Destination Dali

There's nothing better than a weekend getaway, which is just what my friends and I got on our weekend excursion to Dali.  A famous tourist attraction in Yunnan, Dali has a beautiful old town with a large city wall enclosing the quaint buildings that showcase ancient Chinese architecture.  The city also has huge mountains on one side and a large lake on the other.  All around it's just a great place to relax and spend some time away from the bustling city of Kunming.

An alleyway with all kinds of fun shoes and accessories for sale

Old Town Dali with the mountains in the background

Dali has beautiful mountains surrounding it

Old Chinese Architecture

Performing our very own Dragon Dance!  Weaving around while our Chinese friends played their musical instruments for us in the background

The joy on his face is priceless

Denise was a great dragon dance leader!

Cormorant Fishing

Cormorant fishing, an ancient Chinese method of fishing, is one of the most popular things to do in Dali. Cormorants are a type of bird that belong to the pelican family; in this mode of fishing, the birds are used by Chinese fisherman to catch fish.  

A fisherman has several cormorants in his boat, and he rows out onto the water.  After choosing a location, the fisherman pushes the birds out of the boat. They are trained to dive in the water and look for fish.  The cormorants are tethered with rings round the base of their necks, so when they dive and see a fish, they catch the fish by swallowing it whole, but the ring around their neck inhibits them from eating the fish.  When the fish is in their mouth, they return to the surface and fisherman brings the cormorant back to the boat.  The bird then disgorges the fish, and the fisherman adds it to the bounty,  The cormorant is rewarded by removing the ring and feeding it a small fish.

It is so interesting to watch, knowing that many ancient Chinese fisherman used this technique to catch fish for a living.  I was amazed at the size of the fish they caught too - maybe 12 inches long!  (and that's not a fisherman's tale either, haha!)  Here are a few photos from our cormorant fishing experience:

Isn't she precious?  She rowed our boat out to the fishing area.

Typical Chinese tourists... they thought the four American girls were more interesting than the cormorant fishing, haha. 

The cormorant disgorging the fish it just caught

The birds holding the fish they caught in the air.

So proud of the day's catch

Erin, Jill, Denise & I with our great tour guide

Holding the cormorant -- SO scared I had to close my eyes!!  Its feet and claws were digging into my hands, and it was so heavy!

Beautiful

Apartment Lease

A copy of our new lease... It's in Chinese, so who really knows what it says... gives the saying "be sure to read the fine print" a whole new meaning! haha

As Americans, we like to sign official agreements for every potential situation to ensure that all of our legal "bases" covered.  We have created official forms for everything: many times you have to sign a consent form before posting someone's picture on the internet; school field trips require multiple liability waivers; and it seems as though people sign pre-nuptial agreements before they're even engaged.  We sign contracts, leases, waivers, and any other document with an official signature because when you sign your name on the dotted line, you are held responsible for the terms listed in the document.  

I have that learned that this is NOT the case in China - at least in the real estate market.  Signing a lease for an apartment is in no way binding.  If the landlord decides they want the apartment back, all they have to do is snap their fingers (so maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration - it's more like twitching their nose like on Bewitched : ) and the tenants must leave.  This seems to happen frequently in China because many landlords decide to give the apartment to their children when they get married or to another family member.  If the date they want the apartment back happens to fall in the middle of your lease dates, you have few options but to move out of the apartment and find a new home.  

Last week, our landlord decided he wanted to give our apartment to his son.  As the tenants, we have few options but to offer him more rent money.  (This is not surprising because Kunming is currently in a significant housing crunch.  The city has knocked down many of the old buildings in order to replace them with new skyscraper complexes; these new apartments are pushing the cost of rent up all over the city as the cheaper places have been demolished). We (actually, my lovely co-worker James) immediately called the landlord to start negotiating.  The landlord denied our first offer, saying that his family really wanted to have the apartment back.  James hung up the phone and we began to strategize our next move.  We decided to call the landlord back and offer a bit more in rent (we had been paying below market value, so this new offer would put us on par with other apartments in our area); the landlord said he needed to have a family meeting to discuss our proposition.  He said he would call us with a decision the following day.

Erin and I just looked at each other, like please don't make us move!  We said our pr-yers though and came to peace with the fact that we would have a home - regardless of the specific apartment.  Well, the landlord called back the next day to say that if we could pay him a full year's rent in cash by 3pm that day, he would let us stay in the apartment and we could continue/extend our lease.  (Payments here are often made annually, so we pay our rent in full 1 time a year, and the same thing with our internet at our house - we pay once for an entire year).  We got the cash and signed a new contract -- not that it is really binding, haha.  Oh well, it's the best we can do here : )  And for the time being we get to stay in our apartment!

I am especially thankful for how much our office staff helped make it happen.  At one point, we had three of our Chinese co-workers and our Chinese roommate, helping to negotiate, transfer money, and get everything taken care of by the 3pm deadline.  They are so incredible, and I am so thankful for their willingness to help in the daily tasks of living here.  There's no way we could do it ourselves.

I guess our lesson learned from this experience is that in America contracts are binding, as opposed to China where there seems to be much more gray area.  Like we so often say here, "Oh China..."  you just never know  : )

New People

Erin & I at the City Center in Kunming

The best part of my job is the incredible people that I have met.  My Chinese friends, my foreign friends, the gracious and loving villagers, the service team members I've led, and the CWEF staff have all enriched my experience in China and have been such blessings in my life.  

In the past month, these blessings have multiplied as Our Father has led a new like-minded family to Kunming, as well as my new CWEF co-worker, Erin.  Adding to my community of support here is something I am so thankful for and am so encouraged by. 

Erin, pictured above, will assume the position of Service Coordinator next year as I move to Hong Kong.  In the meantime, she is taking Chinese language classes and adjusting to life in China (just as I did).  And lucky for her (haha), she is by default my new roommate and friend  : )   Please continue to keep her and our new Kunming family in your thoughts as they begin to establish their lives here.

Picture Perfect

These pictures, taken by CWEF Intern Nick Justin, capture the friendship and fun of the students at one rural school in Yunnan.  CWEF recently donated an extensive library to this elementary school and, in the process, provided books and educational resources to the students’ fingertips.