China Trip 2006 - Tibet: Touching Heaven's Sky

Thursday 20th July
Set off from London Heathrow for China, flying to the capital city of Sichuan province, Chengdu. The Dreaming Dragon group consisted of Dipen (3rd trip), Roy and Michael (both on their 2nd trip), along with Master Zhao Junhui, Master Huang Ping and their daughter, Yoyo Zhao Siyu.

Friday 21st July
After a long flight, we arrived in Chengdu around 11:30pm feeling very tired. The weather in Chengdu is hot and humid with the average temperature at this time of the year being 36 degrees centigrade. We were met at the airport by Master Zhao Junhui's former army students and Master Huang Ping's relatives. From this experience and that of the last two trips to China it would seem that Master Zhao Junhui has so many former students and friends spread out all over South-west China and Tibet.
In Chengdu, we were met by Xu Yong Xian (Chinese Army), Ren Chun Lei (Chinese Airforce) and Master Huang Ping's cousin He Jiang (Chengdu Police Force) along with other friends. We were taken to our hotel in the heart of Chengdu and were expecting to go to sleep as the time was 1:30am, instead after dropping our luggage in our hotel rooms we were taken to a restaurant for some authentic Sichuan cuisine in the open air. This city has a lively nightlife...it never seems to sleep. Xu Yong Xian ensured the dinner had a great party atmosphere and much toasting was done with some fine rice wine in keeping with Chinese culture and etiquette. Soon the tiredness of a long flight was forgotten and the Dreaming Dragons were in fully party mode. Xu Yong Xian gave us a real insight into just how much respect a Chinese student has for his Chinese Master. The night ended at around 4:30am and we retired to our hotel.

Saturday 22nd July
We woke up early this morning to leave our hotel by 8:30am. We were collected at our hotel by Yong Xian and taken by minibus to visit a massive sports complex on the outskirts of Chengdu. Much to our surprise and delight, we were taken to a very large training hall where the Sichuan Wushu Team were already doing their warm-up. This training hall contained 4 wushu carpets side by side and with practise weapons on the walls ready for the athletes to use when required. Master Huang Ping had once again enabled us to have the opportunity to watch a top wushu team in action behind closed doors.
The coach of the Sichuan Wushu Team is an old friend of Master Huang Ping and although he was out of the city at the time, Master Huang had arranged for us to watch the Team train. Two years earlier we had the opportunity to watch the Tianjin Wushu Team and now we were watching the Sichuan Team which was a great experience. The top wushu teams do not allow outsiders to watch their training sessions as the sessions are always behind closed doors. However, as most of the coaches are close friends of Master Huang Ping, the Dreaming Dragons are always allowed to come and watch.
The Sichuan Team athletes went through their warm-ups and short training sequences before giving us a full-blown demonstration of their skills. There was some pretty impressive performers within this team, including two girls performing Nan Quan with such ferocity, a young boy showing some great martial arts movement and flair with a spear and a young lady who was also a coach as well as an athlete in the team who showed wonderful body movement ("shen fa") skills whilst performing the wushu straight sword form. Also in the Team was the current Gunshu (wushu staff/pole) Gold medallist who displayed his pole skills as well as an impressive Nan Quan form. We mingled with the athletes at the end of their demonstration for a while before being taken to be shown the rest of the sports complex.
Close by in another hall there was the Sichuan Wrestling Team doing their training and we were taken inside this hall to see them train. This was to be a short stop and we were introduced to the Head Coach who was a giant of a man. Master Huang Ping asked Dipen, Roy and Michael if they wanted to try and compete against the wrestlers in this team. Much to her delight, Roy and Dipen took up the challenge. The contests did not last very long and they both lost, however, they won much respect from the Head Coach and the wrestlers for being great sports and at least giving it a go. After a tour of the rest of complex we walked to the main entrances to the complex where we again met up with the members of the Wushu Team who were outside doing their warm-down by running a few laps around the complex. After much handshaking we said our goodbyes and left by minibus.
Next stop on this day was the Wuhou Temple, the shrine built to commemorate the “Three Kingdoms” This was a lovely place with all the buildings built in traditional chinese style with curved roofs etc. Much of the walls of the buildings contained beautiful Chinese script depicting parts of the story of the Three Kingdoms. There were also magnificent statues housed behind glass windows showing the main characters.
Afterwards we had lunch at a wonderful restaurant in the middle of Chengdu. We were taken upstairs to a private room and served some delightful traditional Sichuan dishes. We were also joined for lunch by one Yong Xian's best friends who enjoyed a drink or two and quite quickly he became friends with Roy who has a fondness for rice wine. After lunch we went back to our hotel for a couple of hours of rest.
Later on we were met at our hotels by Master Huang Ping's cousin, He Xi, who took us through the main shopping areas in Chengdu. It was pleasant walking through these streets as it gave us a feel of local life. We passed by the statue of one of China's revered heroes, Dr Sun Yat Sen, in the heart of the city before heading off to a very busy restaurant for dinner. This restaurant appeared to be extremely popular as there were people standing outside and eating as there was no room inside. Luckily for us, He Xi, had a booked a table upstairs and so we were able to sample the delights of this famous restaurant in Chengdu in comfort.
After dinner we attended a wonderful performance of the typical Chengdu Opera at an open-air theatre nearby in the Old Town. One of the main attractions of this Opera is the "Mask Changing" performers who were dressed in beautiful, colourful traditional opera garments and also in masks. With a blink of an eye they are able to change the masks they are wearing with no obvious hint as to how they do it. Each performer must have changed their masks about 20 times with each mask a combination of different colours and patterns. After this performance we were taken to a massage centre where we were all treated to wonderful foot massage. Chinese culture gives great weight to the benefits of a foot massage on one's health. The Dreaming Dragons certainly enjoyed their foot massage after a fun-packed day.

Sunday 23rd July
Today, we were collected at the hotel by Master Huang Ping's cousin, He Jiang, who is also the elder brother of He Xi and a member of the local police force. We drove by minibus to the outskirts of Chengdu to visit the world famous Panda Reserve. Here we spent the morning observing and photographing the Red Pandas and also the endangered Giant Pandas. The Giant Pandas looked so cute as they sat on the ground eating their bamboo shoots. We also had an opportunity to watch a special documentary in a mini-theatre found on the Reserve about the Giant Pandas and the work done by the Panda Reserve in preserving the Giant Pandas and the methods of trying to increase the Giant Panda population in China. The documentary was shown in both Chinese and English languages, with one following the other continuously.
After lunch we headed of to "Du Fu Cao Tang", a small park which was built in honour of many of the Chinese Poets and Artists of Chengdu. This park consisted of many buildings built in traditional Chinese styles housing many literature works, paintings and statues. There was a small stream within the park and the quietness of the place meant that you could hear the peaceful sound of flowing water. Being inside such a beautiful park made you forget that you were still in the middle of such a large bustling city as Chengdu.
In the evening, we had dinner at the one of the largest restaurants in China. The floor space on the ground floor was huge but this was compounded by the fact that there was also a further two floors above. This restaurant also had the distinction of being the only restaurant that had a different Chef responsible for each special dish. It was certainly a very busy restaurant and the level of noise in the restaurant proved that. Mealtimes are certainly a lively affair in Chinese culture.

Monday 24th July
We caught an early morning flight from Chengdu and arrived in Tibet a few hours later. At the airport we were met by some of Master Zhao Junhui's former Army students who were now high-ranking Army Officers stationed in Tibet. We sped away in a convoy of cars to the centre of Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet. The car journey was about 45 minutes and some of us started to feel quite tired during the journey which appeared to be due to the high altitude and thinner air in Lhasa. However, by the time we got to a restaurant in the middle of Lhasa the tiredness had left as we got used to the thinner air. We were advised not to rush around the place at this altitude as it would take a while to get used to it. We certainly obeyed those instructions, although for one member of the Dreaming Dragons, walking slowly is something that comes naturally...no names will be mentioned.
At the restaurant waiting for us were other former students of Master Zhao Junhui: Han Qi Zhen, Zhang Zhong Yu, Sheng Ce and Ai Go Bing. All were officers in the Chinese Army with Han Qi Zhen being the highest ranked of them. All the students greeted Master Zhao Junhui with much warmth, affection and respect. As we were introduced as friends and students of Master Zhao Junhui and Master Huang Ping, the Chinese Army Officers greeted as Kung Fu brothers and made us feel very welcomed. Over the next few days in Tibet we would get to know our new Kung Fu brothers well and a special bond was to grow between us.
After lunch we went to a hotel in the middle of Lhasa where we met up with Master Huang Ping's younger sister, Huang Ling and her friends. We had dinner at this hotel and most of the party were going to stay at this hotel overnight. The boys were to move to another hotel as only some hotels are registered to allow international guests. Thus Roy, Dipen and Michael checked into an international hotel in the heart of the Tibetan centre near the Jokhang Temple around midnight. The small rooms at this hotel was not the best but it was clean and for only one night. Also we were enjoying ourselves so much on the trip so far that it did not bother us at all and gave us much to laugh about.

Tuesday 25th July
The breakfast at the hotel, a typical western breakfast of toast, English tea, freshly-squeezed orange juice and porridge more than made up for our rooms. After breakfast, we were met at the hotel by Master Zhao Junhui who then took us through the Tibetan market near our hotel to a waiting minibus where Master Huang Ping and the rest of our party were waiting. We stopped at a nearby supermarket to get supplies of water and other groceries before beginning our long drive from Lhasa to Shigatse. The journey to Shigatse took about 5 hours by road and we were treated to some fantastic views of high mountains ranges and vast rolling plains.
Tibet is a truly beautiful country and the weather was good making the views even more spectacular. Being at high altitude, the daytime was very hot, but surprisingly by night it was not cold at all. From our experiences in Xiang Ge Li La (Shangri La) last year which is also at a high altitude we had expected the temperature to drop by quite a lot but this was not the case.
Half-way during our drive to Shigatse we stopped by a large river with a beautiful view of some distant mountains. We chose a spot well away from the road so that we could only hear the rushing waters of the river whilst we had a picnic lunch. I should mention that it was at this point in the trip that the words "Al Naturale" became associated with Roy. I won't elaborate here but if you ever get a chance to ask Roy why this was the case then it's certainly worth asking. After lunch we continued our drive to Shigatse, stopping part of the way to sample some locally-grown water melons from stall-holders on the road-side in the middle of nowhere.
We arrived in Shigatse around mid-afternoon and were taken to a hotel in the middle of the city. It had been difficult to get rooms in Shigatse as there were very few hotels and many people visiting the area, so half the group were to stay in one hotel and the boys with Master Zhao Junhui would spend the night in another hotel.
After an hour's rest, we drove up to Zhashen Lunbu Temple which is the Panchen Lama's official residence. This was a beautiful temple complex in the middle of Shigatse, founded by Gedun Drupa (the first Dalai Lama) in 1447, with the view of mountains in the background. It was very hot and sunny and so we were advised to walk very slowly around the place. We were taken around the temple complex by our guide who gave us historical and religious information regarding each section of the complex. At the heart of the complex was a big hall which housed a large number of seated monks chanting prayers in unison.
It was a very spiritual experience as we walked around them respectfully while they were chanting and seeing all the shrines within the hall where many Buddhist visitors were offering their own personal prayers. Having left this hall, and whilst continuing our walk around the complex we encountered many Tibetan monks who were more than curious about Roy. Most of the Tibetan monks would just smile at Roy from a distance, however there were a few brave ones who approached him with a "Hello" and a brief conversation in English. However, this was just the beginning of Roy's new found celebrity status as his experiences back in Lhasa would earn him the title of "King of Tibet".
After our visit to the offices of the Panchen Lama we drove to a nearby restaurant where we were met by one of Master Zhao Junhui's Army friends. Again there was so much delicious food and as is Chinese custom, the host will ensure that there is more food on the table than one can eat. On this occasion, there was not too much alcohol consumed during the customary toasting rituals as the high altitude and the hot sun had taken its toll on one or two of the Dreaming Dragons...again, no names will be mentioned.

Wednesday 26th July
Early start this morning as we began our journey by road back to Lhasa. The weather was hot and the sun shone so brightly that it was a bit hard to take at first so early in the morning, but we soon got used it. The scenery of mountains, rolling plains and rushing rivers was just as beautiful as the first time we saw it whilst driving by. It was so beautiful that you just never tire of seeing it again. This time we made several stops so that we could take more photos. We stopped near the site of the "Sky Burial" Mountain, where the highest form of burial ritual is carried out. This kind of Tibetan burial is usually only reserved for the highest ranking monks and officials. The details of the burial can at first appear gruesome, however, when the philosophy behind it is explained it would seem to make so much sense in preserving the continuous cycle of life that underpins much of Tibetan Buddhism. I won't go into details here about it but I will leave you to find out for yourselves what a "Sky Burial" entails.
On our journey back to Lhasa driving through the winding roads that made their way up and down mountains we made a detour to see the "Yamdrok Tso". Yamdrok Tso is the largest freshwater lake in Tibet, situated 120 km south of Lhasa at an elevation of 4440 metres. This Turquoise Lake is hidden up in the mountains and we drove up to a particular point in the mountains that surrounded the lake which gave us a magnificent view of it. I had seen photos of this lake before but a photo does not do it any justice...you have to see it for yourself in person.
After our excursion to see Yamdrok Tso, we continued our journey back to Lhasa stopping over at a beautiful spot by a river to have a picnic lunch. Back in Lhasa we arrived at our hotel conveniently located in the heart of the city. This time we managed to get rooms for all of the group to stay in the same hotel. We rested for a couple of hours before being met by Zhang Zhong Yu in the hotel reception in the early evening.
We got into taxis and were driven to a restaurant that had the most magnificent banquet hall that most of us had seen. It was richly decorated and so elegant that it seemed only appropriate for visiting dignitaries...however, I think we can certainly think of Master Zhao Junhui and Master Huang Ping as such persons especially in the way they are regarded by their Army students. Although, Master Huang Ping is not their instructor, she is regarded very highly by the Army students as she is the wife of their instructor and also a well-respected martial arts teacher in her own right.
In the middle of the banquet hall was the largest round table that we had seen with a typical glass turn-table in the middle that you find in Chinese restaurants. The food, that was specially ordered for this occasion, matched the elegant banquet hall and the service provided by the waiting staff was second to none...we certainly did feel very honoured. The Dreaming Dragons were seated very close to Master Zhao Junhui who was seated at the head of the table and his Army students were also seated very close. The meal ended with a lot of toasting with rice wine and certainly a lot of new friendships were forged between the Dreaming Dragons and their new friends in the Chinese Army. When dinner had ended we were expecting to make our way back to our hotels for some sleep after a long day, but Zhang Zhong Yu had other ideas. As we were only staying in Lhasa for a short time he wanted us to make the most of our time there and so we were taken to a theatre on the outskirts of Lhasa that gave a performance of live Tibetan music, song and dance. Some of us had experienced something similar in Xiang Ge Li La last year on the China trip and so knew what to expect and we were looking forward to seeing some of the same. As the owner of the theatre was a good friend of Zhang Zhong Yu we had our own private room on the balcony from which to watch the show. The show was enjoyable with the performers displaying strong vocal chords as is needed with some of the traditional Tibetan songs.

Thursday 27th July
We had a bit of lie-in this morning and were grateful for that after our fantastic experiences the day before. Zhang Zhong Yu met us at our hotel late morning and took us to a suburb on the outskirts of Lhasa. We were met there by Han Qi Zhen and the owner of the Tibetan theatre that we went to the night before. We were taken to a house belonging to a Tibetan family and were treated to typical home-made Tibetan food and sweets. Among the dishes served were dried meats of various kinds, sweets made from sugar and yak butter, yoghurt made from yak milk and eaten with sugar. In addition we were served traditional Tibetan tea made from yak butter milk which is served either salty or sweet. On learning that one of our group was a vegetarian, our host, a delightful and friendly Tibetan lady (who also worked as an accountant for our new friend, the theatre owner) promptly went to her kitchen and cooked a wonderful potato dish.
This was the first time that she had guests from abroad in her home and was so happy to be receiving us that she wanted to make sure we enjoyed our stay at her home. When we left her home she made us promise that when we return to Lhasa in the future that we would pay her visit and be her guests in her home. I feel terrible that I cannot remember her name as she was a wonderfully friendly person but I am sure Master Huang Ping will know her name and I will ask her.
After leaving our new-found friend we drove to visit Norbuling Ka (“The Jeweled Garden”), which is the summer palace of the Dalai Lama. The palace contained large gardens, small temples and a small jade lake. The sun was beating down on us today and we were grateful for the shade provided by the cypress trees in the gardens and by those that lined all the temples.
In the middle of the area was the large summer palace and we were allowed to go in and see some of the rooms although much of the rooms were restricted. The main palace, Daktunmiju Palace, itself was a magnificent sight shining in the sun and Roy certainly left his mark on the place. After leaving the Norbuling Ka we headed off to the Jokhang Temple which is a Tibetan temple found in the heart of the Tibetan area in Lhasa. We visited all the shrines within this temple complex with Roy again being very popular with the Tibetan monks and often being stopped for a chat. In one section of the temple complex there was the hall which contained over 200 Tibetan Buddhist Prayer Wheels each stuffed with Tibetan prayers. The practice is to walk from one end to the other, rotating each Prayer Wheel and chanting a prayer at each wheel.
Luckily for us the hall was deserted while we were there and so we had the chance of taking our time whilst walking from one end to the other. After rotating over 200 of these Prayer Wheels, the wrists sure did hurt....I guess we needed more training when we returned home to London. The sun was really burning fiercely today and so we opted for a bit of rest in the shade at the top tier of the main temple building, after which we left the temple. At mouth of the long and wide walkway leading up to the temple complex, there were many small stalls selling a variety of noodles in different sauces. Master Zhao Junhui suggested we sit in front of a few of these stalls and sample the various noodle dishes with my favourite being the hot and spicy dish.

Friday 28th July
This morning we took a short drive from our hotel to the main perimeter gate of the Potala Palace which is the main office for the Dalai Lama. This beautiful and huge palace is set on a hill overlooking the centre of Lhasa. The fact that it was set above everything in Lhasa really gave it an aurora as it dominated the skyline. The number of visitors during the day is limited to only 500 and each visitor is only allowed an hour to explore the palace thus ensuring the visitors continuously move through the rooms, halls and shrines. We were the first ones in to the palace, however, there was a long queue behind us so it would not take long before the palace would fill up with eager visitors. We walked up the pathways and steps leading up to the main entrance of the palace which took a lot longer than first imagined, with the high altitude and thin air making us tire quite quickly. Again much of the palace is restricted to visitors however considering there are about 1000 rooms in the palace I doubt we could visit them all in one day let alone within the time limit of one hour. The rooms were richly decorated with magnificent statues of past Dalai Lamas. The hallways were dark and the lighting within the rooms kept to a minimal to give a real aura to the place. However, with such minimal lighting, one had to be very careful when climbing the very steep stairways with unusually high steps. Some of the stairs seemed to be designed for short people as you had to mind your head when you reached near the top of the stairs. Even the doorways to each room were quite low and you had to bow your head every time going through these to avoid hitting your head against the hard wall...maybe that is the point of it in that you have to bow before you enter each room. Roy, again, was causing interest amongst the monks in the Potala Palace and also other visitors too who took the opportunity to have their photos taken with him.
At the end of our visit to the Potala Palace we headed off for lunch at a nearby restaurant where we were served some delicious dumplings of various kinds. Afterwards we were taken to the local market near the Jokhang Temple where we had gone the previous day. The market was known for selling different types of jewellery, clothes and CDs of various kinds as well as Tibetan items and souvenirs. Most of us were there just to look around and sample the atmosphere and it certainly was a very busy area. Most of the Tibetan people in the area would stop in their tracks as soon as Roy walked by, with some monks coming up to Roy to shake his hands. He was causing quite a stir in the market with some people taking his photo...one chap even took his mobile camera-phone out to take a sly photo of Roy. I think it would be safe to say that Roy is certainly the "King of Tibet". It seems strange how on each trip the Dreaming Dragons have made to China, each year there seems to be someone in the group who has caught the imagination of the locals: Michael Richardson was the "Prince of Lijiang" on our first trip in 2004, Andy Salazar was the "Chief of Xiang Ge Li La" last year and now it was Roy's turn. After our excursion to the local market we were expecting to drive back to our hotel, instead we were driven to a plush hotel for Army Officers where Master Zhao Junhui's Army students were waiting. We taken inside the hotel and to private room which again contained a very large table, nearly as large as the table we encountered at the banqueting hall a couple of days ago. To our surprise and delight, we were also joined by Master Huang Ping's brother-in-law (affectionately known to some of us who had met him last year as "Yang Ge" which mean "Brother Yang") and her niece, Yan Yue, who had flew into Lhasa that very day. The food was delightful and there were so many dishes to try...its amazing how each time we have dinner there are always new dishes to try and each very delicious. As is the usual Chinese custom on such special occasions, there was much toasting done with rice wine.

Saturday 29th July
An early start today, and after some breakfast at a local chinese-style cafe, we started our long journey to Lake Namtso. We drove for what seemed about 5 hours passing some beautiful scenery of snow-capped mountains and rolling plains with goats and sheep grazing on the green pastures. We stopped at various stages to take photos and to take in the scenery.
As we neared Lake Namtso we could see it in the distance and as it got nearer the lake became bigger and bigger. Lake Namtso means "holy lake" in the Tibetan language. With a distance of over 30 kilometres from north to south and over 70 kilometres from east to west, Lake Namtso covers a total area of more than 1,900 square kilometres, being the second largest salt lake in China. At an elevation of 5,100 meters, it is also the highest-altitude salt lake in the world and the water in the lake is crystal clear. We parked our minibus and took a stroll to the edge of the lake. Despite the number of visitors to the lake, it seemed quite peaceful as you gazed out to the middle of the lake with snow-capped mountain ranges in the background.
After some time taking in the views, we set off again to our next destination, Yambajan Hot Springs. Whilst on our journey to the hot springs we stopped for a picnic lunch in a large clearing surrounded by large tents made with Tibetan-style symbols and designs on the canvas material. These tents were the temporary homes to many Tibetans who were working in the area as it is quite a distance away to the next town. After our lunch we set off again and arrived at the Yambajan Hot Springs about a couple of hours later. Yambajan is world-famous for a spectacular phenomenon of hot springs boiling on the cold plateau. It features all kinds of hot springs including highest-temperature hot springs, boiling springs and geysers as well as common hot springs, the area totals more than 7,000 square meters. Some of the local Tibetans had a stalls on the side of the springs and were selling eggs that had just been boiled in the hot springs. It felt quite strange that here we were in a cold part of Tibet surrounded by snow-capped mountains but we were kept warm by the hot air coming from these natural hot springs. After taking some photos we got into our minibus and began the long journey back to Lhasa.
When we arrived back in Lhasa, we were driven to a restaurant where we were met by the ever-faithful, Zhang Zhong Yu and also by Master Zhao Junhui's other Army students, Sheng Ce and Han Qi Zhen, together with the owner of the Tibetan theatre. We were taken into a private room where there were two large tables, although not as large as the one's in the banqueting hall. As the tables were small it gave a real cosy feeling to proceedings as the person sitting opposite did not seem so far away now. We were also delighted when a special guest, the Tibetan lady who played host to us at her home, also arrived on Master Huang Ping's invitation. She was very happy to see us and also honoured that we had invited her to dinner on our last night in Tibet. The food was delicious and different to what we had in other restaurants with Zhang Zhong Yu paying special attention to the needs of our resident-vegetarian, Dipen. The bond between the Chinese students of Master Zhao Junhui and the Dreaming Dragons was becoming ever stronger.
The owner of the Tibetan theatre loved a drink and he was most impressed with Roy's ability to hold his drink...I think Roy has a friend there for life and would be most welcomed to visit that Tibetan theatre free-of-charge at any time...drinks would be included. The dinner had a real party atmosphere to it and our Tibetan lady-friend and the theatre owner decided to give us duet and sing a Tibetan song. This prompted more duets with Huang Ling and Yang Ge (Master Huang Ping's sister and brother-in-law) singing a song, followed by a duet from Master Huang Ping and Master Zhao Junhui. Their singing abilities were very impressive. Master Huang Ping's daughter, Yoyo, also gave us a hip-hop rap in Japanese!!! Now the everyone looked towards Roy, Dipen and Michael with Master Huang Ping telling them that they had to sing too. Michael plucked up the courage first and sang a song in Cantonese. Dipen sang a recent No.1 Chinese pop song in Mandarin which seemed well-received as everyone was clapping to the song...even the waitress standing outside the door to the private room seemed quite impressed. I should add they, probably, were not impressed with Dipen's singing abilities but with the fact that he knew and could sing a pop song in Mandarin. With two of the Dragons having done their stint the pressure fell on Roy to perform...and he gave us two lines to...wait for it..."Somewhere Over the Rainbow". He did not live that down for the rest of the trip.

Sunday 30th July
We flew to Kunming, via Zhongdian, and arrived in the early afternoon . We were met at the airport by Master Zhao Junhui's sister, mother and his best-friend, Zhang Qing. We where whisked away and taken to our hotels to rest for the afternoon. In the evening we walked through the main shopping areas in Kunming. The weather in Kunming was much to our liking and to what we were used to back home in London. It was much cooler than Tibet and so felt very comfortable as we walked to a restaurant called the "Old House". This is one of the oldest restaurants in Kunming and much of the decor was preserved...it felt like something out of the old Hong Kong Kung Fu movies. When we arrived at the restaurant, some of Master Zhao Junhui's former army students, and now Officers based in Kunming, were there to greet us.
As is the custom, much toasting was done with rice wine and Roy was in real party mood this evening. The food, in keeping with rest of the trip so far, was fantastic.

Monday 31st July
Before we had left London to come to China, most of us had asked Master Huang Ping and Master Zhao Junhui to give us an insight into their early training and lives in China. We wanted to know where they trained and about their working lives after their time in the army or after they had stopped competition training. So our time in Kunming was to be spent finding out the answers to these questions and to sample regular life in Kunming..."when in Rome...". Today we were taken to the Kunming Sports Centre in the heart of Kunming City and, fortunately, very close to our hotel. Master Zhao Junhui and Master Huang Ping also live very close to this complex. This sports complex houses full-time athletes associated with all the main sports in this province including the Wushu Team, Football Team and Gymnastics Team etc. Master Zhao Junhui showed us around the Gymnastics hall where he trained as a young gymnast before being selected to train as a martial arts instructor for the Chinese Army at the Army University. He introduced us to some of his former gymnastic team-mates who are now coaches at the Yunnan Team and we were also allowed to watch the current crop of gymnasts.
Afterwards, Master Huang Ping took us to watch the Yunnan Wushu Team and showed us around the place where she trained in her early days. We were introduced to the current Head Coach who then asked his team to give us a wushu demonstration. There were some pretty impressive performers there. A couple of the young coaches in the Yunnan Team were former students of Master Huang Ping and they openly showed their affection for their former coach. During lunchtime we were introduced to the Head of the Sports Centre whose job it is to ensure the smooth running of the entire complex and who also happened to be a friend of Master Huang Ping. He invited us to have lunch alongside all the athletes at the Sports Centre. The food was rather good and it was another opportunity to sample Master Huang Ping's and Master Zhao Junhui's past experiences. After lunch we walked back to our hotels for some rest. Later in the afternoon we were collected by Master Huang Ping and Master Zhao Junhui who took us to the Health Centre Complex on the outskirts of Kunming. We were joined by Huang Ling and Yang Ge. We had our own mini-competition at the Bowling Alley at the centre where Michael won by a "country mile" with Roy coming in second despite having to use his "wrong" arm due to an injury. Afterwards we were taken to another section of the centre for a well-deserved massage which we were all looking forward to after all the travelling we had done and also to prepare ourselves for our training the next day with the "King of Tong Bei Boxing".

Tuesday 1st August
Today was a day a lot of us were looking forward to for a while. We would finally have a chance to meet and train with one of Master Huang Ping's teachers from her early days as an wushu athlete in the Yunnan Team, Master Ren Ji Hua. Master Ren Ji Hua is known as the King of Tong Bei Boxing and was a former member of the China Wushu Team in the early 70s that performed all over the world including in front of the White House for President Nixon. A young Jet Li was in the same team as Master Ren Ji Hua. We trained in a small sports hall, close to where Master Ren Ji Hua lives, with a few of his current students. He now only teaches a few selectes students and so it was a privilege for us to train with him. He is quite an enthusiastic individual and was very happy that his former student had brought her students from abroad to meet him. Dipen, Roy and Michael lined up alongside the current students training for a good two hours with great enthusiasm that pleased Master Ren Ji Hua very much. After the training session, the Dreaming Dragons showed some of their forms learned under Master Huang Ping and Master Ren Ji Hua was so impressed and enthused that he felt moved to show some of his own forms. Master Ren Ji Hua displayed speed and power in his forms that seemed unbelievable for a man of his age. With a good training session over, Master Ren Ji Hua and his wife, along with their students, invited the Dreaming Dragons to lunch at a nearby restaurant. It was a great opportunity to get to know Master Ren Ji Hua and his students outside of the training. He and his wife were most impressed by the level of Chinese-speaking abilities of both Dipen and Michael.
After lunch we went back to our hotel for some well-deserved rest. In the evening we were taken to a Hotpot restaurant where we sampled a very special type of cuisine where you cook your own food in one big pot that sat in the middle of the large table. Dipen, being a vegetarian, had a separate mini-version placed close to him and needed much help in cooking his food...even the waitress took pity and joined in helping him. After dinner, more massage was needed to ease the aching muscles from this mornings training and so Master Zhao Junhui took the boys to a Korean massage centre.

Wednesday 2nd August
Feeling refreshed we again headed off to see Master Ren Ji Hua for another morning session of Tong Bei Boxing. We had 3 more hours of hard training alongside his current students who were also very enthusiastic in helping us correct any mistakes. After training we were taken to a local Jin Po restaurant where we sampled delicious food unique to the Jin Po ethnic group in China and also had more opportunity to bond with Master Ren Ji Hua, his wife and their students. Having finished our lunch we said our goodbyes to Master Ren Ji Hua and his students who hoped that we would return again soon to see them. We told them that we would definitely return and that we also hoped that maybe they would visit us in the UK and allow us to the return the hospitality that they had shown us. It was quite sad saying goodbye because in such a short time the students of Master Ren Ji Hua and the Dreaming Dragons had grown quite close. I think that has been the one of the main features of this trip...the bonding of martial art students from China and the UK. In Tibet we had become close with our Chinese Kung Fu brothers through Master Zhao Junhui and in Kunming we had become close to Chinese Kung Fu brothers and sisters through Master Huang Ping and Master Ren Ji Hua. I definitely think the keyword for this trip is "Friendship".
After a couple of hour's rest in our hotels we were taken to a Burmese Massage Centre. With two hard days of training under our belts the muscles were tight and aching and Master Zhao Junhui felt a Burmese massage would be in order. Petite pretty girls met us in a communal room where our bodies were twisted in all sorts of directions with certain amount of noise coming from two very large members of the Dreaming Dragons...no names will be mentioned. The Burmese massage appeared to do the trick as we were feeling much better afterwards. In the evening, dinner was at a 100 year old restaurant that again looked like something out of the an old Hong Kong Kung Fu movie. This place is very much in demand and the restaurant made a mistake with our reservation, however, after much diplomacy and a smile from Master Zhao Junhui we managed to get the table we wanted. I know I keep sounding like a scratched record but the food was delicious. We were also entertained by some girls dressed in traditional Yi outfits singing some traditional songs associated with the Yi ethnic group in China.

Thursday 3rd August
In continuing the theme of learning about Master Zhao Junhui's and Master Huang Ping's past and about life in China, we were taken to the head offices of the company where Master Zhao Junhui worked before coming to the UK. We were introduced to all the big bosses at his firm who welcomed him back as a friend. We were also each given a bottle of very expensive rice wine, Mou Tai Jiu, and then taken away to the processing plant where rare and wild mushrooms, picked from the mountains of Xiang Ge Li La (where we visited during last year's China Trip), are processed and made ready for exporting to Japan. These mushrooms are quite rare and expensive, and as there is a good market in Japan, so the company is doing very well.
Afterwards we had lunch at the plant along with all the big bosses and managers, and as is the custom there was much toasting with some pretty strong rice wine that only Master Zhao Junhui and Roy could really come to grips with. There were lots of mushroom dishes alongside other dishes which was much to our surprise as these are quite expensive. However, it just went to show in how much esteem they consider Master Zhao Junhui to the point they were asking him if he would reconsider and come back to work for them. Luckily for his students in the UK, Master Zhao Junhui declined the offer. After lunch we were taken to the main shopping areas of Kunming to allow some of us to do a little bit of shopping that we requested, particularly in the music stores as the CDs are very cheap to buy. After some rest, we had dinner and then some more massage at the North Star Health Centre...well, we might as well make the most of the opportunity!!!

Friday 4th August
This morning Master Zhao Junhui took the Dreaming Dragons to the "Hei Long Tan" (Black Dragon Pond) right on the outskirts of Kunming for a spot of fishing. This was the first time some of us had gone fishing such that Dipen and Roy needed a lot of help from Master Zhao Junhui...a lot of help indeed. Michael appeared to already have had plenty of experience and did not need much assistance. A fishing competition was held that ended with Michael and Dipen catching two fish each and Roy catching one minutes before the time ran out. Michael would have caught three, however he lost it while trying to get it into the bucket. I did not think that I would enjoy fishing before as I would never had consider doing it back in the UK but I really did enjoy it.
Afterwards we took a local bus to take us back into the city as we had a lunch date with Master Huang Ping and Xiao Yu. It was nice to take the local bus as it gave us more experiences in travelling like the locals. Xiao Yu had booked a table at a Dai restaurant and we ate some delicious food unique to the Dai ethnic group. Afterwards we walked through some of the main shopping areas and markets for a couple of hours to see what was on offer to the local people and to get a feel of the local shopping experience. The market was great to walk around in and we got chatting to a few of the stall owners when took shelter from a brief spell of rain. Again they were much surprised by Dipen and Michael's Chinese-speaking abilities. When the rain had subsided we took a taxi to another fine restaurant where we had been invited for dinner by one of Master Zhao Junhui's old army friends. We were also joined at the meal by Yoyo and her friend, Jessie. Much toasting was done again with rice wine and as the delegated speech-maker for the Dreaming Dragons, Dipen was getting the hang of the etiquette of Chinese toasting to the point the that our hosts at this dinner were quite moved by Dipen's last toast before the dinner ended. This was to be Dipen's last night in Kunming before beginning his journey back home the next day. Another China trip was coming to an end for this little Dragon, who was a veteran of all the previous trips, but he knew he would back again. Roy and Michael were to stay in China for a bit longer but knowing those two it is probably wise that the diary of the trip ends here!!!

Saturday 5th August
Master Zhao Junhui and Master Huang Ping took Dipen to the airport early in the morning for his early flight to Shanghai for an overnight stay before flying back to London on Sunday. Whilst waiting at the airport, Master Zhao Junhui's best friend Zhang Qing had arrived at the airport to see off Dipen as well. Zhang Qing has a become a good friend to all Dreaming Dragon's who visit Kunming and is always ready to look after them. Dipen said his goodbyes...dreaming of next year's trip back to China.
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