video update

ok, I fixed my YouTube settings so the video should play (below, Merlin's post about Camp Patwin)...

Sichuan earthquake

Thanks to all the folks who've emailed and called to find out if we were in any way affected by the May 12th earthquake in Sichuan. Our family has not been personally affected by the quake - Dan said he didn't feel it at all, though there were reports of it being felt in Beijing. I haven't heard if residents of Hangzhou felt it or not and Dan's been busy with work so I haven't talked to him for a few days, but his family is all fine. From 2001 to 2003 Dan spent a lot of time travelling in Sichuan, but mostly near the borders of Qinghai and Gansu - all places that I'm sure felt the quake but which are thus far not mentioned in reports of serious damage.

Here's the map from the earlier post, this time with Zhejiang ("home") in green and Sichuan (where the quake was) outlined in saffron. Yunnan, the location of this semester's fieldtrip (and subject of the previous post) is the province just south of Sichuan.

Yunnan trip

I just returned from a two-week field trip with my students to Yunnan. We were mostly in Lijiang and Tengchong, a town near Burmese border. Western Yunnan is being heavily promoted as scenic sites for tourists. Before arriving there, I reviewed some landscape photos and portraits of local people. I was very much enchanted by Yunnan. Once we were there, we were a bit overwhelmed by excessive development of tourism. Small old towns and villages are so commercialized. Our senses were stuffed with selling points of each vendor, loud music, nostalgic genres of goods, etc.

I gave my students an assignment – “Tourism: Consumption of Ethnic Landscapes.” Yunnan is the most ethnically diverse province of China. Its current revenue depends on tourism. This type of tourism especially cashes in on ethnic expressions. To a large extent, it is a field for consuming exotic modes of being. Landscapes are literally contained, tamed, and fenced. Dirt paths on the hills were replaced by fine bricks. Tourists buy expensive tickets to walk through these landscapes. We actually did not experience much native culture regardless of the fact that we had homestay opportunities with people of the Naxi and Bai Nationalities. Everyone appears modern. Am I disappointed? Yes, but not surprised. Everywhere in China, money and power dictate one’s behavior and one’s social relation with others.

Of course, there are oases if one looks for them. We made friends with two young artists. Like their North American counterparts, they are also struggling, but with dignity and a sense of reverence for the subjects of their artworks. I hope Wendy and kids will home-stay with them and learn about the modes of their creativity.

Perhaps I’m too cynical about the impact of tourism. I have to say, I noticed tourists are pretty happy there. Things there are manageable, nostalgic. Services are great. It’s green and water is everywhere one goes.

We know at least this much

We'll be flying in to Shanghai in the 3rd week of June, taking an opportunity to stay in Hangzhou to visit Dan's family (his parents, two sisters, and their families).
If you click on the map it will enlarge and you'll find Zhejiang Province, on the east coast, shaded green. Hangzhou is the capitol, about a two hour drive from Shanghai (which is capitol of the province with the same name).

Hangzhou, (link to the left is to a Wikipedia article) pronounced Hawng-joe in Mandarin (though if you want to sound like a local, and be intelligible only to the locals, you'd say Hawn-zei), has a 2,000 year history. Signs of this history, in keeping with tradition, have been erased, re-erected, newly interpreted, re-discovered, celebrated, and denigrated. You just kind of have to take it as you get it, which is a city full of vibrant back-alleys, apalling traffic, cosmopolitan fashion districts, meandering lake-side paths, lush sub-tropical growth on surrounding hills, rebuilt temples, crazy crowded streets and quiet tea houses. It's hot and humid in the summer, pleasant in the autumn, cold and sometimes snowy in the winter, and vibrant in the spring.

I would have loved to have seen pre-communist Hangzhou (that blocky, grey architecture just doesn't do much for me), and I was lucky to visit before the mania for reconstruction and all things modern took over completely - the tree lined streets were lovely, there were more bicycles than cars, and it was a pleasure to take a ride in a pedicab, chatting with the driver who pedalled the single-speed contraption steadily down the road. Not having been back in 5 years, it'll be interesting to note the changes, which I'm sure will be many.

(most of the pictures will open in a larger view if you click on them - I'm still trying to figure out why some don't, like the winter scene, above)

Spring Show

Every year the 4-H clubs have a fair called Spring Show. Spring Show is about showing animals and entering projects like sewing, woodworking, and knitting. Right here I am working on our 4-H group's booth. I am putting up some words that say "Golden Valley 4-H Club Goes Green."














Right here my sister is helping by pasting some glue on some pictures of the members in our club.


Right here I'm about to show my friend's goat : Nin. Goat showing is hard because you have to get the goat's stance correct.












The picture below shows my goat project leader showing a goat.

The knitted yellow thing here is my sister's cat toy. The picture below is the skirt I sewed.





















We made/sold cotton candy at Spring Show to earn money for our club.

posted by Devin