In the last several weeks the tragedies of the Myanmar Cyclone and Wenchuan earthquake have shaken Kunming residents into giving what they can to help their neighbors who have fallen victims to natural disaster.

Seeing how impoverished many of these areas were prior to their respective disasters is a reminder of how many areas in this geographically varied and ethnically diverse part of Asia are in need of all kinds of assistance – even without disasters.

This Friday night at The Hump Bar, a free evening of music will be held to benefit the only school in the small Tibetan village of Jiabe (佳碧). The benefit show was organized by Kunming resident Matthieu Lelievre, who first visited Jiabe – his fiancée's hometown - four years ago.

Located in a Tibetan area of northwest Yunnan, Jiabe has a population of 130, with 30 primary school students. Remote and impoverished, the town is located near the Lancang Jiang, the headwaters of the Mekong River.

"The village used to be the county seat of Yunling until 25 years ago - they had all the facilities there," Lelievre said. "Then there was a flood which destroyed much of the village, especially government buildings."

"There was no damage to the one school in the village, but the government moved to another village, and the school hasn't changed since then - it's a 30-year-old building in pretty bad condition. When I saw it, me and my fiancée thought it would be nice to do something so that the children get a better study environment."

The benefit party at The Hump Bar is aimed at not only raising cash to renovate the school, but to also recruit volunteers to teach Chinese and English to the students of Jiabe village, Lelievre added.

Starting at 9 pm, the benefit show will begin with a Tibetan musical performance featuring performers from Makye Ame Tibetan restaurant. Afterward, entertainment will include a performance by The Tribal Moons plus DJ sets by Fan (formerly known as DJ Christian) and Lumberjack Jon.

All performers will donate their normal remuneration to the school and The Hump Bar has pledged to donate 30 percent of bar sales from the evening. A donation box will also be present for those who want to donate directly. Admission to the benefit show is free. For more information, call Matthieu Lelievre at 13708732507.

Update: Matthieu Lelievre contacted GoKunming and said the benefit raised 5,000 yuan for Jiabe's school He also requests that anyone willing to teach Chinese or English at the school contacts him at 13708732507 as teachers are urgently needed there.

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Earthquake benefit raises more than 10,000 yuan

Norwegian jazz trio Excess Luggage is in Kunming for two shows this week. Consisting of Steinar Nickelsen on organ, Vigleik Storaas on piano and Håkon Mjåset-Johansen on drums, the trio's trip to perform in Kunming is sponsored by the Norwegian embassy in Beijing.

The unorthodox trio's website features a few sample mp3s and explains the reasoning behind the piano/organ combo and the band's name:

"We thought we should start a band to fight the airlines [sic] strict luggage policy, and found that a Hammond B-3, grand piano and drum kit would be the perfect solution."

As diverse as Kunming's music scene is, it is rather lacking in terms of jazz. Jazz aficionados have two chances to see one of Norway's more accomplished young jazz acts this week. Tonight at Speakeasy Bar the band will play a free show beginning at 10:30 and Saturday night they will take the stage at TC/G Nordica at 8:00, admission for the Nordica show is 30 yuan.

UPDATE: We have been notified (7.50pm) by Speakeasy management that the Thursday night show has been cancelled.

Today 243 people injured in last week's Wenchuan earthquake arrived in Kunming for medical treatment. As Sichuan's medical infrastructure feels the strain of tens of thousands of dead and hundreds of thousands of injured, the Chinese government is shifting 8,000 injured out of Sichuan to Chongqing, Shaanxi, Guizhou, Guangdong and Yunnan.

It is the largest shifting of injured since the Tangshan earthquake in 1976 that killed a quarter of a million people.

Hospitals including Stone Forest Tianqi Hospital are preparing entire floors of beds for quake victims. The hospital said it had been preparing more than 200 beds taking up three floors since Monday.

Located on Sichuan's southern border and home to a large Sichuanese population, Yunnan has made significant contributions to the relief effort.

According to Kunming media, as of 2:00 pm on Wednesday the entire province had donated nearly 370 million yuan (US$53 million) in goods and more than 338 million yuan in cash to the cause. Yunnan schools are also accepting children from Sichuan whose schools were destroyed or damaged in the 8.0 magnitude quake.

Image: clzg.cn

Related article:

Earthquake benefit raises more than 10,000 yuan

On August 26 of last year, a rafting accident on the Nanpan River in southern Yunnan took the lives of three Kunming residents. One of them was Michael Sutherland, an American who had been living in Kunming since 1994.

An avid cyclist who helped organize mountain bike races in Yunnan, Sutherland was affectionately known throughout the city as "Bike Mike", or "Lao Danche" (老单车, 'old bike') in Chinese. During his 14 years in Kunming, Sutherland was one of the city's most recognizable international residents.

In addition to organizing cycling events and parties, Sutherland also founded hemp clothing company Peopleshemp and served as a director at the Hemp Industries Association. His devotion to cycling and hemp underscored his dedication to raising environmental consciousness in Kunming and beyond.

Shortly after Mike's passing, Sutherland's brothers Abraham, Benjamin, Paul and Sam visited Kunming to find out more about his life in the city. Benjamin Sutherland, a documentary filmmaker and journalist, decided to commemorate Mike's time in Kunming with a documentary about his life here.

Benjamin Sutherland used video interviews with Mike's friends plus video he shot on a previous visit to Kunming and some of Mike's own video footage riding his bicycle around Kunming to produce the documentary film Skylight Kunming, which will have its first public showing in Kunming tonight at Speakeasy Bar.

The screening of Skylight Kunming will take place at 6:30 - admission is free. GoKunming has viewed the documentary and recommends it to anyone who knew "Bike Mike" Sutherland or anyone who is simply interested in the changes that have taken place in Kunming over the last several years.

Related article: Obituary: Michael Sutherland, 1966-2007