Yunnan, Show Me Your People

This past July, which I spent living in Yunnan, China, enlivened my love for East Asia to a whole new level. When I originally set out for Yunnan, I had in mind that I would want to write an article for The Caravel along the lines of a location journal, to display a personal view of the natural beauty of the land. However, I found a much greater beauty within, something that inspired me to an even larger degree. The people of Yunnan, without a doubt, shine much brighter than the Shilin or the old town of Dali. My host, a medical doctor who has aided people in need in China for two decades, facilitated my journey through Yunnan, from the capital city of Kunming to the 10,000-foot high city of Shangri-La, aptly renamed after James Hilton’s fictional paradise. The natural beauty I observed on my trip was much vaster than any I had previously encountered. Majestic mountains covered in extensive forests, ancient rivers and valleys that have preserved their wild natures, all of these amazed me, but the kindness of the people I encountered amazed me even more.

yunnan2 As some of you may know, the People’s Republic of China covers an extensive amount of Asia, governing over a great variety of ethnic minorities. Out of the 55 ethnic minorities (not including the Han majority), 24 are found in Yunnan, making up around 38 percent of the province’s entire population. That in itself stands to say much about the unique culture that one experiences in Yunnan. Along with the doctor, I met with Buyei families, some of the poorest in Yunnan, whose primary jobs consist of collecting garbage in the streets to sell to disposal facilities. I accompanied a 75 year old Lisu woman from the leprosy village she has lived in for decades to visit her home village in the mountains, where she met again with her 105-year old mother. I ate lunch with a Tibetan Buddhist monk and his family, enjoying the barbecued yak meat, but the sūyóu chá (yak butter tea) not so much.

Now, my point in all of this is to illustrate the diversity of life in this province, and the kindheartedness of the people I encountered. No matter the economic situation, my tea cup was always filled to the brim, fruits and candies offered, and I lay humbled at the generosity of people I had merely met. Despite receiving quite the amount of stares for being a white foreigner, the people I met in Yunnan made me feel welcomed and at home (though it was the farthest from home I had ever been). I can barely speak any Mandarin, and I prided myself in finally being able to say things like wǒ bù zhīdào (“I don’t know”). Nevertheless, with the aid of people who could translate for me, I was able to make friends with people, even to the point of having to download Wēixìn (WeChat), a Chinese messaging app, in order to keep in touch.

yunnan3 While I did not even have it in my list of goals to achieve during my stay in China to “make new friends,” the friendliness of the people I met led to that outcome. Concerning my future travels, those planned and those yet unplanned, I will look beyond just the historical landmarks and the bright lights and take the opportunity to relate with the fellow humans around me. The generosity and diversity of the people I met in China is surely not exclusive to the region, so at every opportunity I have, I will always keep in mind the value in connecting with people from such different walks of life.