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After four wonderful months of exploring China, I finally arrived back home on June 23, 2009. This blog was a wonderful way to share my experiences and help me unload my thoughts. Thanks to everyone who read my blog and gave positive feedback!

Until my next adventure.... Zai Jian/Farewell.

Traveling with Eli

Beginning in Beijing on June 1st:

Train to Chengdu, Sichuan (about 28 hours):

Leshan (Big Buddha tourist spot):

Emei Shan: (climbing the endless stairs on one of China's four Buddhist pilgrimage sites)

(I rented a jacket for the colder climate weather)

After Chengdu, we followed the "Tibetan-Sichuan Highway" from Kangding- Litang-Daocheng-Shangri-la (back into Yunnan): This area is seriously the road less traveled and seriously beautiful.

Litang temple:

He tried to convince me to buy this Tibetan dress and wear it through the streets of New York:

Eli's buddy:
From the road: (usually the views were too hard to capture)

Back to Shangri-la in Yunnan:

Final dinner in Beijing:

Final Week In Kunming?!!

After finishing my final Chinese test on Friday, I realized how fast this semester has gone by. I turned to my friend, “Woah that’s basically it!” “Yeah it was nice knowing you.” She was kidding and we laughed, but there is a strange sense of okay time to return to normality. All twenty-two of us have shared a wonderful abroad experience yet we all have our own lives waiting for us back at home. It is also interesting how differently we will come away from this experience.

Traveling abroad is a very personal experience. I find it impossible not to question my way of life. I view experiencing a new culture as a way to further enhance my daily life- I can only benefit from understanding different traditions and perspectives. It is thrilling to feel impressed and inspired by a new way of viewing the world. Chinese medicine has been one aspect of Chinese culture that has done that for me. Chinese medicine teaches all lay followers how to take care of themselves. Over lunch the other day, I told a medical graduate student that I was envious of her ability to know what to feed herself depending on the weather, climate, menstrual cycle, emotional state, and any other surrounding factors. I just have no idea! (For example, Sichuan Province is known for spicy foods as a way to combat the climate)

In all honesty, taking on language class and attempting to do my Independent Study Project was extremely ambitious. On the days that I finished Chinese class and then ran off to the hospital or the medical college to conduct some research, I came home exhausted. I needed to study and prepare for Chinese class but I also needed to do more research about TCM. Chinese class was my priority, and I really loved learning more topics, chatting with my teachers about interesting cultural differences, and engaging in political conversations. It never felt like I begrudgingly went to class.

And I did get something out of attempting to do both. I learned that most Chinese people feel an inherent love for TCM. TCM is also extremely useful for treating China's vast rural population- cheap medical care. But the tides in China are changing and have been for a while now. After interviewing medical students about their perspectives on using Western medicine alongside of TCM, most seem to find the task difficult and prefer Western medicine. Though, from a class I attended, teachers try to incorporate both medical perspectives into practice. Doctors in the hospital also prescribe both TCM and Western treatments to help patients cope with the pain. I watched an out-patient clinic- a tumor/cancer doctor, (once solely a Western medicine doc turned ambi!) come back from retirement to hold “office hours” every Monday and Wednesday to help elder patients live out a better quality of life. Patients laid down their personal medical books as a way of forming a line. I was impressed by the doctor/patient interaction- I got the old friends warm vibe. I realized these patients come in weekly to allow the doctor to give long-term treatment. A lot of the success relied on the confidence and trust in the doctor. I even felt comforted by the doctor’s smile.

But if it isn’t obvious enough, I am still in the fascination stage. So now that I am in my final week and have free time, I am finally getting into a medical anthropologist’s book, "Knowing Practice. The Clinical Encounter of Chinese Medicine". I feel like I have missed a big aspect of this research project by not having time to read. But now I have the summer, and I am left with a “fire under my ass” I guess you can say. I want to probe the topic of medicine as a lens to see cultural interactions between China and the US.
Now in the final week, here I begin.

But don't think I am coming home so soon- On June 1st, I begin my own adventure with a special visitor. Eli and I will be off traveling for another three weeks...!!

Access Denied

Sorry for the long pause in my blog. I have not been allowed to access it and this might continue...

Hopefully not!!

Rice Terraces

My routine of language classes has begun again, but this time it's crunch time- only three weeks. I am really enjoying having a two person language class- Ali and I can determine the pace and content of the classes and enjoy our teacher's company. Next week we will go out to dinner with our teachers and we have a yoga class date with one of them. Although it is nice to be back in class, I am very thankful that they end at noon, and then the day is mine. I am beginning to make contacts at the local TCM hospital and meet with other possible resources for information. I am also a member to a gym, and to have a membership to anything makes me feel more official here.

However, this weekend, two friends and I decided it was time to leave town and explore. We decided to see Yuanyang rice terraces, recommended by other friends, who gave rave reviews. The terraces are seven hours south of Kunming, so we decided to take a Friday night sleeper bus, arrive early, really early Saturday and spend the day at the terraces, then head home that night. Yes, now I am slightly exhausted, but it was worth it.

My friend, Arielle, just requested I write about the sleeper bus, which she says is always worth sharing. This bus was supposed to take seven hours, but actually took ten. This sleeper bus was more like a commuter trip, stopping every hour to pick up more passengers. The set up of the beds was also different: there were two beds put together with a bigger isle separating the third bed. I can't imagine sharing the two beds pushed together with a complete stranger, especially in light of my last theft experience on the sleeper bus. I guess the bigger isle served a purpose, because when I woke up at 2 A.M. for a late night bathroom run, I realized at some point during the night, mattresses were placed on the floor and I almost stepped onto a mother and her daughter. When we finally arrived in the early morning, we all walked off the bus like a group of sweaty, bug-bitten, zombies, but we made it!

Local market (one of my favorite activities, this one was particularly colorful with many different ethnic minorities):



Arielle sporting the local hat:


Our driver, showing us how to use different products (Hmong/Miao shirt):

Classical Yunnan pipe:


I will save everyone the details of the pig slaughterhouse behind the market: (I just never knew pigs had such a high pitch squeal)


On the way out of town:

My favorite part about traveling through these rural areas is experiencing the subtle things that make life so different. For instance, we hired a driver to take us around the vast expanse of rice terraces, and he used the back row of the van as a taxi service for locals. We switched off who got the lucky seat- the seat that every ten minutes required you to hop out to let local people in and out of the car. I really enjoyed when two people came on with their pet chickens, and all the sudden there were loose chickens lying on the floor of the van with us. All you can do is laugh. What? Huh? I also like "make way for water buffalo." It is simply amazing to watch what happens when modern machinery meets rural life and they begin to interact.

Note to Dad

Dad- I can not believe we have not discussed this earlier, but there is no tipping in China! Can you believe that? Of course you can still find other stresses here, but this is a big one for you. So definitely next travel destination?

Seeing more of Yunnan

Yunnan's landscape continues to impress me. I am back in Kunming after traveling from the north-western tip to the southern border. I have experienced the diverse culture and landscape influenced by Tibet in the north and Southeast Asia in the south. In the north, I cuddled under my heated blanket, looking out the window onto prayer flags and snow capped mountains. While in the south, I woke up in sweats but was rewarded with exotic fruits from across the Laos/Burma border.

On April 27th, the group dispersed after two weeks of traveling in the north, to begin our own field research projects or continue language class. I decided to take a couple of days and travel to southern Xishuangbanna prefecture with my friend Jordan. I was excited to visit this jungle landscape, but the juxtaposition after the northern mountains happened too quickly for me. It was so hot!! After 17hrs on a sleeper bus from Dali (driving for only 14hrs, they let us sleep until 7 in the morning, instead of kicking us off at 4 A.M.), Jordan and I spent the first day exploring Jinghong, the capital city in the Xishuangbanna province.


Xishuangbanna is known for Dai minority culture, famous Pu-er tea plantations, its location, straddling the Mekong, and jungle trekking. Jinghong was a lively city though something felt slightly rough about the culture and the people. The city felt like it was endured, not loved. The people seemed to come from the surrounding rural villages but as usually is the case, economic incentives forced them into the city. Only when you leave Jinghong and venture into the jungle does the area come alive. On the second day, Jordan and I followed a hidden trail through the jungle, climbing through branches and fallen tree trunks, surrounded by the cacophony of hundreds, maybe thousands of fauna. And look what we found:






Yes, the perfect way to relieve a body caked in sweat- a peaceful waterfall.

The next day, we followed the contour of the Mekong to Ganlanba, but to our dismay found an Dai village in the process of transforming into a tourist attraction. Although I was enjoying myself, I decided I was ready to head back to the cool comfort in Kunming, our homebase this semester. (Jordan decided to stay on for another day) That night I took the sleeper bus but when I woke up and walked off the bus, I realized my purse had been razored during the night. At the bottom of the bed is a cove for feet to extend out and I had stashed my purse under my feet. I was banking that no one would reach inside the cove, into my bag, under my feet, under my blanket. But somehow the front and the back of the bag were slashed open. Fortunately, I had slept with a money belt with most of my money, passport, and credit cards. The thief, who I slept next to, only stole my wallet with some money, driver's license, cell phone, and a couple of other small insignificant items, like my chewing gum!? If he had seen my backpack behind my head with electronics, I would be in a different emotional state right now. Lesson learned- thieves are rampant in China, put luggage underneath the bus and sleep cradling your important belongings, even if that means you get half of an already tiny bus bed.

Now I am back in Kunming and I already feel back at home. I decided to spend this last month taking language classes and pursuing my research interest on my own, so therefore unofficially. I would greatly benefit from a two-person language class, for four hours each day for three more weeks. In the afternoons and weekends, I can visit hospitals, universities, and rural doctors to gather field research on the changes in Traditional Chinese medicine. I will be getting the best of both worlds- improving language and conducting research. I am excited to feel focused and hard at work for the last month of this semester.

Back to Shangri-la

Songzanlinsi Temple in Shangri-la/Zhongdian:


A painting of the temple and surrounding area, on the wall of the temple:



Blessed by two living Buddhas:


Having a camera war with the monks- we both were trying to sneak pictures of each other:

Monks debating Buddhist philosophy:

Visiting a Tibetan orphanage (where all the children remain there and call this place home):




Tibetan dance performance for tourists:

Yak butter tea and yak cheese:

Dabaosi Temple (Monk does 1000 prostrations per day):



Then a visitor came- hello Jordan Maseng! (he has been traveling through China and Vietnam this semester):