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17. Traveling in the West of China - Kunming
I spent two weeks traveling alone in the West of China. I began in Kunming, which is the Southwest province and borders Laos and Burma. My plane was delayed nine hours, so instead of arriving at 6 PM I arrived exhausted and concerned at 3 AM.
I had met a woman from Kunming in St. Louis and she'd contacted her daughter in law who had arranged a hotel for me and was to meet me at the airport. I did not have contact information for them and couldn't let them know of my delay. My heart soared when I entered the airport to see a four-year old boy perched on his mothers' shoulders holding a sign that said, "Margaret." They spoke no English and I spoke no useful Chinese, but we hugged and smiled and they hustled me into their small van, drove me to a hotel, and left me to fall exhausted into my bed.
Kunming is called the garden city. It's subtropical, very green, clean, and well developed by Chinese standards. I spent several days with my hostess and her son. We saw many gardens and ate at small, out of the way restaurants frequented only by the locals. It was difficult for all of us since we had a complete language barrier.
In the evening I wandered the streets enjoying the night markets with the sounds of laughter and music; the smells of spices and cooking foods, and the hundreds of small shops catering to thousands of Chinese strolling arm in arm.
On my third day in the city an older son of my hostess returned home for the weekend. He spoke English and we spent a wonderful day riding public transportation, climbing up Dragon Hill and walking in the mountains overlooking the city. That evening the family welcomed me into their home for dinner and visiting. The father is a Doctor and their apartment was a lovely, well furnished apartment in a building attached to the hospital.
Earlier my hostess had shown me a new apartment being built for the family. It was in a group of buildings behind walls protected by uniformed guards. I eventually visited three different new housing areas of this type during my time in China. Chinese professionals and business people are moving into privately owned apartments and away from the communal housing arrangements of the past.
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