The enchanting City of Eternal Spring
Monday, 17 August 2009
Md. Rahber-E-Alam Raafa
THE title of the article says it all. Kunming, the City of Eternal Spring, is a province of China where I recently went on a four-day tour. I became disappointed when I heard that I was going to Kunming instead of the main cities of China such as Beijing and Shanghai. However, when I browsed on the Internet, I found that Kunming is the richest in natural beauties, monuments and culture among the cities in China. Throughout the year, the people of Kunming experience a weather better than spring. That is why it is called the 'city of eternal spring'.
Rangs Electronics Ltd. organised the trip to reward the achievers of its annual sales target. My father could have easily availed of this opportunity as he did last year and visited Malaysia. But this year, he gave this opportunity to me as a gift so that I can gain some experience on the real world outside. When my father first told me that I would go to China and he would give me about Tk 20,000 to spend there, I could hardly believe it.
On the 26th of July, 2009, my father and I attended the annual conference of Rangs Electronics Ltd. where the Chairman, Mr. Akter Hossain, handed over the ticket to Kunming and an incentive of Tk 7000 to me. After a week, on the morning of the 2nd of August, 09, I found myself in the airport escorted by my parents.
On the flight, it was a whole new experience for me, seeing the cloud just beneath me from the plane. My seat was just beside the window. So I could enjoy the fantastic view to the maximum throughout the journey.
The plane landed safely at Kunming International Airport approximately at 6:30 pm (China local time). The airport was huge compared to our Zia International airport and I wondered how much bigger the other airports in China were if one of its provinces had such a big one. In the airport we met our guides named Bai and Noman. Both of them are Chinese, but they know English. They shared much information about Kunming with us on our way to the hotel.
We stayed in a three-star hotel, named Hua-Cheng, in the middle of the main city of Kunming. Neither the receptionist nor anyone else knew English. Our guides helped us as interpreters for the time being. Later, I found that 99.0% people of Kunming were unaware of English. But that does not mean that they are uneducated. Kunming is more advanced than Dhaka. The people are highly educated in their own language.
Anyway, I entered the hotel along with 48 other members of the Rangs group. My room number was 902 and my room partner was a gentleman named Mr. Alamgir. Later I called him Alamgir uncle when I got to know him better.
At the beginning, I and the rest of the team faced lots of trouble asking for water. But, at last, I learnt few Chinese words in Kunming like "Shuwe", which means 'water', and "Shiyeshiye", which means 'thank you'.
I found a fantastic weather the next morning -- a perfect weather for a long drive. I had my breakfast with the other members of our team and then we headed for the "Stone Forest". It's a forest of huge irregular blocks of stones covering acres of land. The people of the stone forest has a hilarious culture. The men there are called Akhi, which means 'gentleman' and the women are called Ashma, which means 'pretty lady'. The local people become very happy if they are called by those names. The Ashmas wear a piece of cloth (more like a hat) on their head. If they have two triangles on their hats, it indicates that they are married and if four, it means they are unmarried. If, even by mistake, a man touches the triangles of an unmarried Ashma, he will have to marry her, leave his job and do farming for the rest of his life. I was startled to hear that even if a girl touched those triangles, that girl will have to marry that Ashma (which has truly happened in the past).
Later, we visited the silk factory and the local bird and fruit market from where I bought many things for my family.
The next day was reserved for our shopping and free time. Alamgir uncle and I had our breakfast together and started at 9 o'clock for our shopping. I was so busy at shopping for my family and friends that I missed my lunch at the hotel.
Anyway, I did not feel bad at all. My shopping was over at 6:30 pm and I went back to the hotel. At our dinnertime, a short photo session was held where I missed my parents the most.
I will possibly make many more overseas trips in future. But this trip to Kunming will always remain in my memory as it is the first overseas trip I have made in my seventeen-year-old life.
THE title of the article says it all. Kunming, the City of Eternal Spring, is a province of China where I recently went on a four-day tour. I became disappointed when I heard that I was going to Kunming instead of the main cities of China such as Beijing and Shanghai. However, when I browsed on the Internet, I found that Kunming is the richest in natural beauties, monuments and culture among the cities in China. Throughout the year, the people of Kunming experience a weather better than spring. That is why it is called the 'city of eternal spring'.
Rangs Electronics Ltd. organised the trip to reward the achievers of its annual sales target. My father could have easily availed of this opportunity as he did last year and visited Malaysia. But this year, he gave this opportunity to me as a gift so that I can gain some experience on the real world outside. When my father first told me that I would go to China and he would give me about Tk 20,000 to spend there, I could hardly believe it.
On the 26th of July, 2009, my father and I attended the annual conference of Rangs Electronics Ltd. where the Chairman, Mr. Akter Hossain, handed over the ticket to Kunming and an incentive of Tk 7000 to me. After a week, on the morning of the 2nd of August, 09, I found myself in the airport escorted by my parents.
On the flight, it was a whole new experience for me, seeing the cloud just beneath me from the plane. My seat was just beside the window. So I could enjoy the fantastic view to the maximum throughout the journey.
The plane landed safely at Kunming International Airport approximately at 6:30 pm (China local time). The airport was huge compared to our Zia International airport and I wondered how much bigger the other airports in China were if one of its provinces had such a big one. In the airport we met our guides named Bai and Noman. Both of them are Chinese, but they know English. They shared much information about Kunming with us on our way to the hotel.
We stayed in a three-star hotel, named Hua-Cheng, in the middle of the main city of Kunming. Neither the receptionist nor anyone else knew English. Our guides helped us as interpreters for the time being. Later, I found that 99.0% people of Kunming were unaware of English. But that does not mean that they are uneducated. Kunming is more advanced than Dhaka. The people are highly educated in their own language.
Anyway, I entered the hotel along with 48 other members of the Rangs group. My room number was 902 and my room partner was a gentleman named Mr. Alamgir. Later I called him Alamgir uncle when I got to know him better.
At the beginning, I and the rest of the team faced lots of trouble asking for water. But, at last, I learnt few Chinese words in Kunming like "Shuwe", which means 'water', and "Shiyeshiye", which means 'thank you'.
I found a fantastic weather the next morning -- a perfect weather for a long drive. I had my breakfast with the other members of our team and then we headed for the "Stone Forest". It's a forest of huge irregular blocks of stones covering acres of land. The people of the stone forest has a hilarious culture. The men there are called Akhi, which means 'gentleman' and the women are called Ashma, which means 'pretty lady'. The local people become very happy if they are called by those names. The Ashmas wear a piece of cloth (more like a hat) on their head. If they have two triangles on their hats, it indicates that they are married and if four, it means they are unmarried. If, even by mistake, a man touches the triangles of an unmarried Ashma, he will have to marry her, leave his job and do farming for the rest of his life. I was startled to hear that even if a girl touched those triangles, that girl will have to marry that Ashma (which has truly happened in the past).
Later, we visited the silk factory and the local bird and fruit market from where I bought many things for my family.
The next day was reserved for our shopping and free time. Alamgir uncle and I had our breakfast together and started at 9 o'clock for our shopping. I was so busy at shopping for my family and friends that I missed my lunch at the hotel.
Anyway, I did not feel bad at all. My shopping was over at 6:30 pm and I went back to the hotel. At our dinnertime, a short photo session was held where I missed my parents the most.
I will possibly make many more overseas trips in future. But this trip to Kunming will always remain in my memory as it is the first overseas trip I have made in my seventeen-year-old life.