Thanksgiving in Yunnan

11-26-2010 [written 11-28-2010 at the Linden Centre].

"Time flies like and arrow....fruit flies like a banana." 

The Stream continues to bless my journey as I penetrate the West of China and enter Yunnan province. I've experienced one of those glorious lemon-lemonade moments on the train from Guilin to Kunming [on the way to Dali]. As I came down from the terraced mountains of Longji in the north of Guilin, not but 2 hours later I found myself boarding a sleeper train to Kunming...but not in a "soft sleeper" class as I hoped for [as I got the tickets last minute, and, apparently, it sells out], but in the hard sleeper [i.e., like the Russian "platskart" - 3 beds on top of each other - 6 people per "compartment" - very cozy]. I figured, the experience is to be that way for some reason. 

While still in line before boarding, I habitually scanned the faces around me. And one face has stood out - not only by the fact that it belonged to a tall sculptured body that towered over the sea of the primarily asian passengers - but by the look of quiet curiosity and unusual intensity. An instant thought flashed through my mind - you have a conversation with this person ahead of you and there is a role you both play in each other's lives. I put my curiosity on ice and got on the train. 

As I packed into my "compartment" with a bubbly and kind Chinese family who immediately started to feed me with vanilla-flavoured sun-flower seeds [a Russian train delicacy Chinese-style], I found myself getting a gimpse of my childhood. Laying there with a book [ok, a Kindle] on a 2nd shelf of a train, looking at the scenery whirling by......I drifted off for a moment, when an animated proper-English dialogue outside of my coupe captured my attention. It turns out that the tall stranger I saw earlier was debating over some economic issues with a Swiss student from Berkeley. Naturally, my head has poked out and joined the conversation as best as I could. 

The stranger's name was Brian Linden, and later we both happened to be at the restaurant cabin navigating our way through plates of train food. The conversation turned to life-universe-and-everything, and I've learned that Brian has traveled the world extensively as a journalist for many years. However, several years ago, he has opened a one-of-a-kind cultural center near Dali - The Linden Centre. It is a project that has immediately piqued my interest.

The vision of the Linden Centre is cultural revival at its finest - an ancient traditional family 3-courtyard mansion equipped with plethora of modern luxuries without compromising its traditional beauty is its home. The Center offers its patrons an array of cultural experiences - from local antique hunting with Brian [who is an expert and a true admirer of Asian art] to visiting the local craft villages and experiencing martial arts with local masters or trying one's hand at painting or calligraphy...to absorbing the craft of Asian cooking from the local chefs. 

The courage of this project has touched me to the core. And the fact that for Brian this is only the beginning - he intends to spark this passion for cultural revival in an integrative way all over China! There was such faith, enthusiasm and conviction in his words that one couldn't help but be inspired. He and his family have surrendered their home in the U.S. and moved to China to pursuade the local officials to give the remarkable cultural landmark building that the Linden Centre Mansion is into their custody. Need I say that I wanted to see this creation?

And then another miracle happened: Brian shared that the first thing he was to do upon arrival is to get a turkey [!!!]. In China!!! For Thanksgiving!!! I didn't know they had turkeys in China ;O) And with an ease-and-flow I could see was his MO, Brian has invited me to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family at the Linden Centre and to stay with them for a few days! Oh the joyful surprises of the road!

After 5 hours on a bus from Kunming to New Dali [apparently, there are two of them - the old and the new parts], I discovered I needed to find a way to get to Old Dali. I voiced this quest in English into the language vacuum around me in somewhat of a hopeless state. And immediately heard a perfect-English answer that, well, we needed bus 8. A viviacious American-born-Chinese lass [ABC, apparently, is a very common term here] by the ironic name of Wei has caught up with me. Together, we found our bus and shared lives on the way to Old Dali. Wei turned out ot be a bright and funny NYU film grad and we immediately connected.

I had no idea where I would stay that night, so she suggested I follow her to the Lonely-Planet suggestion that got quite high reviews in the area: Jade Emu Hotel right outside of the Dali Wall [yes, the Old City is surrounded by a thick war-like wall with ornate gates]. It turned out to be a clean and friendly establishment run by a soft-spoken Australian exp-pat Dave and his wife. 

Wei and I spent a day in Old Dali, which I have immediately warmed up to with its cobblestone streets and ethnic garb shops....with its Cafe De Jack. Oh, that's a special place. It has a fireplace, salads, hot chocolate with brandy and a 6 month old kitty that ended up purring on my lap all evening [except for the part when she purred up to Wei]. After the cold beautiful mountains, I was in heaven. We were having a hillarious existential conversation in the middle of Old Dali, with brandy, hot chocolate, fireplace and kitty....how much better does it get?

A part of it was also looking forward to the next day when I would delve deeper into Yunnan and see the Linden Centre with my own two eyes.

~Jalāl ad-Dīn Rumi - a Persian poet and whirling dervish