Yunnan then and now

Just returned from a trip to Yunnan covering Kunming, Dali and Lijiang. This was my second visit to Yunnan after more than 15 years. Like many cities in China one notices a quantum leap in their modernisation and commercialism. The Dali and Lijiang ancient towns have lost their charm and are now cluttered with souvenir shops, boutiques and pubs at nite. I notice the once clear running stream at Lijiang old town has stopped flowing naturally and a fire hydrant was pumping water into it to create a current. Walking through the drinking hole lined with pubs in the ancient town of Dali in the evening was a real experience. Each pub blared its own rock music at top decibel trying to outdo each other such that it is almost impossible to hear any single piece without the fusion of neighbouring noises. The youngster's high tolerance of noise is really amazing.

Of course modernisation has its wonders. Where the last trip we sat on chairlifts across mountains to reach only a certain height for us to gaze at Yulong mountain in wonder from a distance, we are now whisked up by cable car climbing more than 2 thousand meters to reach a height of over 4500m to stand next to the glaciers. The ascent was so fast that our body had no time to adjust and some of us were gasping and wobbly stepping out of the cable car. Nevertheless we can now puff in oxygen from canisters. What a far cry from the oxygen pillow we hung over our necks during our last trip which was such an embarrassment to wear and which only the elderly used. Now every visitor young and old holds a canister of oxygen and puff away like an addict. Honestly speaking it is really very effective in that an occasional puff can assist you reach further height up the Glacier Park.


Where we gazed in awe at the snow covered YuLong Mt from a distance during our last trip, now we watched the spectacular Zhang Yi Mou Lijiang Impression show with the mountain as the backdrop. This is what technology and modern engineering bestow.

Some things however remained the same. The wonder medicine 红景天 to lessen altitude sickness is still trusted. Maybe how the people in Yunnan view Singaporeans may also still be the same. During our last trip more than 15 years ago the tour group consisted of quite a few families with young kids. The Yunnan guide made an observation about how the Singapore parents had to put food on the plates of their 'born-lucky' kids and urged them to eat. He remarked that in China the kids scrambled for the food on the table. During this recent trip our Yunnan tour guide was a young man of 27, very caring and efficient. The tour included a visit to Dongchuan Red Land, a relatively rural agricultural county famous for its brilliant multi coloured terraced farmland. However being very undeveloped the toilets at the gas stations along the way were nothing more than an unflushed drain in a cubicle at the back. Needless to say the condition in terms of sight and smell is best not mentioned. A few young ladies in our group about the same age as the tour guide would not venture no matter how urgent the necessity. The young guide can not help but subtly remarked that Singapore youngsters should be more "adventurous" in experiencing the living conditions in other parts of the world. The same sarcasm then and now!