I don't know if you have heard of this place. It's somewhere in Haikou. A village only with people with short statures. Pay the entrance fee and you can watch these people perform.

When I first heard this I pictured myself obscure freak shows from a hundred years back. I ended up having a fight with my Chinese family about it. Let me quote what my mother in law said

"They can't work anywhere, they are disabled people, so we have a village for them to live and be happy in. No one would hire a dwarf. In China we have villages like this for all kinds of people, like fat people, disabled people. This way they can get a steady income every month since people come and see them perform."

I really didn't know what to say to this... I for one thought it was completely outrageous that anyone with some kind of disability can't get a job. Then again women who has children can't get jobs either. I might have a "bad China day" but after 3 years in China, China keeps on surprising me with completely insane ways of dealing with "problems".

What do you guys think? Is this kind of place completely outrageous and inhumane or should we beleive the Chinese propaganda saying that "They are happy like never before inside this compund"

I want to ask once again for a favour from you guys. I did head over to the provincial library, however they refused to let me borrow the book. I could copy it with the help of a Chinese friend but only a third of the book since they didn't allow me to take the book out of the library... so what am I supposed to do with only a third of a dictionary?

So if anyone could lend me this dictionary so I can copy it, I will be happy beyond words. I really need this for my thesis and I'm leaving Kunming the 27th!

Haha, you haven't been in China a long time huh? :)

Moon cakes are consumed in heaps close to the mid-autumn festival. This year it's a bit later than last year, October 3. Those little red boxes you are talking about will be gone a few days later. It's all about the packaging since moon cakes, especially the sweet ham versions, taste like crap.

10 000 000 for a villa? Last time I checked on one that was 250 square meters, it only cost around 1 000 000.... Who would buy something that expensive in Kunming?

I am writing a thesis on Kunminghua and something just struck me today when I was studying Yunnans history. Muslims have had a big impact on Yunnan in ancient times and I am wondering, correct me if I'm wrong, if arabic has had an impact on the Yunnanese as a whole? Since I studied some arabic before, there are some similarities between the pronounciation in arabic and kunminghua which could explain the strange sounds in Kunminghua if compared with putonghua.

What do you guys think?