Monday 20 October 2008

Kunming and the Flying Tigers

On Monday morning we have a pre-arranged meeting with the committee of the AVG Research Association, a Chinese group who keep alive the memory of the American pilots who flew for China before the U.S. entered the war against Japan, the famous Flying Tigers. After the volunteer force disbanded in July 1942 (Max was at a farewell banquet given in their honor by Mme Chiang Kai-shek), many of the Flying Tigers continued to fly on the Hump airlift or to serve with the US Army Air Force in China under their charismatic leader, Col. Claire Chennault. Our meeting with the President and other members of the Kunming group is something of a setpiece affair, in a formal conference room with Sun Ying acting as interpreter. They are able to answer some of the questions I've had about flying the Hump, the hazardous route over the Himalayas which was the only way for people and supplies to reach free China while Japan occupied China's east coast. Audrey arrived in Chongqing in 1943 by flying the Hump from Dinjan, near Calcutta, and Max was already a veteran of the route. When Max and Audrey reached Kunming after their road trip in April 1944, they spent five days in 'the city of four spring seasons' before getting spots on an RAF Dakota to India. 'We flew over the Hump at 21,000 ft.' wrote Audrey, 'which is no joke without oxygen. We both sat gasping for breath, thinking our last hour had come. They generally fly at about 14,000 ft. but there was a lot of cloud about it seems.' This, the AVG researchers confirmed, was a common experience. Only the pilots had an oxygen supply, and if passengers felt ill, they just had to hold on in the freezing cold until landing in India - where they sometimes felt even worse when they stepped out into the unexpected heat! The flight took about four hours, conditions were always uncomfortable and there were (as has been well researched) an extraordinary number of fatal crashes. The most dangerous part of the journey was flying through the Nujiang Gorge, an area which was dubbed 'aluminum valley' for the number of aircraft wrecks along it.

The greatest pleasure of our meeting is getting to know an American-trained Chinese pilot, now in his 80s, who was selected in 1943 to spend two years training in the U.S. and still speaks some English. He talks of Kunming in the war years as a place swarming with Americans, and with British nurses, who enjoyed dances and parties at the weekends - just as they did in Chongqing.

Mike, Ying and I spend the afternoon visiting the lovely Xi Shan, the Western hills of Kunming. Max and Audrey much enjoyed exploring the area during their stay - seeing both a lower temple by the lake, and walking to an upper temple. We follow their footsteps - stopping first at the lower, Buddhist temple which is a tranquil spot, set against a backdrop of tree-covered hills. We are traveling by taxi, and ride halfway up the mountain, to a point which you can also now reach by cable car from the city if you don't mind being suspended high above the lake. Then we walk for twenty minutes to the upper, Taoist temple (pictured below). This consists of eleven pavilions which cling onto a rock face facing the lake. Then a very narrow path along a ledge (Mike opted out of this!) leads on to the Dragon's Gate, another shrine and a highly decorated arch carved into the rock. It is well worth the climb for spectacular views over the lake and back to the city. We hear from our taxi driver that Kunming is taking the unprecedented step of enlarging the lake, by tearing down an aging industrial area and some lakeside housing - reverse reclamation for the sake of greening the city.

Kunming is already one of China's most livable cities, popular among Chinese and expats alike for its mild climate, beautiful setting and general cleanliness. It has a thriving university quarter, and on the way back to our hotel we stop at a French cafe for excellent pastries and ginger and honey tea. It is full of students who are clearly digging in for the afternoon, with their laptops and iPods - it could well be Boulder, Colorado, and it's certainly a far cry from the villages we've driven through in the past few days. We hope that a taste of France is a nice transiton for Ying, who flies back to Beijing tonight to continue her French language training, after giving up a week of precious family time to travel with us - thanks a million, Ying, we couldn't possibly have done it without you.

Mike and I have dinner at a novel vegetarian restaurant, which prepares dishes in the shape of their animal equivalents. Then for our final stop in Kunming we track down the Hump bar - a dive which looks as though it's been around since the 1960s, but which we're told is only 8 years old. It's an incongruous mix of Flying Tigers' memorabilia on the walls, disco balls, Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd soundtracks and a young Chinese hostess in a silver lurex minidress! It's in a neighborhood full of youngsters' bars and clubs - I'm sure the American pilots would have fitted right in.

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