11/1
Rain Doesn't Stop Us!

Sunday, November 1

Undeterred by the rain, we bundled up in rain gear with plastic bags over our cameras and set off. The park trail began with stunning vistas of the wide valley full of incredible eroded sandstone structures in all hues of reds, oranges and yellows.

Reminiscent of parts of America's Grand Canyon on a much smaller scale, the scenery was stunning.  The trail meandered up and down steep cliffs, past towers and spires of the sandstone. We had to watch our footing as the rain erodes the soft rock creating sticky muddy areas on the trail. We planned on Mr. Wang, our driver, meeting us after half an hour, but he was unable to bring the car near the trail because of the mud, so we ended up walking the entire trail for several hours. The scenery was quite wonderful, but it could have been spectacular with better weather.

Are we There Yet?
After lunch we piled back into the car, soggy, tired and full. The rain continued, and so did our altitude as we drove on. Mr. Wang, proved to be a very capable driver as we rattled on the one lane wide road, no guard rails, and lots of washout areas, as we climbed up into the clouds.

People put sticks and branches in cracks like this to "prop" up the cliff. This is to bring good luck.

Now high up in the mountains we had long passed farms and villages. Surprisingly, we still passed people on scooters and even one or two pedestrians in the middle of nowhere on these remote mountain roads.



American Style Gas Stations
At one point we stopped at a typical gas station: huge plaza, lots of pumps, and complete with the typical junk food convenience store you'd find in the states. We stocked up on puffed shrimp chips, Snickers and Dove bars, and even a couple of California red wines - if you can believe it!  It was such a long tedious drive through the wet foggy mountain roads, and eventually down onto the main highway full of trucks and tour buses.

We munched on the dried fruits we had bought from a street vendor in the mountains as well as the junk food from the gas station, and the rest of the leftover baby bees. By the time we arrived at the hotel in Dali well after 7:00 we passed on dinner and climbed into bed for an early night.

Idioms
We had a lot of time to talk in the car so we covered many subjects with David. He keeps a notebook to remind himself of new English words, so we began with lots of sayings, idioms and phrases that cannot be translated word for word. It became quite hysterical at times as we dissected the English language, and compared it to Chinese at times.

Changes in China
It was also very interesting to hear David's take on affairs in China. According to him there are very few restrictions on Chinese or visitors moving around the country, unless they want to enter disputed areas such as XinJiang or Tibet. He also commented on the younger generation, who are mostly only children due to China's one child allotment.

Young women walk next to an older traditionally dressed woman in Dali

He feels that they are very self centered and spoiled, particularly with the economic advances of many Chinese and their fondness for material things. We also discussed democracy and its advantages and disadvantages. He wonders if the Chinese could really handle democracy without civil war and many factions breaking off, citing Egypt and Libya. David grew up one of four brothers, and is old enough to remember when the government instilled poor farming practices and a lot of the country starved. He has witnessed the opening of China through the seventies and eighties. An example of these changes is sex.

Mr. Wang spends most of his free time texting or gaming on his phone

At one time sex was a very private affair, and both parties were expected to remain virgins until marriage. Now sex is much more open, and many couples live together rather than marry. Another example is when Kathy played a joke on Edie by giving her a condom from the hotel room wrapped in heart shaped paper. David was taken aback, but our driver, Mr. Wang, who is 29 didn't blink an eye.