China. November 17-14, 2014.

This trip was taken mostly on behalf of a non-profit (HC) we support.  As members of their Country Advisory Board, Anne and I make periodic visits to China; for this trip our objectives were to attend an in-country CAB meeting, to join HC’s staff retreat to get to know them better, and to visit a co-op in Yunnan to get some first-hand exposure to their work.

11/17/2014 Monday.  Given the short duration of the trip, we drove in and parked at EZ Way.  Met up with CAB Chairman Ron W at the gate.  UA89 is a 13:30 hour flight to BJ.  My row was full, Anne had an empty seat next to her – lucky lady.  As usual, didn’t get much sleep on the plane.

11/18/2014 Tuesday.  Josh met up with us, told us Bryan H’s plane would be late getting in.  We decided to wait for him and then drive to TJ.  Spent time at PEK T3’s Starbucks talking.

Drive to TJ took 2 ½ hours with Josh at the wheel.  Hotel was at outskirt of town.  Although it was empty when we checked in, we were told after 2 nights we would need to vacate our rooms and go to a villa across the street.

Attached to each room is a hot tub.  Some worked, some didn’t.  We never used ours.

Hotel (3 nights): Tuanbo Lake Hot Springs Resort, Tianjin.  2 nights in regular room, 1 in villa.

11/19/2014 Wednesday.  CAB Meeting at SQ Ecological Farm with Ron, Josh, Bryan and Nancy.  Nancy scalded her hand quite badly while trying to make coffee.  Eventually there would be blisters on her fingers.

11/20/2014 Thursday.  We joined the HC Staff retreat, also at the Farm.  Events included: self-introductions, scavenger hunt, cooking competition.  We had sessions with individual members in the evening.  I talked to Mr. Dai who shared with me some of his family issues, and to Mr. Li with whom I had some discussion on how to reach those who are well-off.

 We attended the CAB meeting and the HC staff retreat at this Ecological Farm outside of TJ.

A scavenger hunt was one of the group activities during the retreat.  Our team lost.

The owner of the Farm Mrs. Xu also took us on a tour of the farm.

Tonight we moved to a house with four bedrooms.  The house looked grand but had many shortcomings that were results of poor design and/or maintenance such as: no electrical outlets in the bedroom, clogged shower drains, no space for amenities in the bathroom, exposed pipes and wires.

11/21/2014 Friday.  Morning retreat where each CAB member did some talking.  Drove to TJ so Josh and Nancy could take care of some HC problems.  Had lunch at Tex-Mex.  Left at around 4:30 pm and got to BJ Airport Hotel.  We had a late dinner.

Hotel: Days Hotel by Beijing Airport.

11/22/2014 Saturday.  Woke up at 3:30 am for 6:40 am flight to Dali (MU9747).  After dropping off our luggage at Mr. Li’s house, we took a 90-minute mini-van ride to Ms. L’s house.  She leads a co-op of about 30 people.  We got to see the “experimental farm” with pear trees, Chinese medicine, chickens, pigs, and other animals.  Ms. L’s is a compelling story of how one person can change the lives of many others.  Located at her home is a small house church.  We had lunch at her home, it is humbling to see what constitutes a sumptuous meal in these remote and poor areas.

Afterwards we returned to Mr. Li’s house and had a great meal prepared by his in-laws.  Before we went back to the hotel, Mr. Li took us to see a training center that was established recently.

Our hotel was functional, and cost RMB 140 per night (about $25.)

Hotel: Tianfu Hotel, Dali.

11/23/2014 Sunday.  We decided a visit to Mr. Li’s meeting may bring too much scrutiny to the organization, so our day started a little after 10 am when he picked us up.  We stopped by the Er Lake, then went to the old city and walked from one end to the other.  This was followed by a lunch at a Bai restaurant.  Most of the dishes (and there were many) were vegetarian with the exception of a beef/beef stomach soup and beef kidney with vegetables.  The most interesting dish was stirred fried azalea flowers with lima beans – you wouldn’t think you were eating flowers (not that I had much expectation to begin with.)  Mr. Li then took us into the mountains and showed us a river he nicknamed “River Jordan.”

I did learn some interesting things about the Bai people, a minority in China.  Many still live in the mountains (we are talking about 2500-meter elevations) in small villages.  The religion for some villages has an interesting origin.  Some time ago a foreign army tried to conquer the Bais, but was repelled, with many killed in battle.  Each of the village claimed one body of the vanquished army and made them into a local deity (called ben zhu).  The logic of this escapes me, but since the whole village has adopted the same god, it is very difficult for any single person to worship anyone else.

We were dropped off at the Dali airport at around 3:30 pm.  Our flight MU9748 was on time and uneventful.  However, our “regular” economy seats really made me miss the Economy Plus accommodations we get on United Airlines.  The other snag was that we didn’t board early enough for me to find overhead space for our carryon, so it had to be checked.  I was relieved when it showed up on the luggage belt in Beijing – it was one of the last ones to do so.

With waiting for luggage and the hotel shuttle bus, we still managed to check in at around 10:30 pm.  The check-in clerk was helpful enough to suggest a Days Hotel Membership which allowed me to shave 10% off the room rate, and to get late check out.  Since we booked three rooms, we got much more than our money’s worth.  We spent a great deal of the savings on prepaid breakfasts.

Bryan, Anne and I had a late snack in the Days Hotel Café.  Eventually we ended up eating here 4 times during our two day stay.

 Nicknamed "River Jordan" by Mr. Li, new believers get baptized in this river outside of Dali.  The water from the high mountains is cold this time of the year.

 Multiple-purpose courtyard at Ms. L's house.

 This is where Co-op members hold their meetings.  Doubles as a dining room.

 Activity room on the roof doubles as a gathering place on Sundays.

Lunch is served at Ms. L's.  Note the excitement shown by Bryan and me.

 These are grafted pear trees.  Each of them can produce around 50 lbs of pears a year, generating about US$25 in income.

 Ms. L was the most recent T Award winner from HI.  One client is chosen each year (from over 500,000) for this award.

 A sumptuous dinner at Mr. Li's house.

 A Sports Arena next to Lake Er Hu.

 Many minority people live in and around Dali.

 Your favorite insects are served.

 Dali church.

We went to lunch at a Dali Bai Restaurant.  This is the view from the rooftop of the restaurant.

Hotel: Days Hotel by Beijing Airport.

11/24/2014 Monday.  David L, the brother of Chon from our church, works in YQ, mostly with high school students.  He took a three hour journey by train, subway, and bus to meet up with us and we had a good chat about his work.  Five of us (David, Bryan, Ron, Anne and I) had lunch at the café.  It was soon after 1 pm and it was time to get ready for our trip to the airport.

By swapping my seat with an agreeable traveler, Anne and I are now in the same row with an empty seat between us.  We are about three hours into the flight, we shall see if I will get some sleep this time.  Anne, meanwhile, seems to have nodded off.