We left Beijing and headed to Kunming—about a 3 and a half hour flight. The plane was a little delayed so we ended up arriving around 5:30pm (an hour later than planned). We collected our suitcases and headed outside, immediately greeted by the not-so-frigid air (like we had experienced in Beijing). Three buses, 20 people per bus, and we were off driving through the capital city of Yunnan Province.
That night we watched the “Dynamic Yunnan” show, which involved several different professional performances from ethnic minority groups. The show started at 8pm but we were still driving around at 7:30pm and had yet to eat dinner. We finally arrived at the restaurant, were shuffled downstairs, and ate dinner within ten minutes, the servers rushing frantically around delivering plates to the table.
Dinner was a specialty of the region—you place meat, vegetables, and noodles in hot soup, wait a few minutes, and slurp it up. We didn’t have time to question what all we were eating, but I found a lovely description of it in our trip itinerary:
“Across the Bridge Noodle: The province’s best-known dish owes it origins to a colorful story originating from southern Yunnan. A Qing dynasty scholar looking for a conducive spot to prepare for the imperial examination confined himself to a small island on a lake in Mengzi County. His studies were marred by one thing—food. By the time his wife reached him across a long bamboo bridge, his noodles were already cold. One day she discovered by accident that by pouring a thin layer of oil over the broth, it would stay hot. She could then place the slices of meat and vegetables in the soup once she reached the island.” (The scholar passed his exam, due to his wife’s excellent cooking and incredibly accommodating spirit, I think.)
After dinner we walked five minutes and entered quietly to watch the performance that had already started. The show was simply amazing. I had done my Silk Road presentation last semester on music, so I have listened to enough Chinese music to give me a real appreciation for it. The Yi women have incredibly high voices, supposedly from yelling across the water to each other, and they sang a great song that I have listened to many times before.
One of the performances was about women’s essential role: “Without women there would be no people.” Another performance was about courting, which involves females and males dancing around each other. One of the English translations of the lyrics for this song read: “If girl not dance, her prettiness attract no man.” I had two thoughts about this sentence: 1) This is my new life motto; 2) Gender roles, Gender roles, Gender roles.
Another song’s lyrics read: “If not sing with mouth, life is meaningless.” Consider it my other new life motto.
My favorite performance came at the end: The Peacock Dance. A woman dressed in an amazing white peacock outfit twirled around on stage as the lights changed colors. It was the last performance and definitely the best one. (If you get the chance, definitely check this show out!)
We returned to the hotel for bed. My first day on the Yunnan trip: hectic but colorful.
Samm Nicolino says: 
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