[InKunming--Interviews & Polls] September 13 marks the date of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Richard from Canada posted moment said in Chinese "Happy Mid-Autumn Festival" with his cartoon avatar holding a moon cake.

The moment he posted on September 13.

As a foreign teacher in Business School of Yunnan Normal University, Richard has time off on statutory public holidays including Mid-Autumn Festival.

At Mid-Autumn Festival night, Richard visited friends and walked around Cuihu together. The full moon was bright enough they didn’t need a flashlight. They admired the full moon and spent a great time. In his words, “friends are the family you choose.”

Life needs surprises, so does a festival. Richard, who knows Chinese culture well, understands that eating moon cakes is a traditional custom during the Mid-Autumn Festival. He had Wuren moon cake before bed. “I really like the nuts inside Wuren moon cake.”

Coming to Yunnan and learned Kunming dialect

“I know about Yunnan from Dian cuisine. In Canada, a Bai friend runs a Yunnan cuisine restaurant. I liked each dish there, especially wild mushroom." He chose to work in Kunming without hesitation last year because of his love for Dian cuisine.

Richard visited Xuning Temple in Kunming.

Within a year, he tasted Yunnan delicacies all over the streets and love them all, such as grandma's potatoes, stinky tofu, cross the bridge rice noodles, lemon ghost chicken, pineapple rice and so on.

In fact, there were some obstacles in the path of trying Yunnan cuisine due to the language barrier. Especially when he encounters some restaurant owners speaking  dialect, he was very confused. Thank God he used body language to communicate with them. After studying for a while, he can say some Kunming dialects as well like “肿脖子(having dinner)”“路色(green)”“克哪点(where to go)”.

"The first time I heard Kunming people say’克哪点', the question in my mind was,'Why are they talking about Canada?'.” Recalling the embarrassment of knowing Kunming dialect at first, he also made up his mind to learn Chinese characters well so that he can talk with market traders one day.

Richard really enjoy the good weather in Kunming.

Visiting Kunming around and looking forward to the scenic spot of Dianchi Lake opening for fishing 

Richard is always busy with teaching tasks and has no time to explore the unique charm of Spring City. On the weekend, he walks around the city enjoying the beautiful natural scenery and learning how locals do.

Richard took a picture at Zhenghe Park.

For example, he climbed the West Hills, appreciated Dianchi Lake, and went Dounan flower market to buy flowers...During last year's National Day Holiday, he took buses to visit Zhenghe Museum. “The story of Zheng He led seven expeditionary ocean voyages to western countries touched me. I saw many English explanations and took plenty of pictures there. It was a great trip.”

Richard took a picture at Zhenghe Park.

When he came out from Zhenghe Museum, he enjoyed a great time at Ancient Dian Wetland Park. Looking at the vast Dianchi and lush flowers and plants, he said that he liked the slow pace of life the most.”although my hometown is thousands of miles away from Kunming, the way people behave is just those in my hometown.”

"My family comes from fishermen. when the fishing festival is held there, various fishermen sail together to catch fish on the lake." he had expected to witness lots of fishermen fishing in Dianchi at first, but the scene that a few people sailing in Dianchi Lake disappointed him a little.

Hearing that the magnificent scenery will appear when the Dianchi Lake opens for fishing, Richard hopes that he can see this year.  

Nice weather and sharing economy make Kunming a better place

“Kunming has a nice weather naturally warm in winter and cool in summer, and is a good place to live.” Talking about the impression of Kunming, Richard praised the sharing bicycle in Kunming provides people with great convenience. Unlike the one in Canada, people can park the sharing bicycle in many areas instead of a few specific places.

Richard likes Chinese culture very much. He prefers to understand different people's values and world outlook through culture. He has just finished reading Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay, a Canadian master of fantasy literature recently. "I see how different cultures blend together, which is very interesting."

Richard is learning how to play Erhu.

In his plan, he will return Canada in July next year; however, he will try to appreciate natural landscapes in Yunnan and try as much Yunnan cuisine as he can. One more thing, he is going to improve his skills playing Erhu. “I played once and found it amazing.”

Click here to view Chinese report 

(Editors: Rachel, Christine)