China 2009 - 14

15 February 2009 - Kunming Institute of Botany, Yunnan Province.

After Jim Doyle's talk, we were given a tour of the institute's botanical garden by Professor Li, the director. First, though, there was a bit of socializing and an opportunity for YQ to meet some very important Chinese botanists.

I don't recall the name of this eminent scholar, but YQ was really keen to meet with him. I have to apologize for my poor memory of details this long after my trip. I should have taken notes.




I took the opportunity to do a bit of an explore around the building. The institute is very modern and very clean. Conservation for electricity is practiced. There are hardly any lights on in the facility during the daytime. The new buildings are designed to catch a breeze for cooling, and to maximize natural lighting.








Scholarly intensity. There was a student who wanted some input from the American scholars and so there was an impromptu session after Jim's lecture.









Professor Li's very spacious and comfortable office. We went there for some refreshments and to visit for a bit before the garden tour.











I got a kick out of this very practical umbrella locker that was in the building's lobby. What a great idea!












A group photo of the visitors with our host, Professor Li. R to L: Sean Graham, Andi Wolfe, Jim Doyle, Professor Li, YQ.











It was a very pleasant afternoon. So many lovely plants were in bloom around the campus that the walk over to the garden was very enjoyable. Of course, we received a tour along the way as well.









You, know, I have to say that there are a lot of very ugly dogs in China. Many of them roam the streets and probably end up as "happy meat" on some menu.











Others are obviously pampered, but are unleashed. I'm not sure if this is a mutt or some breed endemic to China. It's rather homely, I think.

I didn't see a lot of cats in China, but I'm sure there are many kept as pets.











This is the entrance to the botanical garden. The Camellias were in bloom and it was a spectacular show of flowers.











The entry court had a display of potted Camellias to exhibit the cultivar diversity.











I didn't write down the names of these cultivars, but they were spectacular.


















The garden was very popular during this pleasant afternoon. As customary, there were games of Mahjong, cards and that strategy game I mentioned in an earlier posting.









Here are some more pictures of beautiful Camellia flowers:
































A very impressive specimen of Manglietia megaphylla. (Magnolia family) The leaves were about a foot in length.















It was a magnificent garden to explore in the late afternoon.












Spent blooms gathered up into a sort of offering.












This is a war memorial (if I recall correctly).














So many people enjoying a pleasant Sunday afternoon!












Family portrait, anyone?












How about another group photo? Boy, I'm tall compared to everyone else. I towered over most of the Chinese I encountered on this trip.












Parasitic plants up in the tree.

















The garden was a productive study for this artist.













Living sculpture in the making.

















Magnolia

















Bamboo leaves














Mahonia














Tetrostigma vine (grape family).















I don't know the genus, but this palm foliage is gorgeous.













Ornamental kale












The camellias were a huge draw to the garden. I enjoyed my time there.













These remind me of prayer flags, but they're just decorations.







Finally, here's a very short video clip of a little boy making a car alarm go off. I watched him kick and hit this car about a dozen times before I finally thought to record it. Everytime he ran away from the car, the alarm would stop and then he'd run back and kick it again to make it go off again.

China 2009 - 13

15 February, 2009. On the road again. This time to Kunming, Yunnan Province.

We headed back to Kunming for an overnight stay. We visited the Kunming Institute of Botany. I found it interesting to watch the landscape change from rural to urban. One really gets a sense of the population pressures put on the land when you fly over a region. China is a big country, but a billion plus people take their toll on tropical forests, grasslands, river ecosystems and the like.







I found the in-flight magazines to be very curious by American standards. One would never, ever see an advert like this on an American domestic flight. Given that I am illiterate for Chinese, I could only make up my own story about what this advert might have been about.









A couple of miscellaneous notes about China. Advertisements are everywhere - even on the handles for the transfer bus to the terminal.

Also, you have to get over the feeling of being pressed in a crowd, because you won't escape that in any of the cities. You will quickly become chums with thousands of strangers because they don't have any sense of personal space. You need to just keep moving and don't worry about bumping into people, because they'll be bumping into you, too.






This was an interesting sculpture at the entrance to the Kunming airport. I would have liked to have seen it up close, but I just got a fleeting glimpse of it as we were driving away.














Our driver first took us to our hotel via some back streets that were out of the main traffic congestion. That gave us a look into some back yards that were interesting - this is a government building with some military hardware rusting away.








I always enjoyed having the opportunity to drive the back streets because it revealed more of the everyday kind of scenes.











There was a lot of activity at this hour in preparation of the midday meal. Buckets and pans out in front of stores are used for washing fruits and veggies and cleaning dishes.











Cooking is also done out in the front of many of the shops.












What an interesting juxtaposition - a lorrie and a cement mixer on a bike trailer.












I don't recall the name of the hotel, but I think there may be a logo in one of these pics. The rooms were very modern and I always find the bathroom open to the sleeping area a bit disconcerting. I just don't get the appeal of this arrangement.








It's ok if you're in a room by yourself, but there are just some things one shouldn't have to share whilst traveling.










This hotel had a bunch of little accents that were unusual. For example, this ceramic bowl with flower petals and goldfish.













Aaaaacccckkkk! You can't get away from American stuff, even in China.









We were taken to a very nice restaurant adjacent to a park that overlooks the skyline of Kunming. The restaurant was owned by the the Kunming Institute of Botany director's daughter.












This isn't her restaurant, but there was a coffee shop next door, which was a welcome sight to me. I was very ready for a cup of joe by this time in the trip.










We had a room upstairs for our lunch and the staff took care to set the table in style.












This is the other half of the room. The tables were not the short, round style of the Dai restaurants we had been visiting.











This cabinet is one of the more important furnishings in a restaurant in China. It's a UV cabinet, which decontaminates the dishes after washing. With all the modernization going on in China, one would think that they could solve the clean water issues. I was glad to have a Steri-pen along with me on the trip. I just got into the habit of zapping all of my water.










Here's something not seen much on this trip thus far - silverware.













This was a fusion of cultures, from the place settings . . .











to the food served. It was nice to have some pizza as a break from Asian cuisine.













Oh, yes, we had Brassica. This was very nicely done, too.











Another cultural difference was in the desserts served. Dessert was always fresh fruit. You have to be a little careful with this because of the unclean water issues, but good restaurants will have no problems with water contamination.








After lunch, we had a short drive to the Kunming Institute of Botany.

Kunming is very modern and the housing is new and clean in most areas of the city where we traveled. It is interesting to see the mix of debris next to tidy areas, though.







The shops lining the main streets have glass windows and don't seem to be a jumbled as those on the side streets or in the rural areas.












Also of note in the cities are the very wide streets and huge intersections. Maybe this is planning for the future for when everyone has a car and the streets are like parking lots during rush hour.











Side streets are a different scene altogether.












As soon as we arrived at the institute, Jim Doyle gave a lecture on the evolution of early angiosperm lineages. Dr. Li is introducing Jim in this pic.

I liked how we were served green tea - every few minutes some nice ladies would come along to top off our cups.






Jim Doyle

















I learned a lot from Jim's talk and enjoyed the slides of fossil pollen and plant parts.