Whoa! Time to wake up and luckily not too much worse for (wine) wear. Pretty funky night’s sleep, though, because of super hardwood bed. No matter, I make my way in chilly weather to clean up (no hot water because all solar heated and hasn’t been sun in a while), then we meet in our same private room for breakfast. Fried eggs, noodles, broth and a few spicy and assorted toppings. Then we’re out the door to walk a bit up the road to visit the local (and critically acclaimed) lusheng flute maker.
We walk into the bottom floor of a house – it’s dark and dank, but there sit an older husband and wife working on different stages of making these traditional flutes.
First we see the area where bamboo can be heated and straightened to have the correct shape for the final product.
The wife cuts holes in the base,
and the husband carves and tests tones on reeds. The son walks in, as he is learning the business, and shows us some of the finished products
and even plays some tunes for us (video to be posted after I return).
It’s all pretty cool, especially when I see how beautifully lacquered the finished product is. We see the smaller models, used mostly for souvenirs and for hanging on the wall, the larger ones that are used for ceremonies and festivals, and then the middle sizes that are for families. It’s amazing to see what still can be done by hand with very little high-tech tools.
Back to get our bags and hop in the van, and we’re off to see the Wangba Village (Gejia ethnic minority). This village was way up north and took an hour drive and a bumpy dirt road to get there. Once there, we walked a path up into the center of the village, where we walked around the (usual) center square, site of festivals and playground time, walked by the village blackboard and location for public announcements, information-sharing, etc, and then further on the path across the village, where we ran into some neighborhood friends hanging out. A couple of grandmothers, a nearby older man, a mother and a few children. Children are really doted on here, as you might imagine in a country where each family may have one (although minorities have different limits – the Miao are allowed two each). Makes me wonder in 40 years what it will be like to have a country populated and ruled by only kids. Hmmmm…Duan posed another problem: he and his friends have all bought small apartments, although once they are married and have children they all move in with one set of their parents to care for the only child while working, and one day their only children will marry and inherit their grandparents’ and parents’ apartments, and what will each of those kids do with 6 small apartments? No one will want to buy them because each person will be in the same position. Something to think about, for sure.
Anyway, we chat for a while and I try to take a few photos of the great faces and traditional hats:
We continue walking and come upon a different kind of person (ha!):
villager and rooster:
typical house:
and thread through the green lush grounds, where something seems to be planted and growing just by the road and everywhere! Eggplant, tomatoes, lots of pumpkin, lettuces, etc. Off in the distance I can see two women in the field plowing:
and a husband, wife and water buffalo doing the same even further away:
and beautiful countryside.
I feel like I have now seen both sides of China and have a much deeper understanding of the things I’ve been reading about for so many years; as well as being able to brush aside some of the unknowns about what’s what and how the people see their government, how they live in their day-to-day world and what’s important to them. Funny thing about how travel banishes ignorance and assumptions.
Well, we’re done everything on the itinerary for today and it’s back to town and to the Pearl River for lunch. Duan told us about this place – a local famous spot, and so similar to mongolian barbecue (although much more exotic ingredients). We select from the ridiculously wide range of items:
and go to our table to receive rice, hot tea and eventually, all of our dishes. Yum! We chat with our guide and driver and decide to change the itinerary a bit and make the 3-hour drive back to Guiyong this afternoon so we aren’t jammed tomorrow. Lance and I watch a movie in the back to pass most of the return time. We tell Doan we’re not interested in dinner (such big lunches – we just have a yogurt and banana), so we set the meet-up time for tomorrow and tell them goodbye.
We talk a long walk to the river and back to the square in the center of town (and wave hello to the giant statue of the good Chairman), and down the street a bit. I see some cute shoes in the window and go in to try them on – especially after seeing that they’re only $25! When’s the last time I paid that little for a pair of leather shoes (rubber soles, though). In the end, I decide not to, but the price sure made it tempting! Back to the hotel and the 25th floor lounge to work on the blog, sip tea, and check out the neon show out on the street. Hong Kong tomorrow!