Journal Entry
by Joan Burress

7/22 - Arrived Hong Kong. Upon exiting the airport, the familiar scents of China were welcome and heart-warming. Then the view of the mountains suddenly came into focus. My eyes filled with tears, and my knees buckled at the overwhelming beauty.

7/23 - Yuantong Temple. Many statues of Guan Yin, the goddess of mercy, who can take many forms - woman, man, tree, animal, etc. One statue that had many visitors showed Guan Yin with 24 arms; women were praying to her for conception. There was also a statue of Buddha and 4 other gods near him. The gift shop clerks were absolutely fascinated by my hair, which is twisted into spiral locks. With friendly, admiring smiles, they openly stared, reached right out and touched my hair while saying, "peo liang!" which means "pretty!" They then wanted to know how to form locks. I showed them on my hair, and then on theirs. They then twisted their own hair. It was definitely a unifying moment. Little did I know that this same experience would be repeated several times each and every day throughout the entire trip. I was honored. I felt most honored when people would first request my permission before touching my locks!

Kunming City Museum - Having taken African History classes and workshops, and having read several books on the subject, I recognized objects in this museum that had been brought over by Africans, e.g., Cowrie shells used as money, and objects made of gold. Both were 2000 years old. The first emperor of the Shang Dynasty was an African (see African Presence in Early Asia by Runoko Rashidi and Ivan Van Sertima). We also saw Sechuanesaurus, a dinosaur whose bones were unearthed first in Sechuan.

7/24 - speaker - He Zhong Hua - Naxi. Spoke about gender issues, and explained and showed Photo Voice (see my summary for more details).

7/25 - Lijiang - speaker- emphasized that the present group of Naxis, which total about 300,000, cannot be traced by a direct line to ancient times because of great mobility and relocation throughout history.

7/26 - Lijiang - Lashi Hai and Yi Villages temple - beautiful, most elaborate, holy, hushed feeling. The bodhisattva chanted with us in two voices simultaneously, harmonizing with himself!

Evening show - A Naxi Dongba priest danced, showed an ancient scroll with Naxi writing, and played two horns simultaneously. Also, there was Naxi mountain singing and dancing.

7/27 - Lijiang - Dr. Joseph Rock's former residence. He stayed with tribal leaders when he traveled, and had an entourage of 100. The inside of his home was modest. The bedroom/living room contained only a twin bed, a makeshift desk, and a small sitting area. He is well respected by ecologists. Snow Mountain - beautiful, 18,360 feet, with a glacier at 12,000 feet. Snow lift to top where there was a temple, gift shop, and Tibetans with a yak available to take pictures with, and a computer generated picture for purchase if desired.

7/28 - Lugu Lake Eileen, Najin (the 28 year old daughter of the family we visited), and I went to an entertainment center after dinner. It was a huge, outdoor area that contained many open individual rooms. Each contained two tables with barbeque grills in the center. Guests choose and cook food items themselves while chatting, drinking and singing for each other. Traditional Mosou Household - The ten of us stayed with about three different families overnight. This was definitely one of the high points of our tour. My family consisted of Najin, her mother Dashalimu, and her mother's mate Mr Xiong. We were made to feel very welcome, satiated, comfortable, and were treated royally by everyone, including our hosts, and the guests (about 50 or more) who came for an evening party of dancing and singing despite the rain.

7/29 - speaker - Najun's uncle from Ninglang. He lectured about the Black Yi, the Little Cool Mountain Yi, and the Big Cool Mountain Yi. (See my summary for more details.) Speaker Da Shi La Tzo. Her work is to help women progress in health, education, economic development and child rearing. ( See my summary for more details.) The road was washed out by a rainstorm. We were delayed in town. We had lunch, shopped, made phone calls on the restaurant phone, and sat by Lugu Lake until the road was cleared.

7/31 – Lijiang-We went to the site where the Yangtze River was forced to bend by a newly arisen mountain thousands of years ago, which allowed Chinese civilization to develop.

Tilery - Family run, free labor. Only sales contribute to salary. Very little profit due to too much competition. As an animal lover, I was very distressed to see a blindfolded ox being led in endless circles so that he would thoroughly mix the earth with water to make cement needed to make tiles.

Tiger Leaping Gorge - most narrow spot on the Yangtze - powerful, fast moving water at this spot.

8/1 - Zhongdian - Songzanlin Lamasery - could only be reached by boat - once housed 2000 monks around the 16th century. Now only houses 800. We had tsampa, a well-loved local snack, and butter tea with a local family.

8/2 - Napa Lake - We visited a family and had yak butter tea, and a roasted barley powder biscuit. Like all of the families we have visited, they were very hospitable.

8/3 - Urumqi - We shopped in a huge market with an almost unending number of items. It was here that my locks attracted the greatest number of people. A mob (with friendly smiles, and saying, "peo leong", but nevertheless, a mob) gathered around me all wanting to touch my hair and learn about it.

Kashgar - the Chinese area that is closest to the Pakistan border. It was here that we encountered the least receptive people. Six of us took an evening walk. We were stared at with unfriendly eyes. No one said the usual friendly hello's to us. No one even wanted to touch my locks! Four of us attempted to use the town internet. Only the two Asians were allowed to use it. The manager yelled and screamed in her language at the sight of us two westerners. The Asian customers looked amused and a bit shocked as they listened and looked up at her tantrum. We were told by our guide that we had to leave immediately. I was furious and appalled.

8/4 - Tashkurgan - Since I believe that death is not an end, but merely a transition, I was very touched by Dulkun’s (our Uyghur guide) comments about the Uyghur cemeteries by the side of the road. He said that they are purposely placed there so that passersby can pray for the souls of the dead. He then prayed, "Allah, please help their souls get to heaven." Zhingong - known for the sweetest dates, apricots, grapes and melons. The "grandpa" melon was the best - so sweet, and tender enough for a toothless grandpa to eat easily. Kyrghiz - A legend told by Uyghurs (though Kyrghiz never say this), is that Kyrghiz descended from 40 girls. They live in yurts which they take apart to go up mountain or to lower ground depending on the weather.  We were invited into one of their yurts for tea and bread. Then we sat outside and chatted with several Kyrghiz.

8/5 - Tajik Autonomous County High School. The original building was built by Persians in 1957. Present building built in 2000. 4 nationalities, 40 classes, 1600 students, 151 teachers who all have BA degree - 30% are female. 4 classes a week are taught in Mandarin, the rest are in the students’ own language. Tajik Household - a simple tan square from the outside, but the inside is very elaborate, colorful, inviting. We were given tea, bread and pastry, and invited to spend the night - all ten of us! Silk Road castle ruins - Marco Polo stayed in this castle 1500 years ago.

Tajik birthday party at our dinner restaurant - very spirited dancing.

8/6 - Tashkurgan to Kashgar - we saw so many beautiful snow-capped mountains, glaciers, and energetic, swirling lakes.

8/7 - Kashgar Sunday Bazaar - The livestock bazaar had an enormous amount of sheep and other animals being exchanged. The market had thousands of items being displayed by eager vendors. It was here that my locks caused the second largest crowd of friendly admirers anxious to touch my hair. The Id Kath Mosque - the largest in Kashgar, 560 years old, holds 22,000 people inside and in the courtyard, built in 1442, the Islamic center of Zhingong. I perform Zicker, a special prayer, 5x's a day, and have for more than 4 years. I was very disappointed to learn that women are not allowed to pray in this temple. Lecture on the Silk Road by Abdul Rahim and Akbar - it began before 220 BC in Xian, and extended to Venice, Italy. The main products were silk, perfumes and pottery. It officially closed in the 14th or 15th century.

8/8 - Kashgar school (based on a polytechnic school). What a regal reception the staff gave us!  About 25 staff members were present.  We were led to a meeting room with a very large oval table filled with fresh melon, plums, etc. The speaker told us some details about the school, e.g., the main focus was music, language, sports and nursery care. The new building was 17 years old, and the original building was built in 1935. They have had 38,000 students in total. Only 10 teachers are Chinese. The rest are Uyghur.

Coffee Shop - English corner. All of us went. We intermingled ourselves with the teachers and students who were there. We chatted, laughed and sang. A wonderful time was had by all.

8/9 - Urumqi - 70% Han, Uyghurs are the second largest percentage. Intermarriage is only 5 to 10% because of cultural conflict regarding pork, rules, etc.

Museum which housed European looking mummies, the oldest was 4000 years old.

8/10 - Nan Shan (South Mountain). Kazakh people live in yurts. We were invited in for black tea, fried bread, and frozen yogurt made from yak milk.

8/11 - Turpan - about 110 degrees, about 2000 years old, the 2nd lowest point below sea level in the world, 70% Uyghur, 24% Chinese 4% Wait (Chinese Muslims). Here we saw their kariz (underground irrigation system), and chunaks (grape drying houses).

8/12 - (Traveling - Turpan to Urumqi to Shanghai)

8/13 - Shanghai - no religions (except underground) 1966 to 1976. Thereafter, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, and Taoism existed.

Peace Hotel Jazz Club - I sang two standards with the band! It was as if I was singing in New Orleans. The band knew my music so well. The leader was 83 years young.