Updated 30th September, 2002
* * * Jinghong Summary * * *
On the banks of the Mekong River in Jinghong, Lancang Jiang in Chinese, grow dense and primeval forests in which we were told tigers stalked their prey. We had a glimpse of the Jinghong forests as our plane prepared to land. We had a better view as we traveled by minibus from Jinghong to visit the Botanical Gardens on Calabash Island.
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We left Jinghong in a minibus for the ride to the Botanical Gardens and on the way stopped for lunch. Outside the restaurant were these two pool tables, not an unusual sight in China. A man walking down the road suddenly saw a rat crawling along the gutter, and with a few well aimed kicks, put an end to its life. He then toed the dead rat into the middle of the road to be splattered by Jinghong traffic ! What else could he have done ?
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The water of the Mekong River at Jinghong was as silt laden as that of the Yangtze, but at this point, less of a raging torrent as the river continued its long journey from Jinghong to Vietnam. Zhong and I walked half way across this bridge and he reminded me of another suspension bridge we crossed in Longzhou, which scared the living daylight out of me as it swayed at every step, yet local people were riding over it on bicycles.
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At the Botanical Gardens these Lily pads were reputed to be strong enough to support a young child, although a demonstration was not given. One specimen tree in the gardens had bark which was as hard as stone and almost impossible to mark. There is said to be more than 2000 species of tropical and subtropical plants in the gardens collected from all over the world. Some plants which we might grow with loving care in our homes, grew in Jinghong in the open air like weeds.
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