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Photo Essay: CET Kunming

Photos by Peri Law, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) Student Correspondent CET Kunming, Summer 2018

After learning how to order food and about Chinese table manners in class, my class went out to eat lunch together. We ended up at a Cantonese restaurant where I was actually able to teach my 老师 (lăoshī teacher) the names of each dish in Cantonese!

 

For a weekend getaway, CET took everyone to Dali, a small city about a 6-hour bus ride away from Kunming. We stayed near Dali Old Town, a place filled with historical Bai ethnic minority architecture. On the first night, after some heavy rain, the clouds lifted just enough to give us a peak at the mountains.

 

During the second day at Dali, we could pick between two activities: riding a bicycle along the lake or learning how to make tradition Bai tie-dye. I opted to tie-dye, which involved a Bai grandma teaching me the proper way to stitch fabric in order to prepare it for the blue dye. Afterwards, I could really appreciate all the effort that went into the tapestries that cover the ancient streets in Dali.

 

In the afternoon, we went to Xizhou, a town a little bit away from Dali Old Town. While walking around the town, we were able to see the endless rice paddies that surrounded the town.

 

On the last day in Dali, we had the option to hike a mountain or spend more time in Dali Old Town. Because I was suffering from a cold, I decided to walk around Dali. My teacher went with me, and she showed me a modern, art space that is partially hidden away from the crowds of tourists shopping for gifts. Before I went on to Dali, I was told that Dali is a “hipster” Chinese town—here I was able to get a better sense of why it is called that.

 

I told my roommate I was craving noodles (as usual), so she took me to a tiny restaurant to try egg and tomato noodles. There are so many small restaurants around the university so I try to rely on recommendations from others to try the best food while I’m here!

 

On one Friday afternoon, all the CET students and our roommates gathered together to make dumplings. We had so many people so we made so many dumplings but ultimately, we were unable to finish all the delicious handmade dumplings.

 

After stressing about taking an exam, me and one of my friends decided to go shopping and walk around town. To cool off in the heat, we stopped at a matcha store nearby Yunnan University to get some ice cream.

 

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