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Sept 18, 2017

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Jonas Kelsch

"Our belief in any particular natural law cannot have a safer basis than our unsuccessful critical attempts to refute it." (Karl Popper)

We can find from Karl Popper's statement his view that the natural laws we tend to see as 100% fact should not be considered immune from scientific questioning, that process which helps us establish such laws.

If we look at religious belief, scientific enquiry can proceed as far as confirming that believers go to temple, pray with rosaries and burn incense. If scientists begin to question why worshippers do these things, it becomes speculation. Our current observational abilities do not allow us to see, smell or touch the believers' actual intentions.

Sigmund Freud and his one-time protege, Carl Jung, believed that their conversation-based methods of treating patients' mental illness rested on scientific principles. Both were licensed medical doctors. Although their patients could demonstrate symptoms of mental illness or recovery in the form of psychotic episodes, neurotic habits or relative calm, it is debatable to what extend these doctors' understanding of the human psyche was based on observation or conjecture. For instance, Freud derived his concept of the oedipus complex from an ancient Greek drama, and Jung devoted himself to the study of semiotics (His critics accused him of confusing mysticism and science).

Going back to Popper's concise delineation of scientific reasoning, it is not clear whether his idea of the word "critical" was limited to analyzing only what we can observe with our five senses - the basis of 'hard science' - or whether he also had in mind the kind of analytical argument that is used to reach conclusions in philosophy and theology. In the context of this dichotomy, a "basis" for a refutation may have varying credibility depending on who is examining the argument, and, in particular, what is their academic discipline.

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A look at scientific reasonings - Jonas Thomas Kelsch - Medium

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"Our belief in any particular natural law cannot have a safer basis than our unsuccessful critical attempts to refute it." (Karl Popper) We can find from Karl Popper's statement his view that the natural laws we tend to see as 100% fact should not be considered immune from scientific questioning, that process which helps us establish such laws.

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Hong Kong's persistent yet endangered biodiversity

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Hong Kong's persistent yet endangered biodiversity

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Hong Kong Free Press - Jul 23, 2017

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A few world-class cities have a skyline where glistening business towers and lush green mountains compete for attention, but only Hong Kong has designated over 40 percent of its land area for nature conservation.

This extensive environmental protection contrasts with the territory's tumultuous ecological history. Hong Kong lost its primary tree cover to timber and firewood harvesting well before the first British ships moored at Victoria Harbour.

As recently as the 1950s, mature trees were rare on Hong Kong Island. Judging from the dense forests that now blanket many of Hong Kong's upland areas, the region's 40-year-old Country Parks system has been a success.

"Hong Kong has done quite a good job", said Dr Michael Lau, Director of the city's World Wildlife Fund for Nature branch. Conserving 40 percent of an exceptionally dense city is "quite a big achievement", he added.
Orientation
Dr Lau knows that government protection is not a failsafe conservation measure. In 2014 he contributed to a WWF report on how 12 nominally protected and ecologically valuable plots of land within and adjacent to country parks had been damaged, probably so that the land could be developed.

Hong Kong is among the most crowded cities in the world, and it is situated in China's Pearl River Delta, one of the world's largest urban clusters. As a result, its natural environment is significantly degraded, and has been for some time.

So it is surprising that Hong Kong supports a relatively rich variety of plants and animals, says Professor David Dudgeon, chair of Ecology and Biodiversity at The University of Hong Kong (HKU). He believes active environmental stewardship is necessary.

"Biological conservation is not just like leaving things alone and hoping they'll be OK", he said. "That's fine if you have a big chunk of pristine rainforest in the middle of the Amazon, but that's not OK if you have a human-dominated environment like the Pearl River Delta".
Degraded environment
Prof Dudgeon's colleague, entomologist Dr Benoit Guénard, sees both sadness and opportunity in Hong Kong's ecological situation. He said the SAR resembles similarly degraded environments throughout Asia and around the world, "where huge areas are being deforested and we have limited knowledge of what the outcome for biodiversity will be".

He thinks the regrowth of Hong Kong's forests since the 1950s can provide insights into what other deforested areas may look like in 60 or 70 years' time.

Several factors explain Hong Kong's persistent biodiversity. The region is situated in the tropics, more specifically, within the Indo-Burma Hotspot, one of 25 regions in the world that have an exceptionally large number of species.

The city's location at the northern fringe of the tropics is also significant. Hong Kong has a subtropical climate, with more extreme changes in temperature, including lower minimum temperatures, than in places closer to the equator.

This more dynamic weather may play a part in making Hong Kong a suitable habitat for species that are usually restricted to temperate or tropical climate zones, like the bumblebee, which is not normally found below the Tropic of Cancer.

A complex maritime environment also contributes to Hong Kong's abundant biodiversity, said Vriko Yu, a coral researcher at HKU. Hong Kong is on the edge of the Western Pacific, a marine biodiversity hotspot, and the city's waters are influenced by three oceanic currents throughout the year.

The summertime brings the Hainan current, then the Taiwan and Kuroshio currents reach Hong Kong in the winter. These flows "bring marine organisms from everywhere in the Pacific area", Yu said.

The Pearl River Estuary brings in another element of complexity, she added. This mixing zone of fresh and salt water, combined with the three oceanic currents, means that Hong Kong has "a very great diversity of the environment[al] conditions and habitats," Yu said.

Nearly 6,000 marine species have been recorded in Hong Kong, according to a survey conducted last year by the Swire Institute of M arine Science and HKU's School of Biological Sciences.

Yu has been helping restore corals in Hoi Ha Wan, after a mass bleaching event two years ago killed many of the corals there. She and her colleagues are still investigating the cause of the bleaching, but she remains optimistic.

"Well, it's really interesting to study corals in Hong Kong", Yu said, explaining that the local waters are characterized by low clarity, considerable temperature variation and excess nutrients.

"So environment-wise it's not the best place for corals to live, but they're still here. It's like the spirit of the Lion Rock, the Hong Kong spirit," Yu said, smiling and forming air quotes.
New species
There is still plenty to discover about Hong Kong's ecology and biodiversity. Last August, Dr Guénard and one of his research assistants, Ying Luo, discovered a new insect species, the Golden Tree Ant ( Paratopula bauhinia ), which is likely endemic to the region.

"I've always wanted to discover a new species and I was lucky enough to do it!" said Luo.

With around 16,000 new species described each year, finding new species is not uncommon, Dr Guénard said. But for Luo "it was a very big achievement, and she has a right to feel so because it's a contribution; it's a contribution for the rest of time now".

The ant discovery shows that meaningful biodiversity research can happen "even in places where there is a lot of human impact," Luo explained.

Species are probably being lost faster than they are being discovered, Dr Guénard said. He estimated that there are likely several hundreds, maybe thousands, of species yet to be recorded in Hong Kong.

The newly named ant was discovered about 300 meters from Hong Kong University, in Lung Fu Shan Country Park. Some parts of this area feature barbecue sites and public exercise equipment, more like a city park than a country park.

Yet even this modest patch of forest, not two kilometers from the skyscrapers of Hong Kong's CBD, provides convenient solace from the city's hustle and bustle. It is one of 25 country parks in Hong Kong.
Country parks
The country parks are valuable from both an aesthetic and ecological standpoint. During a field visit, HKU Ph.D. student Roger Lee said the biodiversity in Hong Kong is "partly or mostly due to the country parks system", which gives "relatively good protection" compared with nearby areas such as Guangdong province.

The country parks are a treasure trove of life in Hong Kong, but they do not contain the kind of mature primary forests that support the greatest diversity of species. Lee's colleague, Mac Pierce, said that primary forests are something of a holy grail for environmental preservation. "But the whole 'save the rainforest' kind of initiative, it's noble but it's not exactly working. So I think the future of conservation is going to be regeneration as opposed to conservation exactly".

Pierce and Lee often go on field trips to catalogue insect species throughout Hong Kong. Pierce is currently conducting research on invasive ant species with a grant from Hong Kong's Environment and Conservation Fund, the main government source of cash for environmental protection.

He said that defying tropical heat and copious mosquitos on these expeditions only makes up a fraction of the work yet to be done in cataloguing the region's ant biodiversity.

"As far as fieldwork goes, it takes some level of dedication to come out here and brave the mosquitoes and the sweat", Pierce said, adding that in the lab, "seeing all these really cool tiny little things" that would be impossible to see in the field, is an essential and rewarding part of the work.

That day in early May, Pierce was helping Lee collect samples of leaf litter at a field site where Lee had recently identified an ant specimen of particular interest. He thought the creature might represent a new genus record for Hong Kong.

Lee has been resampling field sites first recorded by Dr John Fellowes, who, while completing a Ph.D. in Hong Kong in the 1990s, documented over 100 sites and created a detailed catalogue of the region's ant species.

"It was the first comprehensive ant inventory in Hong Kong", Lee said. Two decades later, Lee is studying how the ant communities of these sites have changed.

On sites in Country Parks, he is trying to see how the communities have responded to regenerating forest. For sites in unprotected areas, such as the plot of woods we visited on Lantau, he is looking for possible effects of urbanization.

Lee said that when he tells his friends about his work, they quickly mention cockroaches and other pesky insects. He insists there is more to the creatures he studies, but acknowledged a considerable lack of ecological consciousness among the public.

Biodiversity surveys help show Hong Kongers "what's available" in the countryside, Pierce said, "and the more beautiful side of things that they're already supporting". He hopes their work will persuade more Hongkongers to appreciate the city's biodiversity.
'Ethical responsibility'
Last December, the Hong Kong government pledged HK $150m for preserving and enhancing biodiversity. The funding, which supplements the government's regular budget for nature conservation, is to be spent over the next three years. The pledge was announced with the start of Hong Kong's first five-year Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (BSAP).

Prof Dudgeon, who served on the steering committee for the BSAP, said that because the plan very clearly states "Government's commitment to preserve biodiversity as a value in and of itself", the BSAP "is worthy of celebration".

He acknowledged, however, that the plan belongs to the government. So to get various bureaus to agree, "the document is very much a compromise", and the plan could be more specific about the sort of research and conservation work that might qualify for government grants.

But what exactly is the purpose of trying to document and protect thousands of miniscule creatures, some of which the average Hongkonger might find revolting?

Prof Dudgeon admitted: "you could say it doesn't actually matter if you lose this small frog or this particular butterfly or this particular insect, except that it is our heritage and the heritage that we pass on to the next generation. So you could argue that as an ethical responsibility, you shouldn't destroy stuff that your descendants might value".

Another plus for Hong Kong as a place for ecology and biodiversity research, Guénard said, is its warm climate, which allows field work all year. "There may be a short break in January or February, but that's pretty much it", he said, adding that even during these relatively cool months fieldwork can persist.

He believes one prominent barrier to public understanding of Hong Kong's species richness is the city's lack of a dedicated natural history museum.

The BSAP says that over the next five years, the government will look into the long term possibility of establishing a natural history museum, but as with other objectives stated in the plan, specifics are lacking.

Dr Lau of the Hong Kong WWF, who also sat on the BSAP steering committee, said he was "still hopeful" about the plan, because it includes many of the recommendations put forth by the committee and working council focus groups.

He said that some people, including himself, "would say a lot of the details or the targets are missing", which makes it difficult to assess whether the goals are being achieved.

At first glance, Hong Kong has unusually healthy biodiversity for a heavily urbanized area. Cities of similar economic status and population density like New York, London and Shanghai do not have such natural abundance within their administrative borders.

But appearances may be misleading. With continuing development pressure and a wide gap in ecological awareness between experts and the public, Hong Kong's resilient biodiversity is not guaranteed.

"I think one of the important things to understand is that biodiversity in Hong Kong is biodiversity," said Prof Dudgeon. "If we don't protect it, no one else will".
Jonas Kelsch is a freelance journalist and English teacher based in Hong Kong. Before moving to the SAR in 2016, he lived and worked as a college English teacher in Mainland China for six years. In June he completed a Master of Journalism program at The University of Hong Kong.
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Country parks help protect Hong Kong's extraordinary biodiversity, but continuity not guaranteed | Hong Kong Free Press HKFP

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By Jonas Kelsch A few world-class cities have a sky where glistening business towers and lush green mountains compete for attention, but only Hong Kong has designated over 40 percent of its land area for nature conservation. This extensive environmental protection contrasts with the territory's tumultuous ecological history. Hong Kong ...

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Taiwan - Midyear review 2017 (Politics and economy)

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Taiwan - Midyear review 2017 (Politics and economy)

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Asia Sentinel - Jul 17, 2017

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Premier Lin Chuan announced Taiwan would welcome foreign talent to achieve the government's economic goals.

This article is part of a series of reviews of political and economic events that occurred in the first half of 2017 in the major Asia-Pacific economies.

Taiwan's gross domestic product is headed for its fastest clip since 2014, according to an economic think tank. GDP will probably exceed 2%, according to a forecast released in April by the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER).

Darson Chiu, deputy director of macroeconomic forecasting at TIER, said the figure is not necessarily "a very optimistic outlook", he said, as it would be the third year in a row Taiwan's GDP growth has remained below the global average of about 3%.

Exports in the trade-driven economy have been spurred by a global economic recovery, but the growth is superficial due to "very low base effects", said Chiu, pointing to 17 months of consecutive decline in exports that began with 2014's tumbling crude oil prices. He attributed recent increases in Taiwan's export value to oil's recovery.

Taiwan's economy faces two "major structural issues", Chiu said. The first is a supply value chain mainly geared toward the production of intermediate goods such as semiconductors and mechanical parts. The second is a lack of participation in international trade deals.

Chinese production is well-integrated with Taiwan's supply value chains. As a result, China has learned to produce many intermediate goods cheaply on its own. "And that has been hurting Taiwan's export potential" since the 2008-2009 financial crisis, Chiu said, noting that major economies like the US and China are in the process of bringing manufacturing back home as they develop next-generation industries.

President Tsai Ing-wen's administration is aware of this global economic shift and is trying to ensure Taiwan remains a viable high-tech manufacturing hub, particularly in industries related to the Internet of Things (IoT). The Asia Silicon Valley Development Plan and related DIGI+ program are Tsai's ambitious initiatives to foster a culture friendly to innovative digital entrepreneurship and develop a "complete IoT supply chain".

Core objectives of the Asian Silicon Valley plan are to expand the country's market share in in IoT from 3.8 percent (2015) to 5 percent in 2025, and to grow 100 successful companies in the process. However, Taiwan is suffering from a brain drain. In a May interview with Bloomberg, Premier Lin Chuan announced the island nation would welcome foreign talent to achieve the government's economic goals.

If Taiwan does succeed in transforming its supply value chain and becomes a global hub for innovation, it will still need to find export markets. This leads to the second structural challenge Chiu identified: a lack of participation in free trade agreements and trade cooperation agreements, for example, with China, where Taiwanese exports face higher tariffs than those from South Korea.

With the TPP in flux and Taiwan potentially missing out on an FTA with the US after President Donald Trump affirmed his support for the 'One China Policy' in February, Chiu said "it's very critical" that Taiwan not rock the boat with Beijing, which considers Taiwan a rogue province.

"Taiwan and China's economies are closely intertwined, and there is a concern that China has leverage that it will seek to use to punish or compel Taiwan to change its behavior", said Jonathan Sullivan, director of the China Policy Institute at the University of Nottingham.

Tsai's refusal to accept Beijing's interpretation of 'One China' has drawn the ire of the Xi Jinping administration since she was sworn into office over a year ago, and the two sides do not maintain official contacts as they did under Tsai's predecessor, Kuomintang (KMT) politician Ma Ying-jeou. As cross strait relations have deteriorated, the Mainland has intensified its push to diplomatically and economically isolate the self-governing island.

In June, Panama, one of Taiwan's few remaining official allies, established formal diplomatic relations with Beijing. By doing so, it was obliged to honor the 'One China Policy' and sever ties with Taiwan. Early this month, Nigeria shut down Taiwan's trade office in the capital, Abuja.

On the domestic political front, Tsai and her Democratic People's Party (DPP) have resumed a "truth and reconciliation" policy concerning the human rights abuses committed by the KMT party, which ruled Taiwan from the late 1940s to late 1980s.

The plan also attempts to achieve justice for Taiwan's indigenous people who were mistreated following the KMT's arrival. In June, Taiwan granted all of the island's indigenous languages official status, and in May the country set a precedent for liberal democracy in Asia by legalizing same-sex marriage.

Tsai and the DPP have seen slipping approval ratings since her election over a year ago (as low as 39 percent in April), but she may have strong support for maintaining the "status quo" in cross strait relations. According to a June Mainland Affairs Council poll, more than 70% of the public neither relate with Beijing's precondition that both Taiwan and the Mainland belong to the same China, nor its "practices of belittling Taiwan as a local government".

Jonas Kelsch is a master's degree candidate at the University of Hong Kong's Journalism and Media Studies Centre.

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Taiwan's gross domestic product is headed for its fastest clip since 2014, according to an economic think tank. GDP will probably exceed 2%, according to a forecast released in April by the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER). Darson Chiu, deputy director of macroeconomic forecasting at TIER, said the figure is not necessarily "a very ...

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Singapore - Midyear review 2017 (Politics and economy)

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Singapore - Midyear review 2017 (Politics and economy)

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Asia Sentinel - Jul 17, 2017

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This article is part of a series of reviews of political and economic events that occurred in the first half of 2017 in the major Asia-Pacific economies.

Singaporean politics was rocked in June by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's siblings, who accused him of abusing his power. Their main grievance concerned what they considered the prime minister's efforts to acquire and preserve the family home. His actions, they argued, ran contrary to the dying wishes of their father, Lee Kuan Yew, who had expressed in his will that the house should eventually be demolished.

The prime minister's brother, Lee Hsien Yang and sister, Lee Wei Ling, posted their accusations on Facebook in mid-June. The gist of their public statement was that Lee Hsien Loong's corruption was eroding the values of Lee Kuan Yew, prime minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990 and the country's guiding visionary.

The public statement also suggested that the prime minister's wife, Ho Ching, possessed undue power in government and that Lee Hsien Loong was grooming his son, Li Hongyi, to eventually take the helm of a Lee family dynasty. The overwhelming media coverage of the accusations prompted the prime minister to rebut the accusations in a parliamentary hearing on July 3.

The prime minister's statement cleared the air "by and large", said Alan Chong, associate professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, but one mere address to parliament was not sufficient to allay fears he may have abused power, he added.

Chong said Lee's response to the public relations crisis shows he "is adapting to a climate of transparency which perhaps his father did not have to deal with consistently".

The two siblings turned to Facebook as a way to circumvent the country's government-regulated news media. Chong said the dispute is the latest example of a "slippage" regarding the Lee family's reputation, as well as the deteriorating credibility of the ruling People's Action Party to effectively govern the city state.

In foreign affairs, Singapore has improved its relations with China, even while some Singaporeans are concerned by the latter's increasing clout in Southeast Asia, Chong said.

Bilateral relations were strained earlier this year due to South China Sea tensions - Singapore appeared to back an international tribunal ruling against Beijing's territorial claims - and Hong Kong's seizure of nine Singaporean military vehicles en route to the city-state following military exercises in Taiwan. The relationship eased following Hong Kong's release of the military vehicles and June's World Economic Forum event in Dalian, China, where Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, met with Chinese officials.

During the meeting, the two countries pledged to enhance cooperation in five key areas of finance, especially in those areas that will help promote China's Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.

Singapore's trade-based economy is projected to grow over two percent this year, in step with a gradual recovery in the global economy, according to a second-quarter review by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Trade continues to improve due to growth in manufacturing, which at this point is driven mostly by electronics and precision engineering, said Ng Weiwen, an economist with ANZ Banking Group in Singapore. He cited June's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) - up 0.1 from May to 50.9 - released by the Singapore Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management (SIPMM), the organization that calculates the index.

Ng said the rise signifies a "potential tentative sign of maturing" in the country's technology cycle. This most recent PMI increase represents the 10th consecutive month of growth and can be attributed to new orders, exports, inventory and factory output. The PMI could have been higher if not for a continuing trend of overall decline in employment, said the SIPMM report.

Singapore's economy also faces low wage growth because of low productivity. Lackluster increases in wages means that household consumption "will be subdued" in the second half of 2017, said Ng, adding that productivity must greatly exceed wage growth if pay is to rise significantly.

Jonas Kelsch is a master's degree candidate at the University of Hong Kong's Journalism and Media Studies Centre.

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1H2017 Review: Singapore - Asia Sentinel

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This article is part of a series of reviews of political and economic events that occurred in the first half of 2017 in the major Asia-Pacific economies. Singaporean politics was rocked in June by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's siblings, who accused him of abusing his power.

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China rock legend Yang Haiso of P.K. 14 - Interview

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China rock legend Yang Haiso of P.K. 14 - Interview

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June 7, 2017

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Jonas Kelsch - Hong Kong, June 7, 2017
Yang Haisong inherited the role of China's rock and roll godfather from the genre's forerunner Cui Jian, but the multi-instrumentalist, producer and record company CEO says the younger generation has to find its own voice.
When Yang Haisong was growing up in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing, public space was dominated by the party line: "Yeah, you know I hate the slogans and I hate the manifesto things and the propaganda things," Yang said. "I was raised up [on] all these kinds of things."

It's not only party spin that disturbs Yang, but also the advertisements that are now ubiquitous in a more capitalist China. He also has reservations about the all-knowing internet, which was partly the inspiration behind P.K.14's most recent studio album 1984 (2013).

In spite of Yang's disdain for propaganda, he does not seem that interested in politics. Yang said that in his view, rock and roll is more about finding one's voice than it is about rebelling against something, and that it is not the duty of rock musicians to try to improve the world. "I mean, the only one who can change the world is like the powerful people," Yang said, citing the likes of politicians, warlords and businessmen. As a musician, "what you can do is only to be...yeah...yourself," Yang said, and to observe the world around you, "to document everything."

In other words, rock music cannot prevent 1984.

Yang first read Orwell's dystopian classic in high school. "It kind of like scared me a lot," he said. "I didn't think it was like a science fiction novel or something, I felt like it was a reality of England or the Western world."

In the album, only one song, "1984: Part I," alludes to the novel, Yang said. This penultimate track demonstrates the honed cooperation of a band that has been together for decades. The players come in one by one, starting with guitarist Xu Bo's minimalist five-note melody that he stretches across four bars. After a couple repetitions, he is joined by bassist Shi Xudong's pulsating eighth notes and drummer Jonathan Leijonhufvud's four-on-the-floor. The buildup progresses for two and a half minutes, nearly halfway through the song, before Yang joins the fray. Eventually he belts out manic lyrics reminiscent of Winston's suffering at the cruel hands of the Ministry of Love:

"You say, 'Please give me the strength to fight against time
Let me disappear before I'm torn to pieces'"

("1984: Part I")

Yang insists any references to the novel are not meant to be vivid. "It's not a kind of a warning, it's kind of like [a way] to describe the reality," he said. "The other songs are about me, my friends and my life...Like, you don't need to rewrite the book, you just need to write the reality."

But he did take a moment to explain that the sense of eerie connectedness evoked in the album connotes the work of English writer John Donne, who, as he suffered from a terminal illness, wrote poetry that helped inspire Ernest Hemingway's novel "For Whom the Bell Tolls." "No one is isolated islands," Yang said, echoing Donne. "So everything is like together. It's kind of like the internet."

He identified the internet as a major theme. "The basic idea [of the internet] is, like, anarchist," Yang said, "but today the Internet is more controlling our lives, everybody's lives. Even the government can use the internet to watch everybody, to control everything, every part of your life. So it's become a very scary thing actually. It's wasting a lot of time at a personal level, and it's controlling almost all parts of life."

If Yang seems vague at times, it could be a reflection of his literary philosophy. "I think for a novel or a poem, space is a very important thing, to let the people think," Yang said. "If you want to write something very directly, its not lyrics, its just manifesto[s] or slogans and things."

Yang takes particular care in writing lyrics. "When I start writing and thinking, and making some music and thinking...the first thing is to find out my language," he said, adding that "Language does not mean Chinese or English, this kind of thing. Language means my voice."

"I think for a novel or a poem, space is a very important thing, to let the people think"

Like Orwell before him, Yang is deeply interested in reclaiming stale, politicized terms like "communism" and finding a more genuine meaning behind the words, to avoid using them with "a lazy habit."

Yang said he and his band are trying to find different ways to use Chinese characters, such as those featured in the two-character slogans that are increasingly being plastered on walls and occupying advertising space throughout China. These slogans include "democracy" ( 民主: minzhu) and "freedom" ( 自由: ziyou). "I try to find out what is the meaning of 'freedom,'" Yang said. "To me, it's the same character, but I need to find my own voice."

He does not think this analytical and creative process is limited to his band, or even his generation. "The younger generation should maybe find their own [voice]," he said, acknowledging that the voice or language P.K.14 uses now is very different from their predecessors, e.g. Cui Jian, Tang Dynasty and Black Panther. "It's not necessary to follow us," Yang said. "The youth should find themselves, and for every generation [it] should be like that."

This may be easier said than done for the Chinese rockers Yang has inspired for over two decades. Perhaps one way the youth can find their own voice is by following Yang's example of reading widely and conscientiously. His reading habits would put many intellectuals to shame and could explain how he maintains such an open mind.

Yang has read virtually all of Orwell's books, and among his favorite authors are Jean Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and Jack Kerouac. He said that when he likes an author, he delves into the full catalogue of their work. "It's very natural for a writer," Yang said, "that if they write one book, [their] philosophy and [their] worldview [are] inside. For all the other works it's almost the same."

He held our FaceTime interview in his home study, where hundreds of titles, crammed into one or perhaps two tall bookcases, glowed yellow, bathing in the light of a single exposed incandescent light bulb hanging above Yang. The rest of the scene was framed in darkness.

His music may seem dark sometimes, but unlike many alternative rock musicians who sing about the angst and uncertainty of living in the postmodern era, Yang is not afraid to smile. This is even more impressive since he is so busy. He has served as CEO of Maybe Mars for three years. During this time, P.K. 14 has been working on a new album, which they are currently promoting on a China tour. They have not yet recorded the tracks, Yang said, and do not plan to do so until September or October at a studio in Berlin.

Yang admits that he prefers being in the studio. "Actually I spend more and more time in the studio to do producing and mixing and recording," he said. "I have some very good employees to work for me, I mean, they are really good [...] To me, it's like I have them to help me, to work with all the details and stuff, and commercial stuff."

The most recent studio release Yang was involved with - as producer and bassist - is Life is a Gasp (2016)from Alpine Decline, a Los Angeles band that recently moved to Beijing and signed with Maybe Mars. The guitar/drums duo is able to produce plenty of sound between them, so Yang, who has been playing bass since before P.K.14, said his role was to "just follow them and support the drums and fill some empty space with my bass." His unobtrusive low-end can be sensed throughout the album, in tracks like "Wasteland Repeated" and "This X-Ray." "Don't change them," Yang said, as it were a mantra. "Don't change the drums' rhythm."

He identified post-punk influences on his bass playing, such as Joy Division and The Cure. On the whole, Yang's musical interests span multiple genres (though he's not a fan of genre labels), including noise, which is prevalent in P.K.14's live album Music for an Exhibition (2015). "The first music style, generally, I fell in love with is folk music," he said. "It's protest folk songs like [those of] Woody Guthrie, like Bob Dylan, I guess."

Despite his discontented folk mentors, Yang affirmed his more passive approach. "Art, what we can do with art is, like, to find ourself," Yang said. "Actually, the life [of an artist] leads me to be an outsider, to be out of the mainstream life."
On Tuesday, June 20th, I had a chance to see P.K.14 (Public Kingdom for Teens) in Macau. The performance, which featured unrecorded songs, confirmed what Yang said about the upcoming album, that listeners could expect "something different." The new material was more technical and harder. Halfway through the set, Leijonhufvud had punctured a bass drum head (but to be fair, he was preceded by a thrashing heavy metal drummer who played vigorous double-kick drum patterns).
When I talked briefly to Yang at the end the performance, he asked whether I enjoyed the show. With the band having just finished a bravado encore of several songs, running right up to 1am, the answer was an unequivocal yes. P.K.14 will return to Beijing to finish their tour on Saturday, June 24, at venue Yue Space (乐空间).

Corrections:

A previous version of this article said the Chinese word ziqian means "make money."This is incorrect. The word ziqiang means "build prosperity and strength."

An earlier version also said that Yang has played bass guitar since the formation of P.K.14. He said in the interview that he has been playing bass since before the band got together.

[Last edited: June 21, 2017]

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An evolving voice - P.K.14's Yang Haisong talks propaganda, literature and 1984

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Jonas Kelsch - Hong Kong, June 7, 2017 Yang Haisong inherited the role of China's rock and roll godfather from the genre's forerunner Cui Jian, but the multi-instrumentalist, producer and record company CEO says the younger generation has to find its own voice.

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GoKunming - Feb 6, 2017

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The literal English translation of Heijing (黑井), the name of a valley town about 100 kilometers northwest of Kunming, is 'Black Well'. If you use WeChat's Youdao translator, it becomes 'Black Hole'. These interpretations are both a bit incorrect, since the name is actually a shortened version of 'Black Cow Well', a name derived from the local legend of an ethnic Yi girl's wandering ox that discovered a rich salt well on the banks of the Longchuan River (龙川江). When the farmer found her stray animal near the peculiar water source, she took a pail of the briny mixture home and used it to boil vegetables. The resulting stew was delicious, and Yunnan's number one salt town was thus born.

I was initially attracted to Heijing because of its former status as one of Yunnan's most prosperous towns, as well as the numerous temples that roost above its slender river valley. Another draw was its convenient location on the rail line from Yuanmou (元谋) to Kunming.

For some of my trip, I followed in the footsteps of GoKunming contributor Jim Goodman, who covered Heijing's salt history in significant depth. If you were to visit during the town's heyday in the Ming and Qing dynasties, you might have brushed up against some of the wealthiest families in Yunnan. Today, you are more likely to meet down-to-earth working class folk.

Arrival at nightfall

I was supposed to de-train in Heijing at 7pm, but the Kunming-bound 6161 was about 30 minutes late. Almost immediately after exiting the platform, I was approached by a woman in a black down coat advertising van service. My GPS app had indicated a considerable distance between the station and town, but I still decided to walk.

Along the winding valley road - recently paved and lit with LED lanterns - I passed rice paddies and quiet groupings of farmhouses. Soon my path converged with the babbling Longchuan River. There was a 50-meter section that was quite dark, but generally the stroll was a comfortable way to stretch my legs after the 90-minute trip from Yuanmou (元谋).

Arriving at the southern edge of the old town, I was greeted by the ominous beating of a large wood and calfskin drum. The player's concentrated, evenly spaced strokes reminded me of the austere rhythms of Japanese taiko. Stereotypically, I often associate such music with tribal dances or war preparations, but on that cool night, with the soft glow of red lanterns illuminating the narrow pedestrian street, the pulsations had a calming effect.

I approached the wooden, two-story structure from which the beating emanated. For a minute or so, I imagined an era when villages across China awoke and fell asleep to the sound of drums. This atmospheric introduction got me thinking that visiting Heijing was indeed a good idea, an excellent way to round off my weekend getaway to Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture (楚雄彝族自治州). The strokes subsided, and that was my cue to find somewhere else to go.

Not exactly sure whether a guesthouse would be easy to find, I asked the only other person on the street at that time, an elderly man dressed in a navy blue Zhongshan suit. Without hesitation, he led me further up the cobblestone road to the fabled Five Horses Bridge (五马大桥), named such because its exceptional width allowed five horses to ride abreast across the river.

He explained that the stone arch crossing was originally constructed during the Yuan Dynasty, when Heijing was a rest stop for Mongol horses en route to the vast empire's frontier. He then pointed out and recited a couplet engraved at the eastern end of the span. The poem described a man visiting the bridge to 'see' the wind blowing through the unyielding archway below, and raindrops falling silently on the Sanqing Palace (三清宫) roof. He accompanied me to the west bank, where his home was, and directed me to find accommodation on 'Gourmet Street' (美食文化街).

This main tourist thoroughfare contains plenty of lodging options, some of which occupy the town's traditional red brick and wooden Qing dynasty buildings. The slightly less-romantic Heshun Guesthouse (和顺客栈) - made of concrete and located midway up the stone-paved street - offered me an undecorated yet comfortable 50 yuan single room equipped with a television and private bathroom.

As I was checking in, I could hear the unmistakable dissonance and clangor of Chinese opera. At first I thought I was listening to a televised performance. But when I asked the manager, Mr Li, where the music was coming from, he promptly handed me a cigarette and guided me down to the rehearsal room to enjoy the show.

The ensemble was mostly comprised of middle-aged players, and included several percussionists, vocalists and erhu players. It was led by an elderly man dressed in the same style of navy suit as my guide from earlier. He was an exquisite musician who played with one hand, directed with the other, and sang on top of that.

The group's intricate pieces, punctuated by the bold and earthy 'twangs' of hand-hammered gongs and curved-edge cymbals, followed a tempo and phrasing that would be impossible to sync with the clicks of a metronome. In the seeming cacophony, the players demonstrated the kind of delicate musicianship that we humans have not yet imparted to drum machines or automated music software.

When Heijing was one of Yunnan's commercial capitals, opera troupes played a prominent role in local nightlife. Nowadays, an evening out is more likely to feature food, drink and conversation. As I was about to enter a grocery store to purchase beer for the evening, a convivial man at a nearby street barbecue table welcomed me to a party he was enjoying with several of his colleagues. This Mr Li was a manager at China Southern Power Grid, and his team works among the 49 electric wind turbines scattered along Heijing's mountain ridges.

The jubilant band of brothers invited me to sample numerous local delicacies, including pig's tail, sliced beef and roast quail. We washed it down with green tea and a formidable amount of a locally brewed gaolianjiu (高粱酒) rice wine. Our discussions covered topics ranging from Trump-Obama comparisons, to the distinct saltiness of Heijing cured pork. Past midnight, it was only Mr Li, his colleague who was also surnamed Li, and me who remained at the table. They had to prepare for their morning shift at the mountain station, so they accompanied me back to the Heshun guesthouse, where I crashed, holding the faint hope of getting an early start.

Up early with the chickens

The following morning, a veritable chorus of crowing roosters eventually persuaded me to get out of bed, even though I felt so snug under my two comforters. The temperature was so fresh that I hardly noticed the effects of the previous evening's hard liquor. From the window, a stream of luminous clouds swiftly made their way down the valley. The sun had not yet appeared, but it was now almost 9am. I went to a food stall across the street to have dumpling soup, complete with a generous dollop of chili sauce, which helped soothe my hangover and prepared me to face the brisk morning.

Making my way up Gourmet Street, with the sun still hiding behind the mountains, several vendors were setting up shop. Further up the road, the wet market was in full swing in spite of the chill. Mr Li from the Heshun Guesthouse had mentioned that Sunday would see many visitors from Kunming. But by the time the sun's rays began to spill over the eastern hills, I was busy perusing the small chambers of the Wu family mansion (武家大院).

A Mr Wu - no relation to the original owners - who tended the museum said the complex once housed Heijing's most prominent salt-trading family, who have since relocated to Kunming. After browsing the alleys near the mansion, I decided to make my way up the western slopes, to enjoy the gradually accentuating sunlight and see what temples were close by.

Along its western ridge, Heijing boasts temples serving a variety of faiths. The first I visited that day was Wangxingge (王星阁), a Taoist site that looks over the northern edge of town. Upon my arrival, the resident monk seemed far from impressed. I tried to ignore what I perceived as his unwelcoming vibe and directed my attention to the deity statues inside the temple's secondary chamber.

After a few minutes, however, he approached me to express his grievance. Underneath his well-developed beard was a notable scowling expression. He pointed to my camera, formed an 'X' with his hands, and shook his head. Until that point I had not snapped any photos, with the understanding that this is often seen as disrespectful. The monk then gently rubbed his thumb and index finger together and pointed at the donation box.

With my broken Chinese, I asked if he was angry. He declared that everyone who visits the temple should donate money to honor the deities. I nodded and placed a yuan note in the donation box. After giving my offering, meager as it was, his countenance transformed. Smiling, he encouraged me to take pictures, which I did. After some minutes, I entered the main hall, where he instructed me to bow before the center statue. Each time I paid my respects, he struck a resonant, bowl-shaped metal instrument.

I stayed for quite a while examining the statues. Some characters appeared serene, others were imposing or red-faced; all were floating amongst the clouds. As I made my way out, the monk gave an aloof wave. I broke left down the hill to investigate the riverbank of a dammed tributary of the Longchuan River.

This ended up being a clumsy endeavor, since I soon realized that extensive efforts had been made to create discouragingly steep barriers to each section of blocked waterway. But having already hiked a considerable distance from the town center, I stepped stones to the northern end of the muddy stream bed and made my way up the brushy slope. This route also proved problematic, as my shirt became covered in hundreds of pesky seed-bearing burrs. Following a five-minute grooming and quick lunch on the sun-soaked hillside across from the Wangxingge, I climbed over a stone wall to a walking path that led northwest of town.

The hills surrounding Heijing used to be covered in swathes of timberland, but the prevalence of wooden stoves, which played a key role in desalinating the local brine for salt production, resulted in considerable deforestation. Today, the sparsely wooded, semi-arid hills look green from a distance but are full of rough, drought-resistant brush - along with a smattering of pointy-leaved aloes. Many of these hearty plants bear long thorns, so think twice before going bushwhacking.

Out in the countryside

By the time I ran out of water, I had made it to Qijucun (七局村), a collection of farmhouses about two kilometers northwest of Heijing. Several barking dogs announced my arrival. At a courtyard gate was a woman tossing white grains in a shallow woven basket. I introduced myself among the yelping animals and asked if she had any water. She led me inside her dimly lit home, where one bare lightbulb hung in the combined cooking and living area. They had just finished eating lunch.

Since my Mandarin skills are already limited, it was very difficult to comprehend the strong dialect shared by husband and wife. I even strained to understand basic phrases like 'Have you eaten?'. Consequently, our communication was mostly via gesture and eye contact. I gratefully accepted their freshly boiled water but declined their offer for food.

However, a guest's modesty can only go so far in rural China. Mr Yan went about preparing a generous serving of fried rice with fragrant herbs, along with a heaping portion of fried pork and spring onions. When the meal was ready, he sat down quietly next to me on the sofa and insisted that I finish all of what he had prepared. The whole while, their white cat sat under the table, looking at the curious visitor, meowing and purring.

I tried to engage Mr Yan in small talk while his wife continued her work of tossing small batches of the white spherical rice she called nuomi (糯米). The house was remarkably cool compared with the semi-savanna outside. They showed me several of the dried crops they were accumulating in large rice bags, including green dougu (豆鼓), or 'drum beans'. When I made my motion to go, Mr Yan offered more hot water, then grabbed his rope and sickle as he headed out the door. I passed the dogs, who were much quieter than when I arrived, and made my way back to Heijing, satiated, hydrated and humbled.

One caveat for hiking in the surrounding hills - If you can, ask locals along the way. I ended up taking a wrong turn halfway to town and subsequently wandered for 20 minutes through abandoned, thistle-infested crop terraces. Luckily, I had brought enough sunscreen to avoid getting burned to a crisp and eventually joined a convoy of villagers porting items down to market.

Returning to Heijing proper, I decided to go once again to the main historic district to see how the light had augmented since morning. As I was taking photos of potted plants lined up along a window ledge, a man from across the path - yet another Mr Li - chuckled with amusement and invited me into his home.

Over several cups of green tea, two glasses of gaolianjiu and his homemade pan-fried pork ribs, we talked about his family history and how the area where his home stands used to be a resting place for horses and their riders during the Yuan dynasty and the Tea Horse Road era. Li, 55, works as a security guard in Kunming and had come back home for the weekend to take care of his mother.

He recommended several temples along Heijing's western flank, the most famous of which is Feilaisi (飞来寺), a Buddhist complex perched high on a hill south of town. Although Mr Li generously invited me to carpool back to the city the next morning with he and his friend, I still had sightseeing to do before sunset, and a train to catch.

The steep trek to Feilai Temple, broken up by three viewing pavilions, offers panoramic views of Heijing town and the narrow and relatively lush stretch of farmland that leads to the train station. Because the temple sits on a western slope, late afternoon does not provide the best lighting. If you do choose to go at that time, make sure that you arrive well before 5pm, when the temple closes to visitors. I reached the main gate shortly after five - heavily winded from my rushed ascent - only to find a locked door. A lady enjoying the sunset view to the side of entrance confirmed that the temple was now a no-go.

I had envisioned Feilaisi as the cherry on top of my 24 hours in Heijing, but a visit now seemed wishful thinking. Stubbornly, I decided to take the alternate route that led to the temple's side entrance, where I could hear chatting in the vestibule. I knocked on the clanky metal door and opened it slightly to find the caretakers having dinner. The two men at the table declined my request to see the interior, while the woman agreed to let me in for ten minutes.

Dusk was setting in, and even the temple courtyard was getting dark, while the arid hilltops across the valley bathed in the day's last light. In the same scene, a nearly full moon hung directly above a solitary pagoda flanked by wind turbines. Turning my attention to the temple's main hall, I could only take a peek at the seated golden Buddha through locked doors. A small chamber to the left housed a white Guanyin statue with a near-circular face. She gracefully poured her blessings from a delicate ceramic bottle. Her calming presence, the surrounding views and my apparent luck had finally made the hasty pilgrimage seem worthwhile. Ironically, looking back, I could have pursued true Buddhist contentment and found equal satisfaction by simply appreciating the hike's scenic treasures.

The caretaker patiently waited for me in the temple atrium as I browsed the compact chambers. I thanked her and made my way back to town one last time. The descent was quick, leaving me plenty of time for my train. While waiting, I found Mr Li from the previous night, along with his wife, chatting on the east bank. In a small town, it's certainly not unusual to see familiar faces, but I saw the encounter as an added blessing to what had already been a memorable visit. Li used a handy mobile phone app to discover that the 6161 train, my ride back to Kunming, was running about a half hour late. Even with the extra time, it seemed appropriate to say goodbye to the town that has been one of my most pleasant surprises in China.

Getting There

Each day, there are two morning trains from Kunming to Heijing, with no afternoon departures. The early 6161 - which takes three hours and costs 22.5 yuan - leaves Kunming Train Station at 7:10am and gets you to Heijing at 10:12. The faster and slightly more expensive K114 departs Kunming at 8:48am and should still drop you off at Heijing before 11:00am. It costs 28.5 yuan. Two daily trains can get you back to Kunming. In the morning, the express K1501 takes a little over two hours and leaves Heijing at 8:30am, while the evening 6161 pulls out of Heijing at just after 7pm, arriving in Kunming at 9:51pm. Again, the faster train is 28.5 yuan and the slower option is 22.5 yuan.

Although these trains are a must for China adventurers, they are often late. On my return to the Spring City, the 6161 was about half an hour behind schedule. A minivan from the station to Five Horses Bridge in Heijing costs three to five yuan. You can also take one of the popular donkey carriages between the two. Taking the bus to and from Heijing is also an option, but it is slower, as it follows the less direct route over the mountains.

Editor's note: Veta Wang and Judy Yuan contributed to this article.

© Copyright 2005-2017 GoKunming.com all rights reserved. This material may not be republished, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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24 hours in Heijing: Exploring Yunnan's hidden valley - GoKunming

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The literal English translation of Heijing (黑井), the name of a valley town about 100 kilometers northwest of Kunming, is 'Black Well'. If you use WeChat's Youdao translator, it becomes 'Black Hole'.

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Weiboscope: China's censored foreign affairs (Contributor)

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Weiboscope: China's censored foreign affairs (Contributor)

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Hong Kong Free Press - By Weiboscope - Feb 4, 2017

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China's internet authorities have a remarkable ability to guide public opinion via the country's online social media, but that does not stop members of the world's largest online community from posting and rapidly sharing sensitive information more quickly than regulators can block or remove the content.

One of the largest internet-based platforms for sharing ideas publicly in China is microblogging service Sina Weibo, the country's answer to Twitter, which is officially blocked. The social network is so widely used that journalists, China observers and media scientists can look to Weibo posts as a barometer to gauge public sentiment. Finding out what kind of information is censored on Weibo can also provide insights into where the limits of free expression stand in the world's most populous country and second largest economy.

The Weiboscope project at the Journalism and Media Studies Centre ( The University of Hong Kong) produces annual reports on the most important censored Weibo posts of the year. In this 2016 edition, we focus on those posts relating to global affairs. Each post has been translated into English and includes a summary of relevant background information to provide context for readers,  particularly those who may be unfamiliar with China's online media environment.

By sharing the following descriptions, including the content of and circumstances surrounding the censored posts, we hope to shed light on the nature of discussing international relations on China's most popular microblog. As shown in the below figure, the list is ranked in descending order of "most retweeted in the shortest period of time," in other words, retweet count per "survival time" (read the methodology note at the end).
1) The Panama Papers Posted on April 4, 2016, 08:30:57; generated at least 52,361 reposts in 4 hours and 53 minutes.

Last night, some of the biggest media organisations in the world disclosed a piece of news at the same time and shocked the world!!
Over 11.5 million financial documents were revealed to the media. Those documents exposed 210,000 offshore money-laundering and tax-evasion companies. It exposed that political leaders of 79 countries, senior managers of top companies, various superstars, all kinds of drug dealers, smugglers, gangs, underworld organisations entangled in these offshore money laundering activities, and where these funds are going.

Twelve months before these documents were released, an enormous package of documents from an anonymous source was sent to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). In the 2.6 TB package, 11.5 million documents, including 4.8 million emails, 3 million database files, 2 million PDF files and many files, came from Mossack Fonseca, a law firm in Panama.

This collection of documents is commonly referred to as the Panama Papers. Over 100 media outlets and more than 400 journalists all over the world formed a special investigative team to study the data.

A list of prominent political figures, celebrities, smugglers, gangs and underworld organisations were found on the list. Iceland's former prime minister Sigmundur and his wife established an offshore company called Wintris Inc to evade taxes; Vladimir Putin's two close friends Sergey Roldugin and Yuri Kovalchuk established several offshore companies and received nearly US$2 billion in loans through the Mossack Fonseca law firm from banks including the Bank of Russia.

Family members of Chinese leaders Xi Jinping, Zhang Gaoli and Liu Yunshan were named in the documents, but interestingly, the censored Weibo post and the attached picture did not mention any of the Chinese leaders' names, or their family members.
2) 2016 G20 Hangzhou Summit Posted on August 3, 2016, 17:21:44; generated at least 34,444 reposts in 3 hours and 15 minutes.
In this screenshot, a WeChat user complained about the strict security subway control almost two weeks before the G20 summit in Hangzhou held from September 4-5, 2016. She said that even her hair bun was pinched to check if there was anything hidden inside. Two people replied with laughter.

In addition to this incident, many Internet users criticised the government for going too far beyond what was necessary in order to maintain a good image, including closing off a famous lakeside area to the public and banning all civil society activities in Hangzhou.
3) China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi Posted on July 15, 2016, 22:20:06; generated at least 9,309 reposts in 1 hour and 36 minutes.
This picture shows the main character of Little Dragon Man, a Chinese fairytale play for children. Some people say that the child looks very similar to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, especially their mouths, which both curve down at the corners.
4) India-Russia relations Posted on September 6, 2016, 19:01:49; generated at least 25,528 reposts in 5 hours and 5 minutes.
This Weibo user infers that in the picture, when shaking hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Putin seems to be smiling reluctantly. Similar pictures of Narendra Modi shaking hands with other world leaders and public figures have been highlighted before, including China's President Xi Jinping and the United Kingdom's Prince William (see this story, for example).
5) Philippines anti-China protest Posted on July 12, 2016, 13:31:06; generated at least 28,383 reposts in 5 hours and 40 minutes.
The photo shows a protester in the Philippines holding a sign that reads "South China Sea Does not Belong to China" in both English and Chinese. However, in the Chinese version, the South China Sea is referred to as "中国南海" (In English, "China's South Sea"), which means the exact opposite of the theme of the demonstration.

The Weibo user picks out this contradiction and uses the term "Little Phiphi" to mock the protester, inferring that the Philippines' claim to the South China Sea is unreasonable and reveals a nationalistic viewpoint.
6) North Korea crisis Posted on November 10, 2016, 12:51:36; generated at least 22,544 reposts in 7 hours and 23 minutes.
This is a report on Sohu News entitled "China and the U.S. have agreed about sanctions on North Korea. 'Xin Fat' may be heading for a devastating disaster." In the screenshot, Sohu (upper) and "Xin Fat" (lower) are circled.

The Chinese character xin (鑫) is composed by three separate "Kim" characters. Therefore, "xin fat" means "three kim fat," which is a variation of "jin san pang" or "Kim Fatty the Third," a nickname referring to the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Chinese Internet users tacitly regard Kim's grandfather and father as "Fatty the First" and "Fatty the Second," poking fun at the family's heredity. Considering the average living conditions in North Korea, the joke about Kim's obesity is also with a note of sarcasm regarding the regime.

According to this news report, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang said in November that any nickname of a foreign leader that has insulting and mocking remarks is prohibited. When "Kim Fatty the Third" was banned on the Internet, people then started to create its derivatives to bypass the censorship, such as "Xin (Three Kim) Fat" or "Kim Fat Fat Fat."

Sohu literally means "searching fox" in Chinese. This Weibo user intends to comment that Sohu is amazing for having published such a piece of news, by modifying trendy Internet slang term "you're awesome, my bro" into "you're awesome, my fox" for hilarious effect.
7) Sina and Taiwan independence Posted on January 15, 2016, 20:31:14; generated at least 26,166 reposts in 14 hours 11 minutes.

#Sina deletes Taiwan secession-related content from its "Hot Topics" section
First photo: Taiwan is listed as an independent country on Sina's registration page for users registering from outside of China! Both "Hong Kong" and "Macau" are followed by "China," and only Taiwan is not! Now we highly suspect that Sina is pro-secession and is manipulated by secessionists! We hope the state will conduct serious investigation into Sina! @CCTV News
Second photo: Sina blocked the post of the Party's publication and deleted comments in support of Taiwan's independence! Third photo: Sina's senior executive @鄭偉柏 publicly endorses Taiwan's secession on international social media platform.
#新浪删台独话题# 图一：国外注册新浪时，把台湾单独作为一个国家，香港和澳门后面都有中国，只有台湾没有！图二：新浪屏蔽我国党刊微博并删台独评论！图三：新浪高管
@鄭偉柏 在国际社交网站公然支持台独！现在严重怀疑新浪有台独倾向，并被台独分子控制！希望国家对新浪进行严肃调查！@央视新闻

This censored Weibo post was published one day before Taiwan's 2016 general election, presenting anger toward Sina's various activities related to the support of Taiwan's secession. The post accuses Sina of treating Taiwan as an independent country on the new user registration page (as shown in the picture) and blocking posts that are related to Taiwan independence. It also claims that Webber Cheng, the head of the entertainment department at Weibo's Taiwan bureau, is a secession supporter.

Many more Weibo users echo the same nationalistic sentiment, generating more than 300 original Weibo posts that include the tag #Sina deletes Taiwan secession-related content from its "Hot Topics" section. A stance toward secession or independence of Taiwan is the one of the worst offences to many Chinese web users, and their anger could bring catastrophic losses to anyone attempting to do business in or with China. One of the recent examples is Chou Tzu-yu, a teenage Taiwanese pop star in a Korean band who was forced to apologise for holding a Taiwanese flag.
8) 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes Posted on April 17, 2016, 10:48:21; generated at least 9,051 reposts in 5 hours and 16 minutes.
In this photo, the LED sign displayed outside a shop, the name of which is cropped out, says "to celebrate the big earthquake in Japan, all purchases in our shop in three days..."

The end of the sentence is not shown, but it is plausible to infer that this is a discount or sale promotion. It is likely that the sign refers to the earthquakes that took place in Kumamoto, Japan on April 16. The magnitude of the main shock reached 7.0. As of August 14, 2016, the death toll was reported as 50.
9) Cross-strait relations Posted on July 4, 2016, 08:53:53; generated at least 20,339 reposts in 11 hours 55 minutes.
This photo is a screenshot of a Facebook post showing an imaginary timeline of a war between mainland China and Taiwan. It depicts the victory of Taiwan over southern China in abundant detail.

The trigger of this fictional war is based on a real incident which happened on July 1, in which a Taiwanese warship mistakenly fired a missile toward China. The supersonic missile hit a Taiwanese fishing boat near the Penghu islands, killing one person and injuring three. The censored Weibo post doesn't seem to appreciate the masterplan.
10) Facebook and Taiwan independence Posted on January 16, 2016, 23:05:28; generated at least 22,071 reposts in 13 hours 47 minutes.

The author of the rabbit I really like posted this photo on Facebook yesterday. I have nothing to say [goodbye emoji] [goodbye emoji] [goodbye emoji]
(Translation of the photo) "Please let me say a few words here. Self-identity is an inviolable freedom of the will, and it can even transcend nationality or kinship. Even if you don't agree with this, no one can deprive the choices others make out of their own free will. I am Taiwanese."

很喜欢的那只兔子的作者昨天在FB上发的图。我什么也不想说[拜拜][拜拜][拜拜]

The rabbit shown in the screenshot is called Machiko. It is a cartoon character created by Yukiji, a Taiwanese painter. Machiko stickers are sold by the LINE Store, and are very popular among Chinese web users, especially on WeChat and Weibo. The censored Weibo post was posted on the day of Taiwan's 2016 general election.
Conclusion
We hope that these examples of Weibo censorship in 2016 have provided useful insights into at least a few foreign affairs topics that China's Internet regulators deemed too sensitive or volatile. Based on three of the posts, it is straightforward to conclude that cross-strait affairs remained a clear taboo in public discussion, and that no talk of Taiwan independence or secession (post 7 and 10, let alone the prospect of the Republic of China's invasion of the mainland, post 9) is allowed.

When it came to posts that featured world leaders and diplomats, criticism or potential loss of face was not taken lightly. We saw how a blogger's introduction to the leaked Panama Papers (post 1), which incriminated numerous public figures across the globe, was promptly removed. Even the light-hearted jabs at Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and those who endured the perceived excess of his handshake were not tolerated by China's Internet censors (post 4). It is more understandable to see why regulators would have had issue with comments on Kim Jong-un's body shape (post 6), as well as the observed parallel between the facial features of China's foreign minister and a well-known child fantasy character (post 3).

However, we cannot simply assume that instances of Weibo censorship reflect the government's effort to portray the ruling Communist Party in a positive light, or promote nationalist sentiment. A post that mocked the contradiction of a Filipino protester, who objected to Beijing's claims in the South China Sea, was also taken down (post 5). Furthermore, the removal of a photo that seemed to celebrate the Kumamoto earthquake (post 8) suggests that the authorities did not condone insensitivity regarding a significant humanitarian crisis for Japan, which is often portrayed in Chinese media as the country's perennial enemy.

While this report may not be able to offer a definitive guide to the international affairs topics which were off limits last year, it raises important questions. For instance, what are the boundaries of humour when discussing foreign and domestic politicians on Chinese social media? And perhaps a more intriguing yet difficult question: what is China trying to portray to the world about its online community through its censorship decisions?
Methodology
Weiboscope at the Journalism and Media Studies Centre, the University of Hong Kong, has been collecting censored Weibo posts since 2011 and is providing data to media outlets for story-making and news gathering ( last year's report).

About 120,000+ Chinese Weibo accounts were tracked by the system throughout the year and their censored posts recorded and analysed. Then the top 100 most "influential" censored posts, in other words, those retweeted the most in the shortest period of time (according to a ratio of retweet count per "survival time"), were chosen.

We purposely selected 10 posts (in descending order of retweet count per "survival time") which are all related to international affairs, showing a robust discussion of "forbidden" global issues among Chinese Internet users and reflecting China's involvement in international affairs as a "global power."
The Weiboscope team consists of Chung-hong Chan (PhD candidate), King-wa Fu (Associate Professor), Jinshan Hong (Bachelor of Journalism student), Jonas Kelsch (Master of Journalism student), Yujing Liu (Bachelor of Journalism student), and Yuwei Liu (Bachelor of Journalism student).
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The top 10 Weibo posts on international affairs censored by China in 2016 | Hong Kong Free Press HKFP

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By scope China's internet authorities have a remarkable ability to guide public opinion via the country's on social media, but that does not stop members of the world's largest on community from posting and rapidly sharing sensitive information quickly than regulators can block or remove the content. One of ...

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GoKunming - Jan 19, 2017

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Yunnan's Tulin (土林) - or 'Earth Forest' - is so named because of its dense and strangely protuberant natural clay formations. The area includes several agglomerations, the most famous of which are visible at Banguo (班果), Langbapu (浪巴铺) and Wumao (物茂) sightseeing areas. I recently paid a visit to Wumao, which is the most accessible of the three and about 45 minutes from the city of Yuanmou via public bus. You can think of Tulin's oddly shaped, sun-scorched spires as southwest China's tiny version of Bryce Canyon National Park or Turkey's Cappadocia.

Based on a Google Images search before my visit, I sensed a certain eeriness about the formations, and this feeling became more conspicuous shortly after I arrived at the gate to Wumao. I began to suspect that the area's location off the beaten track might not be the only reason why the Earth Forest is not more frequented by Western tourists.

A map to the right of the main entrance featured bizarre English names for the various metaphors attached to Tulin's collections of baked clay pillars. Some were more than foreboding, including the unsettlingly translated 'City of Satan' (魔鬼城), which should most likely been translated to 'City of the Damned' due to its allusion to a Buddhist hell. Other titles carried more pleasant or whimsical connotations. For example, 'Toad Singing Forecasting Rain', or 'Cave Embedded with Monkey King's Wishing Staff', which is a nod to the main character in Journey to the West.

The extensively weathered structures are around one or two million years old, and are mainly composed of a mixture of clay, red soil and yellow silt. This makes them more vulnerable to erosion compared with the more formidable Karst columns of the Stone Forest south of Kunming.

What keeps most of Tulin's geological 'trees' intact, however, are umbrella-shaped caps made up of calcium deposits and other more weather-resistant elements. These prevent the earthen trunks from eroding rapidly. The protective covers often appear blackish in color and produce a distinct contrast with the area's predominantly tan, beige and rusty tones. Smaller amounts of sparkling trace minerals add purplish notes, which vary in prominence throughout the day as the sun travels across the baked landscape.

Parts of the Earth Forest today might not look much different from when the famed and daring Ming dynasty explorer Xu Xiake (徐霞客) documented them nearly 400 years ago. He likened the more fair-colored arrangements to the appearance of " a ghost on a moonlit night".

A quality I found particularly striking about Wumao Tulin was the almost deafening silence that permeated the prehistoric labyrinth. After living for so long in the urban clamor of Guangdong's Peal River Delta, such stillness was completely unusual to me. Without the occasional bird chirp or encounter with random Korean tourists, I might as well have been on the verge of oblivion, wandering through a vision straight out of the Jurassic Age, or Dante.

One Beijing-based tourist I met on the bus ride back to Yuanmou said that the grander Langbapu viewing area was like a "strong man" compared to the "little girl" forest at Wumao. This sentiment was echoed by a Sichuanese traveler I met later that afternoon at the Yuanmou Train Station. He expressed surprise that I didn't visit the more renowned site, which includes markedly taller and more imposing gothic edifices reminiscent of something in Mordor.

I had opted instead - perhaps mistakenly so - to see the Yuanmou Man Museum (元谋人博物馆), dedicated to the eponymous landmark archaeological discovery made near Yuanmou in 1965 of two hominid incisors. The find, which also recovered other ancient mammalian fossils and signs of early stone tool use, is some of the earliest evidence of the Homo genus' existence in Asia.

Although the museum staff were plenty friendly and the museum provided respite from the beating midday sun, I thought the collection was generally unimpressive. This could have been the result of my limited Chinese reading proficiency, especially when it comes to scientific vocabulary. Very few of the captions contained informative English content, and I could not be sure which fossils among the sparse collection were genuine. If you are truly interested in the Asian theater of humankind's prehistory, the actual Yuanmou Man artifacts are on display at the National Museum of China in Beijing. Nonetheless, for a day-trip, the total experience was well worth the time.

Getting there

Arriving in Yuanmou County (元谋县) in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture from the Spring City presented no serious difficulty. I took the 7:32pm K166 train from Kunming Station (昆明火车站). The ride takes just over three hours, covers 109 kilometers, and costs 40.5 yuan. The train is about an hour faster than the bus, due to numerous tunnels that ease its journey through the mountains. There are also two earlier evening trains and two morning departures from Kunming, both with roughly similar prices.

Note that Yuanmou Train Station is quite a distance from the town center where most accommodations can be found. After disembarking the train, the most efficient option is to take a taxi directly to one of the hotels located within the Earth Forest scenic zones. The price range of these lodging choices suits a variety of budgets.

If you prefer to stay in Yuanmou, a cab to the central bus terminal (元谋中心客运站) is about ten yuan. There are several budget hotels near the bus station. I do not recommend utilizing guesthouse car services to get to the scenic areas. For this, I was quoted a seemingly astronomical 400 yuan.

I decided instead to go with the drastically more affordable ten yuan, 9:20am bus Tulin, as did a group of Korean schoolteachers who also declined the chauffeur recommended by the guesthouses. However, be aware that this route only provides service to the Wumao Earth Forest, with return buses at 12:30 and 1pm only. Though two-and-a-half hours may seem too brief for a comprehensive visit, the Wumao area is compact enough to allow a thorough look at its grotesque formations within that timeframe. This early bus will not actually get you to the Tulin in time for the sunrise, which would have revealed a broader spectrum of colors.

If you want to see both Wumao and Langbapu areas in one day, it might be best to hire a car. A combined entry ticket costs 100 yuan and students with a valid university identification card get a 50 percent discount. Note that the Earth Forest is the closest thing Yunnan has to a desert, so be sure to bring adequate amounts of water and sunscreen. Some sunglasses certainly won't hurt either.
If you are interested in visiting Yuanmou and its Earth Forest, or anywhere in Yunnan, Kunming-based tour operator Wonders Of Yunnan Travel provides rental cars with drivers, hotel bookings, all sorts of travel-related services and other valuable tourism information. Please get in touch directly for further details.
Images: Jonas Kelsch
© Copyright 2005-2017 GoKunming.com all rights reserved. This material may not be republished, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Getting Away: Yunnan's eerie Wumao Earth Forest - GoKunming

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Yunnan's Tulin (土林) - or 'Earth Forest' - is so named because of its dense and strangely protuberant natural clay formations. The area includes several agglomerations, the most famous of which are visible at Banguo (班果), Langbapu (浪巴铺) and Wumao (物茂) sightseeing areas.

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Stroll down the Old Tea Horse Road, Yunnanyi, China

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Stroll down the Old Tea Horse Road, Yunnanyi, China

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GoKunming - Jan 7, 2017

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The initial sensation one has when arriving in Yunnanyi (云南驿) is that of dryness. It feels significantly more arid than Dali, which is nearly two hours away to the northwest by bus. Next might come a feeling of deja-vu. The main dusty road, lined with modest concrete houses - but also some adobe ones - did not look particularly different from many rural Yunnan roads I'd seen that tend to provide conduits for bulky construction vehicles. Looking back, I can see why this village - plenty lonesome as it was - does not appear in guide books.

I was nonetheless drawn to the village after reading about its reputed 2,000-year history online, an account which also explained the town's role as one of Yunnan's three major airfields for the Flying Tigers during World War II. Perhaps because of a general lack of information in English about the far-flung destination, I was intrigued - and it didn't hurt that apocryphal accounts claim the province's name is originally derived from the village name.

A plaque at the southern end of the town's cobblestone street explains Yunnanyi's involvement in the Tea Horse Road (茶马古道) trade network. In fact, it is the road itself - said to be of original stones - for which the town once received one million yuan in government aid to protect Qing-era residential structures and the street.

For centuries, Yunnanyi was one of many stops on the ancient trading route that saw tea porters make the back-breaking ascent to Lhasa to exchange their cargo for prized Tibetan steeds. And although most buildings in town date from the late Qing era, Han Chinese have inhabited the place for much longer.

A Mr Zhu, 64, said that one of his ancestors came to Yunnanyi as a Ming Dynasty soldier nearly 600 years ago, and his family has been living there ever since. Zhu, a tailor who now devotes most of his time to repairing clothes, said the government had given his family money for restoration work.

A second memorial plaque at the road's entrance recounts a tale from the Long March, one in which the Red Army stayed in Yunnanyi for one night. According to the etched characters, the locals graciously welcomed the troops and the soldeirs' spirit inspired several villagers to join the cause. Although the summary's conclusion bears telling hints of propaganda, the memorial added another layer to the town's already deep feeling of historical significance.

One of the few people visible in town after lunch was Mr Zhu, who looked out on the sun-soaked road from behind his old-fashioned, foot-powered Butterfly sewing machine. He told me most of the buildings on the road were between one and two hundred years-old, and some might have been around for 400 years. He also mentioned one extant Ming dynasty structure that people are not allowed to enter for preservation purposes.

However, in one of the historic courtyard homes we did visit - the well-maintained Qianjiadayuan (钱家大院) - a woman surnamed Qian pointed out wood carvings on her doors that were marred by members of the Red Guard (红小兵) during the Cultural Revolution. Although scarred, the basic gist of the images could still be distinguished. One carved panel featured a pastoral scene with farmers in straw hats carrying loads in from the fields, set in front of a hilly background.

Qian said her residence had changed little over the decades, and when I said that I was American, she mentioned that "American comrades" once gave lessons in her home during the war. A Xinhua report found online after I returned to Kunming did indeed confirm the home served as a classroom for flight preparations during World War II.

Not all abodes in Yunnanyi hosted members of the Flying Tigers, nor the Red Army, but most I saw featured unique calligraphy blessings posted above their front entrances. These, according to Qian, were specific to Yunnanyi. She said that the widened characters, which are at first glance difficult to make out even for a highly literate Chinese person, read gongxifacai (恭喜发财), the common prosperity blessing in China. These words appear in addition to the traditional single horizontal and two vertical banners hung outside the entryways of nearly all local homes.

In the few courtyards visible from the road, it also appeared common for residents of spacious ancient homes to grow multitudes of flowers in their atriums. When we visited, it was clear Ms Qian took considerable pride in the sizable collection of flowers in her courtyard.

In the other old home we visited, the gracious owner - who did not grow up in the village but married into a family that resides there - invited us inside to view more abstract, intricate designs etched on the wooden ceiling. Thankfully, these were entirely spared during the tumultuous years of the 1960s and 70s.

Farming, said Qian, is still the area's predominate occupation, and the airfields once used by the Flying Tigers have long-since been transformed into cropland. Mr Zhu added that in addition to farming, construction is another common occupation among villagers. However, the immediate vicinity of Yunnanyi is free of any large, multi-story hotels and apartment complexes. This kind of development is more typical of Xiangyun (祥云县) - 24 kilometers to the northwest - where Zhu's son works as a musician.

The food we had for lunch at a restaurant called 'Heavenly Delicacies' featured fried, chewy ersi (饵丝) with chili, and was, according to the eatery owner, an extremely popular local dish. Hers was one of the few restaurants visible on the main drag to Xiangyun, and no lodging options were apparent for those wishing to stay the night.

Relative to Xizhou - which we visited before heading to Xiangyun County - Yunnanyi is quite undeveloped as a tourist spot and apparently sees considerably less visitors. However, Zhu told me that it was not entirely uncommon to see domestic visitors, as well as those from many countries around the world, including, he said, France, Germany and the United States, among others.

The Yunnan Tea Horse Road and the Flying Tigers museums were unfortunately both closed when we visited, but they are reputedly noteworthy stops for those interested in this corner of Yunnan's history. While Yunnanyi may appear underwhelming compared with the enchanting - albeit extremely crowded - old towns of Lijiang and Dali, it is absolutely worth a day-trip to see a charming side of Yunnan most people miss.

Getting there

Yunnanyi is most conveniently reached from Xiaguan (下关) - not to be confused with Dali Old Town. It is a total of about two hours by bus away. From the city's Xingsheng Bus Terminal (大理兴盛汽车客运站), it is 17 yuan and one hour to Xiangyun, where you need to transfer to take a minivan to Yunnanyi. Haggle for your price. This second leg of the trip lasts between 30 and 40 minutes. Remember where the van drops you off on Yunnanyi's main road, because that is where you will find a car to hire for the return trip to Xiangyun. From the drop-off point, it is about a five minute walk west through meandering alleyways to get to the remnants of the cobbled Tea Horse Road.

Images: Jonas Kelsch
© Copyright 2005-2017 GoKunming.com all rights reserved. This material may not be republished, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Getting Away: Ancient and little-explored Yunnanyi - GoKunming

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The initial sensation one has when arriving in Yunnanyi (云南驿) is that of dryness. It feels significantly more arid than Dali, which is nearly two hours away to the northwest by bus. Next might come a feeling of deja-vu.

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2016 Year in review - Yunnan, China (Part II)

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2016 Year in review - Yunnan, China (Part II)

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GoKunming - Jan 3, 2017

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The end of the year is a special time in which editors and writers around the world recycle content from the previous twelve months and repackage it as new. We at GoKunming are not above this practice. It's been a busy year here in Yunnan. News and events ranging from good to bad to befuddling have graced our front page. There were of course many encouraging bright spots as well that reminded us, once again, why we choose to call this corner of China home. So before delving into the uncharted territory of 2017, let's take a look at the second half of the long and winding road that was 2016. Part I can be viewed here.

July

It seemed Sino-Burmese politics were becoming increasingly complicated as China began to lose patience with its Southeast Asian neighbor over the environmentally controversial Myitsone Dam. In an example of greener infrastructure development, Yuxi began its experiment as one of China's 'Sponge Cities'. Unfortunately, it seems that Yunnan has a long way to go to ensure it is on a path toward sustainable development as the Three Parallel Rivers were plagued by unregulated mining. But such questionable practices may soon come under greater scrutiny by Beijing since it is now Yunnan's turn for a national environmental audit. Of course, it is not only Yunnan that boasts some of China's greatest and most threatened natural wonders. The province's eastern neighbor, Guizhou, boasts a 300-meter deep chasm that Kunming transplant Peter Mortimer attempted to walk across on a tightrope. Yikes. A frequently forgotten town in Yunnan - Jinning - proudly celebrated its most famous son, and although not as ambitious as Zheng He's expeditions, we rediscovered Dali's Old Town and explored the city's more bucolic neighbor to the south, Weishan.

As part of our tour of Dali Prefecture and its villages, we had a unique glimpse of the history of Yunlong. Yunnan has long been a popular destination for tourists, but one unexpected group of visitors last summer was China's national football team, who trained in Kunming in preparation for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Our feature travel stories included Friction of Terrain: Cycling through Zomia, part I and a look at Ruili and its less-wild modern face, which made us think of a not-to-distant era when western Yunnan was a bit crazier. Tourism is a booming area of Yunnan's economy, but weather and economic pressures drove prices down in the province's lucrative mushroom market. Meanwhile a mysterious series of shop closures occurred in Kunming's infamous Kundu Night Market. In brighter news, a philanthropic widow gave two million yuan to rural Yunnan school. However, as we have come to see over the last few years, not all giving and receiving of money is acceptable in China, and a former propaganda minister was indicted for graft.

August

We resumed two travel tales from July, with the final installments of the Friction of Terrain series, parts II, III, IV, and V, as well as a wander through the countryside near Myanmar. We also introduced a winter outdoor travel option, hiking Yunnan's Laojun Mountain. August was a big month for natural history, with a rediscovered mushroom species that had been lost for 164 years and the unearthing of a 400 million year-old clue to plant evolution. Such discoveries are of the happy science variety, while examining the Earth's stunning annual ' ecological deficit is much less so. Relations between China and Myanmar appeared to have reached yet another new beginning in August, with the delayed Myitsone dam and rebel groups dominating Aung San Suu Kyi's China visit. On the domestic front, provincial authorities got serious about national poverty reduction targets, while Chen Hao was named Yunnan Party chief and governor. Improving economic livelihoods is essential in relatively less well-off Yunnan, and figures highly as one of many items appearing on Chen's to-do list. In travel news, more shocking tales of bad behavior, while in cultural circles, we researched the striking attire of Yunnan's Yao women and then previewed the Stone Forest Perfect Music Festival.

September

Music was in the air, with Vanessa Pan releasing her Kunming album Limbs, and Yunnan roots ensemble Shanren hosting a cross-cultural music exchange. But in spite of the cultural buzz, China's native bees were at risk. In better news for conservation efforts, giant pandas were finally delisted as endangered. And as the Fuxian Lake shampoo incident demonstrated, Chinese netizens are becoming more ecologically conscious, and possibly grumpier. Reminding us that nature always has the last word, thousands were displaced and rail service halted by Yunnan mudslides. Back in Kunming, Xuefu Lu experienced its own frustrating transportation issues while the Spring City announced a plan to put 45,000 public use bikes on its roads over the next several years. September celebrations included Mid-Autumn Festival and GoKunming's tenth birthday party. Our special thanks to everyone who made the site's journey toward adolescence a reality, especially Chris Horton and Matthew Sills. Our next event, the Stone Forest International Photography Competition, focused on the UNESCO-listed Karst limestone formations of Yunnan. The competition was launched in the middle of the month at a press conference, and we had a conversation with one of our main sponsors, Andre Erasmus of Sofitel Kunming. In a nod to visual arts of the province's past, we brought you a story on how Yunnan's ancient rock art is at risk. We also featured two travelers on a mission, Dr Robert Detrano, who led a formidable hike from Dali to Lijiang, and Salvador's co-owner Colin Flahive, whose business trip to remote Achang country evolved into an exploration.

October

We started the month with National Day in the Spring City, followed quickly by the Strawberry Music Festival. Concerning ecology and conservation, we covered the sacred forests of the Dai people, Yunnan elephants freed after two days trapped in water storage tank, and a trip to visit the natural white stone terraces of Baishuitai. On top of that, we featured a conversation with climate scientist Kang Shichang on understanding Himalayan glacier loss. Further illuminating the natural - as well as the cultural - aspects of Yunnan's past, yet another major evolutionary find was unearthed in the province, and an archaeological discovery changed how we understand Yunnan's Bronze Age. We reported on a number of endurance tests as well. These included intrepid pilots who recreated the World War II 'Hump' air route, the 2016 China-ASEAN Mountain Marathon, and the Red Bull 24-Hour Cross Challenge. In a sign that more Yunnanese can expect longer, healthier lives, we wrote on how organ donations and successful transplants are on the rise due to advances in training and technology. And a convicted criminal, former Yunnan boss Bai Enpei, was given a new lease on life after accumulating 247 million yuan in illicit cash and gifts.

November

We announced the lovely winners of the Stone Forest International Photography Competition while the UNESCO site preparing for the arrival of high-speed railway. Despite Yunnan's growing enthusiasm for rail, Kunming embraced its car fetish at the city's annual auto show extravaganza. Meanwhile, a shamed Wenshan politician issued an apology for denigrating Miao people, and we discussed the rich musical heritage of Yunnan's many minority cultures in an interview with Liu Xiaojin. Thankfully, interethnic relations in Yunnan are quite peaceful compared with those across its southwest border in Myanmar, where civil war flared up again. The province's culinary delights were in display in November, with the release of Zhang Mei's charming book Travels through Dali with a leg of ham. Additionally, Shangri-la Highland Craft Brewery won a prestigious European brewing award, while another famous local product, Yunnan Baiyao, faced an uncertain future. Preparations were underway for another distance-running event, the 105-mile Mount Gaoligong Ultra and the setting, weather and participants were all fantastic. While elite athletes ran ridiculous distances, Vice-premier Zhang Gaoli - no relation to the mountains - wrapped up his Yunnan tour. As has become a winter tradition, Kunming's own Flying Tigers Rugby Club hosted its annual Spring City Cup and pasted the competition. Again. We saw Yunnan stand up for children's health and rights in 2016's penultimate month, with the Have a Heart Fundraiser, which managed to raise a healthy 81,000 yuan. We closed out November with a Kunming newspaper known for occasional flashes of journalistic brilliance publishing a child labor bombshell.

December

Starting out the final month of the year, we prepared for the tenth annual Best of Kunming Awards. First we posted an overview of the voting process and then officially opened the polls on December 11. Next, it was on to a celebration important to many Westerners, as well as the residents of a small Miao village, Christmas. Relations with Southeast Asian neighbor Myanmar seemed to grow even more tangled, and during a year fraught with negative environmental news for the planet in general, we brought small but positive tidings for Yunnan in December, as local company Dali Bar began a free community e-waste recycling program. In other positive news, a previously unknown population of critically endangered monkeys was observed in the province's southwest. We featured local and international music in December as well. We reviewed Shanren mini-doc Qike Ami and also covered DJ DSK's obsession with vinyl, as he released several 7-inch records in a nod to hip-hop's roots. Continuing the drama of Yunnan's constant succession of top leaders, the province appointed a Hubei heavyweight as governor, and former provincial Party secretary Qiu He was sentenced to prison. Giving you more travel adventures, we ventured to the River of Golden Sand - by tractor no less - and then made a journey west to lovely Heshun. Airpocalypse struck much of industrial China, but luckily not Yunnan. Heading back to Kunming, we dropped by venerable Green Lake and checked out the dancing granny scene.

It was a busy, rewarding and somewhat crazy year and we want to thank you for being part of it. From everyone at the GoKunming team, we wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2017!

© Copyright 2005-2017 GoKunming.com all rights reserved. This material may not be republished, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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2016 Year in Review, part II - GoKunming

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The end of the year is a special time in which editors and writers around the world recycle content from the previous twelve months and repackage it as new. We at GoKunming are not above this practice. It's been a busy year here in Yunnan.

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GoKunming - Dec 29, 2016

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Heshun (和顺) is located in southwest Tengchong County (腾冲县) in the far west of Yunnan. It was once an important stop on the Ancient Tea Horse Road. Today, it remains one of the better-preserved old towns in the entire province.

Up until the mid-twentieth century, you might still see the occasional tea, pony or jade porter making their way to Tibet or Burma. But in recent years - especially since the 2010s - visitors are more likely to see fellow tourists perusing the town's quaint shops.

Near Heshun's main northern gate, is a modest bar street - a common sight in many 'old towns' in China these days. But it is instead the town's natural and cultural assets that are truly worth the trip.

A short distance from the bar area, in the northeast corner of town, are enchanting and thoroughly wild patches of wetland.

Another aquatic feature of this sleepy river town is the small artificial lake situated in Heshun's southeast.

On the southern end of the lake is the photogenic Yuanlong Pavillion (元龙阁), first constructed during the reign of the emperor Qianlong during the Qing Dynasty.

You may see the occasional luxury German car in Heshun, but the scenic old town - which costs 80 yuan to enter - is free of cars. Before the automobile, porters plying the ancient trade routes would carry 70 to 90 kilograms at a time along the 2,000-kilometer path to Lhasa, or on a shorter yet no less daunting trek across rolling green mountains to Mandalay.

For 400 years, Heshun has been the 'hometown of overseas Chinese'. Its current population is just over 6,000, but the vast majority of Heshun natives live overseas, most of them in Myanmar, which is only 70 kilometers away.

The village's name has gone through several incarnations during its 600-year history. Heshun was originally known as Yangwendun (阳温墩), meaning 'a place that is not too warm'. Later on, its name was changed to Heshun (河顺) - meaning 'along the river' - because of the stream that meanders around the village. This was eventually altered to Heshun (和顺), which is derived from the ancient Chinese expression shiheminshun (士和民顺), meaning roughly 'the officials are modest and the people comply'. Each of these titles capture different qualities of the town, all of which are still very much present in this serene village.

The old town looks much like it did during the Ming and Qing eras. Although foreign architectural influences can be observed - most notably in the homes built by overseas Chinese - the majority of buildings have decidedly Han characteristics.

The predominance of this style is due to the fact that Heshun was established as a trading and military outpost during the reign of Ming dynasty emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (朱元璋). As part of the government's 'border cultivation' program, Han Chinese were brought from China's central provinces to solidify the Ming presence at a time when Yunnan was a distant frontier.

Strolling around town, it is quite apparent that Heshun's Han settlers stayed true to their roots. Throughout the town, three varieties of memorial archway advocate traditional Chinese virtues. The first, represented by the Baisuifang Gate (百岁坊) - literally 'Hundred Years Gate' - is a symbol of longevity and filial piety.

Another gate commemorates chastity. Local women saw this as particularly important, because their husbands would venture away from the village for years or even decades at a time to do business abroad.

The third kind of archway celebrates fengshui, and advocates for the protection of cultural symbols. It also reminds locals of important Confucian principles such as benevolence.

Another central tenet of Confucianism is respect for ones ancestors, which is why Heshun has eight intact ancestral halls (宗祠).

Many of China's ancestral halls were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, but several in Heshun were spared, possibly due to the region's relative isolation.

Another endearing characteristic of the old town is that it has not experienced the kind of drastic, full-scale renovation that is increasingly common in Yunnan's rural hamlets.

Nearly ten years ago, when we last visited, the village was in the middle of receiving a bit of a makeover. Pipes were being laid beneath its cobblestone lanes, new power lines were going up and an imposing parking lot was being built near the main entrance.

Such changes may not seem like progress from the perspective of those who cherish the cultural heritage of China's rustic past, but they are seemingly inevitable. This is especially true since the gargantuan Longjiang Bridge brought the village within more convenient reach of established tourist center, Dali.

Nonetheless, Heshun has plenty to offer for connoisseurs of pastoral charm, and one can be confident that the slow pace of life in will not disappear altogether.

Even today, Heshun's pedestrian-only streets still harken back to Chinese village scenes of yore.

Getting there

Tengchong Airport receives around ten planes daily from Kunming, and flight times are under an hour. There is currently no Kunming to Tengchong rail link, and even with marked infrastructure improvements, a bus ride from Kunming - 700 kilometers to the east - is still nearly a full day away. A car ride can take between eight and ten hours depending on traffic.

If you are interested in visiting Heshun, Tengchong or anywhere in Yunnan, Kunming-based tour operator Wonders Of Yunnan Travel provides rental cars with drivers, hotel bookings, all sorts of travel related services and other valuable tourism information. Please get in touch directly for further details.
Images: Yereth Jansen
© Copyright 2005-2017 GoKunming.com all rights reserved. This material may not be republished, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Heshun: Old school charm in western Yunnan - GoKunming

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Heshun (和顺) is located in southwest Tengchong County (腾冲县) in the far west of Yunnan. It was once an important stop on the Ancient Tea Horse Road. Today, it remains one of the better-preserved old towns in the entire province.

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2016 Year in review - Yunna, China (Part I)

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2016 Year in review - Yunna, China (Part I)

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GoKunming - Dec 28, 2016

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The end of the year is a special time in which editors and writers around the world recycle content from the previous twelve months and repackage it as new. We at GoKunming are not above this practice. It's been a busy year here in Yunnan. News and events ranging from good to bad to befuddling have graced our front page. There were of course many encouraging bright spots as well that reminded us, once again, why we choose to call this corner of China home. So before delving into the uncharted territory of 2017, let's take a look back at the long and winding road that was 2016.

January

While 2016 may widely be seen as one of the most tumultuous years in recent memory - including political upsets, intensification of global climate change, and the deaths of major pop culture icons worldwide - in Yunnan, there has been some notable progress, making this area among China's more livable. Soon, high-speed rail lines will link Kunming with Shanghai in the east and Guangdong and Guangxi in the south. But back at the start of 2015, we began with positive news for tourism, when we learned that the historic Old Town of Shangri-la, the terminus of northwest Yunnan's tourist pilgrimage, re-opened two years after a conflagration swept through its vulnerable wooden structures. Just one day before Shangri-la old town began its comeback, the Stone Forest, an expansive array of Karst formations located outside of Kunming, reported the arrival of its four millionth visitor. Dali also received news of a tourism boost, with Yunnan's first skybridge opening on the Cangshan mountain range. Yunnan is rightfully famous for it's cultural as well as natural attractions. And in order to make sure that its status as one of China's most pristine and forested areas is maintained, the government invested massive amounts of money into expanding provincial woodlands. However, money continues to talk, as the massive open-pit gold mine between Lijiang and Dali clearly shows.

Bringing the focus back to the provincial capital, we went on a day trip to Kunming Waterfall Park before once again presenting the winners for our Best of Kunming Awards. Voting for Kunming's favorites was only one way Yunnan's opinionated netizens could share their views via the internet, and at the end of the month we examined online criticism of Yunnan's odd potato college. We live in a fascinating era in China's history, one in which the country depends not only on lightning-fast internet-connections to spread information, but also sleek high-speed railways to facilitate the movement of people. To that end, China and Laos agreed on a US$500 million railway loan. In addition to working on essential high-speed rail links, Yunnan showed other signs of its ambition to reach Beijing-set economic targets. However, long before the railroad era, Yunnan was connected to Tibet and central Asia via the ancient Tea Horse Road. As always, there was much more going on in Yunnan than transportation and economic development, and we featured several human interest pieces as well. One example was our revealing interview with tattoo artist Che. In another fine arts feature, we covered the exhibition of local artist Yuan Xiaocen. Soon creatives such as Che and Yuan, as well as tech-savvy entrepreneurs, will have a new section of town to innovate and develop their crafts at the revitalized 871 factories. As for music, we met with Beijing's Hutong Yellow Weasels who closed out January with an Appalachian-style barn dance.

February

To usher in the Year of the Monkey, we explored Jizu Mountain, with its scenic views, picturesque temples and immersive history. Another unique and much less-visited travel destination covered in February was the gorgeous Yading Nature Reserve. It was certainly cold up in those mountains, but 2016 was a particularly cold winter in Kunming anyway, and the trees and utilities suffered as a result. The Spring Festival holiday brought with it several dramatic news stories. Many were of high profile crimes - Kunming businessman Shan Jillian was arrested on fraud charges, a sizable drug smuggling syndicate was busted on the border with Myanmar, and 200 Kunming officials were reprimanded for corruption as part of President Xi Jinping's wide-ranging anti-graft campaign. But the government was not only active in snuffing out crime. Yunnan's provincial secretary made a landmark decision to protect the beautiful yet vulnerable Nujiang Canyon, and the provincial government pledged to spend 500 billion on roads. In addition to Chinese New Year, a number of minority celebrations were held during this time. These included the Jingpo people's Munao Zhongge Festival and the Miao Flower Mountain Festival in Wenshan. But the most remarkable cultural event of the month was the Dressing Up as Tigers celebration held in the Yi village of Wudi. February was a mostly bright beginning to the year of the Monkey in Yunnan, but international news was less positive, as dark political clouds loomed ironically over a summit between leaders from Southeast Asia and the United States.

March

We began the month with the soul-searching journey of a Flying Tiger's daughter, who visited her father's memorial 73 years after his death. The Flying Tigers were daring pioneers in Yunnan's history, but three quarters of a century later, there is still plenty to explore for everyone in the province. A hike up Luoping's Baila Mountain gave us a glimpse of a seldom-traversed range. Yunnan's varied landscapes are also some of the most biodiverse in China, and it wasn't much different in the age of the dinosaurs. In march, we had a chance to visit Yunnan's Jurassic Park in Lufeng, a short drive from Kunming. In spite of Yunnan's relatively unspoiled nature, we don't have many chances to see wildlife, but in mid-March monkey mayhem descended on downtown Kunming when a group of macaques escaped from the Kunming Zoo and roamed the city's streets. The fugitive monkeys were certainly adventurous, and, so it seemed, was a local women who ended up driving her two drunk companions into the Jinzhi river in a luxury car. 2016 bell weather year regarding progress in Yunnan's infrastructure, and in March we covered how a highway promises easier access to Meili Snow Mountain and how Kunming buses began installing wi-fi services. While convenient roads and mobile internet are no doubt important in modern society, a more significant achievement was made in the medical field, when a Yunnan institute created the world's first hand foot and mouth vaccine.

In the midst of these and numerous other developments, Shangri-la was still looking to bounce back just as another year's fire season began. For those interested in other rural locales, we went on a more low-key day-trip to Baisha and explored Xizhou as well. In an effort to preserve these and other beautiful places, the Mountain Futures Conference reminded us that shared water resources are incredibly precious. More light-hearted events of the month included the Yunnan Foreign Business Club charity event for Heart to Heart and China's annual twin extravaganza in Mojiang. There is always plenty happening in Yunnan, but we decided to get away for ten crazy days in Bangladesh. As it turned out, the experience wasn't as relaxing as expected, but offered plenty of memorable excitement. In a less positive travel experience, six Chinese nationals were wounded in an ambush in neighboring Laos. Two of our March stories showed that Yunnan plays a growing role on the international stage. As several Southeast Asian countries rely on water from the Lancang River, the Jinghong Dam released a month-long torrent aimed at easing a debilitating Southeast Asian drought. And it's not only Asian countries that have an interest in Yunnan's resources. Typifying this, we met with Italian Consul General Sergio Maffettone, who discussed Italy's business and tourism interests in the province.

April

As is customary, we delved into the origins of China's solemn Tomb Sweeping Festival, but in April we had plenty to report concerning the living culture of Yunnan. For those free spirits out there, we took a ride to Chenghai Lake and the Yangtze River, a journey which revealed a hidden turquoise gem located in a sparsely populated area outside Dali. Yunnan, at times, is a veritable museum art, and its home-grown musical group Shanren won national music competition Sing My Song. In the same vein, the third annual Spirit Tribe Trance celebration was held, and we Continued our journey through Yunnan's inexhaustible collection of cultural assets by exploring colonial French connections, as well as Miao and Yi culture in Mengzi. We also returned to Mojiang to look at preparations for the area's much-hyped International Twins Festival. April also brought positive news for environmental and sustainable development. We were encouraged to see that rare animals still live in southern Yunnan's virgin forests, while scientists at Yunnan Normal University helped develop solar cells that convert raindrops into electricity.

In a sign of further progress, Coca-Cola announced it would build a new eco-friendly bottling factory in Kunming. Apparently the province is preparing do be a major player in the future of plant species preservation, as China's largest seedbank looked to expand its already impressive inventory. Also with an eye on the possible future, the Kunming government built more than 200 earthquake shelters. The province's agricultural assets continued to attract new international investors, this time from Moët Hennessy, which debuted its first luxury wine made from locally grown grapes. In other agrarian news, the province's booming flower market, continued to blossom from ever-growing domestic and international demand. But Yunnan's comparative agricultural wealth could only go so far in protecting Kunming from soaring food prices. April was also a month where we looked at beginnings. In international news, we covered how China-Myanmar ties reached a new starting point, as China's foreign minister Wang Yi met with newly elected Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi. In a more locally focused story of origins, we were able to learn one version of how Dianchi Lake and the Western Hills formed. As the month drew to a close, we took a brief look at the historical roots of Chinese Labor Day. Workers of the world unite!

May

The host of springtime festivals continued into May, beginning with International Labor Day and continuing with two days of twin mayhem. It was also a month where we looked outside of Yunnan almost as much as inside. In China news, we reported on the astronomical monster growing in the hills of Guizhou. Externally, May was - in a sense - Myanmar Month, as we looked at social and economic progress across Yunnan's western international border. As an overview, we examined why nuance matters in the country's development landscape. One area in which the former British colony struggles to move forward is in its advancement of gender advocacy. Reinforcing this idea, we studied how gender inequality does indeed seem to be a barrier to peace-building in Myanmar.

While far-flung, mountain-bound Yunnan is comparatively isolated from the influence of many trends in China and the outside world, which in the past led to the creation of several non-Han alphabets among its minority cultures.Language, that seclusion did not stop brewer and pub owner Uncle John from opening a craft beer tavern in the Spring City. In a further sign of Kunming's growing worldliness, two European visa centers opened in our ever-growing metropolis. Additional foreign trade was anticipated at 2016's China-South Asia Expo. One area where growth was hampered was the delays projected for Kunming's next subway line - an ongoing headache for commuters and urban planners alike.Next up, the Heart 2 Heart charity fundraiser helped migrant families who have had a difficult time integrating into life in the province. For those who have come to Yunnan from foreign countries, we published a feature on the strengths and pitfalls of healthcare for China expats. Charity and goodwill extended to the animal kingdom, when a Weibo blogger 'freed' animals, stirring up controversy in the process while China's two-legged goat became minor celebrity. Reminding us that the province's natural environment is beautiful as well as powerfully unpredictable, Dali Prefecture was hit by magnitude 5.0 earthquake.

June

Not all was bright and sunny South of the Clouds. With sadness, we ran an obituary for respected Spring City Evening News editor Du Shaoling. Perhaps fittingly following Du's death, stories of disobedience featured prominently in June, with virtually an entire Chinese village turning to mass divorce in face of impending demolition and a strike among Lijiang vendors protested an old town entry fee merchants saw as prohibitive. We also covered several prominent legal cases and arrests, including the wrongful murder conviction of Yunnan woman Qian Renfeng, which spawned a US$1.45 million lawsuit. As Ms Qian was being released from prison, the CEO of the Ponzi scheming Fanya Metal Exchange was placed in custody and the company's assets finally seized. Other alleged criminals apprehended in June were members of Yunnan's largest animal smuggling ring. Following Chinese Dragon Boat Festival, the rainy season arrived in Yunnan with a vengeance. The torrential rains preceded an event celebrating physical stamina, the Phoenix Valley-Mushroom Mountain Outdoor Challenge, a race through one of the province's odder locales.

Mid-year, we received a string of indicators that Kunming is on the up-and-up. Yunnan's capital ranked second in China's Most Livable Cities index and the Spring City's twin trade expos were bigger, more ostentatious and important than ever. Yet another European visa center - this time from the Czech Republic - opened in Kunming. In what could be further positive news for the city and other second-tier Chinese municipalities, we reported that foreign airlines sought expansion into less-served markets. And just when things couldn't seem to get much better for the area, provincial planners announced their intentions to have universal preschool education by 2020. With that being said, 2016 census figures indicated that Yunnan still has a lengthy path to equal educational development. We ended the month on an optimistic note, with travel stories from veritable mountain paradises Larung Gar - Sichuan's extraordinary Buddhist retreat - and the stairways to the sky that are the ancient rice terraces of Yunnan.

Whoa! We were halfway through 2016 before we knew it! Check back soon to see how the final six months of 2016 wrapped up. And happy impending new year from the entire GoKunming team!
© Copyright 2005-2017 GoKunming.com all rights reserved. This material may not be republished, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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2016: The Year in Review, part I - GoKunming

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The end of the year is a special time in which editors and writers around the world recycle content from the previous twelve months and repackage it as new. We at GoKunming are not above this practice. It's been a busy year here in Yunnan.

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GoKunming - Dec 15, 201

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Ruan Chengfa (阮成发) was appointed acting governor of Yunnan province on Tuesday, December 13. His predecessor, Chen Hao (陈豪), who was previously granted the position at the end of August, will continue serving as provincial Party secretary. The appointment comes after a long and rapid succession of top bosses in Yunnan province. Ruan was previously Mayor of Wuhan, the sprawling capital of central China's Hubei Province, and is the first Yunnan governor in recent years who has not held prior governmental positions in the province.

A native of Wuhan, Ruan joined the Communist Party in 1982 and held several leading positions in the city's government from 1989 onwards, serving as Party secretary from 1995 to 1998, and mayor from 2008 to 2016. He has a master's degree in economic management from Wuhan University, and the city's economy grew significantly during his various tenures. It now enjoys the eighth highest gross domestic product of all Chinese metropolises.

As governor, Ruan will be responsible for liaising with Yunnan's various administrative subdivisions and will report to Party Secretary Chen, who remains the highest authority in Yunnan. Together, the two will direct the province's budgetary and political course. This will be particularly important because Beijing aims to make Kunming into the commercial hub of Southeast Asia, as part of its Belt and Road initiative.

In spite of considerable efforts and serious financial outlays by the government, Kunming's transformation process has been slow-going. Yunnan, along with several southwest China provinces and regions, has received massive amounts of infrastructure development aid from Beijing. Shanghai Securities News reported that Yunnan had the third largest growth in infrastructure investment - nearly 20 percent - of any province or region in China. However, it remains relatively isolated from the rest of the country and underdeveloped considering its vast agriculture and mineral resources.

Ruan and Chen will in fact deal with a variety of international and domestic issues as well, such as the illegal trafficking of narcotics, animals and natural resources, the restructuring of Yunnan's booming tourism economy and the province's environmental conservation and sustainable development efforts.

The numerous provincial leaders preceding Ruan and Chen's ascensions in only the past five years include former Party secretary Qiu He (仇和), who was supplanted by Qin Guangrong (秦光荣) in 2011 and subsequently charged with corruption. Qin - known for implementing an enormous Yangtze River diversion project - was in turn replaced in 2014 for no discernible reason by subordinate Li Jiheng (李纪恒), who then experienced a similarly vague fall from grace in August 2016.

Image: 163
© Copyright 2005-2017 GoKunming.com all rights reserved. This material may not be republished, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Yunnan appoints Hubei heavyweight as governor - GoKunming

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Ruan Chengfa (阮成发) was appointed acting governor of Yunnan province on Tuesday, December 13. His predecessor, Chen Hao (陈豪), who was previously granted the position at the end of August, will continue serving as provincial Party secretary. The appointment comes after a long and rapid succession of top bosses in Yunnan province.

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Stone Forest Photography exhibition, Yunnan, China

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Stone Forest Photography exhibition, Yunnan, China

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GoKunming - Dec 7, 2017

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Contestants from nearly a dozen countries accepted their awards for the first ever Stone Forest International Photography Competition on Tuesday, December 6 at the IWE Art Museum in Kunming. The contest was a collaboration between the Stone Forest government and Yunnan CloudBridge Consulting International.

American photographer Kyle Miller, who attended Tuesday's award ceremony, claimed the grand prize for his photo Stone Forest Wall, and was awarded a DJI Inspire 1 drone worth 12,999 yuan (US$1,890). The three winners in the categories 'Nature', 'Culture' and 'People' respectively were Changhu Sunrise by GoKunming user Red Herring, Culture Dance by Miller, and Beautiful Sani Lady with Natural Stone Background by Adam Crase. Each of them received an all-inclusive weekend retreat, graciously provided by Sofitel Kunming.

All of the award winners, including the eight weekly victors, received a prize package consisting of two VIP tickets to Yang Liping's dance drama Dynamic Yunnan, two free passes for their next visit to the Stone Forest, a gift package of mu'er (木耳), organically grown in the Stone Forest by Sunrise Manor, and a box of natural energy bars provided by Dali Bars.

Contestants submitted 162 photos to the contest in total. The weekly and category winners were chosen by an online vote, and the overall winner was selected by an international panel of professional photographers.

At the exhibition opening, the contest was described as "a celebration of photography", by Wang Yongqiao, Deputy Director of the Stone Forest Scenic Area Administrative Bureau. "The photos celebrate beautiful, untouched natural places and thriving [local] Yi minority culture," he said. Continuing, Wang described China as "moving in a greener, eco-friendly direction, and the Stone Forest is eager to do the same. And what better way to usher in a new era of eco-friendly tourism than with a photography contest."

Yereth Jansen, CEO of Cloudbridge, said "in terms of international exposure, the contest was very effective". The photographs reached an estimated two million people through traditional media and were viewed more than 200,000 times on various social media outlets. It is the first time the Stone Forest has reached such a large international audience, and those numbers are expected to grow with the release of a promotional video produced by CloudBridge in association with Shangri-la Beer and DJI.

The competition ran from September 19 to November 14 Photos were submitted via the official contest website at GoKunming.com, which allowed for online voting and sharing.

The Stone Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a 500 square kilometer area of Karst limestone rock formations located in southern China. It is the home of several ethnic minorities and is the largest natural attraction in Yunnan Province. It is also soon to become a stop on China's vast and growing high-speed rail network.

The Stone Forest International Photo Competition exhibition - called The Locality of Time - features 36 color and black and white photos, as well as examples of hand-made traditional Yi minority clothing. It is free and open to the public through December 27, at the IWE Art Museum in Kunming.

Images: Zhu Bu (局部)
© Copyright 2005-2017 GoKunming.com all rights reserved. This material may not be republished, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Stone Forest exhibition honors winning photographers - GoKunming

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Contestants from nearly a dozen countries accepted their awards for the first ever Stone Forest International Photography Competition on Tuesday, December 6 at the IWE Art Museum in Kunming. The contest was a collaboration between the Stone Forest government and Yunnan CloudBridge Consulting International.

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Self-published - Sept 20, 2016

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How many cities can I think of where you can look down on the skyscrapers from lush green mountains? Rio, I suppose, also Vancouver. Not too many places. Ok, I'll try to think of another distinguishing characteristic about my new home city Hong Kong...Yes, it's the quintessential East-meets-West city.

Taking an evening stroll near my temporary home in the Mirador Mansion, a large comfortably lower-middle class residential block in the Tsim Sha Tsui district, I find myself in a truly multicultural world: tailors and pushers from around the developed and developing world (Sorry, can't name any specific nationalities because the mix is so profound), street food vendors selling fish balls, intestines and other local fare, bros hanging outside a nearby closed shopping mall drinking 7-11 beers.

Cross the harbour to Hong Kong Island and you can find one of the world's sprawling financial districts. However, behind the glamour of the glass and steel, there is a rout of local businesses who can no longer compete with the corporations in their ability to pay rents higher than New York or London.

The predominately Cantonese Chinese culture ( Hong Kong demographics) is also a spectacle. It may seem on the surface that Cantonese speakers are arguing when in reality they may be discussing something as mndane as what they had for breakfast. My friend who grew up in Hong Kong says that Cantonese is "more lively" than Mandarin, particularly in its myriad slang that changes by the minute.

Before moving to Hong Kong, the city was my go-to holiday destination, as it was just across the estuary from where I was previously living in Zhuhai. At one point I thought that I might tire of the city, but living here only allows me to explore its richness in greater depth.

[Last edited: Feb 25, 2017]

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How many cities can I think of where you can look down on the skyscrapers from lush green mountains? Rio, I suppose, also Vancouver. Not too many places. Ok, I'll try to think of another distinguishing characteristic about my new home city Hong Kong...Yes, it's the quintessential East-meets-West city.