Two Days Worth

Saturday, Sep 20, 2008 1:10am... I never had a chance to post yesterday so this one may be long. Xiao Ming really, really likes computers so we try to get on once he is asleep or occupied. On Thursday, we went to Minority Village which is a tourist destination that has examples of the many minority cultures of China. This is especially interesting here where the minority groups are heavily populating the area. Nathan asked the guide if it was like Chinese Disneyland and she said "sort of" without all the rides. The facility is beautifully landscaped and really nice for walking around in. Xiao Ming seemed to really enjoy himself and especially the whole roasted chicken we had for lunch. He chose a foot and drumstick! Minority Village is near the base of the West Hills and is bordered by Dianchi Lake so we drove by the lake as well. It is a huge lake and looks like the ocean except it is so polluted that it literally looks like split pea soup. Kunming, until recently, dumped all waste from the city into the lake and so hardly anything can live in it. It's just a huge tub of green goop now. Xiao Ming saw his first elephant at Minority Village, pet his first cat (saying translated "Little cat, don't bite me!") and took his first ride on anyone's shoulders (Nathan's).

Yesterday we went to the zoo in the morning. Xiao Ming really enjoyed himself, getting to see many animals for the first time. He's very partial to elephants. Then we headed out to the country. We had been hoping to find out where Xiao Ming had been living for the past few years and had been unsuccessful in getting this information. Our driver (did I mention he's a Jackie Chan lookalike?) had listened to Xiao Ming talking for the past few days and felt certain he knew which area based on the local dialect that he speaks in. So after about an hour's drive into the country, Xiao Ming told our guide "this is it". It was market day in the village and he told our guide that he had been there. The village is pretty good sized and we didn't find his actual home, which is OK because he was a little uneasy indicating to XiXi that he wanted to stay with BaBa and MaMa. I'm just amazed that we actually were able to locate the village with nothing but the dialogue of our son!

Last night we ventured out with some new friends who are also adopting to a "fake McDonalds" restaurant and had a good time using charades to order dinner. They had a play area which was really nice for all the kids. Poor Nathan is experiencing some difficulties with the local cuisine, if you know what I mean! Today we will be heading to Xiao Ming's finding place which our guide was able to locate for us. More to come...