New Year's Eve
In a hotel lobby in Singapore, twenty-two Australian teachers meet, bleary-eyed, at 5.30 am. This is seriously early. The conversation is muted, of showers missed and had, of who got in when. And who is everybody?

Kunming City
The plane leaves Singapore in drizzle and we are on our way. Over Thailand and then the rugged green hills of Laos and then into China. Below, Kunming sits in the terraced hills, which show patches of white from recent snowfalls. From the plane, everything looks beautiful.

On the ground the hotel is plush and there's a welcome banquet waiting for us.

We sit in subdued silence around the table as the first course is served. It's unidentifiable and could be animal or vegetable. It looks like a plate of twigs. Some people take deep breaths and this is a significant moment as the strangeness of China is upon us. The fears and anxieties are almost palpable. Will I be able to eat the food? What's the group like? How will I cope?

But then comes a plate of sweet and sour pork and somehow its suburban ordinariness makes it all OK, makes China less of a foreign country, makes it all survivable. With the tension so simply eased, we eat, drink and talk.

Later, Bob takes a walk in the streets and makes some new friends. That night, we walk up Beijing Lu, stare at the film billboards and join 100,000 Chinese people for New Year's Eve celebrations in the central square. It's cold. There's a concert but it's hard to get close. Instead we follow a fantastic array of Chinese lanterns, red and yellow and bobbing along at head height, into an area of dark alleys and small karaoke bars. The New Year sees our own versions of 'Endless Love' and 'Edelweiss'.

We might be strangers in a strange land but we're made welcome. Welcome to China.

Background Information about Yunnan Province
Visit the following websites for more information about Yunnan province and Kunming:
.asiatour Travel Guide to Yunnan, China
http://www.asiatour.com/yunnan/content1.htm
General introduction to the geography, history, climate and key features of the province and its major cities.
Welcome to Yunnan
http://www.hbpage.com/
Information about the people, cultures and geography of Yunnan.
Muzi.com: Yunnan
http://dailynews.muzi.com/cc/english/10346.shtml
News items related to Yunnan from the Muzi News service.

Lesson plans (open in new windows):
Years 9-10 English 'Promenade on Beijing Lu'
Years 9-10 English 'Jackie Chan and James Bond movies'