Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, is a Chinese city that lies on the old southwestern route into South Asia. It has long been a melting pot of races, cultures and religions. Yunnan shares borders with Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, which made it a vital trading hub in the glory days of imperial China.
Kunming has long profited from its location on the caravan roads and therefore prospered.
Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, is a Chinese city that lies on the old southwestern route into South Asia. It has long been a melting pot of races, cultures and religions. Yunnan shares borders with Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, which made it a vital trading hub in the glory days of imperial China. Kunming has long profited from its location on the caravan roads and therefore prospered.
The Chinese eat pork a lot, one way is as pork sausages on sticks. Usually they are sweet, fatty and oily.
Islam came here about 700 years ago and today the Hui people, who are a predominantly Muslim ethnic group in China, is counted as the third largest ethnic group in Kunming.
The last old street in the centre of the city, previously forming a Muslim quarter, is very important to Kunming’s muslim population. Until recently this street was full of wind-dried beef and mutton carcasses, pitta bread and raisin sellers, and huge woks of roasting coffee beans being earnestly stirred with shovels.
Rapid modernisation over recent years has seen the visible signs of their culture wiped out. The streets have been demolished to make way for apartments and shopping plazas.
With the destruction of Muslim cultural property, general discontent and tension has arisen among the Muslims. After an attack on civilians last year the government has installed police booths with video surveillance and vans with armed police officers.
Compared to Beijing or Shanghai, Kunming is kept clean and the air here isn’t polluted.
For a very long time dance was used as an exercise for people to keep healthy after a prolonged spell of wet weather. Traditionally some Chinese dances may also have a connection with the martial arts that were used to train in fighting skills and some martial arts exercises such as Tai chi are similar to a choreographed dance.
In modern China it is common to find people using dance as a form of exercise in parks.
In China open-crotch pants are widely used so that a child can urinate and defecate wherever it pleases. It’s also done so that children complete their toilet training more quickly and at an earlier age. Other benefits include the elimination of nappy rash and reduction of the environmental problems caused by disposable nappies.
I am a self conscious person and I cannot go for a number one if I am being watched. Just like some time ago, when I worked on a building site and once a week people were selected to be tested for drugs. So finally my name was picked, of all the most difficult tests in my life this was the most difficult. Peeing in a jar, when being watch by a nurse. It was important they watched as the samples could be switched over. Anyway, so I stood and huffed and puffed for half an hour with a full bladder and tense muscles and seemed about to burst.
Going back to the Chinese toilet, which looked empty the first time, which is surprisingly rare in China; I went in, unzipped, relaxed and here you go, hearing the door creaking. Squatting, Chinese man, with a cigarette in his mouth, staring like he has never seen a white man peeing before.
