Week 37
on Tina's Journal (China), 07/Nov/2009 13:46, 34 days ago
Today a group of us headed off to Xishuangbanna to visit the Elephant park just over an hour's bus journey south of Simao. Despite being an elephant park, you have to be lucky to actually see any wild elephants. We did actually get to see some tame elephants, which strangely enough, were being used in some wedding photo shots. At one stage the bride was straddled on one of them in a sexy pose! Chinese wedding photos usually take place either before or after the wedding but not on the same day. Last weekend when I was walking up tea mountain there were twolots of couples having their photos taken there. I find it odd because the settings are unnatural and do not represent the actual wedding itself. Anyway, the park is very beautiful and part of the tropical forest. We took a cable car up into the hills and walked back down through the forest. I got a little afraid at one point as we came across some monkeys which moved like lightening through the trees, the next thing I noticed there was one was right next to us. It didn't hang around for long. We also saw some huge snakes kept in glass cages, some very colourful birds in a giant aviary, and some weird colourful insects I hadn't seen before. We also saw some boar which were being chased by their keeper who kept throwing a broom at them!! Far too often I have noticed the lack of respect for animals here. During the journey to the park, the scenery started to change and became much more tropical. It seemed hotter than than in Simao and we were much closer to the border with Myanmar, only a few kilometers. On the way back we had to flag the bus down from the main road in the hope we could get on. There are no direct buses from the park back to Simao, you need to walk up to the main Jinghong-Simao road and hope for the best. The great thing about China is that they'll get you on the bus if there is an inch of space left. Anyway, we got on a bus after waiting nearly an hour and getting bitten up by a vicious mosquito, that was only me I might add! No seats left but we were allowed to stand, all 7 of us!! The past week as been realtively easy. Jayne and I were honoured guests at Gao lin's house as her mother wanted to make us home made dumplings! A very popular dish in China. The dumplings were great but to be honest Jayne and I were more interested in checking out Gao lin's wardrobe as we have never seen her in the same clothes twice. She proudly showed off to us her large wardrobe crammed with clothes, her en suite bathroom has been converted and has about 200 or more pairs of shoes, plus there are boxes in her room filled with clothes and handbags. Her husband has a tiny piece of the wardrobe in their daughter's room for himself! It is just like you would imagine a famous Hollywood star's wardrobe to be. Gao lin is considered a real beauty in China because of her pale skin. Dark skin is frowned upon. Many women walk around with their umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun. If you are slightly tanned people will comment on the change in skin tone. So many beauty products you see in the shops have whitening agent in it, basically to bleach the skin, how sad is that!! Gao lin is a dear friend and knows that we are amazed by her love of clothes, she would be happy to know that I am telling you all about it! She is a teacher in the college and is liked by all her students because she gives them her time, listens to their problems and gets to know her students very well.Photos: A glimpse of one of the monkeys in the forest, a typical Chinglish signpost and me rather relieved to get on the bus back home!