Environmental Issues

Environmental Issues

As we flew into Hong Kong it appeared to be very hazy, even though the sun was out and there were few clouds in the sky. Across the harbor we could barely see the buildings on other islands. At first I thought it was just foggy, but the air was dry???  

Of course, it was smog - one of the scourges of China's rapid industrialization. They still rely heavily on coal for manufacturing, but also coal (soft coal, which is the dirtiest) is used for cooking and heat in many homes. This had been a major problem for Western countries years ago as they industrialized. Now it's China's turn.

In small, less touristy, towns trash is a big problem

Communal dumpsters collect the local garbage, but then what?

Dust and Dirt

Although Kunming does not have much heavy industry, we noticed a brownish layer over the city as we flew in. As we drove through the north section of the city where the power plants were, as well as a lot of road construction and building, the air was so thick you could taste it. We saw tanker trucks spraying down the vegetation at the side of the road watering, but also washing the leaves which were brown, covered with a thick dust layer. It was pretty gross to see women pushing their baby carriages along the streets through this.

Disguised cell tower

Don't Drink the Water

It is commonly known that you don't drink the water in China. The locals drink lots of tea, which of course, has boiled water. In public buildings there are hot water dispensers where you bring your own tea and container - and just add hot water. Bottled water is prevalent everywhere, which has its own issues because  - what do you do with all those plastic water bottles? Apparently there a lot of recycling plants. but think of the resources and energy that goes into manufacturing the bottle and then recycling them!

A cow walks by a communal garbage can in the city of LiJiang

Garbage, Garbage, Garbage...

For the most part the cities have been quite clean and trash free.  We often see people, mostly women, sweeping, or even washing the streets. David told us that cities usually have landfills to handle trash. In addition, he said that recycling takes place, and there is a deposit system for bottles and cans. However, as we rode through rural areas we saw piles of trash both in the villages and on the side of remote roads. He explained that the smaller towns and villages have no system for disposing of garbage so they just take it to a remote place and dump it, often at the side of the road. Since every village and town is kind of its own entity, the people don't consider the next community too much. I would imagine also that since every possible space that could be cultivated or grazed is taken it could be difficult to negotiate establishing a waste system.

More and more people have cars

Modern roads and highways are ready for the onslaught of more and more cars

More and More Vehicles

As many countries around the world become more prosperous, inevitably, more and more people want cars. We see this in Costa Rica, also. Traffic jams, pollution and parking become big problems. China has gone from bicycling, to scooters, motorcycles, trikes and cars in a few decades. 

Solutions and Challenges…

They are attempting to deal with this by establishing cheap, efficient public transportation, and public buses and trams are often electric. Most of the very popular scooters in cities especially, are electric. Almost every home, whether it is a rural adobe brick cottage, or urban high rise, has a solar hot water heater on the roof. There are also quite a lot of solar panels on roofs, and huge wind turbines can be seen on the crests of many hills in the countryside. Many of the beautiful hotels we stayed in were not heated, and, although we were chilly, I guess they  try to conserve energy on heat! However, the big issue is how much the Chinese still use coal and other fossil fuels for industry and power. Many challenges for the future. As I write this blog the Climate Change talks in Paris have just finished. Let’s hope all the goodwill and promises are kept and built upon… and beyond that hope for world peace!

Tour Guide Extraordinaire

David Huang

David is a pretty interesting character, not only in that he survived and prospered during the enormous transformations that have occurred in China, but as a person, he is inquisitive, outgoing, innovative and easy going. And he's  extremely good at his job as a guide.

Childhood

Stories of his boyhood during the 60's and 70's in China reflect how difficult life was for most Chinese. He is the second of four brothers. David's father had been a butcher when he was very young, and later became the manager of a food processing company. His mother raised the boys and did whatever she could to get by. They lived in the prefectural capital, Mangshi, near the Myamar border, which is lush and mountainous.

Hungry Days

He told us how difficult it was for his parents to feed the family during these days, and when they would have a chicken, he and his brothers would fight over the food. When he was six and seven, he and his brothers helped his mother make Adobe bricks out of mud and straw, cut grass to be sold for horses, picked rocks from the river to sell for construction and collected firewood. David recalled a time when his mother had cooked up sweet potato vine for the pig food, and he took a small potato off the vine because he was so hungry. He also tells of many times when there was nothing to eat but rice with a little salt. These were the years following the disastrous government programs of the late 1950's when agriculture was badly mismanaged and many farmers were dissuaded from planting their crops to manufacturing. He feels that people in the southern Yunnan region were able to avoid the famines that ravaged the country because there were so many plants, animals and fish from the wild that were available.

Home Sweet Home

David's childhood homes were made of Adobe with a tiled and thatched roof, located at the edge of town at the foot of a hill. Sometimes the family would need to move into a temporary bamboo hut with a tar paper roof because earthquakes damaged the brick home. Then they would repair it and move back in. Although in a warm climate, some homes would be heated by firewood or charcoal for old people or babies. The inside kitchen used firewood for cooking. He remembers snakes sometimes in the bed he shared with his brothers as a child.

Swimming to the Top

Another job David and his brothers had was grazing the water buffalo. This involved  either crossing a river or using the bridge which took longer. David decided that he needed to learn to swim, especially when he fell off the back of the water buffalo into the water trying to cross the river. Swimming in the river was fun and a good way to cool off in this hot climate. He and his brothers joined the local swim team, and although he enjoyed it, a big incentive was cookies or sweets the coach would give out at the end of practice. To a growing boy with little food, this was especially important.

David excelled, and at the age of 12 he had the opportunity to join the Yunnan Swimming Team in Kunming. This involved moving to a boarding school in that city. At 15 he moved back to his hometown so he could focus on studying for the university entrance exam. He says he worked very hard that year and it paid off because he scored first in his prefecture. His older brother is the team coach for the Yunnan Provincial Swim Team, who sent a member to the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984.

Tourism Studies

David's high score enabled him to attend the University of Tianjin, considered to be one of China's top universities at the time. He majored in English and Tourism, a new field of study at the time in China. After four years he graduated in 1987. He was assigned a civil service job  by the government in Yunnan tourism. Bored with that job, in 1994 he was able to move out of the government office and joined the Yunnan Overseas Travel Service, where he remains today. He also works as a guide with Flying Horse Travel Service in Dali. His career move coincided with the loosening of restrictions by the Chinese government, which allowed him to take that opportunity. Today, he is working on establishing his own tour company, as well as working with the previously mentioned organizations.

David's Office

Understandably, David needs to be communicating with potential clients/groups as well as soliciting new ones, and arranging for the current tour group he may be with, as well as organizing for future groups. Since he is not home much, he relies on his phone (i.e. portable office) to keep everything rolling, in addition to keeping in touch with his family. It was a familiar sight on both trips I've been on with David to see him texting or phoning during his spare time.

Since 1994 David has also worked with Betchard Tours, out of the USA, and the Chinese Photographers Organization, organizing and running tours. In the 1990's and early 2000's many Western tourists flocked to China, presumably because it was a novelty and inexpensive. China's economy boomed during this time so more Chinese had disposable incomes, and began to travel both home and abroad. Simultaneously, China developed its infrastructure such as roads, tourism sites, and hotels, and it has inevitably become more expensive to westerners. The economic downturn of many Western economies over the past ten years and perhaps the novelty of traveling to China has worn off, which has also resulted in fewer Western tourists. Meanwhile, Chinese tourists' numbers have increased dramatically, as we have seen on this trip, in particular, where we have been virtually the only Westerners in many places.

When he's not living in a hotel room, David lives with his wife, and their 12 year old son in Kunming. We had the pleasure of meeting Sui Yung (hope I spelled this correctly!) on our last day in Kunming. Unfortunately, our Chinese is limited to about five words, equivalent of her English, so we had to make David translate. Even so we had a delightful time and it was very pleasant.

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David, Thank you for a wonderful, and memorable trip!

Another Nature Day in HongKong

Saturday, November 14

Another Nature Day in HK

We decided to explore several nature preserves to keep ourselves in the "birdwatching mode." After taking the Metro to the light rail, which was a very efficient modern system of getting around, we arrived in the suburbs, I guess you could say. There are lots of outlying communities that have quite recently been built to accommodate the burgeoning population. Each community is actually a huge high rise complex somewhat resembling CoOp Village in the Bronx, complete with huge five story schools.  The HongKong Wetlands Park seems to be a very popular spot for  hundreds of young families with small children. Rightly so, because there were lots of kids activities. However, not too conducive for watching birds. Add to the fact that it was midday, at its hottest, and when most birds (if they're even there) are taking a siesta - it was a bust. Very nicely laid out and quite attractive, but few birdies!

Birdie Jackpot!

Our next destination was the Mai Poi Marshes, a wetlands refuge run by the World Wildlife Fund,where we spent three hours on a very fruitful guided walk through fish ponds, mangrove, and freshwater marshes. Located along the flyway of many Asian-Australian species, the marshes provide an important habitat for migrants, as well year round and wintering species. The WWF has run the refuge for over thirty years and provides educational and research programs encouraging the preservation of critical habitats and the species that live there. The Refuge is an oasis among the crowded land and busy waterways. As in many developed areas, the marshes and mangroves have been destroyed, which in turn eliminates the food sources and habitat for many animals and birds.

There were lots of wading birds, including Black billed spoonbills (a new species for us), a rare,   crow and quite a few ducks. It was a beautiful, peaceful place made somewhat surreal by the glint of skyscrapers off in the distance.

We were even luckier when we made the acquaintance of two people who were traveling back to the city and willing to give us a ride! At this point we had been walking all day, and didn't relish the thought of a mile walk back to the village before even getting a bus to the train.

By the time we got back to the hotel, we had a well deserved cocktail and stuffed everything back into our bags for the trip home in the morning.

The view of HongKong from the Harbor returning from Kowloon

Hotel....Airplane California....

Will we ever get off this bloody plane?  Boarding was exceptionally slow because of extra security to checks due to the recent Paris bombings. Then a lady became very ill (stroke?) on the plane and we dropped her off in Japan. Interestingly, they had to dump a considerable amount of fuel which came shooting out of two openings in the wing, because we would have been too heavy to land. Then we went on to Toronto, where they did a crew change, and we had to wait several hours to take off because there would be no gates available until 6:15.  It was a loooong day. Meanwhile, Ray spent so much time in the parking lot they kicked him out, so he and Scruffy went for a walk on the boardwalk at Coney Island.

Hong Kong Birding

11/13

Friday, November 3

Birding in Hong Kong

Determined to see a little of Hong Kong, but avoid the touristy, shopping stuff we decided to visit the Hong Kong Park, in the middle of the city. We read that it was a mecca for birds, so we donned the cameras and binoculars. As HK is built on a mountainside, the roads and sidewalks are steep, so the 2 km walk had us huffing and puffing. 

The park is quite beautiful, with ponds, waterfalls and pretty plantings. We did actually see a new (to us) bird species, and lots of familiar ones. It is apparently a very popular outing spot for schoolchildren, because we encountered wave after wave of first and second graders in their school uniforms and teachers herding them along, holding up signs for the class to follow. There was a very nice conservatory with plants from different ecosystems, but, the big hit with us was the aviary. We spent hours in there watching and photographing a variety of Asian birds. Overhead, outside the netted in aviary, flocks of "Earnies," sulphur crested cockatoos, (just like the lovable, but incredibly destructive, Earnie, that I fostered for several years) would periodically fly by squawking. Following the park visit we checked out a beautiful, high end supermarket, and found a delicious Japanese restaurant for lunch. We finished off the evening with a goose dinner at a local Chinese restaurant.  (It's all about the food!)

Impressions

The land being mountainous, and surrounded by the sea, is quite beautiful, and although the sky is almost obliterated by skyscrapers, HongKong is fascinating. The streets are very hilly and narrow, full of double decker buses, taxis, high end cars and people. Many of the downtown buildings are brand new corporate centers, particularly, financial institutions. Surrounding the inner city, and across the bay are hundreds more very narrow high rise apartment buildings, some still under construction.  There are a surprising number of little parks and green areas in the city, and quite a lot of "country parks," in the outer areas. Although we didn't get to any, there are still small fishing villages and small towns left,  reminiscent of the past. A series of beautiful bridges and tunnels connects the islands and mainland, while the harbor is full of tankers, container ships, ferries, tug boats and assorted work vessels. There are huge container ship docks, with miles of cranes and containers.

Busy, Busy

A very cosmopolitan city, Hong Kong has many Asians, of course, but many Westerners, as well. The streets were full of people off to work, vendors selling things and in the evening especially, many very trendily dressed young people. In the outlying areas, there are mostly native Chinese. New buildings are cropping up everywhere, and the airport is going through a huge expansion. Although technically part of China as of 1997, when the UK gave it up, HongKong maintains a very different culture, including its own currency, driving on the "British" side of the road and lots of little British touches. Many people speak at least some English, and there are a number of British shops, businesses and financial institutions.

All Good Things Come to an End...

Wednesday, November 11 and Thursday, November 12

The Return

After breakfast we collected our belongings and piled in the car for the six hour ride back to Kunming, where we would stay overnight and fly out to HongKong the next day. It rained the whole day, which made the first part of the drive through the mountains and along the banks of the Red River very disappointing. We had hoped for some good scenery, but it was obliterated by rain and fog. 

The Red River (aptly named) in the rain and fog

Furthermore, the weather slowed us down on the slippery, narrow roads so the trip took much longer. We amused ourselves with trying to identify birds we had photographed, culling lousy photos, chatting about highlights of the trip, snacking and taking naps. After dinner we organized all the stuff we had added to the belongings we arrived with, and crammed it all back into our suitcases and bags. If we weren't so tired, we would have been melancholy that the trip was coming to an end.

The Three Stooges??  Amigas.......

Exhausted

In some ways this last 16 days has been pretty rigorous. First you have to keep your belongings pretty lean and organized, otherwise you're lugging around too much stuff and can't find anything. Just the routine of charging cell phones and camera batteries, then remembering to bring the chargers with you every day requires some discipline. (Of course, I was the one that left the adapter at the hotel!) Since we were done with breakfast and on the road most days by 8-8:30, there was no time to dally in the mornings. 

Each day was filled with visits to villages, temples, museums, natural areas, and usually involved a lot of walking, and of course, photographing. Not much down time! We were getting back to the hotel  around 6-7, after which we had dinner and often fell into bed not too long after. There was just enough time to try and get out a few emails, or phone calls, and wash out some undies before bed. There really wasn't any down time, but then, you want to make every minute count because there's so much to see and experience.

Onward and Upward

After breakfast at the hotel with David and his wife, we piled into the van for the last time and headed for the airport. We were sad to say goodbye and leave this chapter, but we were also looking forward to exploring HongKong. The flight was uneventful, and we landed in the afternoon to a gray drizzly day. The hotel was situated right in the central downtown area of the city, which was convenient. However, it was a bit of a shock to see how "mini" the rooms were in the Mini Hotel Central. Basically, the room has a double bed, with a small shelf and tiny walkway to a small bathroom. And that's it. We did adjust, and realize it's all you need because we were gone all day, anyway, and the hotel had a very comfortable lounge area to hang out in. An additional plus was the use of a smart phone to take with us and even call the States for free. Quite a perk!

November 10 cont'd

A slight glitch in my computer and its programs, and Google. It seems I can only put so much on each blog entry, so I had to break this day into 2 parts. (I really should take a course, or bash through on my own to really learn how to do this blog thing properly! )

A Dubious Lunch

The town we stopped in for lunch was wrapping up their market for the day, so our sights included lots of garbage, squashed food, and giant plastic bags being loaded into trucks and trikes. We did get a good chance to see the  Hani and Yi women' local dress of elaborate headscarves and hats, beautifully embroidered capes and two very colorful flaps tied at the waist hanging down.  

The chef at work in his roadside "kitchen"

The street dishwasher (our dishes, too!)

Looking for a restaurant for lunch, we picked our way through the refuse and mud along alleyway and past a man crouched down on the ground washing dishes in several large tubs of water. Here we climbed some steps to an open air eatery, of sorts. 

Below us in the restaurant was the market

Live chicken going to dinner.....or for dinner

We sat by a grimy window overlooking the dregs of the market, and had a surprisingly delicious lunch. We muttered under our breath to each other, ("if it doesn't kills, it will make us stronger"). And, we survived, and the food was pretty good!

We finished the day by traveling to the best spot for viewing the terraces at sunset. Again, the roads were grueling, and many times we applauded Mr. Wang for getting us through safely. The sky had partially cleared,  so the sundown was quite colorful, although it didn't reflect too much color into the fields below. The air was balmy, and the atmosphere very peaceful, with few people nearby. 








Quite memorable. On the way back to the car we broke down and bought some souvenirs from the local women. After a pleasant dinner near the hotel, we returned to our beds for a well deserved rest.