2017 Chinese Root-Seeking Camp - Lijiang, Yunnan

A botanist born in Austria known as Joseph Rock lived in Yunnan province for 27 years from 1922 to 1949. He wrote many articles and books, including the book known as “The Ancient Nakhi Kingdom of SouthWest China”. With the spread of these books, Rock introduced the customs, ceremonies, and unique pictographic script of the Naxi to the entire world, thus improving the popularity of Yunnan.

Just like last summer, I participated in another Chinese Root-seeking camp. This time I traveled to the beautiful city of Lijiang of the Yunnan province of China. The summer camp consisted of 47 campers from 11 different states of the US, along with five chaperones. The camp lasted 12 days, starting from July 21^st, 2017.

The camp officially started with the opening ceremony, where the organizers of the camp made a few speeches along with my father (lead chaperone). The events that followed included a tour of a nearby Ancient City (古城) and four engaging days of intriguing classes full of information. Besides the classes that were similar to the last year’s Jingdezheng camp (calligraphy, tea-making, clay sculpting, etc.), there was still quite a variety of innovative classes.

While there were Taichi classes in the Jingdezheng camp, we had a single KungFu class in this camp. We learned a form known as Wing Chun Boxing (咏春拳), the form that Bruce Lee studied. From another class, we were informed that China has a total of 56 nationalities; Yunnan itself has 25 of these. Of the 25, one of the most well-known is the Naxi minority. Being quite famous, we were taught a traditional Naxi song, dance routine, and the traditional Naxi Dongba Hieroglyphs. Dongba hieroglyphs are the only hieroglyphs still used today in the world, and has also been included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Program (therefore becoming a world heritage site).

Dongba Hieroglyphs Class (I am to the right)

Closely following the four days of classes, we had four days of venturing outside to go sight-seeing! From the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (a mountain that has not been summited by anyone due to the loose rocks) with an elevation of 5596 meters, everyone was given an oxygen tank beforehand to deal with altitude sickness. To avoid campers having severe symptoms of altitude sickness, we only went up to an altitude of 3284 meters above sea level. At the foothills of the mountain lay the Blue Moon Valley along with a series of lakes that change color in relativity to the weather and temperature/climate conditions. When we viewed the lakes, they were a tint of aquamarine.

The Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

A panorama of the along with the Blue Moon Valley

Not too far away from the Snow Mountain, is a temple named Yufeng Temple (玉峰寺). Within this temple is a 500-year-old tree known as the Ten-Thousand-Flower Camellia (万朵山茶花). Although being a single tree, it grows two different species of flowers. These two flowers are known as the Lion Head Camellia (照殿红/狮子头) and the Early Pink Camellia (红花油茶). Nadu, a Lama that passed away at age 99 in the year 2015, spent 61 years living within the temple to nourish the Ten-Thousand-Flower Camellia tree. A statue of him now stands adjacent to the tree.

Me in front of the Ten-Thousand-Year Camellia 

Aside from all of the historical sites, we visited the first bend of the Yangtze River. Here, three rivers merge into one, the Yangtze River (长江), the Lanchang/Lantsang River (澜沧江), and the Nu/Angry River (怒江). This bend also keeps the Yangtze River within China’s Borders, thus making it the mother river of China. Just like the rivers within the Blue Moon Valley, the waters of the Yangtze River change color as the seasons change. In the spring and the summer, it turns into a hue of yellow due to the sand and mud that falls from the mountains. In the autumn and winter, the water becomes a clear shade of teal green.

At the first bend of the Yangtze River (I am the first one on the left of the stone)
The words on the stone says "The first bend of the Yangtze River"

Although some parts of this camp overlapped with the information gathered from the Jingdezhen camp, the entire trip felt like a brand new experience. I learned a significant amount of the traditions, cultures, and history of China and especially Lijiang.

Spain Trip 2017

The teachers at my school have had a tradition of taking a group of students on a trip to tour a foreign country about every two years. In the middle of my 6th-grade year, everyone was asked whether or not they wanted to go on a trip to Spain in the summer of 2017. A few of my friends (I will be using made up names for privacy reasons) and I thought that it would be an interesting and special experience, so we all signed up. We ended up being the only boys on the whole trip, so we were all put together into one group. This trip would also be the first time I went on a trip by myself. I felt this trip would also be a good time to test my Spanish speaking ability (I have taken about 3 years of Spanish lessons).

My group at the airport

 On June 30th, 2017, Bob, one of my friends, drove to my house, and we carpooled to the airport. We met up with the rest of the travelers, checked in, went through security screening, and finally, went to our boarding gate. There, everyone was given approximately 1 hour for lunch, so we all bought some food and ate. We got on the plane and I observed that seats were handed out according to the order that we signed up for the trip (as in the group of students going on the Spain trip, not everyone in general). Conveniently, Bob and I signed up at the same time, so our seats were right next to each other. Throughout the nine-hour plane ride, Bob and I watched a series of movies including La La Land and Hidden Figures (both are wonderful movies). In no time, we arrived in Frankfurt, Germany where we boarded a connecting flight (after going through customs).Yet again,  Bob and I sat next to each other, but this time, being on a smaller airplane, there was no entertainment screen, so we just sat there for the significantly shorter 100-minute plane ride. Surprisingly, neither of us were tired at all, considering it had been 24 hours since we last slept. Once we landed, we grabbed our baggage, met our tour guide, and rode a bus to our hotel in the gorgeous city of Sitgis. We arrived at 3 Pm local time, which is the same as 6 Am at home. Our hotel just so happens to have been right in front of the beach of the lovely Mediterranean Sea. With approximately 3 hours of free time until dinner, our group leader took us all (a group of five boys) to the beach. Only 1 person had an intention of going swimming (I'll call him Tom), but eventually two more of my friends (Carl and Joe) decided to follow. Still, Bob and I were reluctant of going in the water, so we just waded through the shallow end of the sea. Not much was happening until suddenly, Carl pushed Bob into the water completely. I was still laughing at Bob's extremely annoyed looking face when I too was pushed into the water. We all messed around in the water for another 30 minutes until the majority of us decided to return to the hotel and clean up. Shortly after, we went on a walking tour or Sitgis, where we saw all of the significant buildings such as the Courthouse. After the tour of the city, we went back to our hotel, had dinner, and got ready for bed.

My group at the Mediterranean Sea (I am the one in the red)

I was roomed with Bob, and the two of us attempted to sleep all night. The problem was, we couldn't. For the strangest reasons ever,  neither of us were tired. We eventually fell asleep for approximately two hours due to boredom, but we didn't get any more sleep after that. When it was finally time for breakfast, Bob and I met up with Carl, Tom, and Joe and we all went to breakfast. Right after breakfast, we rode the bus to Barcelona. We first stopped and had a walking tour of Las Ramblas. The view was amazing, and all of the buildings from the post office to the capital building to the normal hotels looked amazing. We walked over to La Sagrada Familia, a large Roman Catholic Church. Designed by Antoni Gaudí, its construction started in 1882, and to this day, has not been completed. The finished design will have a total of 18 towers, 12 representing the apostles and 4 representing the evangelists. The tallest tower represents Christ. The building itself is to symbolize the lifetime of Christ; the three entrances represent the three virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love. Shortly after we toured the four sides of La Sagrada Familia, we were all given 20 minutes for gift shopping. We got on the bus and drove the Park Güell and toured the gardens, hills, and buildings. In no time, it was already time for dinner. Everyone was rushed to eat and strictly after, we went to watch the famous Flamenco show. The show was very intriguing and the dancers were all amazing, and I ended up being selected to go up on stage to learn to dance. By this time, the majority of people were already tired, and we all expected to go back to the hotel and sleep. But turns out, we were going to look at a nearby fountain in the city center, and it was quite amazing, with all of the different ways the water sprayed, and the different colors the water changed into. After about 10 minutes of watching the graceful water, it started to repeat, so we left to return to our hotel to rest.

La Sagrada Familia (Back)

La Sagrada Familia (Front)

The next day we went to Valencia, the City of Arts and Sciences. We visited the city square, from the post office to the government buildings. After a thorough visit of the city, we were given some free time to shop for souvenirs, to eat lunch, and to look around the city. For lunch, we decided to try a Spain specialty that my Spanish teacher suggested me to try called Paella. It was very good (slightly too salty) until we saw the receipt, although the sign said 17 euros each, the actual price was actually 17 euros per serving. So, the final cost was 178 euros. In the afternoon, we toured the glorious Valencia Aquarium. Here, we saw animals from flamingos to penguins to jellyfish. All of the sea creatures were incredibly unique, and the short 2 hours that we were given just felt like it wasn’t enough. After touring every single exhibit, we returned back to our hotel and rested for the rest of the day.

Valencia city center

Valencia Aquarium

The day that followed required us to wake up and pack at six so that we could leave for Granada by seven. The drive took a pretty long time, we arrived around 3 in the afternoon. We toured the Plaza Nueva, visiting shop after shop purchasing souvenirs. We finished around five, and everyone was tired from the driving, so we went back to our hotel right after.

The next morning, we went to La Alhambra, a beautiful palace and fortress complex. We toured the huge garden within the palace, along with all of the main rooms and places within the fortress as well as Costa del Sol. After all of the touring, we went on a scavenger hunt in the city, where we had to look around to find landmarks to take pictures in. Although my team didn’t have the best cooperation, we still came in second. The rest of the day was free time, so we looked around the city until we returned to our hotel.

La Alhambra

 The next day, was the excursion day. Some people stayed to tour Costa del Sol further, some went to Morocco, but the majority of us went to Gibraltar. In Gibraltar, we got to see the famous Rock of Gibraltar, St. Michael’s Cave, and lots and lots of monkeys! Gibraltar has about 250 monkeys who were everywhere. You could almost see a monkey in any direction you look! It was a very interesting experience; I got to watch monkeys jump onto people, as well as monkeys steal stuff from peoples’ backpacks, and riding a cable car to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar! The day flew by in no time, and we sadly had to return back to our hotel.

Rock of Gibraltar

St. Michael's Cave

We all woke up extremely early for the next morning because of all the places we had to tour the next day. We went to the city of Seville, where we toured the Plaza de Espana, Torre del Oro, Plaza de Toros de Maestranza, Maria Luisa Park, Barrio de Santa Cruz, climbed 36 ramps to reach to the top of La Giralda bell tower, and toured the Seville Cathedral. In the Cathedral, we saw the Main Chapel, a huge room made with a wall of gold depicting the life of Jesus. We also saw one of the two official tombs of Christopher Columbus (no one could prove which one is actually the official one, so there are two that were made official). The whole process was really tiring, and we went straight back to the hotel afterwards.

Christopher Columbus's Tomb

Main Chapel

For the next two days, we traveled to Cordoba and Madrid. The first day we visited the Calleja de las Flores, Puerto Lapice, and the Mezquita (the mosque of Cordoba). We got to see the beautiful view of the Calleja de las Flores, as well as all of the gold objects and art inside the Mezquita. The next day we went to Madrid and toured the Plaza de Oriente, Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor, Market of San Miguel, The Royal Palace (official residence of the Spanish Royal Family), as well as The Prado (the main Spanish art museum). We were allowed to see almost everything, from the room the king ate dinner in, to all of the famous artwork in Spain. Sadly, we were not allowed to take any pictures, but just the experience of touring the places was one that I will probably never forget.

The next morning we woke up at 2 Am to pack to leave for the airport. It was hard saying goodbye to everyone, especially considering the fact that we had so much fun together during the trip. The whole trip was definitely worth it, I was given an opportunity to test my Spanish out in a Spanish speaking environment as well as a huge amount of information about Spain’s culture and history. I can’t wait for the DC trip next year!

Puzzle Solving Skills Progression: Rubik's Cube

I finally learned to solve a Rubik's Cube!

I feel that Rubik's Cube have come back, and they are becoming popular once again. Lots of my friends started playing with Rubik's Cubes, so I decided to spend some of my spring break learning how to solve one.

I started on Sunday, April 2nd. Without any idea what to do, I decided to go on YouTube to watch some videos on how to solve one. I watched 1 video, and I learned how to solve the first layer. Then I watched about 6 more to get my second layer. When I finally learned that part, I started on the last layer. It was pretty nerve-racking because I didn't want to mess up what I already have done. But... I messed up around 4 times and I gave up for a day.

A day later, I decided to try again, and I solved it on my second try! I slowly memorized all of the algorithms and got faster and faster at solving the cube. I was honestly very surprised with myself that I learned everything in 3 days (from the 2nd to the 4th).

I feel that Rubik's Cubes can be beneficial in many different ways. For one, it can improve people's geometric sense, considering it is a cube. It also improves your puzzle solving skills (a Rubik's Cube is a puzzle) and memorization skills (algorithms) as well.

Library Fundraising: Lion Dance and Martial Arts

Ah, I love the feeling of helping people. It just gives me a nice warm feeling inside and motivates me to do more. Doesn't time fly by so fast?!? It's already another year, and I remember most things I did last year as yesterday. I've been interested in martial arts for a while, so I really wanted to learn martial arts, and to join the Olympia Kung Fu and Tai Chi club. I've currently learned 2 of the long fist forms, a staff form, and part of a broadsword form.

Well, you see, there is a traditional performance called the lion dance that is performed every year during new year celebrations (for more info on the lion dance, click here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_dance).

Every year, the Olympia Kung Fu and Tai Chi club performs this traditional dance along with a few forms of Kung Fu and Tai Chi at our local Chinese New Year festival. But along with this final performance, we also do a few others. Of these, there are 2 times where we go to the 2 local public libraries and perform to fundraise for the libraries, and I participated in all of these performances this year, and last year.

Lion Dance at Olympia Library (tail of yellow lion is me :D)

The first Long Fist Form that I learned

Chinese Root Seeking Camp Trip In JingDeZhen Part Two: The Activities of the Camp

The next day, July 19th, the daily activities were initiated.

Day 1 (7/19):

All the campers woke up extra early to get ready for the first TaiChi (太极) lesson. Everyone was provided a white TaiChi uniform with the "Royal China" (皇窑) logo on it. The TaiChi class was started early because: 1. the fact that TaiChi is traditionally practiced in the early morning; 2. to avoid the immense heat produced from the sun. The campers gathered together at the courtyard of the Porcelain Palace, met our instructors, and split into groups to start the classes. We were all very excited about this class and learned 3 moves, QiShi (起式-Ready Position), JinGangDaoZhui (金刚捣碓-Buddha’s Warrior Attendant Pounds Mortar), and LanZhaYi (懒扎衣-Lazily Tying Coat) the first day.

1st day of TaiChi in front of the Porcelain Palace

Our morning class is Teasim (茶道). Everyone was very psyched about learning the ancient culture. Teaism is the study of ancient Chinese tea making history and a particularly formal class which has many strict rules. We made green, red, and a few other types of tea. The whole process is absolutely astonishing, where every single step is extremely important in this tradition. After a while, I was interviewed about why I wanted to learn about Teaism, what was for helping people remember this camp and its culture.

 

Teaism class

Me being interviewed about Teaism

Our second class, Pottery Shaping (拉坯), was in the afternoon after lunch. We learned about the history of pottery shaping and the instructors taught us how to do it. The fact that a chunk of clay can become such an amazing material known as China is just completely flabbergasting. It was a particularly enjoyable activity that cannot be done anywhere else in the world because porcelain pottery’s origin is from JingDeZhen, which has thousands of years of history of making China products.  The porcelain clay of JingDeZhen is unique because it is the only material that can withstand 1300° C (typical clay can only reach 1200° C), stabilizing all threatening toxicants. Every single camper was allowed to keep one finished production but we could make as much as we wanted that day. I made a goblet-like vase that became a bowl at the end which I felt pretty accomplished about.

 

Pottery Shaping class

Day 2 (7/20):

We had TaiChi again in the morning. After practicing what we learned from yesterday, we learned 2 more movements, LiuFengSiBi (六封四闭-Six Sealing and Four Closing) and DanBian (单鞭-Single Whip).

Almost immediately after breakfast, we went on our first field trip of the camp. The general idea was to have classes every other day, so the campers could all have some fresh air and to tour the beautiful nature of China. We visited a place called YaoLi (瑶里) and toured many historical buildings of an ancient town. The buildings were all traditional architecture built along a river. Yet again, the climate was really hot, which drained everyone’s energy really early in the day, but I still saw many interesting things that can't be seen anywhere else. We had a special lunch with the local food style/taste.

 

Me on one of YaoLi's bridges

Day 3 (7/21):

We learned 2 new positions, BaiHeLiangChi (白鹤亮翅-White Crane Spreads It’s Wings) and XieXing (斜行-Walking Diagonally).

Our morning class was Painting Under Glaze (釉下彩绘). Our instructors emphasized that we needed to be extra careful because the plates were extremely fragile. Everyone was provided with a glaze less dried but not fired plate to paint whatever they want. Even with the precaution, some campers still broke their plates when they were drawing. I drew a flower like picture-pattern onto my plate with the magical black ink that turns blue when fired. It was a very long process because we had to transfer the picture onto the plate.

 

Painting Under Glaze class

In the afternoon, we had the HKC (汉语口语测试- Chinese Speaking Assessment). The HKC has 3 difficulties: Elementary, Intermediate, and Advanced. Each difficulty is divided into 3 more levels. Elementary has levels 1 – 3 (where 3 is the highest and 1 is the lowest). Intermediate has 4 - 6. Same rule applies for Advanced Level. I signed up for Intermediate and I obtained level 5. It was not as good as I expected. I will continue to improve my Chinese speaking skills.

My HKC results

Day 4 (7/22):

Only 1 new position LouXi (搂膝- Brush Knee) was learned because this was another field trip day. We went to WuYuan (婺源). It was a very astonishing and interesting place to tour around. We visited a limestone cave, where we saw bats on the roof and hundreds of vases filled with preserved wine. After visiting the cave, we hiked on a 1.75 KM long trail along a nearby waterfall. The scenery of the waterfall was gorgeous and I felt like I would never forget the picture.

Me in the limestone cave

The hike 

Day 5 (7/23):

The last 4 new moves, AoBu (拗步- Stepping Lightly), YanShouHongQuan (掩手肱拳- Hidden Thrust Punch and Whirling Upper Arms), JinGangDaoZhui (金刚捣碓-Buddha’s Warrior Attendant Pounds Mortar), and ShouShi (收式- Closing Form), were taught and practiced. Actually, they are not the last 4 moves. The instructors reduced the form because they feared that the campers could not remember the entire form and would like us to practice more so we would be fluent when performing.

The morning class that we had was Chinese Calligraphy (书法).  Mr. WenQing Peng, the famous local calligrapher, was invited to teach us. He talked about the history of Chinese Calligraphy, demonstrated how to write the 8 words “厚德载物，自强不息” (be virtuous to contain the whole world and constantly be strong and work hard), and explained how to write each stroke of these 8 words with the writing brush. We had grid paper, ink, and a writing brush for us to practice writing those words over and over again. Some students were particularly good at this, but I only did okay since this was my first time.

Calligraphy class

 In the afternoon, a group of local middle school students were invited to join our party. We had a mini talent show presented by us and students and played a few games (hosted by my dad and I). At the end, it was free time for both us and students to socialize and exchange gifts. It was very fun meeting all the new people and spending time with them.

 

The start of the party

Playing the games hosted by my dad and I

Day 6 (7/24):

This time, we went to a place called JinKeng(进坑) which is an ancient Chinese village. The village was mainly hundreds of acres of Lotus Flower fields, with a stream running through in the middle. The weather was immensely hot, so everyone hurried back. I learned a lot of information during the trip, for example, how lotus flowers are also categorized as male and female, male being the white ones and female being the pink ones (male lotus flowers are decently rare).

In the lotus flower fields

 In the afternoon, we visited the JingDeZhen Porcelain Museum. There, I saw an amazing collection of porcelain objects from people to giant sized boats. The sculptures were truly a wonderful sight to see. The museum also displayed information on the long history of JingDeZhen’s porcelain pottery.

 

The porcelain boat at the museum, my favorite product

Day 7 (7/25):

We continued to practice the TaiChi form to perfect it for the performance. When we finished the practice, our instructors demonstrated us a TaiChi form of the sword and fan. The morning class was Painting Above Glaze (釉上彩绘). This is different from Painting Under Glaze because the tile we drew on is glazed and fired porcelain which is not as fragile. Everyone was provided a white glazed fired porcelain tile and a plate of oil with 6 different color paints. The cool thing about Painting Above Glaze is that the paint is partially oil. The oil on the smooth glaze makes erasing possible. When I messed up my drawing, I just wiped the tile with a piece of paper. At last, I drew lots of types of fruit on the tile. After lunch and break, we had a music class (音乐). We learned a total of 2 songs, a song about JingDeZhen and a very famous song about Jasmine flower.

 

Me drawing my grapes for the Painting Above Glaze class

Day 8 (7/26):

We practiced the TaiChi form continuously for the next 4 days. Due to the hot weather, today’s field trip was rescheduled. The morning class was clay sculpture (泥塑), a class that I love. I made a realistic pig and goat, but sadly, they could not be fired, so bringing them home was not an option.

Me in clay sculpture class with my pig

The afternoon class was Traditional Chinese Painting (国画). This type of painting generally is done with a brush and black ink (which turns into different shades of gray/grey with different amounts of water mixture). Just like the calligraphy teacher, our instructor taught us about the history of Traditional Painting and then demonstrated to us how to draw lotus leaves and bamboo.

 

Traditional Chinese Drawing

Day 9 (7/27):

Our morning activity today was to make dumplings. They were extremely easy to make. My 10 person group worked really fast and we had 50 done in no time. For lunch, we ate the dumplings that we made. They were really delectable so the first plate on our table to be cleared was the dumplings. With the delicious self-made lunch and a nice rest, everyone was ready for the talent show.

My group making dumplings

The talent show, hosted completely by my dad, had a total of 16 performances, from a saxophone solo to gymnastics. My group had an edited performance of practical synchronized swimming on land (that was rehearsed 4 times). It was really funny and everyone laughed. With all of the refreshments and the intriguing performances, the talent show ended in a success.

 

My groups performance

Day 10 (7/28):

The field trip on 7/26 was rescheduled for today. The trip was a 3 hour drive (1 way), therefore, this trip was not mandatory. Whoever did not go on that trip was then required to go on a different trip (a lot closer). I choose the closer one because of the hot climate and my hatred of long car rides. The destination of this trip was GuYao (古窑).This is a tourist attraction site famous for its handmade porcelain products produced by the experienced artists (typically over 60 years of age). We saw the whole entire process of the handmade porcelain from the clay shaping stage to the final product. Aside from just the usual plates, cups, and bowls, they also made giant vases and furniture made of porcelain. We also watched a special 7 instrumental performance using 7 traditional instruments made of China. Personally, as a music person, I feel like this was a particularly good place to visit because music is an important part of young people’s lives nowadays.

 

GuYao Entrance

Instrument performance

Day 11 (7/29):

We went to 2 more field trip locations fairly close to our campgrounds. The first one was called GuXianYa (古县衙), an ancient county government office. We toured the complete structure of the office and learned its history also. The second site was called YuYao (御窑), a special porcelain manufacture plant entirely owned by the emperors to make their personal porcelain products/arts. This is also a burial site for the smashed objects. The background story is that whenever the emperor ordered the artists to make something, the artists had to make 13 copies. The emperor’s idea was that the best one would be presented to him. But actually, of these 13 copies, the best ones were smashed and buried in the sites. The worst one of the 13 copies was presented to the emperor because the artists feared that if the best one was handed in, the emperor would have higher expectations, making improvements impossible. The sad thing is, this site was destroyed by war, eventually being reconstructed into a tourist attraction/museum.

GuXianYa's court room

Miniature model of the orignal YuYao

 Day 12 (7/30):

This is the last day of classes at the camp. Originally, the TaiChi performance was scheduled for today, but then it was moved to closing ceremony. With the unused time of the performance, the whole camp visited a porcelain market for souvenir shopping. My friends and I didn’t buy a whole lot of things, but we still had a fun time looking at the interesting stuff for sale.

In the afternoon, we had our final class, Incense (香道). We learned about the history of burning the special plant powder. The instructor also taught us how to make our own incense into fancy shapes. Sadly, I have an allergic reaction to the powder and smoke, so I had to miss out on the experience. 

All in all, I enjoyed going through all of these amazing classes and field trips of this camp. They all covered an important key aspect of the long history/culture of China. I made lots of friends and had lots of fun in the process of it all. I learned lots of information and made me see the inner beauty of China, and also show that judging a book by its cover is a false idea.