Melanie Spiller and Coloratura Consulting
Copyright 2020 Melanie Spiller. All rights reserved.
China, January 13, 2010
Melanie Spiller and Coloratura Consulting
I am surprised that people are not particularly short, but they do all have black hair and dark
eyes, so I am conspicuous. One in our party is 6'5", so between his height and my blondness,
we get stared at a lot. It's kind of fun, though. People say "Hallooo" when they see us, so proud
to have some English. Some of the signs are in English, but very few people seem to speak any
(we have a good guide). The government is clearly making English a second language here.
We were in Shangrila for the last two days--very beautiful and very cold. I guess it's really close
to Tibet because that was the ethnic minority there. People wear these beautiful costumes that
you'd think would just be for dress up, but they are working in the fields and things in 'em. They
also burst into folk dances in the town square, sometimes just to celebrate that it's noon or that
the sun came up. Good stuff.
Today, we drove from Shangrila to Dali, about 5 hours, and you know all those terraced rice
paddies that you think of when you think of China? That's pretty much what the view was the
whole way. Very green (yes, in January and below freezing). Also, you know those calligraphy
brush paintings with all the flat-looking tall mountains? Those are pretty darned close to what the
mountains look like when the sun gets behind them. I hope my photos come out.
I have learned a few words of Chinese--hello, thank you, No thank you--and people seem to get
a kick out of me saying those. The food is really good. We have had a LOT of noodles. More
noodles than rice.
The air is always full of smoke from wood-burning fires. Few people (and few hotels, apparently)
have heat. Do not ask about the toilets. It's enough to make a person stop eating solid food.
Things are super cheap here. In about a week, I've spent about $20 for trinkets.