Every traveler should be so lucky as to have a Ming Zhu in their lives.
This was my second weekend in Kunming, but my first where I had nothing to do other than what I had planned to do, which, as of Friday night, was going to be the path of least resistance: doing nothing. Instead, my friend and fellow EAPSI participant, Chris Ortega, a die-hard Texan (he actually brought the Texas flag to China, though he is not yet proudly displaying it for the Chinese world to take in) who is a Materials Science graduate student at Houston, invited me to come down to his hotel and stay the weekend. There are a total of 30 China EAPSI fellows this year, but half stayed in Beijing for their work and only one other, Chris, ventured to Kunming with me. Whereas I am in the rural North of the city, Chris is in the thick of things, located right at the southern edge of one of the campuses of Yunnan University, where my friend and former fellow SLU Biology graduate student, Ming, is now an assistant professor. Initially hesitant, I decided (with my wife's long-distance coaxing in my head: "you should go out and have an adventure") to give it a try, so I hopped into a taxi, showed the driver the address on my phone, and prayed that this kind-hearted soul understood where I was headed and would lead me in the right direction (and not around in circles).
This was my second weekend in Kunming, but my first where I had nothing to do other than what I had planned to do, which, as of Friday night, was going to be the path of least resistance: doing nothing. Instead, my friend and fellow EAPSI participant, Chris Ortega, a die-hard Texan (he actually brought the Texas flag to China, though he is not yet proudly displaying it for the Chinese world to take in) who is a Materials Science graduate student at Houston, invited me to come down to his hotel and stay the weekend. There are a total of 30 China EAPSI fellows this year, but half stayed in Beijing for their work and only one other, Chris, ventured to Kunming with me. Whereas I am in the rural North of the city, Chris is in the thick of things, located right at the southern edge of one of the campuses of Yunnan University, where my friend and former fellow SLU Biology graduate student, Ming, is now an assistant professor. Initially hesitant, I decided (with my wife's long-distance coaxing in my head: "you should go out and have an adventure") to give it a try, so I hopped into a taxi, showed the driver the address on my phone, and prayed that this kind-hearted soul understood where I was headed and would lead me in the right direction (and not around in circles).
Thirty-four yuan (about $5.50) and one hour later (it took me a half hour to walk to a place where I could actually hail a cab) I did indeed arrive at Chris' hotel. After chatting with my family on Skype for an hour, I headed out with Chris to experience some American style food in China. For lunch we patronized a cafe named Salvadore's. Their menu spans the gauntlet of American food: burgers, spicy chicken tenders, lettuce salads, quesadillas, American beers, grape wines, espressos, ice cream, you name it. As you can get a hint of from the picture on the left, Salvador's is the place where many foreign tourists [read: American ex-pats] go for a taste of the West. When we arrived, there were but just a few Chinese people eating here, wherein jazz music was playing, books (all in English) graced the entirety of one of the walls, and salt and pepper shakers mingled on the tabletops. Truly, if you had your back to the door and if the Chinese waitresses were supplanted with American ones, you could not tell you were in the heart of the Yunnan province in China. Having eaten primarily Chinese food for two weeks, Chris and I both wanted a bit of variety in our diets. The restaurant proved up to the task, and we came back later that night for dinner and drinks.
Having unsuccessfully attempted to gain contact with Ming through two e-mails and one phone call last week, I was doubtful that a phone call to him on Saturday night while I was near him would prove fruitful. To my surprise and delight, Ming did answer my call and was thrilled (beyond thrilled, really) to hear that I was in Kunming and so close to him (the e-mail address I had been writing to is infrequently checked by him these days). Around 9pm he met up with Chris and me back at Chris' hotel room, where our reunion was joyous. I introduced Ming and Chris to each other, but, as it turns out, they had already met a couple of days prior at the gym, and Ming, of course, made it seem like they were old friends. My first year of graduate school was made ever the more bearable by my friend Ming (at the time a fourth year grad student), whose happiness and shear joy for life and concern for friends is unmatched. Ming's intense desire to help me and others in graduate school permeates every aspect of his life and, I now know, is only the more concentrated in his homeland. After chatting for some time in the room, Ming took me (Chris stayed behind to talk with his girl whose in the States) for a walking tour of the nightlife of the city. Our journey took us past many bars whose tables were packed with young people drinking beverages and playing games to Green Lake, a beautiful area where several traditional performers were playing with their music as lights danced off the water behind them, and then finally back to Salvador's where Ming and I shared a couple of dark beers and warm conversation.
The next day Ming met us back at the hotel room at around 9:30am. From there he took us to a great traditional rice noodle joint for breakfast. It was one of the spicier breakfasts I ever had, but was nonetheless delicious. We then walked over to Yunnan University where Ming showed us the genetic disorders lab in which he works. While we were in the lab, Ming showed us a couple jars of "specimens," one which contained a human embryo and another which contained an infant that had two heads [note, if you are interested, I have a picture of this you can access from the flickr link below, but if you's rather not, just ignore the photo]. After getting a taste for Ming's life as an assistant professor, we walked to the WalMart where Chris bought a chess set and I bought a proper pillow (the ones I had been attempting to use at my apartment were more like thin strips of cloth than pillows... plus this one has lavender), and then we were off to Heavenly Manna for lunch. Heavenly Manna, I noticed from a plaque on the wall, had won best Chinese food in 2007, and I could taste why. Each of the five dishes we had were well-spiced and contained no MSG (a rarity in China)! I think one of our dishes, the beef with fried mint leaves, was even spiced with a curry. Having had our fill of food, Ming ushered me to the bus stop where he had me take pictures on my phone of the Chinese characters for the names of the stops that I needed to take to get back home. Taking the bus was less than ideal for me (I'd have rather just hopped back in the taxi), but the bus only costs 0.9 yuan per trip if you have a bus pass (which, thanks to Ming, I had in hand), and he assured me it would be easy enough - which it was.
As I said, every traveler should be blessed enough to have a Ming with them. Ming has big plans for us over the next several weeks. I'm looking forward to having my feet placed in some water at a spa where some fish will nibble the dead skin off of them, traveling to the beautiful cities of Dali and Lijiang, and tasting some of the teas that his friends sell. Without my friend here, I think I'd struggle with just leaving my front door.
Find your Ming.
As I said, every traveler should be blessed enough to have a Ming with them. Ming has big plans for us over the next several weeks. I'm looking forward to having my feet placed in some water at a spa where some fish will nibble the dead skin off of them, traveling to the beautiful cities of Dali and Lijiang, and tasting some of the teas that his friends sell. Without my friend here, I think I'd struggle with just leaving my front door.
Find your Ming.
Pics of Yunnan University and more Kunming food: http://www.flickr.com/photos/97422460@N08/sets/72157634276431601/