap

BAHAN A:
100 gram gula palem
50 ml air
50 gram madu

BAHAN B:
100 gram tepung terigu
85 gram minyak kacang tanah

BAHAN C:
175 gram tepung terigu diayak bersama 1 sdt baking powder

CARA MEMBUAT :
1. Rebus gula palem, air, dan madu sampai mendidih.
2. anas-panas masukkan tepung terigu. Uleni sampai tercampur lalu diamkan 30 menit.
3. Tambahkan tepung terigu yang terdapat dalam bahan C. Uleni sampai lemas. Tuangkan minyak tanah kacang tanah lalu uleni sampai rata. Adonan siap dibentuk dan diisi.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure that this isn’t a dream – that this is actually my life. This week alone my disbelief has resulted in three dead arms and a dead leg, most of which were Gary’s. Here are some snapshots from the last few days – me dancing on a bar in jeans and runners with my new best friends; Gary having to get off his bike and stare, open-mouthed at the sight of an old woman hunched over at work, dwarfed by a never-ending patchwork of rice paddies; the two of us devouring delicious Tibetan yak and goat’s cheese goulash; dozens of kids in canary yellow caps screaming “Hello! I love you!” at us and then running away giggling uncontrollably. I repeat, this is my life. Mine. Not Bruce Parry’s or David Attenborough’s (although I’m not convinced that the local Chinese boys would be as impressed by his ass waggling on a bar), just mine and Gary’s lives for the next 11 months.

More to the point, this is Dali – miraculous, sunny, westernised Dali. According to my guidebook Dali is “China-lite” – still China but in theme-park mode, with everything the average starry-eyed backpacker or bohemian expat needs to survive. From what I can see this means more western toilets, more souvenier stands, more english menus, more neon lights, more burger bars, more English pubs, more cobbled streets and far more pale skin. Put simply, Dali has everything that most travellers will spend every day trying to avoid but will begin to crave once night falls on another food-poisoned, isolated day and with the risk of incurring the scorn of seasoned travellers and Lonely Planet devotees worldwide, we love it. After feeling like fish out of water thus far in China, the familiarity of the city and its residents emboldened us to try more new food and befriend a lot more locals than we did anywhere else. Hell, we even attempted a three day, 150km cycle without a map. China-lite or no China-lite, Dali is China with training wheels – perfect for backpackers still a little wet behind the ears.

It has to be said that a lot of our Dali experience centred around the city’s focal point, or as Daniel so eloquently put it “the point around which the world turns” – Bad Monkey bar on Remin Lu. Owned by two english expats, Bad Monkey is a bit of a hippy haunt with great live music (ranging from Chinese numbers to Johnny Cash when JP and the lovely Nicole are knocking about town with their guitars) and epic burgers. I’m not sure whether it was our excitement at meeting so many like-minded Aussies, Brits, Kiwis, Canadians and Americans or the fact that it was such a great atmosphere in which to chat to locals or debate the price of cooking oil, but what started out as one drink and an early night on our first day in Dali quickly became a nightly event and then an all-day affair. There’s just something about walking down the street and seeing a big group of dread-lock headed people sitting in a beer garden playing the guitar that is incredibly attractive on a sunny day. It always makes you think “oh wow, I wish I was one of them!” and for a few brilliant, painfully relaxed days, we were.

I had expected this to happen in Vietnam, Thailand or Brazil. In my wildest dreams I even imagined finding a special corner of the world in Cambodia but in none of my musings did I ever see us finding home in China – awkward, dirty, smelly China. But we did and it changed everything. One minute we couldn’t wait to get to Hong Kong and the next we were talking about cancelling our reservation for a five-star room in favour of Christmas in Bad Monkey. It’s not just Dali though, I think Yunnan is different from the rest of China – friendlier, more accepting and more colourful. Where you saw a hawker in Beijing there is a Bai woman in traditional dress selling fruit and whispering a conspiratorial “You smoka the ganga?” as you wander past.

Of course there is always a catch and in Dali it is that the beautiful winding alleys, traditional architecture, grand stone walls and imposing gates are not, as you would like to believe, hundreds of years old. The town is a concoction by the tourism board much like Lijiang and Shangri-la, built recently with western tourists and their deep pockets in mind. This might taint it for a lot of people but Dali certainly shouldn’t be ruled out for this reason alone as it’s not all make believe – parts of the town are as old as the hills and it’s perfect location nestled among the mountains next to the scenic Er Hai lake is very real. The town also offers some great opportunities for day trips like our attempted journey around the lake (post on the wonderful and agonising results to follow).

Anyway, who says that travelling always has to be about the most authentic experiences, the most out-of-the-way towns and the hardest-earned meals? Dali is beautiful and laid back and in my opinion, just as valid a destination as that rural town in remote Sichuan that took you three days to reach by donkey and cattle truck. If it makes you smile, it makes you smile and I dare you not to smile as Carl lords over his bar roaring in his thick London accent “Cooking oil! That’s where the money is. We’ll close Bad Mokey and go into the cooking oil business. This country f***ing runs on cooking oil! They paint the walls with it, they paint the f***ing chef’s hair with it! How many litres of cooking oil do you think we could fit in here? We could get at least eight barrels under that pool table!” I’d bet that pretty soon your planned one-day stopover will start looking more like a week-long stay too.

More pictures from Dali are available in the gallery

In my article “The Nine Nations of China” in The Atlantic, I briefly mentioned coffee among the untapped resources of the region I call “Shangri-La,” in the rugged hills and valleys of southwest China.  Up till now, China has not had any coffee-growing industry to speak of.  But a report today on Chinese web portal Sohu.com suggests that top players in the global coffee business are eyeing major investments in the region, to realize that potential:

Wang Jinlong, president of Starbucks Greater China, who has recently conducted a study tour on the coffee industry in Yunnan, says Starbucks will partner with Yunnan to build a world-class coffee bean growing and research base. He says the company hopes to cooperate with Yunnan to put coffee from China on the shelves of Starbucks chain stores in 49 countries around the world. In recent years, the exchange between Starbucks and the Yunnan government has been frequent. In Oct. 2008, Wang Jinlong said during his meeting with Yunnan Deputy Governor Kong Chuizhu that he hoped to establish a strategic partnership with Yunnan. At the end of Oct. 2009, in Kunming, Wang Jinlong and relevant government officials confirmed the desire to grow coffee beans in Yunnan. Recently, Starbucks Vice Presidents of Coffee Acquisition, Dub Hay and Wang Jinlong, came to Baoshan, Yunnan again on a study tour. They said many times that they would like to make Baoshan the company’s first coffee bean growing base in China and the company would like to build a world-class coffee research base in Baoshan. In addition to Starbucks, Nestle and Maxwell also favor coffee beans from Yunnan and will also establish raw material bases in Yunnan.

Baoshan is located in the farthest western part of “Shangri-La,” in a valley connecting the narrow gorges of the upper Salween and Mekong Rivers, near China’s border with Myanmar (Burma).  This is the part of the world where the tea plant most likely originated, and still grows wild in some places.

Plans to introduce coffee-growing on a large scale bear watching closely.  Shangri-La borders on Vietnam, which in recent years emerged from almost nowhere to become a giant force in the global coffee trade.  Although the French introduced the crop to the country’s fertile highlands as early as the 1850s, Vietnam produced only small amounts until the mid-1990s.  When the U.S. lifted trade sanctions on Vietnam in 1995, however, production boomed, especially in the lower-end robusta variety that forms the foundation for many blends.  Vietnam’s impact on global supply sent the price of rubusta plummeting, from $0.54/lb. in 2000 to $0.31/lb. in May 2001.  In 2007, Vietnam ranked second only to Brazil in coffee production, bagging 961,200 tons (compared to #3 Columbia at 697,377 tons and #4 Indonesia at 676,475 tons).

One can easily see how a similar development just across the border in southwest China — even one limited to the lower end of the market – could have a dramatic effect on world coffee prices and the complexion of the entire industry.  For all its market heft, Vietnam may not be a household name associated with coffee, but as far as branding goes, I could easily see beans from “Shangri-La” giving Java a run for its money.

The challenge facing Shangri-La, as always, is transportation.  At present, there is no railway line that reaches Baoshan, and production on any sizeable scale would require a rail connection to bring the crop to the coast for export.  The highway here — the famous “Burma Road” that served as China’s tenuous supply line during World War II — is slow, dangerous, and often blocked completely by rockslides.  Myanmar recently announced plans to construct a cross-border railroad, which presumably could set the stage for China to build a connecting line that would pass through Baoshan on its way from the nearest Chinese railhead, 196 km away at Dali.  But actually completing these rail lines, across some of the toughest mountain terrain in the world, could take many years.

When I got to work this morning (if you call going to Selby Gardens, sipping, talking tea all day work!) I decided to crack open our Young Pu-erh. Pronounced Poo-Air, a special broad leaf tea that takes its name from the Pu’er county in the Province of Yunnan of China.

This is not a tea I reach for often. Maybe I should not call myself a dedicated tea drinker because of this, but I was given a newspaper article about an area called Menghai in China. NYTimes Jan 2009

Farmers and citizens got rich investing and selling the bricks of Pu-er tea produced in Menghai. Some buyers promoted it as liquid gold and when the value hit record levels they dumped their stock and disappeared. Now it is less than a 10th of the peak price and the tea traders are no longer buying, leaving the farmers and citizens broke.

Let’s talk about this tea that people are willing to pay huge amounts of money for. Pu Erh goes through an additional oxidation process much like composting where bacterial and fungal fermentation takes place. The tea can then be aged for many years. Pu Erh leaves are often compressed into cakes or bricks and then wrapped in tissue paper to absorb moisture. The bricks are then left to mature in dark, dry places enhancing the already earthy flavor.

Pu Erh is said to lower cholesterol, cure hangovers, help with digestive problems, aid metabolism and tends to be low in tannins. Our Young Pu Erh at Local Coffee + Tea is loose rather than compressed. The flavor is very pungent and earthy, smells like a compost heap and looks like tar so I know it’s going to be good for me!

I finish the first steep and continue with four more steeps. I like the later steeps better than the initial steep and find a lovely sweet beet tasting dark golden liquor with the fourth and fifth steep.

By this time, late in the afternoon I am thinking Pu Erh should be brewed more often by me and shared with visitors to Selby Garden as well as the Sarasota Farmer’s Market. I’m not sure I would invest pots of money in Pu-erh but it is definitely worth experiencing. What a fascinating thing this drink called Tea!

Cheers,
the Tea Lady

many worry with what they do, what they are, and what makes this happen. also, the factors of life that also affect this and become affected as well, like responsibility. many others arbitrate such thoughts, with an ideal happiness. “it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you’re happy”, but only one can decide what makes them happy according to their respective standards. for the few seconds that i saw this garbage disposal man in lijiang, i couldn’t help but notice in his smile that he doesn’t fight mondays.

watercolor on paper

The spring water from the Black Dragon Lake runs south. At the north end of the old town of Lijiang, it splits into three, nine, eighteen, and then innumerable brooks. The old town was built along the waterways and has a history of at least eight hundred years. There is a brook running past the home of each Naxi family. The Naxi are one of the fifty-five ethnic groups in China, and Lijiang has been the home of the Naxi people.

I first visited Lijiang at the end of 2005. Taking a bus from the airport to the town, it was clear that the old town was already surrounded by new urban development. In 1997, the old town of Lijiang in China’s southwest province of Yunnan, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. Entering it was like stepping into a different world. The roads are paved with cobblestones, and the buildings, mostly erected during the Ming and Qing dynasties from the fourteenth to the early twentieth centuries, are tiled wooden structures constructed closely together. The houses are square, with two levels and a big courtyard. The wooden beams and windows are beautifully carved, and the courtyards are paved with colorful stones arranged in various patterns. Walking along the gurgling canals, I saw goldfish swimming against the stream. In the distance I could see the snow-capped Jade Mountain against the deep blue sky. The sound of Naxi music, played on an instrument made from a bottle gourd, issued from somewhere close by, yet sounded as if it were coming from afar. It had a power that was both soothing and relaxing. It isn’t my hometown but I had a homecoming feeling.

Along with the well-preserved buildings, there were also clear signs of tourist development. There were rows and rows of shops selling Naxi arts and artifacts: ethnic food, ethic clothing, handmade silverware and copperware, wood carvings, Naxi paper, and paintings with sacred writings. There were also many bars and cafes catering to international guests, offering local liquor, music, imported coffee, and internet access. I was happily surprised that such beautiful place still existed; but I was also concerned about how long it could last.

The next time I visited the old town was in the summer of 2007, two and a half years after my first visit. The water was no longer clear. The Black Dragon Lake had dried up, as the water was being diverted from Lashihai, ten kilometers west of the old town. At the Naxi Cultural Institute located inside the Black Dragon Lake, I met a local Naxi scholar, and he told me,

“Han people are better at doing business than Naxi people. They can pay more than what a Naxi family is able to make after a year of hard work. So, you see, most of Naxi houses are now run by Han people.” Han people, of which I am one, are by far the dominant ethnic group in China.

“I’ve noticed. And the place I stayed in last time changed owners and the house has since been renovated.”

“Yes, Han people have more money and they can afford to renovate and rent for a better price. Naxi people are straight and frank; they don’t have the commercial sense to please customers yet. That’s another problem.”

He was right. In this second visit, upon arrival I went directly to the Naxi house that I had stayed in previously. The new owner was a man in his fifties, who had come with his wife from Hubei province in central China. He showed me a few rooms, which were newly renovated. New furniture had replaced the old ones. Although they mimicked the old ethnic style, they merely looked generic to me. Behind this man’s house and separated by a stream was another Naxi house run by a Naxi couple, also in their fifties. I checked into one of their rooms that offered a view of the snow-capped Jade Mountain on one side, and the Lion Mountain and the layered rooftops of the town on the other. I was happy, but also very worried about the visible tilt to the room. The proprietor’s wife assured me that the building was structurally sound. At night, lying in bed, I became worried again. I got up and went to look for her, but was unable to find her. I expressed my concern to her son, who was in his late twenties. In a while, I heard her talking loudly downstairs,

“Don’t talk about such a curse; our house is not going to collapse.”

She came upstairs, and told me to my face again, “Our house is not collapsing. If you are so worried, you should find another place. But I tell you, it won’t collapse because our family is living downstairs under your room. If it collapses, we will be all dead.”

Afterwards, I told her son that his mother should not speak to a customer in such a way, and he apologized. The protest to her son was a gesture on my part. In fact, what she said and how she had said it reassured me – they did live under me.

The same Naxi scholar also told me, “Because for Han people this place is not home, they come for a few years to make money and then they leave, so they don’t care about preserving the place.”

“The water was very clear the last time I was here. What has happened since?”

“Well, you know many of the Naxi houses are old and do not have sewage. The owners are supposed to collect sewage in a large container and dump it at a specific site. But many people are lazy and just dump it in the stream at night.”

“But why doesn’t the local government prevent this?”

“If they are caught, they will have to pay fines. But they try not to get caught.”

The next day, while sitting beside the stream painting a watercolor, I saw the man from Hubei dump a basin of dirty water into the stream. A short while later, he came out and brushed his teeth, then rinsed his mouth and spat the water into the stream. Moments later, he came out again with another basin of dirty water. This time, I couldn’t help but say to him, “You know, if everyone takes care of this place, you will be able to make money here for a longer time.” He looked at me and said nothing, then dumped the water and left.  Half an hour later, he walked by me and loudly and exaggeratedly spat into the stream.

Saturday, October 18, 2009

Didn’t have time to write about last night last night, so I’ll write about last night this morning before breakfast, which is in twenty minutes.

We arrived safely at Lijiang airport around sunset, and were picked up by a woman a little older than me named Hope.  Hope works as an English teacher in Lijiang and her English is fantastic.  She and the driver guided us through a dreamy 30-minute ride into town, as we peered out the windows, watching mountains change from glistening, lush green to red and blue and black as the sun set behind them.  The harvested rice paddies would have been brown in the noon sun, but as the sun took shelter behind the mountains, the residual water caught up the last few rays and was turned the color of the dimming sky.

We went straight from the airport to dinner, which took us through both the old and new parts of Lijiang, the tree-lined streets crossing over canals backed up to intricately carved wooden buildings built in the old style.  The new town was much like any other city, but immaculate and tastefully done.

We ate at a fantastic courtyard restaurant – our dining room even had couches and a coffee table in it, presumably for an after-dinner cigar and scotch.

Our dinner table for our first night in Lijiang.

We had tons of wonderfully spicy traditional Yunnan dishes, my favorite being the Yak beef, which was crunchy and spicy like a delicate beef jerky.  There were also delicious sweet potato pastries, which were soft and flaky with a creamy sweet filling.  It was so nice to have a change from greasy soups, noodles and dumplings – as great as they are.

The courtyard of the restaurant.

Stuffed, we climbed back into the van to turn in early at the hotel, which turned out to not be a hotel at all, but a cozy little villa, which was to be paid for by the Lijiang government, would be hosting us throughout our visit – all expenses paid.  I cheerily found my room and headed off to bed.

My room in our "villa" for our nights in Lijiang. Mom and Grandpa missed their roommates, but Joe and I were glad to have our own space back!

Evening:

Lijiang is absolutely gorgeous.  Being in this green and colorful city has lifted my spirits and my feelings about China.  I feel a little guilty about being sucked into the touristy glitz of it all, but I can’t help but enjoy the cobbled streets and cute wooden shop stalls snuggled along the watery canals.

A canal in the middle of "old town" Lijiang. Mom commented on the resemblance to Swiss villages, with the cascading flowers and chilly mountain stream canals. Indeed, Lijiang is a very cosmopolitan city and has a huge ex-pat population.

We awoke to an awesome sunrise.  I woke up early and saw the sun creeping up behind the purple mountains.

The view outside my bedroom window at about 5 in the morning.

There was an especially impressive view of Snow Mountain from outside our front door.

The majestic Snow Mountain - home to a glacier and many folk tales.

Mom and the guys took an early morning walk while I showered to explore the grounds to make sure we could find our little villa if we happened to venture out on our own.  The number eight is lucky to the Chinese, and all the residences had as many eights in them as possible, making our address a bit hard to memorize, especially when all the cul-de-sacs looked the same.

Mom walks back to the villa after a morning walk. We were driven the three short blocks to breakfast at the main lobby.

As we were all up around sunrise, watching the colors change, we had a couple hours before breakfast to do some laundry and enjoy our new digs.

Mom was blessed with the nicest room, complete with balcony and wicker swing. She used the fresh air to hang out some laundry before breakfast.

After a huge buffet-style breakfast, we drove out to the old airport home to the Flying Tigers.  We walked around taking in the view, picking wild flowers and watching small one-man planes fly around.

Uncle Joe and Grandpa walk along the runway where the Flying Tigers took off during WW2. Joe surmises that the long runway means they were planning to send off bigger bombers, should the need have arisen.

The group gathers around the van after arriving at the Flying Tigers airstrip.

After the airport, we drove to a small village outside Lijiang called Baisha – home to the indigenous Naxi people.  The Naxi are a matriarchal society, where the women farm and make decisions, while the men take care of the children and help out where they can – playing music and mah-jong.  Our tour guide, Hope, informed us that although the Naxi stick to traditional values and dress, they have prospered throughout the years because they adapt to new things and have always been environmentally conscientious and careful with their surroundings.  Part of their prosperity is due to their acceptance of tourists, and they have built up their villages to attract these tourists – selling trinkets on tables and charging admission to the village itself.

We started our tour of the village with a walk around a fresco museum and admired the intricate woodwork seen in the folding doors that make up the front of all their buildings.  As the weather is so pleasant in Lijiang, the rooms are very open, with just the carved wooden doors that fold back like fans to serve as a barrier.

Mom and I stand in front of one of the exhibition rooms at the Baisha Fresco Museum.

I enjoyed just walking around the courtyards and marveling at the flowers the grew freely in the warm climate.

The orchids around the courtyard were bright and prolific.

The plant-life that surrounded the buildings in Yunnan amazed us, after the grey smog and struggling trees we were already identifying with China.

We walked out the back of the museum into the village itself and did some shopping.  Behind one stall was an sign inviting tourists to come in and see a traditional Naxi house.  A woman showed us the traditional cape worn by the Naxi woman and explained its symbolism.

The dark and light portions of the cape (which is worn tied around a woman's neck) represent the hard work of the Naxi women who work from sun-up to sun-down. The shape itself is supposed to look like a frog, which the Naxi associate with fertility. The seven circles also somehow represent hard work.

Children played by themselves in the rooms behind the tables where their mothers and grandmothers were selling trinkets and “antique” boxes and combs made out of Yak bone.

A girl helps her little sister put on her shoes while her family members try to sell the paintings hanging in the background.

A little boy walks along the street in the ever-popular Mao hat.

A little boy chastises me for something. Possibly for not putting money in the bowl set out in front of the men playing music next to us.

While the women run the knick-knack stalls, the men play music on traditional instruments.

Everyone not involved with making or selling trinkets was playing mah-jong or occupied in some other leisure activity.

We picked up some souvenirs and walked to the edge of town to meet the van, which took us back to Lijiang through some nice fields and construction.

A woman guides her cow around her plot of land as her husband sits on the plow to weight it down.

New buildings are being thrown up everywhere from the Naxi prosperity, but they are done in a thoughtful and careful way.

New construction near Baisha emulates the old stlye with intricate wood carvings and careful attention to detail in the roof and walls.

An example of the carvings on windows and doors in the Lijiang area.

The Naxi people are still very connected to the land and their lifestyles will most likely never change from the slow-paced farming life, despite a success in the tourist industry.

A girl walks across the road as her family guides their herd of goats past our van. We had to stop in the road to let them pass, but we were glad to get out and see the procession!

We stopped for some more walking and shopping in a more built-up area and enjoyed the smells of food and sound of trickling water everywhere.

A woman sells fresh fried potato snacks with slices of bean curd.

Me in front of some of the shops that line the canals.

The area was overrun with fashion shoots and cameras of all kinds.  It was hard to tell the commercial from the personal, but we were able to see a bride in her red dress, a more traditional color than the previous ones we saw in white.  White is the traditional color to wear to funerals in China, so there has been much hesitation in moving to the western style.

We weren't sure if this was a real bride and groom having their wedding portraits done or an fashion shoot for commercial purposes.

A woman washes her clothes in a three-level pool of spring-fed water. The first and freshest pool is for drinking, the second pool fed by the first one is used for washing vegetables, and the third is for washing clothes.

We had lunch at a restaurant in downtown Lijiang and then wandered around the “old town” and did more shopping/browsing.  In the center of the old town is a double water wheel which is fed by the merging streams.  The trick to staying on track in the windy alleys of the crowded downtown is to follow to streams, as they all flow back to the center of town.

The water wheel at the edge of old town Lijiang

Peace signs abound in Lijiang.

A woman raises a young child up to ring the bells attached to wooden paddles under a trellis in downtown Lijiang. The paddles are inscribed with people's wishes, which are supposed to come true when rung.

We also toured the palace grounds of old royalty who ran the show when Lijiang was not a part of China.

A view out to the gardens from the library on the old palace grounds.

From the grounds, we hiked up a covered walkway to a pagoda to get a view of the city.  In true Chinese style, we had to pay to hike to the pagoda, on top of our fee to get into the palace.

A great view of the roofs of Lijiang.

We climbed down the hill by a back route and found a cozy teahouse, where we had a pleasant tea service with complete explanation from a very graceful Chinese girl.

The tea set used by our host to demonstrate the varying flavors and benefits of Chinese tea. The brown mass at the edge of the pouring area is a toad, which receives a cup of tea from every pot. The Chinese believe you have to keep the toad happy with drinks in order to encourage good luck, so they pour some tea over him while serving others.

We drank many cups of tea at varying strengths, and learned to discern the bad leaves, which were forced to grow through chemical fertilizers and growth hormones and savor the delicate taste of the old plants' natural leaves.

The view from the teahouse.

We finished our tour of the old town after purchasing some tea and ate dinner at a western restaurant, picked out by our driver after our search for a goat cheese restaurant failed.  We had some good laughs reading the translations of dishes and re-ordering when order after order of waffles and spaghetti and smoothies turned out to be unavailable.  I ended up having tuna spaghetti and a mint milkshake for dinner – different, but delicious.

We ate our fill and the drove back to our villa to climb into our delightfully comfy beds.

by William I. Lengeman III

Tea has made considerable inroads in North America in the last decade or so, but it’s still safe to say that the beverage of choice here is coffee. As tea has increased in popularity, one could also safely say that many newcomers to tea have been recruited from the ranks of coffee drinkers.

Have you ever wondered why some people drink coffee but others gravitate toward tea? In 2005, researchers in Australia examined the genetics of tea and coffee drinking. Among the discoveries: “tea and coffee drinking were shown to have similar heritabilities (0.46) in males, but tea consumption was influenced by common environmental factors whereas coffee consumption was not.”

The idea that a nation’s peoples might convert in large numbers from coffee to tea has a historical precedent. According to Brian William Cowan’s The Social Life of Coffee, coffee drinking in Britain was approximately ten times that of tea around 1700. Less expensive and more readily available supplies resulted in imports of tea passing coffee in the 1720s.

These days tea is still cheap and available, but it’s likely that people are taking it up due to health benefits and the notion that it’s more relaxing than coffee. In a book that examines life extension strategies and technologies, Ray Kurzweil suggests switching because of tea’s low caffeine content, antioxidants and L-theanine, a compound “which promotes healthful relaxation.”

To ease a transition from coffee to tea, here are some things to keep in mind. For tea that offers a similar boost and robust flavor, consider black teas like Assam, Yunnan, Keemun or Lapsang Souchong. Other varieties worth investigating include black tea-based breakfast blends, puerh or full-flavored oolongs, such as the Wuyi varieties.

While it’s not technically tea, some coffee drinkers find the flavor and boost from yerba mate to be a workable substitute. Rooibos, or redbush, may be a good choice for anyone looking to give up caffeine altogether, but not wanting to give up the pleasures of a full-flavored beverage.

For more thoughts on switching from coffee to tea, check this thread at the Chowhound forum or an article in which a coffee drinker discusses her conversion to tea.

William’s blog, Tea Guy Speaks, is a great place to find more info on tea!

As the New York Times reports, Justin Franchi Solondz has been on the run since trying to burn down some horticulture buildings at Seattle’s University of Washington campus in 2001.  It seems he has been holed up in Dali, Yunnan, impersonating a Canadian and keeping busy by burying 30 pounds of marijuana in his backyard.

He is an alumnus of Evergreen State College, an institution in beautiful Olympia, Washington, just down the road from where I’m presently blogging.  (In fact, I spent a very pleasurable two hours this past Tuesday night screaming my lungs out in opposition to the Evergreen basketball team, who arrived at my university to steal a win on the road.)

Although it’s unlikely that President Obama had any interaction with this matter personally, the timing of his trial is interesting; he was arrested in March 2009 and has been keeping someone very busy in the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu (which has responsibility for Americans in Kunming) as well as the giant new Embassy in Beijing.  The U.S. and China have no extradition treaty, but the Seattle FBI is getting excited about this.  If only moving the Uighurs out of Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay were so simple.

I’ll be keeping my ear to the ground for reaction to this story in Seattle, at Evergreen, and at the University of Washington.  Solondz’s story manages to bind together any number of ambient themes — environmental protection, radicalism, legal systems and cooperation, and illegal commerce — that seem to be moving from the edges to the center of the U.S.-China relationship these days.

Marijuana in Dali, Yunnan -- via Alexandra Moss flickr (click image for link)

ibid

This time it’s out of Africa and into Asia on the around the world tour of public domain photos from the CIA World Factbook.

Note that while my title lists Tibet along with three other nations, it isn’t recognized as such in the Factbook. If you want to download the picture of Namco Lake near Lhasa from the Factbook site, you’ll find it in the collection of photos from China.

Taj Mahal, Agra, India

The Dhamek Stupa, Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India, believed to be where the enlightened Buddha first preached

River Ganges, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

Prayer flags on the Swayambhunath Stupa, Kathmandu, Nepal

Namco Lake, Tibet

Tiger Leaping Gorge, Lijiang, Yunnan, China

Elephant Trunk Hill, Guilin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China

The ancient Tea-Horse Road plays a similar role as the Silk Road, and is a significant part of the international trade in the history. Besides a road of wealth, it was also a road of cultural exchange that created a cultural bond between Tibetans and Chinese in the history, and facilitated the spread of Buddhism in China. Even today, when people are trekking on this ancient route into Tibet, they can still sense the spirit, the courage, and the wisdom devoted to this road, and marvel at this great legacy of our ancient ancestors.

Unknown by the western world until the 20th century, Tibet has always been the synonym of mystery. When you visit Tibet, You will immediately be amazed by its pure heavenly natural beauty, and be overwhelmed by its holiness of religious atmosphere. It is a journey that purifies your soul, and a discovery of outstanding culture and nature. From the impressive Buddhism ceremonies in the monasteries to the breathtaking sacred mountains of the Himalayas, Tibet, the roof of the world, will give every of its visitors a memory never fades away.

The symbol of Tibet is the majestic Potala Palace perched on top of Marpo Ri Hill in the center of the city of Lhasa. It is the must-go of most visitors to Tibet. The Potala Palace is the religious and political center of Tibet and the former residence of the Dalai Lama. It is the most sacred place in Tibetans’ heart. Although place like Lhasa is definitely somewhere that tourists can not miss, this article is going tell you something about Tibet that is absolutely magnificent but out of the spot lights.

Among the snowy mountains and deep gorges between Tibet and Yunnan, there are some mysterious footpaths winding through the mountainsides, some are even carved into cliff face crossing one of the most dangerous terrain and uninhabitable area in the world. These footpaths have been called the ancient Tea-Horse Road. Hardly to be called a road it starts from Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in Southwest China, runs along the eastern foothills and deep canyons of several major rivers, than heads into Tibet spanning the two highest plateaus of China (i.e. the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Yunnan-Guizhou plateau), and finally reaches India, south of the Himalayas. But why have these ancient footpaths been called the Tea-Horse Road, who discovered this ancient route into Tibet, and what is the role it plays in the history?

It can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Tibetan people liked drinking Pu-erh tea (i.e. post-fermented tea compressed in thick rectangular blocks, flat squares, discuses or other shapes) because they ate high calories food such as butter, Tsamba, beef, and lamb but consumed very little vegetables. Pu-erh tea not only helped them to digest the heavy food but also offered their Vitamin need. Tibetans did not drink the Pu-erh directly but mixed the tea with the yak butter creating a salty and rich tea which is still common today. However the environmental situation of Tibet did not allow for the growing of the tea. Luckily, the neighboring Yunnan was an ideal land for growing tea, and they made Pu-erh tea in great quality. Those who could manage to transfer the tea from Yunnan into Tibet were going to make good money. On the other hand, Chinese army needed strong warhorses desperately, comparatively Tibetans had a strong mounted army and they also had access to Middle Asia, where possessed the best military horses in the world. However, it was almost a mission impossible to exchange goods between Tibet and Yunnan, because any possible land connection between the two regions was almost cut off by the harsh terrain. The natural border between Tibetan plateau and Yunnan is formed of endless snowy mountains and deep gorges with steep cliffs which is tough for any land animals to cross the area. Finally the irresistible temptation of making huge profit had given the merchants enough courage to make their way through cleverly however dangerously. If the mountains could not be climbed they went around them on the mountainsides. By following the rivers they could take advantage of the narrow river banks under the cliffs. In continuous and collective efforts in many years, the trading link was established. Through this route, Yunnan merchants traded Pu-erh tea for strong military horses from Tibetan, and resold these horses to the rest of China. On the other hand, Tibetan merchants also made good money by selling the tea to India and middle Asia. This is why this trading route has been called the Tea-Horse Road.

Therefore, the ancient Tea-Horse Road plays a similar role as the Silk Road, and is a significant part of the international trade in the history. Besides a road of wealth, it was also a road of cultural exchange that created a cultural bond between Tibetans and Chinese in the history, and facilitated the spread of Buddhism in China. Even today, when people are trekking on this ancient route into Tibet, they can still sense the spirit, the courage, and the wisdom devoted to this road, and marvel at this great legacy of our ancient ancestors.

Paradis pour la faune et la flore, lieu de diversité culturelle et ethnique, la province du Yunnan est l’un des plus grands attraits touristiques de la Chine. A tel point quelle est classée au patrimoine mondiale de l’humanité par l’Unesco.

La province du Yunnan accueille vingt-quatre ethnies différentes sur un territoire escarpé et montagneux. De nombreuses avancées ont été faites dans la région mais le paysage et la culture sont les raisons de l’explosion touristique.

• Yunnan, 云南, Yúnnán (Abréviation : yún, 云 ou diān, 滇)
• Chef-lieu: Kunming
• Superficie totale: 394 000 km2
• Population : 41,44 millions d’habitants

Le saviez vous ?

• On dit du Yunnan qu’elle est “au sud des nuages” et on la connaît sous les noms de “Royaume de la botanique”, de “Royaume des animaux”, de “Royaume des métaux non-ferreux” et de “Pays natal des plantes médicinales”.
• C’est la région la plus prisée des touristes étrangers et chinois.
• Kunming est appelée la “ville au printemps éternel” (春城), tandis que Lijiang est considérée comme la “petite Venise chinoise”.
• On dénombre 48 prisons dans la province.
• Point noir pour la province : elle est encore aujourd’hui un lieu central dans le trafic de drogues

Présentation

Province du Sud-ouest de la Chine, elle est située aux frontières du Vietnam, de la Birmanie (Myanmar) et du Laos mais également aux portes du Tibet. Les principales villes de la province sont : Kunming (昆 明), le chef lieu, Kaiyuan (开远), Qujing (曲靖), Jinma, Majie, Dali, également appelé Xiaguan (大理), Gejiu (个旧), Haikou, Heilin, Zhaotong 昭通), Anning où Lianran (安宁), Yuxi ou Zhoucheng (玉溪), Xuanwei (宣威).

Le Yunnan est la représentation d’une Chine traditionnelle et bouddhique : il est possible d’aller voir le Bouddha couché à Baoshan ; et d’aller dans des pagodes vielles de centaines d’années. Au niveau du climat, on peut découvrir des plateaux arides à proximité du Tibet voisin, ou des fôrets tropicales au Xishuangbanna, à l’extrême sud.

Une architecture traditionnelle

La région a su garder son architecture traditionnelle avec ses pagodes, temples et villages typiques mais a également su s’adapter à l’évolution économique du pays et jouit aujourd’hui de villes modernes et pleines de vies.

Kunming qui est devenue en quelque années une ville dynamique avec ses marchés, magasins, cinémas et bars à karaoké représente parfaitement cette idée. La ville au printemps éternel, appelée ainsi en raison de son climat tempéré, ne s’est cependant pas développée aussi vite que d’autres en Chine. La raison : elle est isolée au sud-ouest, et sa position géographique ne lui permet pas d’être aussi compétitive que Hong Kong ou Shanghai.

A l’opposé des turbulences des grandes métropoles, on peut se détendre dans la ville de Lijiang où l’on retrouve des rues pavées et des marchés grouillants de monde. Un paysage pittoresque et antique s’offre à l’œil. Le Bassin du Dragon Noir donne l’impression de vivre dans la légende avec son pont de marbre à cinq arches au dessus d’un lac, et bordé par une montagne enneigée.

Une flore et une faune riches

Le décor est planté mais les rêves ne sont pas terminés. La faune et la flore réservent de magnifiques printemps fleuris et de vrais automnes. C’est la végétation la plus dense du pays grâce aux fleuves qui traversent la province : le Mékong (澜沧江, lán cāng jiāng), le Fleuve Rouge (红河, hong he) et la Salouen (怒江 ; nù jiāng).

C’est celle qui compte le plus d’espèces d’origine tropicale, sub-tropicale, tempérée ou froide. On y trouve à la fois des espèces autochtones et d’autres introduites via d’autres régions du monde.

Au sud domine une végétation plus tropicale, cependant les pieds de bambous, palmiers et plantains ne cessent de gagner du terrain, particulièrement dans les forêts tropicales du Xishuangbanna rivalisant avec les pins et les peupliers. Plus de la moitié des espèces de plantes supérieures de la Chine sont présentes dans la province.

Il est possible de se ressourcer spirituellement. La ville de Baoshan à la frontière Birmane, permet aux adeptes du Bouddhisme d’admirer Bouddha dans la position couchée ou le monastère de Songzanlin, où des moines prient et vivent au jour le jour. Merveille touristique, la province est aujourd’hui classée sur la liste du Patrimoine mondial de l’humanité par l’Unesco.

Une économie rurale

Malgré l’explosion du tourisme, le Yunnan n’est pas aussi développée économiquement que les régions du nord-est de la Chine. La province a su développer ses activités agricoles à l’aide d’une terre très fertile appelée la « terre rouge » du Yunnan.

La province compte également sur sa culture maraîchère et sa culture de transformation du tabac. Cette dernière activité permet à la province de vendre ces fameux « Hongmei », cigarettes vendues dans toute la Chine. Le Yunnan exporte une très grande variété de fruits et légumes. La province vit également de l’élevage, de la production laitière et de l’horticulture dont l’exposition horticole universelle s’était tenue à Kunming en 1999.

Les principaux produits dans la région et qui s’exportent dans tout l’empire sont le thé Pu’er cha, la spiruline et la truffe. Le thé Pu’er cha appartenait aux empereurs de la dynastie Ming, c’est un thé noir qui possède différentes formes, des feuilles ou un aspect plus compressé, tels que la brique, la galette ou le nid (tuocha).

Le plus demandé est le Qi Zi Bing Cha, la galette en paque de sept. La spiruline est le plus ancien aliment du monde, c’est une algue bleue qui est conditionnée en cachet d’une couleur verte. La truffe du Yunnanest quant à elle de trois variétés différentes : la Tuber sinensis, elle est blanche et se cultive l’été, la Tuber Himalayensis produite dans la région de Zhongdian, elle ressemble à la truffe noire du Périgord.

Une pluralité linguistique et culturelle

L’histoire de Yunnan explique la mixité culturelle de la province. Dominée par les Han (206 av. J.C-220 ap. J.C.), le Yunnan devient le centre du royaume de Nanzhao au VIIIème siècle puis est rattachée à la Chine par les Mongols au XIIIème siècle. Malgré ces dominations, ce sont les officiels locaux et seigneurs de guerre qui administrent la province. Toutes ces dominations ont amenés des ethnies et cultures différentes.

Le Yunnan est donc une province multi linguistique et multi culturelle. Le mandarin y est bien sûr la langue officielle, mais d’autres langues sont parlées, issues de plusieurs dialectes : il y a les langues austro-asiatiques comme le blang, le u, le wa ; les langues hmong-mien avec le iu mien ; les langues tai-kadai, le lü et les langues tibéto-birmanes telles que le bai, le bisu, le biyo, le choni, le drung (ou trong), le honi, le jinghpo, le naxi, le pumi et le tibétain.

Ces langues viennent des 24 ethnies minoritaires de la province : les Yi, les Bai, les Hani, les Zhuang, les Dai, les Miao, les Lisu, les Hui, les Lahu, les Va, les Naxi, les Yao, les Tibétains, les Jingpo, les Bulang, les Pumi, les Nu, les Achang, les Jino, les Mongols, les Derung, les Mandchous, les Sui et les Buyei et une majoritaire, l’ethnie Han.

Chaque ethnie vit aux rythmes de ces coutumes et traditions. Certaines ont des privilèges, notamment à Lijiang, où l’Unseco a ordonné la conservation des maisons en tuiles et les rues pavées mais également l’emploi de Naxi pour leurs costumes traditionnels. L’explosion du tourisme au Yunnan a permis à la province de sortir de la misère mais maintenant, tous espèrent ne pas perdre leur identité historique au profit de l’économie.

Article revu et corrigé par Nicolas Jucha, paru sur IcilaChine