Jodi in China

This is my first blog from China. So, first I will start with a map that shows where I am, in Yunnan Province. Yunnan is in the southwest corner of China, in the eastern range of the Himalayan mountainsIt is bordered by Sichuan province, famous for its Giant Pandas and bamboo forests, to the east. It is also bordered by Tibet, famous for its Dalai Lama and its political situation, to the northwest. Yunnan is also famous, although not as much so as Sichuan and Tibet. Yunnan is mostly known for its great range of topographical, ecological, and ethnic diversity.

On Wednesday, I arrived in Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan, after many many hours of travel. I was met at the airport by another student in my program, Jamon.  I was very thankful he was to meet me at the airport, because even though I've been studying mandarin chinese for almost a year now, I was warned by others that upon arriving in Kunming, I wouldn't be able to understand anything anyone says. This is because although Mandarin is the official language of China, Yunnan has its own regional dialect that is very distinct. Although the educated people can speak Mandarin, it is not spoken in the street. And those that are less educated are not very able or willing to speak it. In addition, Kunming, although a small city by China's standards, is a huge city to me. I've been told it is about the size of Chicago. Since I still get lost even in Madison, I was kind of scared of Kunming. So.....I was very relieved that Jamon was picking me up from the airport. The next picture is of the downtown area of Kunming (which I got off the internet) to give you an idea of what it looks like.