The Cuihu Green Lake Park in Kunming

How do you say 'lawsuit liability' in Chinese?

The people at Cuihu Park are always trying to make the park more interesting for visitors, and we appreciate that. However we're still not sure what to think about the park's new attraction near the north gate: running around in rubber balls on Cuihu's surface.

We first became aware of this via Elizabeth in China, who has posted some video of children trying to get their bearings in the airtight spheres.

This weekend we went down to check it out ourselves and it seemed that business was good. There were dozens of children queued up to be put into a zippable rubber ball that is inflated (it looks like the inflation hurts the eardrums a bit) and pushed out onto the water. Most children were unable to stand for the majority of their time in the balls.

Anyone with 10 yuan and no sharp objects on their person can run around on the water in a ball for three minutes. The balls are all on tethers that are used to keep them from going too far from the astroturf shore. Strangely, no adults were in line to join in the fun - maybe it's because of the ban on smoking and high heels.

Seagulls return to Cuihu Park
Migratory Siberian seagulls have arrived at Kunming's Cuihu Park aka Green Lake Park. Saturday thousands of Kunmingese watched from the waterfront while others drifted among the birds in pedal boats.

According to a nearby monument, the gulls first appeared in the winter of 1985. Wu Qinghen, a Kunming native, became known as "Father Seagull" for devoting half his pension to feeding them.

"His spirit sets a model for man and nature living together in harmony," reads the inscription.

In a modern twist, opportunistic vendors circulate today's crowds hawking crusty sweetbread for feeding the gulls.

Let a hundred lotus flowers bloom
This week workers at Cuihu Park are shoveling through the muck as they drain the green out of Cuihu aka Green Lake, ostensibly to help the plant life.

"We must take out the lake water and let things dry in the sun," a sign stuck in the muddy lake-bed proclaimed, "this will make the lotus flowers grow and
flourish even more."

The seagulls were not available for comment.

Free hugs at Cuihu Park
Need a hug?A group of Kunming students believe the city has become too unfriendly. On crowded afternoons by Cuihu Park they can be found offering hugs to strangers.

"Free hugs!" read the do-gooders' placards. One was written in English to attract laowai in need of affection. Chinese signs beckoned Kunmingers to "reject coldness" and hug a stranger.

GoKunming found its hug chaste, like a sustained pat on the back, but we like the idea. In spite of this call for public friendliness, not many passersby stop for an embrace. The students seem content to spread their message via their poster boards, standing passively by the waterfront with tireless smiles.

If you've been needing a hug, now you know where to go.

Class of 1902 - Kunming's Wubei Xuetang around Cuihu Park

Editor's note: Every week for the remainder of 2008 GoKunming will publish photos from the collection of Auguste François (1857-1935), who served as French consul in south China between 1896 and 1904, during which he spent several years in Kunming. The photos have been provided by Kunming resident and private collector Yin Xiaojun (殷晓俊). GoKunming thanks Yin Xiaojun for providing us a glimpse of Yunnan at the beginning of the 20th Century.

Year: 1902
Subject: First graduating class of Kunming's Wubei Xuetang (武备学堂)
Location: Present-day Jiangwutang (讲武堂), west side of Cuihu Park

Background:

The above photo is of 13 students from the first graduating class of the Wubei Xuetang (武备学堂), Kunming's first military academy, which was founded in 1899. The students, who completed three years of training, are centered around an unidentified teacher from the academy.

By the end of the 19th Century, a little over a decade before the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, Kunming had become more than just a place to exile disgraced officials, it had become a strategically important outpost at the crossroads of China, Tibet and Southeast Asia. Creating a strong local military force had become a necessity, prompting the establishment of the Wubei Xuetang on the west side of present-day Cuihu Park.

The curriculum at the Wubei Xuetang featured four main subjects: Chinese language, mathematics, cannons and the military drill book (操典). The drill book used at the academy was a book of German military drills.

Shortly after the demise of the Qing, a new military academy, the Jiangwutang (讲武堂 – see right image), was built where the Wubei Xuetang had once been located. Today, the Jiangwutang is still standing. A large mustard yellow building from another era, the building is one of the most recognizable architectural works in Kunming.

Within the Jiangwutang is a vast, flat courtyard that was once used for military drills. The building's south wing contains a free museum which narrates the role the academy has played in Kunming and Yunnan's history.