Every afternoon at precisely 2:25 pm, the elementary school across the street turns on its loudspeaker system. Now this system has got to be the most powerful in all of southwest China, because I’m sure all of Yunnan not only hears their broadcast, which lasts only about 15 minutes, but feels slight tremors throughout the province. What is it they play for our listening pleasure you might ask? It’s Gangnam Style – yup, every afternoon, and from my 5th floor vantage point, I can look into the walled schoolyard and see the kiddies do their “Gangnam Style” dancing. The pervasive sound seeps through the closed windows and penetrates the thick cement walls. Even the  Bruckner 7th Symphony cranked up can’t keep it out.  On the positive side, the children are getting some much needed exercise, and it  lasts only for a short time!

But it is summertime here! I’m sure I’ve already told you about the fabulous weather we’ve had ever since we arrived. Brilliant sunshine every day, highs of 25 – 28, lows of 12 – 16, and no humidity! But it is dry, and Yunnan has been suffering drought conditions now for several years. But everything in Kunming is green. There are large watering trucks that drive around and sate the thirsty boulevards on a regular basis. Last year we had some water rationing, but none so far this year. The rainy season here is generally in June and July  by which time we’ll be back in Canada!

So when Howard is not busy rehearsing, which this week happens to be a lot, we go for extensive walks in our neighbourhood. The bougainvillia are bursting with colour, and in the parks and occasionally on some of the mostly dreary balconies there will be a welcome splash of colour. Mostly the little balconies are not aesthetically pleasing, as they are used to hang laundry or store all kinds of junk. The other night walking home through Green Lake Park when it was dark, we were struck by how lovely it was at night. We’ve mostly just been there during the day. Sunday we strolled through the nearby university campus, and that’s where we saw most of the bougainvillia, plus some beautiful flowering trees. I’m not good with names, and I have no idea what the trees were – beautiful though.

Next week is another official holiday, and April 29 – May 1st, May Day will be celebrated. So no work on those 3 days, but then the amusing part of these holidays is that you make up for those lost days on the weekends, so that you work Saturdays and Sundays and put your time in anyway!  Maybe psychologically you think you have a holiday!  Last weekend we finally had dinner with Olivia. She was Howard’s translator last year at the university, and a most helpful person to us. It was good to see her again. Then we also had dinner one night with Andrew and his girlfriend Caroline. Andrew was Howard’s conducting student last year, and also my English student. We were happy to connect with him again.

This week Howard is working very hard with the Symphony. Tomorrow night there is a concert in a high school, (it’s a repeat of last weekend’s concert). Then on Saturday night the concert in the Kunming Theater, which will feature the Schubert Unfinished Symphony (#8), a “Pipa” Concerto, and the world premiere of a Chinese Symphony. Should be interesting!

Next week I will devote the whole blog to food! There is so much interesting food here, some of it really good, not all of it great!

Talk again next week. Have a good week, and I hope spring will arrive soon for all of you in Canada!

Love, Maggie

ps I apologize for the crazy format – my computer seems to have a mind of its own!

It’s  a sunny Monday morning here in Kunming, and I am sitting at my desk and reflecting on the experiences of the past week, probably one of the more unusual, exhilarating weeks I have ever experienced!

Last Tuesday, Howard and I, along with the players and administrators of the  Kunming Symphony Orchestra, took a one hour flight to Mangshi, a small city in the De Hong Prefecture about 670 kilometers west of Kunming.  This remote part of China is like a finger sticking into Burma (Myanmar), and is  so close to the Burmese border that the Chinese like to say ” a chicken feeds in China but lays its egg in Burma!” This area has a southern subtropical climate with plenty of sunshine and humidity. Exotic tropical scenery is everywhere, and the area is rich in water resources and agriculture. It is the land of peacocks, and real or stylized ones can be seen everywhere. Even the airport is a stylized peacock!

The  provincial government paid for all of us to stay 2 nights in a 5 star hotel with all expenses covered. The orchestra plus a Chinese soprano folk song specialist  under Howard’s direction did a concert in Mangshi on Wednesday night to a sold out house (1200). More on that later.

We stayed in a beautiful 5* hotel, mostly geared to businessmen as there are not a lot of tourists here.We were given the executive suite, and everything about it was grand, except that the bed was very hard, and even with my built-in padding ,by morning my hips were protesting. The so-called mattress was 1/2 inch thick,with nothing but hard wood under that!  We did survive though!

Wednesday was the big day. We went off to a rehearsal in the morning at the concert hall and for the first time met the Dai choir that sang along in some of the numbers.  I should mention that  the whole concert consisted of Chinese music, familiar to everyone except the conductor!  Howard had his work cut out for him!  We were greeted most warmly by members of the

choir in their colourful ethnic costumes – really quite spectacular.They are all members of the Dai minority. This area is particularly rich in minorities, the other larger minority being Jingpo. But there are many Thai, Burmese and Tibetans here as well. Two of the older women in the choir made Howard a hat which is worn by Dai men. Notice the peacock theme?

The concert was interesting to say the least – Howard will have a lot to say about it in his blog I’m sure! The soprano soloist was visually stunning in her costume, but oh the sound! Takes some getting used to for these western ears! I have never in my life encountered as noisy an audience as this one. People chatting on their cell phones, talking loudly to others, or walking around and greeting friends! The music seemed to be secondary at best. Before the concert begins there are always a lot of speeches, and there were many government officials in attendance. The whole event was covered by television, and the place was full of cameras! We counted 5 cameras including, one a large boom which swung menacingly over the performers throughout the concert. At 11 pm  2 buses took us all to a big post-concert party, perhaps not quite the kind we are used to! Lots of exotic food;  among the identifiable and edible items were the ubiquitous black chicken legs. There were kidneys (I’m not sure from what critters!), among other equally inviting delicacies.Various insects are a staple of the local diet,  and I’m quite sure  I unknowingly ingested things I would swat at home! Interestingly a local custom is to marinate either rice or cucumbers in vodka, and then serve the vodka – you don’t eat the rice or cucumbers, which apparently add flavour! Then followed the entertainment,  a group of musicians performed for us, consisting of drums and bagpipes! Remember that Burma, formerly a British colony is just a few kilometers away. Hence the Scottish bagpipe tradition is alive and well to this day.  Then a small group of young men from the Jingpo minority serenaded Howard and me with a special rap type chant they had made up in our honour. Very charming, but who knows what they actually said??

The next day we did some sightseeing in Mangshi. First we visited quite a spectacular Buddhist temple on a hill overlooking Mangshi, then off to see the peacocks in their natural habitat. This was a special day in the De Hong region known as “Water Splashing Day”.  It heralds the New Year in the Dai calendar, and people pour or splash water on each other to rid them of evil spirits and drive bad luck away. However it is more than just good- natured fun. Water is a symbol of religious purity and goodwill among people. Therefore, splashing a fellow villager or even a stranger is an expression of good luck and prosperity for that person. People flock to the streets with bottles, pots, water guns, or whatever is handy. We got totally soaked as well, and for many of the symphony members it turned into an all out water fight!

After a quick visit to a Jade market, we had a final elaborate lunch, again with all kinds of government officials in attendance. There were at least 26 courses, and a gorgeous floral centerpiece!

Then it was off to the airport and back to Kunming.  Howard didn’t have a lot of time off because there was another concert scheduled for Saturday night here in Kunming. The program was more palatable, as there was  music familiar to my ears. Strauss waltzes,  Offenbach, Tchaikovsky etc. with a smattering of Chinese pieces. It’s really quite a good orchestra, and Howard has bonded well with them despite the language barrier! It seemed to us to be a kind of town hall meeting with many government officials in attendance. Needless to say,there were long speeches preceding the concert at the beginning. But the audience was much more attentive than in Mangshi and seemed to enjoy the concert , even clapping along with the concluding Radezsky March in true Viennese fashion.

Yesterday we had a very relaxed Sunday – a welcome respite after a pretty intense week.

Planning ahead is not a priority here it seems, so we never know what’s going to happen next. We do know there will be a concert on the 27th of April, and then who knows! People are very laid back here – difficult for western type A’s!

Talk to you again next week. Have a good one!

Maggie

In case you’re wondering about the title, Yunnan means “south of the clouds” partly because of it’s remoteness from the rest of China set high on the country’s distant frontiers with Tibet, Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos, and because of the  mountainous terrain surrounding the province.

It’s a gorgeous sunny Sunday morning here in Kunming .  Howard is off to a symphony rehearsal this morning rehearsing  Chinese music for a concert this next week, and I am enjoying our good friend Dan Taylor singing Bach as I write this.

I know as Canadians we talk a lot about weather, but I do have to mention the spectacular weather we are enjoying here. It’s sunny every day, nights are cool (it was 5 the other night), but day time highs are 25 or 26. No humidity, and the air is clean which is a rarity in China. The city of Kunming is very green, although Yunnnan has really suffered from drought conditions for the past number of years. Lat year we had some water rationing, but none so far this year. I just learned that most of the worlds flowers come from Yunnan, second only to the Netherlands!

Green Lake

It’s spring here!

On our walk

At the market

Strawberries!

We have been here for more than a week now. Reentry (other than jet lag!) has been relatively smooth, and we have eased into a whole new but familiar lifestyle again. We knew what we were coming back to. We’re in the same apartment as last time, and the 5 flights of stairs aren’t really that bad! Strange though, what seemed so exotic when we arrived last year seems almost commonplace to us now, but still not so familiar as to be taken for granted.

Things seem to change here on a daily basis – old shops or restaurants disappear, and new ones are hurriedly constructed in their place. Our corner of Wenlin Jie has been somewhat “cleaned up”,, so our friendly homeless man is no longer there to greet us every morning with a big smile. Mind you the overflowing garbage hut is still there (it gets emptied regularly) and everywhere blobs of spittle glistens on the street amidst other sometimes identifiable things on the street. I don’t wear sandals much!

We have enjoyed our daily market visits again, and the vegetables and fruit are fresh and in great abundance. We’ve been especially enjoying the fresh strawberries for breakfast every morning. We still mostly eat dinners out, although every once in a while the fresh produce is too tempting and I have to cook!

The other night we tried a new restaurant, and of course we’re always grateful for pictures of the food, some of which are more realistic than others. So we point and choose while the waiter stands patiently and waits. NOBODY speaks English. Then I realized there was some English in the menu, but alas it did not describe the food, or maybe it did!  It said “lotus aroma kitchen with wind like a symphony”! Not quite sure what that meant. The food wasn’t bad, except for one dish which was black and white (black meat with white gobs of fat). Silly me I thought I was ordering mushrooms with lotus flowers! Oh well, it’s all part of the fun!

Just across the street from us there’s a little man sitting at a very old sewing machine called flying man, and he fixes clothes for people. We brought him a pair of Howard’s jeans which had a tear in it, and for about $1.00 he fixed it beautifully.

One of our favourite pastimes is walking to Green Lake Park. It’s green, with many blooming trees and shrubs, and part of the lake is hardly seen because of the thick carpets of lotus flowers. But mostly it’s a people place, and people come to visit, to sing in small group, especially the elderly, and many of the minorities come decked out in their traditional costumes and dance. It’s a happy place. In fact, Paul Theroux in his book Riding the Iron Rooster suggests that it was here that he saw the happiest people in all of his travels throughout China.

This next week should be an interesting one for us. On Tuesday, together with the whole large Symphony Orchestra, we are flying to De Hong, a city 650 kms from Kunming. The orchestra will be performing only Chinese music for some big military event! Can you believe it? We come back to Kunming on Thursday, and then there’s another concert here on Saturday with the orchestra, mostlywestern non Chinese music!

The biggest problem here for us  is the language barrier,  and we still go to bed exhausted every night. Having said that, I feel we are incredibly fortunate to experience a culture so vastly different from ours on a daily basis, and not just as a tourist. G K Chesterton said it well, he said “the traveller sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see”. Another favourite quote of his is “Travel broadens the mind, but you must have the mind’! Let’s hope I can have the mind to continue to absorb all this strange and wonderful world that surrounds me.

Talk to you next week!

Love,

Maggie

This will be my final blog from Kunming. What a ride it’s been! It’s hard to believe, but in about 48 hours our exotic adventure here in Kunming will be over – at least for this time!  And what an adventure it’s been!  Every day has had surprises or unexpected twists and turns. I have learned so much, and yet still know so little! We can probably only fully assess and appreciate our experience once we’re removed from it, but I do already know there are many things I will miss a great deal, and a few things I won’t miss at all! Walking down our street is so very different from any of our city or suburban streets at home. Waterloo will feel very quiet after all the hustle and bustle that takes place on our street here. We had no idea how very fortunate we were when we rented this apartment online from home last January (five flights of stairs notwithstanding!).

The location is superb, close to our beloved Green Lake Park, close to dozens of restaurants, fruit and vegetable markets just a few minutes away. And of course there are food vendors everywhere selling a variety of things to snack on. But it’s noisy, very colourful, with a wide variety of pungent smells.

Dishes and meat are washed on the street…

An old man sets up his old singer sewing machine every day in the alley and repairs clothing that people bring him. There’s another guy who fixes bicycle tires, and on and on it goes. Scooters take up just as much room on the sidewalks as do pedestrians. Restaurants tend to close fairly early, and shops are closed by about 10 pm; that’s when the street vendors come out, and you can buy as many fake watches, handbags, jewellery etc. as you like!.
 I have done no shopping here at all, other than the excellent Pu-er tea, which is a very high quality fermented tea. Like wine, the older it is the better it is!. Highly renowned and very expensive. Clothes and shoes are not available in my sizes. Shoes come in nothing larger than a size 7, and clothes, mostly size 0 or size 2. The women here are very petite! 😦

This past week was the 2nd and final performance of La Traviata. It was a resounding success, and judging by all the lengthy speeches before and after the performance, this was considered a most unusual and astounding achievement! It was really quite amazing how these singers came through in the end. It has been a round of meetings and dinners ever since, with a final banquet in Howard’s honour tonight, which will include the whole cast of La Traviata. The university/symphony etc., have all been very generous in their praise of what Howard has been trying to do here, and would love him to come back any time! So who knows what the future holds for these retirees!

Sunday afternoon we leave Kunming for Taipei – this time it’s a direct flight so as to avoid all the hassle we had when we came here four months ago. Kunming has a new airport which opened yesterday, so I hope that everything is working on Sunday and we won’t have any undue setbacks or delays. We look forward very much to seeing Anthony and Vanessa, and of course our 2 gorgeous granddaughters.

Sunday the 8th of July we are back in Canada!  I feel as though we’ve been gone for a year!. Can’t wait to see everyone!

Zhidao xia yici!! (Till next time)

Maggie

What’s for dinner tonight? Oh the choices one has to make! Howard and I are still at the picture book stage – look and point. What you see in the menu is not necessarily what you get! But we’ve also had some interesting choices made for us by our Chinese friends, and for the most part they are actually quite delicious, although sometimes somewhat exotic for our western palates!

Food in southwest China seems to revolve around chillies and rice noodles,but there is in fact a great deal of variety in local cooking styles.. Characteristic tastes are spicy and sour with pungent constructed flavours favoured over natural ones. Rice is a staple, either boiled or served as rice noodles.

Perhaps I should begin by talking about Yunnan’s most famous dish – Across the Bridge Noodles. The most common explication of its origins is the following story: A scholar was studying for his imperial exams. Every day his wife would cross a bridge to bring him lunch. She would fill a large earthen pot with broth covered with a layer of oil which kept the broth hot enough to cook the other ingredients she had brought when she got there. The additions traditionally include a raw egg, various kinds of meat including chicken, pork, squid, tofu, various vegetables and the ubiquitous rice noodles. The dish, just like the story, has numerous variations, but the basic elements remain the same. We have enjoyed this dish a few times now, and it’s good but somewhat bland.

Yak stew –  yak meat combined with peppers is a good main with vegetables and rice. Not really very different from beef.

Yak Stew

Snake – this was definitely a look and point mistake! The veggies around it looked quite good, but I lost my appetite when I saw the familiar patterned snake skin.The meat was totally black with some gristle – ugh!

Snake

Silk worms and dragonflies –  we felt we had to be adventurous and try these at a street vendor’s stand in Lijiang. They were barbecued, and actually the dragonflies were not too bad – the silk worms should just be used for what they do best – make silk!

Chicken feet (and heads)  – the feet are especially popular and sold as snacks as well. This is something I try to avoid, especially the black chicken feet! Why do they look so awful? But then it occurs to me that pigtails are a delicacy in Waterloo County! All depends on what you’re used to! 

Duck –  duck is considered a sign of fertility, hence its popularity! The complete roasted duck is brought to the table, including the head, but the body is cut up in odd little  bits. The skin is very crisp, but very fatty! Recently we have had some barbecued duck which is much better.

Duck tongue – yes we ate duck tongue! Every part of an animal is consumed, and I mean everything! We rather enjoyed this delicacy, somewhat tough but crispy with good flavour!

Duck tongue (above) is fairly tasty. Why does one never think of ducks having tongues – just beaks?? The curly stuff you see is the tendons conecting the tongue to the throat. The tongue is actually quite long, and somewhat rubbery!!

Fish – fish dishes seem to be a staple at most meals, and they are always beautifully served, complete with head and tail, usually in some rich, gooey sauce. The problem with fish is eating it with chopsticks, which, by the way, we are getting much better at! Pulling at the fish skin with chopsticks and trying to avoid all the fishbones is sometimes just not worth the effort. What I wouldn’t give for a beautiful salmon steak right now!

Pork is the default meat in the southwest, and invariable comprises a major part of every menu. We have especially enjoyed the ribs, beautifully served, and very meaty. The snout and feet, however, don’t do much for me!  Ground pork and onions were used in a dish we especially enjoyed called baba, a flour patty baked on a little sidewalk grill. Stuffing can be sweet or savory. Delicious snack!

Ribs

Pig snouts and chicken feet!

Pedicure needed!

Fried goat cheese – Exceptionally delicious! Often served with vegetables.

Vegetables – I can’t begin to name the varieties, although bok choy, broccoli and green beans are commonly served. They are always good, and never over-cooked!

Sidewalk food vendors are everywhere! Popular snacks are grilled yams, corn on the cob, strange looking sausages akin to wieners, deep fried potato wedges, and many skewers of chicken or tofu that are grilled right there on the street. I sometimes wonder about that meat – those chicken skewers sit out there all day in the heat!

In restaurants rice noodles in various forms, hot or cold (both in temperature and taste) remain favourites. Soup is mostly served at the end of a meal, because it is usually fairly bland, and cleanses the palate after all the hot stuff! Many dishes are in the form of some kind of stir fry, and ground hot peppers and garlic are used more or less indiscriminately in everything!  Mint, parsley, cilantro and basil are also widely used, and often deepfried, so that you get crispy herbs mixed in with  the chilli peppers and vegetables. Occasionally I tire of “hot” food, but I have a feeling I’m also really going to miss some of this food when we’re back in Canada.

Diners here don’t linger over dinner – they eat and run! I, on the other hand, prefer to linger over dinner with a glass of wine. Mind you, we never have wine with Chinese food – it just doesn’t seem to work. It’s either tea or beer or both!

Now for a digression from the “food column” to tell you a little bit about last week. For me it was fun going to symphony rehearsals, watching Howard work his buns off and loving every minute of it! Mind you, it paid off in spades. The concert came off very well, and was extremely well received by players, management and the audience. It was great to have Philippe Rheault here from Chongqing – he’s Canada’s new Consul General stationed there, making him responsible for all of southwest China. Made some great new friends in the process as well. I have a feeling we’ll be back here!! If you want to know more about the concert, check out Howard’s blog at: www.howarddyck.com.

Howard and Sun Jingya – the fabulous pianist!

Last week was especially eventful, who knows what this week will bring! Six weeks from yesterday we’re home!

Miss you all, and can’t wait to see you!

Maggie

ps As I’ve been writing this, I have been listening to “Gotterdamerung” from Aix en Provence – a performance with Berlin Philharmonic, Simon Rattle conducting, and our own Ben singing Siegfried! The singing will be much longer than this blog!!

After having spent 10 weeks in a world far from home, you find life takes on certain new routines, some of which are more comfortable than others. I love our modern, “western”  apartment. Featuring large windows, it’s bright and…it has western toilets! (more about that later). I can walk barefoot without being concerned what I might step into. Our king size bed is comfortable even though it’s floor level; my aging bones protest a bit whenever I want to get up. The incentive to go to the bathroom at night is minimized knowing the kind of exercise that’s involved just getting out of bed, so I cut down on the amount of tea or wine before bedtime.

Our morning usually begins with Howard making us a lovely espresso using the legendary Yunnan coffee. That and some yogurt and fresh fruit makes for a great breakfast. The strawberry season is over, but the mangos are lovely right now. On the vegetable front, asparagus and mushrooms are especially good right now too!

We are grateful for markets that are close by, so most mornings we stroll there to pick up our daily supply of fresh fruit and vegetables.We are always mindful of how much we buy, because we do have to carry it up 5 flights of stairs. I must say that those 5 flights have become easier and easier, and a few times I have even found myself bounding all the way to the 6th floor!

Looking out of our 5th floor apartment

The streets are noisy with traffic and people out and about. Our particular street comes alive around 11 pm when all kinds of street vendors come out to sell their wares – everything from fake jewellery and handbags to long gowns and T-shirts. Regular shops close around 10 or 10:30.  But usually all is quiet by about 1:30 I think – I’m usually asleep by then, so I’m not quite sure what time things wind down. The other morning I awoke at 5 am, and looking out the window I noticed the garbage collectors, men with over-sized wheelbarrows collecting garbage from the streets. But what surprised me was all the little bonfires on the street. The garbage collectors were burning the garbage rather than filling their wagons. Shops don’t open early, not till 10 or 11 am, probably because they are open so late in  the evenings.

Of course there are always lessons and rehearsals to prepare. I find my 90 minute sessions with my eager English students really take it out of me! These students are so eager and full of questions; devising ways of having them answer their own questions (remember this is a conversational course for them, not for me) is a challenge!

Howard is enjoying his work, although the level of both the choir and the orchestra is considerably lower than he had anticipated. The chorus and soloists for the opera La Traviata are terrific, and, although at first he was asked just to rehearse and coach the singers, he has now been invited to conduct a concert performance of said opera on the 15th of June.  The concert for the Kunming Symphony Orchestra is slated for the 25th of May, and he’s very much looking forward to that experience.

We do keep meeting interesting expats, and last night  was no exception. We went to a jazz concert put on by a Swedish group. Really very good. Reminded us of the Jazz Room in Waterloo.

A significant factor to consider when going out is the use of bathroom facilities! In this particular department, I must say I envy the males among us! For us women it’s all so much more complicated. As you already know from my previous musings, there are no public “western” toilets, that is to say, the kind you sit on. The few I’ve seen had footprints on the seat!!  Obviously people don’t know how to use them! “Squatters” are de rigueur here, so appropriate attire is of prime importance – in China you dress for the bathroom! Wide pants? You best roll them up!  Tight pants? Be sure they’re stretchy! And, for heaven’s sake, try not to lose your balance or you may have to buy new shoes! How I wish I would have had more yoga, or even ballet lessons to help me in these matters. As for toilet paper or tissue, that’s easy –  there is none! I always go well prepared. A few times I wore clothes sans pockets, so I was reduced to stuffing tissues into my bra. I hadn’t done that since I was a teenager, although then as I recall the motivation was entirely different!

The weather here is consistently spectacular. It’s always sunny, and temperatures go up to the low 30’s during the day, but drop down to the mid teens at night. Most always there’s a breeze,so we open our windows and enjoy the lovely air. We do however wish for rain; this province has endured a serious drought issue for the past 3 years, so moisture is desperately needed. In spite of that, this is an exceedingly green city, with lots of trees and shrubs and flowers – very beautiful, and not plagued with the pollution that other Chinese cities face. The bougainvillia is in full bloom now and seems to grow every where. At the flower market we indulge in 20 champagne roses (20), and also a dozen gerbera – all for just under $4.00!

Bougainvillia are everywhere right now – quite beautiful!

Bougainvillia on campus

We tend to eat out quite a lot. Restaurants are relatively inexpensive and good. I do some cooking, but not having the best of cooking utensils, and not always knowing exactly what I’m buying in the supermarket, it’s easier to let someone else do the cooking. When we need western food we go to the French Cafe or Salvadors – a pub/restaurant just at the bottom of our steps!

Have a good week, everyone!

Maggie

I wasn’t going to write before the end of this week, but I just have to tell you about the amazing day we had yesterday (Sunday). We left home at 9 am, and after 2 hours of navigating winding, increasingly narrow mountain roads, we arrived at a tiny village of Miao people, about 200 inhabitants. The Miao are one of the 55 minority groups in China in addition to the dominant Han ethnic group (92% of China’s population). According to a 2002 census, there are about 9.6 million Miao people in China, most of them in Yunnan province! 

Village Street

We had already developed a tenuous connection with the Miao people when we were in Kunming in 1999 performing Handel’s Messiah at an International Arts Festival. At that time we had heard about a Miao village that sang a number of selections from Messiah, so we were interested to meet them. More than 100 years ago, missionaries from Great Britain taught them sections of Handel’s Messiah, as well as Gregorian Chant. The Gregorian chant seems to have disappeared, but the singing of Messiah has been passed down aurally, and the tradition continues. The “quasi” auditioned choir sang amazingly well – good strong voices, especially the tenors! Many a Canadian choir would be happy to have that sound emanating from its ranks! They also treated us to “Auld Lang Syne”, in Chinese no less, with one stanza sung in English with a soprano soloist and the choir humming. Methinks it sounded better than some of our New Year’s Eve party renderings of same!! They also sang some hymns with melodies I remembered from the southern Alberta Mennonite church in which I grew up.

What I was totally blown away by was evident joy, the serenity, and yes, even contentment of these people. They are so poor and work so hard on the land to eke out a living. Howard and I passed out Canada pins to all of them, for which they seemed to be very grateful. This simple gesture gave us an opportunity to shake hands with everyone, and I was struck  by the work-hardened, black hands, women as well as men. They were reserved, but very friendly and hospitable to a fault. 

The special lunch prepared for us us was somewhat difficult to eat, especially after I saw the kitchen where it was all cooked! There was no running water. The  food was “interesting”, and I wasn’t too hungry! Strange how one’s appetite can disappear at the mere sight of black chicken  feet and claws!  When they prepare a chicken for soup, they use ALL of the bird, wasting nary a neck, a foot or an organ! We also had deep fried potatoes (potatoes are a staple in the country), corn, pig fat (yes fat, not bacon), boiled cabbage and other unidentifiable delicacies. Oh yes, the fried eggs weren’t too bad! And of course there’s always rice. We were given chopsticks (they had been used many times previously) and tiny napkins, and later we had some tea.

I left feeling grateful for everything I enjoy every day, and very grateful I don’t live on that mountain! However, I wouldn’t have missed yesterday’s experience for anything! It was a rare privilege to share a few hours with these lovely folk who, despite their grinding poverty, are unfailingly kind and generous. Lesson learned! 

Maggie