Geologic information from field trip guidebook...

Wang Xiangdon, Sugiyama, Tetsuo, Cao Cao, and Li Yijun, 2007, Peri-Gondwanan Carboniferous to Permian sequences in the Baoshan Block, West Yunnan--Faunal, Climatic, and Geographic Changes. XVI International Congress on the Carboniferous and Permian, Nanjing, China June 21-24, Janjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 45 pp.

24 June 2007 Sunday

...We flew to Chengdu and got to our hotel by 10:30. We had a beer and went to bed.

25 June 2007 Monday

We got our wake-up call at 5:30. I took a quick shower and then took my luggage to the lobby. At 6, the bus took us to the airport. We flew to Kunming then waited awhile at a cafe at the airport. After an hour or so, we got on the plane to Baoshan. About 5 4-wheel-drive vehicles picked us up and took us to the Landu Hotel in Baoshan. Once again, I have a room to myself. At 12:30, we had a lunch buffet at the hotel. Afterwards, many of us had to go to the bank to change enough money to pay for our internal flights in China. I owed 2100 Yuan for 4 flights. I hadn't changed enough money previously. One of the leaders is Tetsuo Sugiyama from Japan. He says that he has vivid memories of me getting acupuncture while on the bus in Guizhou province in 1987. I told him I had vivid memories of it too.

• southern China, from Google Earth
• areas we visited in southern China, from Google Earth
• Baoshan, from Google Earth
• drive from Baoshan airport, home site along the way
• street scene in Baoshan, sculpture at traffic circle, street to hotel
• entrance to hotel, upper part of hotel, lion at front, close-up of lion, hotel lobby, hotel desk, cafe and lounge area, ceiling at cafe, looking down at chandelier hanging over lobby

After the ordeal at the bank, Johnny Waters, Gary and Beverly Webster, and Matthew Clapham and I walked to a temple on the side of the mountain nearby, about 3 quarters of a km away.

• street to temple, food being steamed, grocery along the way, street for decorative items, typical architecture
• map of temple complex and paths, steps to temple complex, closer view, on the steps, brick carriers running up the steps, closer view, gazebo on path above temple
• entrance to temple, another temple doorway, temple building, walkway in front of main building, front of temple building, view from building entrance, side building (note white pagoda in back), another view, view of Baoshan from temple, panorama of temple grounds, photosynth, large bell, view of walkway from other direction, side building with plants, more plants, exiting the temple

After that, we walked through the market place and I took an assortment of interesting pictures.

• shop with hot water?
• fruit stand, more fruit, busy market street, ducks in a row, more ducks
• shopping for spices, bicycle truck, spices and chili paste, chilis and other spices, variety of dried spices
• knives along hardware street, poles and baskets, baskets, shoppers at hardware store (where Johnny bought hammer and chisel), brooms
• street with trees, playing mahjong

We got back to the hotel about 6 in time for yet another large buffet dinner at 6:30. I seem to always be stuffed. I paid my money to the field trip leader and then went to my room. I wrote a bit in my diary, took a shower and then went to bed about 9 pm. The weather here is very pleasant so far. The temperature is about 75 degrees F, but somewhat humid. There is a nice breeze and it occasionally sprinkled.

26 June 2007 Tuesday

I got up about 6:30, took a shower and went to breakfast in the hotel buffet restaurant. We then boarded the SUVs and drove to Lutucun village about an hour away. The day was beautiful. We saw many terraces and I took lots of pictures.

• waiting to leave
• farmland, farmland and mountain, tobacco and rice, mulberry?, view through our vehicle, another view, preparing a meal, boy and his vehicle, boy and donkeys, another view, donkeys, hilly country and tile roofs, more home sites, terraces and trees, terraces in a sinkhole, making rock crypts, another view, terraces and corn, farm community, terraces in sinkhole, another view, rice terraces on hill, flooded rice terraces, cluster of farm buildings, houses on hill side

We stopped and walked across a field to examine Early Mississippian limestones. The field contained corn, chilies, beans, and tobacco. Gary Webster, Johnny Waters and I were looking for crinoids. Gary found a partial calyx.

• Lutucun locality, sign, another view of sign, valley that we would later cross, road cut outcrop, leader Tetsuo and others, children running down steep path, closer view, more children, children on the road, Johnny Waters at outcrop (Yudong Fm., Mississippian age) across the valley, Johnny trying out his new chisel and hammer, outcrop in steep cornfield, view of pond and field from road, still for making rice whiskey?, walking down road to next outcrop, farmstead, man with topknot?, houses on hill again, farmstead, cutting corn, closer view of farmstead, same farmstead, bedding-plane outcrop, curious local

At lunch, we drove to another village for a big meal. We had fresh carp and many other things. One of the Poles said I looked like Robin Williams and then everyone agreed. I told them that I thought I looked like Johnny Depp or Brad Pitt and they all laughed.

• sinkhole terraces on drive to village, another view, donkey and sinkhole pond
• our restaurant, our cook, preparing fish, dining area, our table

After lunch, we drove back to Lutucun village and climbed the hillside to look at Viséan (mid Mississippian) limestones. A fault separated these from Permian diamictites or conglomerates.

• store at Lutucun, store owner and puppy close-up, blue flowers on climb up hill, hillside outcrop (Shihuadong Fm., Mississippian age), view from outcrop, limestone

After coming back down the hill, we saw Mrs. Sevenapoulis talking to a young girl with a crowd around them. I got closer and saw that the girl was practicing English. She was 14-years old. We all helped her practice. She was about to start her two-hour walk to her boarding school. We ended up driving her back to school on our way back to the hotel. Johnny Waters gave her 300 Yuan so that she could buy a bicycle to make her trips easier. She only visited home every two weeks.

• group around young girl, young girl practicing English with Mrs. Sevenapoulis
• glimpse of creek on way back to Baoshan

When we got back to the hotel, I took another shower. We met at 6:30 and drove to a goat-soup restaurant in Baoshan. Each table sat about 8 people and it had a propane burner built into the center of the table. A large bowl of soup was put in the middle and we added items to the pot. The main ingredient was goat meat, including the intestines, etc. It was surprisingly tasty. I also had grilled goat liver and other bits that I couldn't identify. I got my shoes polished while I ate, for 1 Yuan.

• goat soup restaurant, ladies with wheelbarrows, our table, the other table, my shoes being polished while I ate, goat carcasses outside restaurant

After the meal we drove back to the hotel about 9 pm. I wrote in my journal, watched HBO and went to bed at 10:15. There is no internet computer that I can use.

27 June 2007 Wednesday

I got up about 6:30, showered and went to breakfast. I always get the Chinese breakfast, but many of my colleagues go for the Western one. I dropped my laundry off at the main desk.

We made three stops in the morning and mid-day in Youwang, looking at the Devonian and Mississippian section, Viséan limestones and Permian strata. Pennsylvanian strata are absent in this region. Lowermost Permian had glacial dropstones because this block was part of Gondwanaland in the Paleozoic and was in the high latitudes in the south. We collected crinoid plates from Permian strata higher up the hill. I took a picture of basalt pillow lavas overlying the strata. We saw a dead pig in a pit with lime on it and a lady carrying another small dead pig to the pit. The pigs had died of swine flu or something like it. We had planned to have lunch in the local village but cancelled it because of the outbreak of swine flu. We are also cancelling the afternoon stops in the area for the same reason. In fact, we left in a hurry. We saw 2 more dead pigs on the way out of town.

• forest and mountain on way to our stop, another view of forest, more forest, nice view,
• Yudong Section, view of village from first outcrop, climbing up quarry edge, contact between orange Yudong Fm. (Mississippian age) and underlying gray limestone of the Dazhaimen Fm. (Devonian age), closer view, mottled limestone (Dazhaimen Fm.), looking through the talus, contact at breccia (Yudong Fm.), Hans Georg Herbig at yudong Fm. outcrop, Johnny, George and Matthew looking for crinoids in the Dazhaimen Fm., weathered Devonian-crinoid outcrop, another view, view of wheelbarrow from outcrop
• second outcrop, leader Wang? looking at talus, Upper Yudong Fm.
• Dongshanpou Section, Tetsuo pointing out contact between dropstone diamictite of the Dingjiazhai Fm. (Lower Permian)(at his feet) and underlying limestone (lower left) of the Yunruijie Fm. (Mississippian age), small cobble is in situ dropstone (Dingjiazhai Fm.) in roadbed outcrop, diamictite strata, walking up the road, debris-flow boulder, fusulinid limestone(Dingjiazhai Fm.), contact between thin basalt layer (Woniusi Fm.) and underlying strata (Dingjiazhai Fm.), crinoid-plate-bearing limestone (Dingjiazhai Fm.), the other side of the mountain chain in the background is the Myanmar frontier

Instead, we went to Baoshan for a late lunch. We left the outcrops at 1:20. The road back was paved all the way. In the field we were very close to Burma. I took one photo of a mountain purported to be the border. The temperature in the heat of day with bright sun was probably in the mid 90's. We didn't have shade today.

• view from highway on drive back

When we got back to Baoshan, we walked to a bakery and went upstairs to a nice little restaurant. We ordered off the menu and we all shared, as usual.

• fancy cakes at bakery, second-floor restaurant, our table

After lunch, about 3:30, they announced that dinner would be at 7. I went to my room and found that my laundry was back. I had three shirts laundered and pressed for 54 Yuan plus 8 Yuan service charge (about $2 apiece). I went down to the coffee bar to write in my journal and had a Lan Cang Jiang beer (this is the Lan Can River, the same as the Mekong). There must be 6 different beers of this brand, judging by the different labels, but I don't know what the difference is.

The drivers took us to a nice courtyard where we had another banquet. It was a fish restaurant specializing in carp. We also had many other styles of food as well. One was like a small enchilada except they took the skim of day-old milk, dried it and rolled some bean paste into it. It was then fried. It tasted a little like butter with sweet bean paste.

• waiting in the courtyard, several chose to sit under the bird-poop tree, another view, stand with specialty liquors, fruit-filled jugs of rice whiskey, fish tank, our large carp, dish washing, our table, another view, Tetsuo is either very tired or he is taking a picture of a planet, my shot of the planet (not planetary disk, just blurred)

After dinner, I went back to the room, watched a little TV and went to bed.

28 June 2007 Thursday

I got up about 6:30, took a shower, and went to breakfast. I had Chinese breakfast, hard boiled egg and sweet instant coffee, as usual. We met in the lobby and drove to the field, this time to the south. We drove up a mountain near Bingma and parked at a Buddhist nunnery. We then walked up the mountain to see a series of exposures. I took many photographs. The scenery was excellent. According to GPS unit, we had climbed up to 2000 meters elevation (I don't know the elevation for the nunnery). I was talking to Hans George Herbig about my field mapping in the Bavarian Alps in 1972. He couldn't believe it, because he was a field assistant to Prof. Liedholz from the Frei Universitat Berlin who led the field trip. Hans was there much later, still, it was quite a coincidence. He told me he would contact Dr. Liedholz and tell him he met me. I asked him to give Prof. Liedholz my warmest regards.

• greenhouses on way to Bingma, another view, driving through village, another view, driving up mountain, view from mountain road
• nunnery grounds, view from nunnery, another view, waiting at parking lot (note stupa) to Woniusi nunnery, close-up of stupa, entrance to Woniusi nunnery compound, flowers
• Bingma Section, Tetsuo's field notes, volcanic rock with mineral-filled vesicles (Woniusi Fm., Permian age, marks inception of rifting of this block), mineral-filled amygdules, looking down at nunnery as we walk up the mountain, fellow along the way, bird in pine tree, home-site along road, hog, volcanoclastic rock outcrop (upper part of Woniusi Fm.), cows passing us, cows going up path, another view, leader Wang at outcrop (Bingma Fm.), contact between Bingma Fm. and underlying Woniusi Fm. behind outhouse, returning from outhouse outcrop, Cannabis, house with medicinal plants, Datura at same house, Bougainvillea, two close farmhouses (we go between them), loft at farmhouse, hogs, climbing up outcrop behind farmhouse, Matthew at outcrop, locals while ascending another road (Daaozi Fm., Permian age), locals looking at our fossils (Daaozi Fm., outcrop (Daaozi Fm.), view from outcrop, group at outcrop, house and Cannabis, lady with brachiopod fossils, another view, close-up of fossils (Daaozi Fm.), another view, boy dragging hemp? fibers, wheelbarrow with firewood and hemp?, washing clothes, straw-tempered brick (or rammed-earth bricks), view from road

After our field studies, we walked back down to the Woniusi nunnery where we had a fantastic vegetarian meal. At the end, the nuns brought out freshly baked bread; one was white bread, the other date bread. It was all very good.

• temple at Woniusi nunnery, front of temple, right corner, inside temple, ceiling of temple, buddhas in temple, another figure, looking up at eave, shrine in small building, two dragons fountain, waiting for lunch at pavilion, incense and prayer burner, three of the older nuns, nuns cooking in kitchen
• dining room, our table (all vegetarian), nun checking the bread, cutting the bread, three divinities in building next to dining room

We then rode down the mountain, stopping at one arkosic sandstone outcrop, where we had a group picture taken.

• Dingjiazhai Fm. sandstone outcrop (Permian), view of road-construction quarry from outcrop

We then went back to Baoshan for a free afternoon. I walked with four others to the market area again, they wanted to buy some Burmese jade. After they made their purchases, we walked to the food and animal part of the market, and then the hardware area. Hans George Herbig bought a chicken feather duster. We walked back through the Baoshan old town and I took some pictures.

• girl selling puppies, spices and caked sugar?, more ducks in a row, dried spices, spice store, storeowner in headress, fresh vegetables, livestock section of market, chickens, more chickens, lady with chickens, geese
• hardware street again, closer view of baskets
• walk through oldtown, old-style houses, rabbits, more old houses

After our walk back to the hotel, we all met again for dinner. The drivers took us to a Dai (Thai) restaurant where we had another banquet. Once again the food was excellent. I said hello in Thai, but the lady didn't respond; I assume that she didn't speak Thai. We had an assortment of food including pig skin (cracklings), carp, fern, greens and many other dishes.

• entrance to Thai restaurant, our table, the other table, another view, leaving our small dining room, the cooks and owners, another view

I got back to the hotel and watched HBO till about 10 while writing in my journal.

29 June 2007 Friday

I got up at 7, took a shower and went to the usual breakfast buffet, including rice congee. At 9, several of us were taken to the main post office where I filled out numerous forms to mail my poster tube and congress pack with congress field guides, abstract volume and other literature. The total cost for shipping was 260 Yuan. We spent 1 hour, 40 minutes getting it all done, but I'm glad to get rid of all of it. Now I have only carry on luggage.

At 11 am we met at the hotel for lunch (after we all checked out). It was the usual bountiful buffet. After lunch, we were driven to the Baoshan airport. After security, I noticed a wall of black and white photos of General Joseph Stillwell, Mao Tse Tung, Chiang Kai Shek and Madame Chiang Kai Shek. There were several pictures of the Flying Tigers, Stillwell's Burma Road (Ledo) and other WWII photos. The Burma Road went through Baoshan.

• hammer and sickle sign on building, view of mountains on way to airport

We caught our flight to Kunming and then boarded a nice coach to the famous Stone Forest, about 2 hours away. The Stone Forest was accepted yesterday as a World Heritage site. The unfortunate trade-off is that the Yi minority people who live within the park boundary must be moved away within one year. We checked into our hotel in the park and then met our walking guide, a Yi minority person who had grown up in what is now the park. The Stone Forest is made up of karst limestone pinnacles, 10 to 20 meters high. It is unusual scenery. The limestone is Middle Permian in age. I took lots of photos.

• Kunming and the Stone Forest, from Google Earth
• lapiés (exposed karstic limestone blocks) along highway near Stone Forest, another view, entrance to Stone Forest, Yi lady, bridge over lake, Yi guide and tourists
• our hotel, my room, rest of room, bathroom, lounge area outside my room
• bird in tree, our Yi guide, three Yi on motorcycle, main lake, lake and bridge, karst limestone in lake, pond above lake, sign for World Heritage appraisal, path to forest, pagoda, grassy area of stone forest, tourists, lady posing at rock, karst rock wall, Lexington Herald-Leader at Stone Forest, another view, panorama of same area, gap in karst, lots of tourists, fallen karst, tourists at viewing area, karst wall at viewing area, overlook pagoda, another view, man posing in Yi outfit, lady posing in outfit, man selling fossil Atrypa brachiopods, close-up, karst limestone with carved characters, characters and pagoda, narrow walkway, looking up at limestone, groove-like karst weathering, fallen karst pinnacle, narrow pinnacles, another piece about to fall, Hong Kong students posing (they asked to take a picture with me), archway, student posing, sharp-edged lapies, small trees and tourists, Tetsuo in gap, fossil coral sign, Lexington Herald-Leader in flooded karst, Lexington Herald-Leader again, flooded karst, Matthew in crack, more flooded karst, two karst towers, Polish geologist looking down, pond at bottom, view of walkway, George at walkway, steps along the karst, Matthew at pagoda overlook, student at overlook, overlook panorama, looking down from overlook, karst pinnacles, walking down steps, Gary taking picture of crack, crack flora, souvenir stand, three ladies posing, lovely landscape, pinnacle, World Heritage stage, our guide and stage, goldfish swarming, cycad with large cone, karst walkway, pinnacles at lake, couple posing at lake, Johnny at crack, archways, nice setting, Bougainvillea at lake, calligrapher at art gallery, Hans Georg writing his name, map of park, another view, bridge with flags, sign for park

We went back to the hotel by 6:45 and met for dinner in the 2nd floor restaurant at 7. We had two large round tables for our group and another group also had two large tables. The food was entirely different and local in origin and very good.

• our table, our other table

The other group was very interesting; one fellow would get up and sing a song and the others would "gan bei." Then another person or group of people would stand up and sing another song. They were very beautiful songs. The field trip leader told us he had never seen this before and that these were special Yunnan minority and Tibetan songs. We all clapped after the songs and they all smiled. I went over to their table and asked if I could take their picture, which I did. I started something apparently. A fellow came up to me with a glass of rice whiskey and snag a song in my honor, ending in a "gan bei." Then they insisted that I respond with a song too. I was in a diplomatic corner. I said OK and then stood at their table and sang "Chicken in the Bread Tray," ending it with a Rebel Yell and a "gan bei." That broke the ice and several songs were sung by both groups in honor of the other. It turned out to be a very special evening that could have ended much differently. Several people congratulated me for, perhaps, being brave to sing badly.

• local group singing for visiting Yunnan and Tibetan dignitaries, one fellow singing to us, movie of singer (YouTube), movie of original singers (not singing) (8 Mb)

I sat in a common area outside my room to write in my journal and several of my colleagues joined me for awhile before we went to bed. I went to my room and killed several mosquitoes. Judging from the bathroom walls, other people had killed mosquitoes there before me. I'm glad I've been taking my anti-malarial medicine. The bathroom mat is still wet from the person who had the room before me. There is no fan or air conditioning and I am hoping the night will cool down. This is one of the hotels that will have to close down within the year because of the World Heritage status. I noticed that there is a mosquito coil and electric heater for it. I may try to use them. I also noticed squashed mosquitoes on the walls of the rest of my room.

While Baoshan was on a Gondwanan or peri-Gondwanan block, this part of Yunnan was on the South China block.

30 June 2007 Saturday

The mosquitoes didn't bother me last night; I must have killed them all. I got up at 7:30, took a shower and had breakfast at 8. I have not seen much in the way of souvenirs (that I would want) in the areas of China I have visited. These regions are geared for Chinese tourists only. I did manage to find a CD of Yi music at the Stone Forest. We boarded the bus at 9 and headed to Kunming.

• view of karst on highway, more lapies, larger outcrop, another view, humid countryside (no well-developed terraces), better terraces, lake near Kunming, rail yard in Kunming

Several of us were dropped off at the airport. I had the first flight out. I had Yunnan coffee and at 11:30 went through Chinese customs. I checked in at the counter and didn't have any luggage to check. I spent all the rest of my Chinese money on a gift for Mary. I didn't give enough money but they sold it to me for what I had. I boarded the plane at 1:30 and sat next to a Chinese fellow from Beijing who spoke English. He worked for a Chinese wireless telecom company and was traveling to Laos for business. He had lived in Canada and California. We talked for the entire flight which was 1 hours 50 minutes...

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