The Answer Is Blowing in the Wind

Trip Start Mar 21, 2005
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Trip End Ongoing


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Thursday, September 1, 2005

The days and the weeks and the months of sitting in limbo are over. The doldrums have past, the wind is blowing, and, as Bob says, "the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind." What this means is that WWF has officially approved the project, the budget, and the program here in Shangri-la is alive and well.

Over the last ten days, Jinhui, Gomba, and I have been in Kunming, the provincial capital, purchasing equipment and meeting with leaders from the Yunnan Forestry Bureau, Conservation International, Kunming Institute of Botany, Kunming Institute of Zoology, and the China Exploration and Research Society. With these groups, we are hoping to have lasting and meaningful partnerships.

So where do we go from here? The project will take a three-fold path: 1) Shangri-la Institute for Sustainable Communities, 2) Sustainable Ecotourism Development, and 3) Community Nature Reserve Creation.

These will each unfold in their own way.

We are now back in Shangri-la after an interesting encounter with the police in Dali, visiting Jurassic dinosaur bones, and watching Bengal Tigers ride atop draft horses. We have listened to hours of Backstreet Boys and other cheesy American music on the way, eaten some tasty cow stomach lining and watched late-night movies of Japan losing once again in battle to the People's Liberation Army. And we have participated in a most profound way with the inefficiencies of equipment purchasing in China.

We are glad to be back: let the project begin!
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