Yunnan ("South of the Clouds")
Yunnan province is located in mountainous southwestern part of China. It is rich in natural resources, such as water (i.e. hydro-power), minerals, medicinal herbs, and some farm products.
Kunming
Kunming is the provincial capital of Yunnan. Before deplaning, we were inspected by health officials who boarded the plane to "check" for any sign of the H1N1 flu symptom. Our first stop right off the plane was the "Golden Temple".
The gilded characters are "Jin Dian" (Golden Temple) in the above photo.
The above photo shows one of the gates of the temple.
Inside the walls is a courtyard, the entrance of which is guarded by soldiers stationed above the gate. The flag that is hanging on a pole is metallic and very artistic. See above picture.
The marble statue of a lady inside the park is Chen Yuan Yuan, who was a concubine of the Ming emperor, and later wife of a general (Wu Sangui). General Wu was a Ming general who opened a gate of the Great Wall he was guarding to spite his love-rival and let the Qing army in to capture the capital, and established the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1912). He got his lady and was first rewarded as head of Yunnan, and beheaded when he became too ambitious for the throne.
Beauty can cut both ways; Chen Yuan Yuan was a great beauty and scholar, who wrote many poems including several that were carved in stone at the park, but had a very unhappy life. More about “beauty” later.
On the other hand, walls cannot stop people who are determined to come in. The Great Wall was built over hundreds of years spanning thousands of miles sacrificing millions of people with blood, sweat, and tears to match. I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if instead of spending time, effort, and money building the Wall, schools were built for the “northern barbarians” (the Mongols, Tartars, Huns, etc). Then treated them as equal, and compete with them in sports and on the economic, scholastic, and scientific fields. Does this not have a familiar ring?
The park was serene and beautiful. Willow trees swayed with the wind at the edge of the lake and the bridge formed a neat reflection.
On the other side of the lake were some buildings and an alley for people to walk and rest if they choose to, as shown by the photo above.
The photo above shows the "Grand View Pagoda". The view of the lake from the top must be magnificent.
We were approaching the "Bell Tower". In China, there are usually bell towers in cities or temples housing a large bell, which is used to mark time, act as an alarm for calamity or imminent danger.
The photo above shows the big bell and a "fish-striker" (wrapped with a red cloth). You push on the fish and it hits the bell producing a deep, loud. sound.
The sculpture above is one of many in the park. Yunnan has a great reserve of copper in the mines and people had discovered how to use it hundreds (maybe even thousand) of years ago. Metal workers, as well as artists, have learned to mold, form, and create many things, great and small.
We saw another pagoda (above) before we left. Actually the pagoda was straight, the camera was not so.
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