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Mengzi
Yunnan Province , China
Mengzi is surrounded by mountains
and farms. The air is clean, unlike many other Chinese cities, and the
surroundings rural. The city itself can be traversed, one side to the
other, on foot in less than an hour. Until recently, Mengzi was off
limits to foreigners and as a result unlike Beijing and other large cities, there is no
Western style food. However, the local food is abundant,
inexpensive, and good.
With China's attempt to modernize the
West, many improvements have been made in Mengzi. The main streets
are filled with palm trees and lined with colored lights and on a warm evening
you might even imagine yourself in the Florida Keys.
The Prefecture Government building is modern, massive, and impressive.
Outside the building there is a large screen on which various forms of video
are displayed. Adjacent is a new library and other government offices and
all this is located in a park-like setting.
The Capital of Yunnan is Kunming and it is known throughout China as the
"City of Eternal Spring" because of its weather. The weather in
Mengzi mirrors that of the capital and varies by only two or three
degrees. During the winter months, December through March, the
temperature seldom drops below 10 degrees Celsius (50 Fahrenheit). During
the summer months, June through September, the high temperatures range from
20 to 32 degrees Celsius (75 to 85 F). Mengzi also has a rainy
season and at times it can rain for a week or more. The rainy season
usually runs July through August.
Yunnan Province is known
for, among other things, its many minorities and several of them live
in Hong He (Red River) Prefecture where
Mengzi is located. Sunday is market day in Mengzi and on
that day the minorities stream down from the mountain into the city to buy,
sell, and trade. Most of these people live in remote mountain locations
where there is often no electricity, running water, or sewage and the people
are often illiterate. Included among these minorities are the Puwa, Muji,
Miao, Zhuang, Hani, and others. These people's clothing, at least the
women's, is colorful and handmade. Foreigners often want to take pictures
of these minority people but just as often they are so shy that they turn away
from the camera.
The economy in Mengzi for many years
has been driven mostly by agriculture where rice, sugar cane, and various vegetables
and fruit are grown. Consequently, the people here are quite poor and the
annual cash income of a farmer may be less than $100. The largest
employers in Mengzi are the government, the hospital, Hong He University, a
beer and battery factory and other large employers are beginning to move into
the area. As a result the American dollar goes a long way in
Mengzi. One U.S. dollar exchanges for eight Chinese dollars (called the
"Yuan"). A person could easily eat three (good) meals a day for
three U.S. dollars. A taxi to almost any place in town would cost no more
than fifty cents.
All-in-all Mengzi is a good place to
visit, live and work. So, come see Mengzi for yourself and join us in
what is going on here.
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