Kunming

As much as this trip has been nothing like we had expected, Kunming is a
really nice little city. The weather is nice, the air is so much cleaner
than Beijing, and we feel able to walk along the streets. Sure, everyone
points and stares at us, but most are very nice. I have been yelled at
by both our guide Xiulan and several of the women in the market today
that I am not dressing Hannah warmly enough. It's beautiful here - warm
enough that I am wearing short sleeves (and I am always cold) - yet the
babies are dressed in many many layers. We noticed, actually, that
everyone here dresses really warmly - the only people we saw in short
sleeves today were the other family we are traveling with and two groups
of American college students. Chris is never going to get to wear the
shorts he packed, as much as he wants to. Yesterday Hannah had her first
ever playdate with Henry, and while they entertained themselves silly by
banging stacking cups together, the adults joked how scandalized Xiulan
would be if she realized they were playing in short sleeves and no socks!

Today we walked from our hotel to the Bird & Flower Market. The walk
over was really nice, though Hannah fell asleep about halfway there and
slept through the entire shopping expedition. The market was a neat
place - full of tiny alleys stuffed with little shops. We didn't go into
many - Xiulan likes to move at a pace far faster than we normally go -
but we did manage to buy a few little pieces of jade for Hannah as gifts
for when she is older and get a chop (a Chinese name stamp) made for
her. We're hoping to have time to walk back on our own in the next few
days and explore a bit more.

One bit of culture that makes us laugh every time - there are street
sweepers that patrol the streets of Kunming. They sweep and wash the
street (which is strange, since this province is having one of the worst
droughts in history, though considering people spit and pee on the
streets, it's probably necessary), and the truck plays a song to warn
people on bikes and electric motorcycles (which are everywhere) to get
out of the way. The song? "Happy Birthday." Up and down our street all
day - Happy Birthday to You. We still haven't stopped laughing at it. Oh
yeah - the police cars have a siren that sounds exactly like the chimes
on an ice cream truck at home. We get excited every time, only to
realize the ice cream man is no where to be found. :)

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