Second to last stop in China
July 2 – Tengchong to Dali
It seems like forever ago that we left Palo Alto. Since then we’ve connected with Tibetian monks, gazed at the base of Everest, explored a 3,000 year old irrigation system, marveled at adorable pandas, experienced Sichuan opera, gawked at the ever-present Chinese high-rises, and mingled with rural school children. Along the way we have enjoyed the delicious Chinese cuisine and loved the warmth of the Chinese people. Incredibly, while tourist focused shops have been everywhere, at no time have we been hassled to buy things or even been the target of “hello meester, you want buy? Have look, you like.”
Today, we are driving 5 hours from Tengchong to Xizhou, a small town 45 minutes north of Dali on the shore of the ear-shaped Erhai lake. After breakfast we said our goodbyes to the wonderful families we met through shoulder action. We managed to hold back the tears, but everyone was feeling emotional. Tyler, with his impressive Mandarin and iPad skills, was a hit with the boys and the girls and many emails and wechat accounts were exchanged.
We had considered taking the bus from Tengchong, and while it would have been an adventure, we thought better of it. That was an excellent decision as the 200 mile trip (think SF to Tahoe) was about 75% faster, twice as convenient, and about 1,000 times more comfortable. We still can’t quite come to grips with how a car and driver for a 200 mile trip can be had for $225?! Our driver left Dali the day before and spent the night in Tengchong before picking us up, drove a comfortable Buick mini-van, had $30 in tolls, and an estimated $100 in gas. Just imagine what the fare would be to uber to Tahoe?
The drive was uneventful except for the one police checkpoint near the White Golden Gate Bridge. The police after asking for our passports, had our car pull over for additional questions. The guard (there were 4 of them) we enamoured with Tyler and his white skin and blind hair. One of them reaching through the window to stroke his cheek and arms. When he spoke in Mandarin it blew their minds. And good thing he did too, as they wanted to know why we were here in a remote part of China, how long we’d been there, did we work there, etc. It is pretty awesome having a translator with us!
We left Tengchong at 10:30 and at 3:30 we were strolling into the courtyard of our wonderful boutique hotel the Linden Centre. We learned of the place from Rachel Bordoli who had visited the year before and raved about the place. It turns out that Jeannie, one of the founders of Ohlone’s Mandarin program also knows the owners of the place and also had excellent things to say.
The hotel is in a converted Bai (one of the 56 minority groups in China) home that was built in 1947 by a wealthy merchant. In 1949, during the Land revolution it was taken from the owner and given to the military who occupied it until the 70s. In 2003, the local government allowed it to be converted to a hotel on the grounds that it would be the best way to preserve the culturally important building.
Tired from the long drive, we didn’t stray from the lovely hotel grounds. Instead we had dinner, played ping pong, shot pool, and surfed the internet. The kids were finally able to get to bed before 9pm and the grown ups were asleep by 10:30pm