(In fond memory of +Mr. Francis Kong, our former WYK English master and dear friend.)
First thing first. The author wishes to thank fellow Wahyanite Dr. Wong How Man for luring him to investigate what life is like at the CERS (China Exploration & Research Society) Zhongdian Centre tugged in the highlands of Yunnan near the township of Shangri-La in Diqing County. Viva Yunnan, Home of the Clouds!
2011-05-22: From Kunming, the City of Flowers, I rang Ms. Chen Li Mei and learned that How Man was already on location at the Centre. I spoke to the man and he advised excitingly that he was entertaining a group of VIPs who were from Hong Kong. He would be taking them on an expedition in the a.m. of May 25th, the same morning I was scheduled to arrive. I made a quick decision and told How Man I would switch my flight. Wait for me!
2011-05-23: This morning, Dr. Lam brought a technician to take my bone marrow sample in a simple surgery. After lunch, I attended to China Eastern Airlines and requested to have my Kunming à Diqing flight switched to depart in the evening of May 24th instead. Problem solved. Kunming turned out to be a lovely city of flowers. What amazed me was that the locals seldom drink the expensive Pu Er tea. They export it and leave some for us clueless tourists to pay the big bucks. In the smoke shops, they market a brand of local cigarettes called “Yun Yen”, meaning Cloud Smoke, at the price of 100 yuans per pack for those who have money to burn. A status symbol to some locals perhaps, but I think I still prefer a Monte Carlo Number Four Cuban to anything else. Add a glass of chilled Dom Perignon and you’ll make my day. By the way, the current Kunming airport is built right in the city. Very soon, it will be moved to a remote area about 35 kilometres out of town.
2011-05-24: At the Kunming PLA Hospital at 11:00, my own cultivated stem cells were injected back into my body by I.V. It
was painless. I felt energized. En route to catching my flight, I selected a batch of Pu Er tea, and an hour later, I landed at the Diqing Shangri-La Airport. The Tibetan Director, Qi Ju (meaning 7 Pearls) and a driver Xiao Su, donning a blue China Explorer cap, greeted me warmly and took me back to the CERS Zhongdian Center by Land Rover via a stretch of highway under construction, meaning dirt road. No surprise. I was anticipating a bumpy ride, wasn’t I? Su told me this highway would be completed by year end then it would be smooth sailing all the way… After driving through a village among herds of yaks, cows and sheep about 15 kilometres uphill from the DIG airfield, I arrived at the front gate of the Zhongdian Centre. A total of seven guard dogs – 4 Tibetan Mastiffs and 3 German Shepherds – patrolled the site. What a lovely pack! I was quickly fed and introduced by HM to a bunch of new friends. It kind of amazed me as half of them were ladies who had left the comfort of their own homes in HK to come here to rough it. It was a great pleasure for me to meet Leonie, Susanna, Amy, Bernadette, Alan, Stephen, Cindy, Tai, Edward, Zhang, Paul…etc. 
It was no easy task trying to remember so many new faces and names within minutes. (Did I miss anybody?) Meanwhile, we retired to the AV room upstairs and watched different CERS projects being shown. I was totally fascinated by the majestic Tibetan Mastiffs being bred and raised in a mountain kennel. HM also ran a revival project of Burmese cats and he announced he had named his breeding pair Elvis and Priscilla. When it was time to say goodnight, I climbed a flight of steps slowly in the crispy thin air to HM’s private lodge and slept in a side apartment. Even in this secluded part of China, the cellular phone reception remained strong and clear. My wife had no difficulty waking me up to ask me if I was sleeping OK.
2011-05-25: The dining hall was buzzing with conversation at 07:30. I was beginning to wonder why HW was heavily dressed 
for subzero temperatures. Eating my breakfast wearing a T-shirt, I silently gave thanks to my daily swimming sessions and wondered if it was the stem-cell injection that I took yesterday in Kunming which was doing the trick. At 08:30, Lead Explorer and Fearless Leader Wong How Man loaded up all his city guests into three Land Rovers and our fleet began meandering into the mountains. The unpaved road surfaces provided plenty of pot holes and puddles – endlessly, to be precise -- but to our experienced drivers such conditions were just daily routines. We witnessed many heavily loaded trucks passing us in both directions and realized this horse trail that winds through the mountain ranges was actually a major thoroughfare. It was mild and sunny as we made a stop at a mountain pass at 4,500 meters altitude to take a group photo. Then we continued our way downhill and arrived at the L’ang Du (meaning Wave Capitol) Hydro Electricity Station and our destination, the Mei Xiang (meaning Beautiful Fragrance) Mountain Lodge, home of the Yak Cheese manufactory which is also a CERS sponsored project. Apparently, Qi Ju’s niece runs this resort which features an alpine log-home style motel and restaurant.
Out in the yard, four vigorous Tibetan Mastiffs barked at us with watchful eyes. At the centre of the dining hall was a welcoming wood-burning stove which warms up the travellers’ cold hands and replenishes their all-shook-up bodies with hot tea, fresh fruits and delicious Yak cheese. Soon, lunch was served. In particular, I was fond of the fresh wild vegetables but avoided the fatty meat which was much favoured by the locals. Later on, we visited a plateau with lakes where such animals as yaks, cows, sheep and mules were dwelling and we saw the inside of some primitive stone cabins which were provided to the workers who tended the herds. HW wanted to take photos of some little red flowers and did find some in this terrain which actually reminded me of Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies. On our way returning to Zhongdian Centre, from a native farmer, we bought 2 wild “red legged chickens” at 50 RMB each. (They became a soup delicacy at our dinner table subsequently.) Without warning, the climate changed in a rapid fashion. Hail hammered onto our vehicles. As we moseyed towards higher elevation the precipitation gradually turned into soft snow. What was the sunny mountain pass at 4,500 m. had now become a whitened wind-tunnel and our friends from Hong Kong just could not resist from piling out of the Land Rovers to take pictures. I took the opportunity to make a nature call instead. This evening, we had tons to talk about. 
After all, we had shared the experience of tasting the four seasons in one day! For better comfort and convenience, the staff moved me to a larger suite on the second floor of the main lodge. Right above me was a rec room which contained an Elvis Presley pinball machine. Unfortunately, the flippers were not working. Looks like a mechanic will have to be brought in to check the circuits.
2011-05-26: Though Leonie was leaving for HKG this morning, she had deployed a senior employee Zhang to keep us company. Apparently, the group of HK friends had brought their own chartered bus from Kunming. Since they were going out on an excursion this morning and had seats to spare, Edward, Tai and I were kindly invited to join them. (Thank you very much!) While we drove along a paved highway, Dr. Stephen who was riding at the front of the bus gave directions to the driver where to make stops. Hence we got off the bus wherever and whenever, and we took shots of whatever and whoever, which turned out to be pretty much fun. After snaking our way from the top of a mountain to the bottom, we ascended along another hilly highway and finally arrived at B’ai Sui Tai, or White Water Terrace, a village occupied by mostly Na’shi Ju ethnic tribe people. We picked a roadside restaurant at random and pulled over. Everybody was happy to step down to catch some exercise. In fact, we did have to climb about 25 steps in order to reach the outhouses. Seeing that the ladies were sceptical about the holey partition boards, I volunteered to stand watch at a distance and this gesture did make them feel much safer. Back at the restaurant, the owner stated that five wild vegetables were available but he stocked no meat. Two live chickens were quickly exchanged for 200 RMB with a local farmer by Zhang. How often do city folks get to see two chickens being butchered? As a result, there was a commotion and camera flash for a full five minutes of fowl play. With a little improvisation, several bottles of warm beer were chilled in the creek where glacial water was flowing freely in front of the premise. 
After lunch, we walked next door and each hired a Dian Ma (a small horse of Yunnan breed) to haul us up to a scenic park where more pictures were taken. Incidentally, each horse was handled by either an elderly man or woman
averaging 78 years old who raced uphill and downdale with their ponies about 30 times a day. I bet you any of them can outrun us city folks on any given day at 3,000 m. above sea level… We strolled back to the restaurant to have tea. Just then, an old woman walked by with her two grandsons. I offered her a fee and the three were more than happy to have their photographs taken with us. The four year old was clever. With cash in hand, he dashed into the grocery store across the street and came out with his mouth and both hands filled with candy. Just as we were all set to depart, dark clouds rolled in to block off the blue sky at B’ai Sui Tai. Hail hit our bus like pebbles as we zigzagged up the mountain. Yunnan, Home of the Clouds, was indeed flying her colours today … We made our way back to 
Shangri-La and dined at the Dar Ling Inn Restaurant. The waitresses were dressed in traditional Ju’ang Ju (Tibetan Tribe) attire and they sang at our tables, too. The staff members from the Centre all came except for Ms. Chen who chose to stay behind. Both HM and Qi Ju made a brief appearance as they had other engagements to attend to. Zhang served a liquor known as Ching Lor Jiu, which is a clear strong whiskey distilled from barley. As I was taking Diamox, I had to say “thanks but no thanks”. Our drivers were cool. They did not touch any booze either. In fact, they inspired me as upfront and honest people.
2011-05-27: After lunch, we rode our own bus and explored the Old Town district of Shangri-La on foot. In a square
adjacent to a monastery featuring a gigantic turning wheel, vendors would plea the passersby to rent native costumes and wear them for photo ops. They even had several yaks standing by for props. Instead, we wandered into the alleys to see what the various souvenirs stores had to offer. The ladies got busy. There were jewelleries, leather gears, ethnic apparel and even Tibetan dagger outlets – each claiming to be the most genuine maker of steel blades. The traditional wood carved buildings were fascinating. I decided that I would have to make another visit to get a better discovery of this area. For a keepsake, I got a package of ten pairs of yak-bone chopsticks. For my wife, I bought a DVD with a collection of Yunnan songs. Since I was losing weight, I selected a new yak leather belt. When this was over, we went for grocery shopping, meaning more beer, and picked up a roasted whole lamb and a goose from the Dar Ling Inn, courtesy of the HK group of friends. Back at the Centre, the staff members were preparing 
a big barbeque fiesta. Everyone toasted and thanked How Man for his great hospitality. Dr. Stephen was making friends with the guard dogs by giving them lamb bones. Nevertheless, this happy gang was already planning an African Safari for their next getaway and asked me if my wife and I would be interested. (Is the Pope Catholic?)
2011-05-28: I saw them off this morning. How Man, Edward, Tai and the HK group all left the Zhongdian Centre after breakfast. The whole place quieted down and I found the chance to walk around the Centre and enjoy its tranquil surroundings. Undisturbed, I was able to laze in the sun all morning to read a Jason Bourne fiction and a National Geographic magazine that I had brought from Canada. Back at the dining hall, I spoke to Xiao Li, one of two female cooks who told me she grew up in the village of B’ai Sui T’ai. She had made a very salty soup dish by boiling a large chunk of ham so we talked about the art of cooking while the topic of Yunnan Ham came up. I wrote down half a dozen recipes and made suggestions how to cook simple non-fat Cantonese dishes with whatever is handy. In my opinion, the local cuisines were quite oily and spicy hot. To make a demonstration, I picked a number of things that were readily available in the kitchen, i.e. Cantonese lap-cheong, dried black mushrooms, chicken meat, ginger, green onion, soy-sauce and Ching Lor Jiu liquor, and I showed the two girls, Xiao Li and Jorma, how to slice and prepare them. At my instructions, they steamed this chicken dish and they were absolutely amazed by its colour and flavour. Hopefully, they would surprise Mr. Wong with this “lap-cheong steamed chicken” Cantonese dish on his next visit. (Little did they know that I used to run restaurants in my younger years. Haven’t you heard that retired cops turn excellent chefs?) I mentioned to them that in Guangdong-style cooking, keeping in the fridge a pot of soup-stock known as Sheung Tong (High Soup) was very important. Not hard to make, ingredients would include half a pound of thin pork meat, half a pound of chicken meat and half a pound of Yunnan ham. Simply boil these in a large pot of water for eight hours -- voila! And pray don’t add any MSG… In the afternoon, Li and Jorma walked down with me to the neighbouring village and I met the latter’s 87 year old Nai Nai – grandmother, who was resting against a shaded wall outside a small brick cottage to smoke a pipe. She urged us to go sit inside. The interior contained simple stoves and cooking facilities. This was not their living quarters but just a temporary hut while their luxurious 4,000 square foot home was being constructed next door. Jorma went to a hothouse and cut some fresh garden vegetables for Li to bring back to the
Centre. According to Li, Jorma’s native husband had gone to the nearby forests to cut timber and transported them back to this site using yak power with the aid of his fellow villagers who all chipped in skill and labour to help each other out. It being a traditional Juang Ju house, the exterior walls were constructed with bricks while the roof, interior partitions and floors were built with lumber taken from Mother Nature, free of charge. They used no nails and preferred joints which required advanced carpentry skills. Up on the second floor, a professional carver had been hired to decorate the walls and screens manually. While he was putting his talent to work, I was kind of worried about his chain smoking habit and the smouldering cigarette butts which might accidentally set the entire structure in flames. Adjacent to the work
station and on a camping stove, the fellow was boiling bak-choy and a chunk of pork and I bet you there was neither fire-extinguisher nor insurance… The weather cooled off in the evening. Jorma’s home grown veggies were exceptionally delicious. We merely cooked them in diluted ham soup.
2011-05-29: An overcast spring morning. At 09:00, driver Wang took me into town to pick up his boss Qi Ju. He also fetched a tire wrench and some building materials and tied them onto the rooftop of the Land Rover. Our destination was the Mei Xiang Mountain Lodge because a renovation job was due to be done there. We followed a black topped highway and about an hour later, turned uphill onto a dirt road towards a copper mine. Just as we were talking about the harm of pollution, the old Defender started to stall. It turned out that a fan belt pulley had broken off. Out in the middle of no man’s land, Qi Ju called for help, and once again, I was amazed by the accessibility of China Mobile. We sat and waited for 15 minutes. While they lit up to smoke I gave the ignition key a crank. It fired! Using low gear, Wang turned the vehicle around and we were able to roll it downhill and return to the paved highway where there was a village with a roadside restaurant. Tea and a hot lunch came in handy. A flat deck soon arrived to transport the Defender and Wang back to Shangri-La, followed by driver Yang who came on scene in an Isuzu 4WD pickup to take Qi Ju and me to Mei Xiang. We successfully delivered the construction supplies in the afternoon. This being my second visit, I was getting somewhat familiar with this charming mountain resort and I felt very relaxed in this alpine surrounding. I spent the night in Room 203. So relaxed, I slept in.
2011-05-30: I woke up to fresh mountain air and enjoyed a delightful hot breakfast. The crew at Mei Xiang was busy finishing a new log home and preparing some timber with the intention to raise the roof of the dining hall to create a loft which HW wanted to use as a field office. In late morning, a green Toyota 4Runner pulled in. A local driver led a young man who was accompanied by three young women into the dining hall for refreshments and all four strangers spoke in Cantonese. I therefore struck a conversation in their dialect and briefly introduced the history of the Mei Xiang lodge and yak cheese to them and I even invited them to inspect my motel room. I also showed them the four dynamic Tibetan Mastiffs and they were thrilled. The man was a policeman who came from Donguan with his newlywed bride. Somehow, they had just met the other two women who were from Foshan on the same flight and they agreed to pool their funds to hire a 4x4 with driver to tour the region together. After lunch, they went on their merry way but we had our photos taken before their departure… It’s our turn to eat. Qi Ju’s was leading me to the nearby village of L’ang Du which was about two hours away. Our pickup was loaded up with some groceries while I learned that we would be seeing his 93 year old mother in law this morning. We motored up and down winding roads, alongside tall cliffs, through deep valleys and amidst sudden showers and pretty rainbows. At a high point, we came to a roundabout with a Buddhist shrine which was a vista point. Looking down into a steep canyon, I could see a range of hills propped up against some low clouds, and laid upon the hilltops were jigsaw puzzles of colourful rice and vegetable fields carpeting the terrain like ladder steps. I counted a cluster of about fifteen farm houses and Qi Ju pointed out they were built of stone, not wood. A pink building stood out and it was the community centre. We continued crawling downhill and about 25 minutes later, villagers who stared curiously at our wheels recognized Qi Ju in the backseat and waved. In the morning mist, we approached one of the stone houses which proudly flew a red flag displaying a sickle & hammer emblem and where chickens, puppies and piggies were roaming freely in the court yard. Qi Ju led me in through the open front door and straight into the kitchen while Yang walked behind us carrying the box of groceries. A 50” flat screen TV was blasting. An elderly lady sat on a stool and was attending to food preparation on the floor. Seeing Qi Ju, she sprang up instantly, exclaimed, laughed and embraced him, with him kissing her on her lips, her cheeks and her forehead, all at the same time. After introducing me to his mother in law, Ji Qu presented her with the gifts he brought and added a hundred RMB bill, and I could see that she was smiling all teeth, cheek to cheek. A shy little girl was doing her homework at a table. The centre piece of wall facing the entrance had been turned into a shrine and photos on display included reverend lamas, rinpoches, Mao Tse Tung and Zhou En Lai. In an opposite corner was hung about 50 strips of marble pork loins to air dry. Glad to see that someone was bringing the bacon home. Our sweet hostess offered us some hot yak butter tea and then told Yang to show me around. Dutifully, he took me to the foyer and we climbed a ladder to reach the upper floor where there were two bedrooms, an entertainment room and a sun deck. Back to the main floor, I was invited to use the toilet before I left. Apparently, in old fashioned organic farming, everything gets recycled so nothing goes wasted. That’s why there was a pig pen built right underneath… oh ssssh! In the pm, we drove back to Shangri-La town to drop off Qi Ju. Yang found me a cobbler who punched an extra hole in my leather belt. Thank God, I was successfully trimming down my waistline through proper diet and exercise... Back at the Centre, I watched Yang feeding the dogs with interest. The daring four-legged sentries guarded the grounds loyally despite wind and rain all night.
2011-05-31: A rainy day was a good day to catch up with reading and to do the laundry which was exactly what I did. Driver Wang brought the Land Rover back. To my astonishment, a local machinist had replaced the broken pulley by hand-making one within 24 hours. In the afternoon, driver Wang took Li into town for grocery shopping. I went with them. We used a China made tiny van this time. It seemed like a doggone bad joke when this mobile shopping cart coughed and died on us right in the middle of a mud pool. The three of us ended up having to push it out of harms way. My black runners turned chocolate coated. Luckily, after a short rest, our tiny van came back to life and off we went. I went into a CD store and purchased 80 RMB’s worth of telephone air time. Li gathered groceries and got lots of dog food. As a routine, the canines were fed two times a day by whoever staff member was on duty. Their regular diet included pork lungs, beef bones, corn and rice boiled in a huge pot in a separate kitchen in the basement of driver Yang’s cottage. This evening, when Li went out to feed the dogs, she noticed that Sasa, one of the German Shepherds, was nowhere to be seen. She reported it to Qi Ju. It was getting dark. We had to wait till morning to look for Sasa.
2011-06-01: This morning, Director Qi Ju, drivers Wang and Yang all came to search for the missing guard dog. It was Qi Ju who located its stiff and lifeless body near a wooden fence down by the garbage pit. Everybody felt sad. The three men brought shovels, dug a grave where Sasa’s remain was found and buried it. Wang kept mumbling that Sasa had done its duty for more than a decade and he wished it rest in peace and good reincarnation. Afterwards, Qi Ju went home silently accompanied by the drivers. I spent the rest of the day reading and watching television. Incidentally, Jorma had brought her daughter to work. From what I observed, the 8 year old girl was clinging to a crumpled up textbook and an ABC copybook. Out of curiosity, I asked her what grade she was in. When she told me she had not started school yet, I was quite shocked. Jorma explained to me that in this territory, there were not enough schools so many young children had to wait for their turns to get admitted. Another thing that upset me was that this little girl was suffering from a bad cold. Her telltale running nose said it all. I inquired Jorma if she kept any Mentholatum or Vick’s rubbing compound at home. She replied: “What’s that?” Therefore, I was determined to go into town later on to find a pharmacy store and get some proper medication for the poor child. Meanwhile, I offered to give her a guasa (oxybustion by scraping with an ox-bone tool) treatment under her mother’s supervision. The problem was, I had no ointment. Jorma suggested that I use yak butter for lubrication as her daughter would not be offended by its smell. I started to scrape. Immediately, red streaks appeared on the skin texture of her slim back. Mind you, both Li and Jorma had never seen anything the like so they were flabbergasted. The eight year old stated she felt good and said shay shay. Better still, she smiled.
2011.06.02: Qi Ju and the two drivers all returned to the Centre today. After lunch, he took me to my favourite spot – the Old Town section of Shangri-La. In a leather shop, I tried out several coats and settled on a high quality lambskin jacket. The shopkeeper wanted 780 for it. “Summer is here”, I said to the shopkeeper, “and you can hang it up to collect dust until September”. I bargained the price down to 400 RMB. At my request, he took a picture with me cheerfully and offered me a fox hat to pose for the shot. So cute! Qi Ju and I then browsed some more and then he took me to visit a Miss Long who happened to have two lady friends socializing with her in her home. We then made our way up to Cobbler Hill alley, then down to the yak cheese café that was run by Qi Ju’s son in law who had recently become a father. We sat at a table and I got to really enjoy some red wine with slices of Mei Xiang yak cheese. A Swiss couple walked in and, guess what, asked for yak cheese in English. Naturally, I responded and we held a very pleasant conversation on the subject of cheese. Just then, across the alley, I noticed that there was the same shop that I had bought a belt from the other day. I walked over to ask the Lao B’an Nang, meaning boss lady, to see if she could custom-make a sheath for my Swiss Army pocket knife. For 30 RMB, she replied, 
I could even pick the material. Deal! It took about 45 minutes and the black leather sheath looked snug and smart against orange threads. Though I had a very good time at Old Town today, I failed to locate a drug store… After supper, I requested Yang to drive me back to town. To my big disappointment, none of the three bigger pharmacies that we drove to carried any menthol-based rubbing compound, not even White Flower Oil or Tiger Balm… Back at Old Town, the two storey wooden buildings were lit up and looked very graceful after dark. A crowd was gathering in a square and line dancing to canned music. I said to my driver: “Let me buy you a nice cup of coffee. Come.” It didn’t take me long to find the Spring Café located at 16 Beimen Street on Cobbler Hill. Angela from Jiangzu, one of the young ladies whom I met earlier today happened to be its proprietor. I must confess that this cup of freshly brewed coffee gave me the best caffeine jolt I have had within the past ten days. It was indeed a wonderful evening.
2011-06-03: Early this morning, I had my luggage all packed and ready to go. At my request, Li fixed me a bowl of noodles with green vegetables. Yang then drove me to town where I tried two more drug stores as I just could not forget the indisposed little girl. We then hit the highway and headed towards DIG. Just as the control tower appeared in sight, Murphy’s Law pulled my leg for a third time. Now it was the Isuzu’s turn to go on strike. While Yang attempted to revive it, I checked my watch and got out of the truck to flag a taxi. At 09:10, a vacant cab picked me and my luggage up and rushed me to the airport. To make a long story short, I caught my 09:55 flight just in time. As I flew over the beautiful green mountains and white rivers in the direction of Kunming, my eyes could not refrain from staring out the window to soak up the last sights of the out-of-this-world scenery of Shangri-La. The words spoken by How Man rang in my mind: “You’ve got to bring your family back here in the Fall!” My next stop: Shanghai. From paradise, I am plunging back to the concrete jungles of civilization. Oh, what a scary thought!