Tokyo, a huge contrast to what I have been living

Today was my first full day in Tokyo, yesterday we arrived to the Peninsula Hotel and the old Japan that I remember slapped me in the face when the two valet attendants and taxi cab driver opened my husbands door and took the luggage out of the trunk and left me sitting there, and I had to open my own door! Welcome to Japan! I walked for over five hours today while Ken was a a meeting. Tokyo is a difficult place to navigate, all the signs are in Japanese and almost no one speaks English, so you get lost and then you find you way again. While walking through the park I watched hundreds of folk listen to an orchestra and then sing along with them. When it finished they all got up in an orderly fashion and walked out from the bandshell.  For a city that has 12 million people, you feel like there are 12, it is so quiet, no horns, no loud voices, and no trash anywhere!  Such a contrast to China, the Japanese are refined, they do not burp, the do not pick their nose in public, and they do not push and shove. They are so civil! I thought so much of Amber and Nicki today, I went to a wood block printing store and the inventory was incredible, full of old masters prints. I then went to dinner with Ken in this small traditional home style restaurant where the pottery was beautifully imperfect! Huge bowls and platters slightly off and ever so gorgeous. I am looking forward to another day of pounding the pavements tomorrow. In the first photograph the kids were cracking up that I was taking their picture.

Traditions lost, identities, people assimilating.

Amber, asked me if the people were dancing, the answer is yes! And it is such a lovely sight to see. We saw them in the mornings at the park and in the evenings at the plaza dacncing to their folkloric music. I could have sat and watched all day! Several women and only one man, we're keeping their tradition alive. The disheartening thing to me is that the way of dressing, the language and I imagine the family component are being lost to the westernization of China. The worst part of living in Hong Kong is that it is a concrete jungle and with the exception of a few temples and the signage you would think you were in any big city. Nothing makes it special and unique, unless you want to say that it is special because it has the most sky scrapers in the world. What I admire so much about the Naxi and the Bai people is that they have existed and thrived for over three thousand years. The sad part is that in maybe five to ten years time, their language will no longer exist, their way of writing and their dress will disappear and all too quickly be forgotten. The U.S. has done the same thing with their immigrants, families were ashamed to speak, Italian, Spanish, or any of the hundreds of languages and traditions that were brought to the U.S.. The kids trying their hardest to assimilate and become "American" as quickly as possible and forgetting who we are as people. The one thing I am grateful for is I know my country's music,food and traditions and some of those have been passed down to my daughter and hopefully to her children. This is part of what makes us so beautifully unique. This has truly saddened me to think that all of our history through out the world will one day disappear and we will all be "vanilla"! At the airport now off to Japan! Good morning!

Japan, Kyoto here I come!

This will be a first for me to spend more than a day in Japan, I am looking forward to see how I react to this country that I have had an aversion to for some time. I am not sure when or where this began, if it was the many male passengers in Miami that did not want a female to wait on them, or if it was when I was flying on Japan airlines in first class and was always tended to last because I was the only woman. The thing with Japan is that hardly none of the people speak English, and I will have no tour guide, so this will be a challenge I am sure! But, having said all that I am certainly looking forward to my trip and to the beauty of Kyoto.

Sick as a Hong Kong Dog

Today I woke and an hour later I was in terrible pain! I was in my room, on my bed dying, getting ready to call any ambulance that would come on a Sunday morning. Then I started searching for pills to help with my terrible pain. I
have had this pain before, I get this heat and cramps at the beginning of my stomach, I get nauseous and feel like vomiting  with chills. After a half hour and a pill I finally threw up! What a relief, temporary, but a relief. I then took another pill and prayed for the pain to go away. I am not sure what it was, if it was a week of heavy foods while my mom was visiting or if it was food poisoning.  I am glad that it is over! I still have some ache, but nothing compared to this morning. We went to the movies this afternoon and saw The Exotic Marigold Hotel with Judy Dench and a caste of fabulous actors.  I loved the movie,  the fact that is was in amazing India and the message the
movie contained. The movie actually contained several messages, one: you live your life a certain way and think you know the people around you, but you really don't, sometimes you really don't even know yourself. The other is that there is hope at the end of the tunnel, that maybe just when your life is over as you know it, something  changes and there is a new beginning.  Today there was an article in the paper Chinese women seeking middle age foreign men, and Chinese women willing to pay $5,000 (about $500.00 U.S.) to meet foreigners through speed dating. The fact of the matter is that there are many Asian women dating or married to "white" men. Very rarely do you see a "white" woman with a Chinese man. One article said that men and Chinese in general do not do casual dating, the other possibilities, white women do not necessarily want to be with a man that is shorter and weighs less than them. Lastly the article stated that it is still frowned upon in society for a Chinese man to marry outside the culture, and that men usually do not marry foreign women because when the men marry Chinese, they are the ones that are "wearing the pants" sort of speak. I think all thoughts make perfectly good sense to me. The only thing I am uncomfortable about  is that most of these women are very young compared to the much older gentlemen they are with. One week until I go home!

Matriarchal Naxi and Bai Women in Yunnan

While we were traveling in the Yunnan province we encountered several tribal minorities, but  two minority tribes the Naxi women and the Bai women drew me to them. The Naxi women are matriarchal, they keep custody of the children and the men do not live with their family. The women are in control of the money and raise their children. When the children turn 13 the women tell them who their father is. I find this fascinating, so much of the Western culture thinks that it is necessary to have a mother and father to raise children right.  We have witnessed that this does not always work, with the divorce rate being 50 % of all marriages ending in divorce. This tribe has been in existance for thousands of years and it seems to work for them. There are only 300,000 thousand left and the customs and their way of writing (using pictographs) is quickly diminishing.  The Bai are known for their architectural skills and the style of their homes. They also have some of the most colorful costumes and head wear in China. The more and more I travel I am aware that the women are the ones that carry society. I asked my guide, why is it that the woman does all the work and the man just sits and observes.  All the guides say the same thing, the men are lazy and like to drink. They take their birds to the park, drink and do little if nothing. She also told me that women have wised up and now control the money in the family. Also women now are waiting to get married and have children.  I think women in the west are now waiting to get married and have children for similar reasons. Not that men in the U.S. are lazy, but women are finding out that life does not have to be Ozzie and Harriet. Who are we as a society to say that a husband and wife are the "only" way to raise children. I hope my daughter realizes that she must be independent and love herself first and fulfill herself before committing to anyone else. My mom is in town, and we walked around Central yesterday and then went to dinner. Hong Kong is humid! One of the locals said it feels like a monsoon is coming, the stickiness and the humidity is ridiculous. No photos today I posted too many the other day. I have ten days before I am home! Yes! Today I am going to find a place to print some photos and send to this lady in the mountains that wanted her granddaughter to have something to remember her by. Ken painted her, as you saw in one of the photos yesterday and I promised to send her photos. The catch is, that I cannot write Chinese and she does not have an address, so I have have Ken's secretary write the address and I will mail to my guide that will go on tour again at some point to the mountains and take the photos to my beautiful old lady. Ok one photo same one because I love this viejita. :-)

Yunnan, a beautiful part of the "Old China"

Ken and I took our first trip to China together and we visited a small part of the Yunnan province. Beautiful landscapes with mountains, rivers and lakes. We first landed in Kunming and stayed in the City one night. We visited Yuantong Temple which was under renovation. We stayed at the Green Lake Hotel which was fabulous! The next morning we took an early flight to Dali, home of more than fifty minorities.  We went to Erhai lake and went to
see the cormorants fish. This was an amazing sight to see how these birds catch the fish. We also went to see the Three Pagodas that has a history of over 1,800 years. It so happened that we were there on Buddhas birthday and I was able to join the procession and had the privilege of bathing the Buddha with all of the worshipers.  I was overwhelmed by this experience, I was overcome with emotion and I had to fight to contain myself. The Old town of Dali is lovely, the Bai ethnic group  paint their houses white and then paint the corners or center with beautiful Chinese brush paintings. The next day we drove three and a half hours to Lijiang. Another beautiful town, the difference being that this town suffered a major earthquake in 2006 and the Chinese government decided to rebuild the city and it looks as if it were hundreds of years old. We stayed at the Crown Plaza hotel where EVERYTHING in this hotel was perfect!

The only thing wrong with Lijiang is that it is a tourist trap and sells the same thing over and over again and at inflated prices!  The best part of our trip was visiting the Yak Meadow of Jade Dragon where I met a 78 widow. This lady was from the Yi ethnic minority and we had a wonderful time, so much so that we were scheduled for a show and missed the show to visit with her. The lady had asked Ken for one wish, to paint her so that her grand daughter would have a memory of her when she passed.  The next day we went to Baisha and I walked the streets after lunch and Ken sat and sketched. I was walking down one of the streets when this old lady grabbed my arm and pulled me in to her home. There she offered me a tangerine, tea and sun flowers, and we chatted via sign language. I then decided I need an interpreter so I called my guide to come and help me. I had the best time visiting with this old lady. I believe these simple encounters with these folks are the most enriching part of my life here in Hong Kong.