Guangxi Province Part Three (Longji terraces)
Approximately three hours outside of Yangshuo, we visited Longji, a minority village situated in a tight mountain valley. While the clouds hung in the sky threatening rain, we hiked through a land of a several thousand stairs and looked out over a landscape of several million terraces. The Zhuang minority that inhabits these hills farm the terraces with only horses and hand tools. the hills began to look like a topographical map, with line after line representing elevation gain or loss. Much greener than the Kunming area, the threatening clouds and green landscape reminded us that rain must be a common occurence on these vegetated steps.
Like all the other people I have seen in China, the Zhuang minority holds a colorful beauty that startles ones eyes. Daily clothing for the Zhuang can be rather simple and dark. However, their festive clothing, like the ones shown below, are brilliantly colored. These women are dressed in traditional wedding clothing. For anywhere from ten to thirty kuai, a person can have his or her picture taken with these beautiful women in their traditional outfits. One can also pay more and be dressed up in a traditional costume, posing with the terraces in the background. Because these people now make money through tourism, I snuck this photo as I walked by then cropped the picture on my computer to show more detail. The metal on the headdress and jewelry is silver, and they do have solid silver headdresses that jingle when the women walk.
After climbing what seemed to be an infinite number of stairs up the terraces, we became hungry for local quisine. The village itself had, over time and tourism, turned into one large set of boarding houses with restaurants attached. So we entered a quiet building overlooking the terraces and ordered our lunch. While I strongly recommend the Chinese cuisine, especially the spicy dishes with 'lajiao,' I do not recommend reading the signs. Otherwise you might make yourself sick before you eat. Notice the menu choices below. 'Pork' sounds good, but I would probably stay away from the 'sweat potato.' Actually, these type of translation mistakes happen all the time, and we chose to order the sweet potato dish anyway. They steamed, but did not 'sweat.'
With rice being a staple food in China, few meals go by without the tiny white grain. However, in order to make rice, one must have a large pot of boiling water. This makes one wonder how the Chinese cooked rice prior to the invention of metal pots and pans. Well, they figured out an ingenious way of cooking the grain in a length of bamboo. Rice and water are place in a one-foot length of bamboo and then cooked in an open fire. Bamboo is not only extremely strong, it resists burning. When the rice is cooked, the bamboo is opened revealing cylindrically shaped sticky rice. Sometimes the rice is cooked with meat, vegetables, or fruit. The picture below shows Emily preparing to chow-down on some bamboo rice.
Zhuang minority women are noted for a number of things, but the most remarkable is their long hair. Much like Samson, these women are not allowed to cut their locks. However, unlike Samson, there exist two occasions when the women have their hair trimmed. At eighteen years of age, a young woman's hair will be cut as a rite of passage into adulthood. The next opportunity to have one's hair cut is at marriage. As a woman accepts a man's hand in marriage, she will again have her hair cut. From then on, the hair is simply allowed to grow, being wrapped up on top of one's head. The truly interesting part is that the women keep both sets of hair from the two clippings. Therefore, the current growth and the two previous growths are all kept bound on top of the woman's head. In the picture below, the young woman on the left has not reached a marrying age. To me she looks like she has not even reached eighteen. However, her hair is very short compared to the Chinese-Crystal Gail-look-alikes next to her.
Like all the other people I have seen in China, the Zhuang minority holds a colorful beauty that startles ones eyes. Daily clothing for the Zhuang can be rather simple and dark. However, their festive clothing, like the ones shown below, are brilliantly colored. These women are dressed in traditional wedding clothing. For anywhere from ten to thirty kuai, a person can have his or her picture taken with these beautiful women in their traditional outfits. One can also pay more and be dressed up in a traditional costume, posing with the terraces in the background. Because these people now make money through tourism, I snuck this photo as I walked by then cropped the picture on my computer to show more detail. The metal on the headdress and jewelry is silver, and they do have solid silver headdresses that jingle when the women walk.After climbing what seemed to be an infinite number of stairs up the terraces, we became hungry for local quisine. The village itself had, over time and tourism, turned into one large set of boarding houses with restaurants attached. So we entered a quiet building overlooking the terraces and ordered our lunch. While I strongly recommend the Chinese cuisine, especially the spicy dishes with 'lajiao,' I do not recommend reading the signs. Otherwise you might make yourself sick before you eat. Notice the menu choices below. 'Pork' sounds good, but I would probably stay away from the 'sweat potato.' Actually, these type of translation mistakes happen all the time, and we chose to order the sweet potato dish anyway. They steamed, but did not 'sweat.'With rice being a staple food in China, few meals go by without the tiny white grain. However, in order to make rice, one must have a large pot of boiling water. This makes one wonder how the Chinese cooked rice prior to the invention of metal pots and pans. Well, they figured out an ingenious way of cooking the grain in a length of bamboo. Rice and water are place in a one-foot length of bamboo and then cooked in an open fire. Bamboo is not only extremely strong, it resists burning. When the rice is cooked, the bamboo is opened revealing cylindrically shaped sticky rice. Sometimes the rice is cooked with meat, vegetables, or fruit. The picture below shows Emily preparing to chow-down on some bamboo rice.Zhuang minority women are noted for a number of things, but the most remarkable is their long hair. Much like Samson, these women are not allowed to cut their locks. However, unlike Samson, there exist two occasions when the women have their hair trimmed. At eighteen years of age, a young woman's hair will be cut as a rite of passage into adulthood. The next opportunity to have one's hair cut is at marriage. As a woman accepts a man's hand in marriage, she will again have her hair cut. From then on, the hair is simply allowed to grow, being wrapped up on top of one's head. The truly interesting part is that the women keep both sets of hair from the two clippings. Therefore, the current growth and the two previous growths are all kept bound on top of the woman's head. In the picture below, the young woman on the left has not reached a marrying age. To me she looks like she has not even reached eighteen. However, her hair is very short compared to the Chinese-Crystal Gail-look-alikes next to her.
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As I said, the "Real" water cave is an adventure. We used steel ladders, and knotted ropes to ascend and descend into and out of different underground chambers. After hiking underground for about forty-five minutes, squeezing through some fairly tight spaces, we came to the moment of truth. In front of us stretched a tunnel one could only pass through by wiggling along on one's belly. If we passed through this hole, we would exit the cave in only two minutes. Otherwise, we would have to hike-climb-wiggle our way back through forty-five minutes of caves again. We chose the tube. In this picture, Sarah Day just begins to emerge from the tunnel. Approximately thirty feet long, the space felt like what being birthed must feel like, except that we had to do all the work. No one was pushing us out the other side. I took my helmet off, because it made it nearly impossible to see ahead of myself. I just pushed it along in front of me and slithered along on my belly. The nice thing was that the dry rock really did not make us dirty. Only the wet rock did. This tunnel was all dry rock.
The photo below illustrates how precipitous some of the descents are. While the chain railing and the stone steps certainly aided in going down, one should not be fooled about how safe this descent was. One false move and it would have been very easy to tumble a few dozen feet at a time. Because we would end up walking through knee-deep water, we had been given sandals to wear. Needless to say, these did not provide ideal traction in many places. We were glad for the sandals when we finally reached the underground springs, but until then, our feet slipped and slided up and down the narrow winding passageways.
The Chinese words for hat or cap is "maozi", pronounced "mow-dzuh". The most famous "maozi" in China is the one Chairman Mao always used to wear, a green cap with a red star. This creates a Chinese pun--"Mao"zi. We all purchased one of these famous caps and here we are presenting our new chapeaus. I personally do not like this photo of me, but the girls seemed to have difficulty remaining serious long enough for a photo. This is the only one where we are all relatively somber looking. (However, Sarah, on top, does still have a bit of a smirk.) The interesting thing about our hats was the number of people who asked to have their picture taken with the four "Maoist" foreigners. Chinese, Japanese, and Korean tourists all asked for pictures of us in our Chinese "maozi." Finally, I jokingly said to one group of Koreans who requested a photo, "Nimen gei women er-shi kuai" (You give us twenty kuai). They laughed, and we had fun posing.
As I stated in my previous entry about our trip to Guangzi Province, mystery surrounds the terrain of this province. As we walked through downtown Yangshuo, we came to this public park--we paid nine kuai to enter but everyone else seemed to come and go as they pleased--that had a path wandering through it. The path lead to flower gardens, ponds, and some caves in the hillsides. A wall stood around one particular garden, and its entrance was gated and locked. I said it reminded me of "The Secret Garden," and this is a shot of the garden we could not enter. I have read enough literature to be familiar with fairies, but I have never been one to believe in such creatures. However, if they did exist, I believe this garden would be where some would reside. There is a quite, dreaminess about the space that might convince someone that if he entered, he might find Rip Van Winkle, or he might not come out for thirty or so years. There are things in China that seem decades behind the West, but this place simply seemed beyond time.
One of the primary trades in Guangxi Province is fishing. However, this fishing does not involve a rod and reel. Hailing from a state that loves to fly-fish, the Guangxi form of trolling for fish is quite different than anything I have ever seen. Cormorants with clipped wings ride on small bamboo skifs with their owners. When the man wants a fish, he places his birds in the water where he uses his oar to disturb the water and entice the birds to dive. Within seconds, the birds return, each with a fish in its beak. The birds try to swallow the fish, but the "fisherman" has placed a string around the birds' necks. When the fisherman pulls the cormorant out of the water, he massages the bird's neck and the fish pops out of its mouth. For only five kuai (about seventy-five cents), I received the fisherman's had and pole (complete with two live cormorants) and pretended to be the tradesman for a few snapshots
The Li Jiang river reminded me of the Main Fork of the Flathead River, primarily for its width. The Flathead is colder and moves a bit more quickly, but as the Flathead makes its way into Flathead lake, it becomes a rather broad, slower moving river surrounded by mountains. In this respect, the Li Jiang matches the Flathead. A river really gives one time to think about many things--about a year of teaching, about a year abroad, about what the future holds. And lest someone should become too philosophical, a river also allows one to pose for pictures that depict one being philosophical. The photo below shows me sporting my new Chinese hair color. I dyed my hair black about a month ago. Why? Because I could. Strangely enough, while in Yangshuo, I assisted a Frenchman in find an item he had dropped on the ground. As I handed him his misplaced belonging, he had not seen my face, so he said, "Xie xie ni" (Thank you). However, when he actually looked me in the eyes, he changed his thanks to "Merci." I just smiled and laughed to myself.
As the only single, male staff member at Kunming International Academy, I do not have many options when it comes to travelling companions. Being nearly ten years older than most of the single women at KIA (and even older in many cases), I feel like an older brother travelling with my younger sisters--although, I must admit that many times I act a bit younger that many of them. The picture below has Emily (top right) and Sarah (lower left) peeking through a rock formation at a local park in Yangshuo. While these faces are not their normal visages, these two did have a tendency to have two pictures of every setting: one with a serious pose, and one with these types of faces. Emily teaches sixth grade and Sarah teaches fourth. They are roommates and call Chicago and up-state New York home (respectively).
If you have not rushed out to find The Painted Veil already, let me give you one more video to look for: Hero. Also set in China, I believe the star of this movie is Jet-Li. While the film itself is not set in Guangxi Province, the important part to note is the director. I do not recall his name, but he is quite famous in China. In fact, he directed a water show in Yangshuo that me and my travelling companions went to see. The city of Yangshuo created a three-square-kilometer lake out of a small pond. Then, with eight-hundred locals playing roles, the production depicts the lives of three different minorities in and around Yangshuo. It shows how they earn their livelihoods and how they marry. Much like the Chinese nation, the show is mysterious, beautiful and immense. My photos do not do the production justice, but the shot below shows local fisherman our on their bamboo skiffs. The show itself is divided into different color headings: Red, Blue, and Silver, among others. I have a DVD with footage. But live is the only real way to see the show, or China for that matter.
West of Kunming, in the Western Hills, a small Yi (pronounced "ee", with a relatively silent "y")minority village has built a type of water amusement park. Built along a small creek running through the rugged hills, the majority of this recreation area's attractions involve water in some way. The above photo shows Emily (6th grade) and me trying our agility and balance on the swinging bridge. The goal is to successfully cross the pond by stepping from one swing to the next. I know, it seems like a tame attraction. I was also surprised at how uncertain many of the Chinese were in attempting this little obstacle. However, to attest to how fun it really is, I crossed the bridge twice, and my Chinese teacher's son swung from step-to-step three times.
As I said, the majority of the attractions involved water, and this merry-go-round is no exception. A smaller creek, running down the hillside and feeding into the larger creek in the valley, powers this carousel. The creek is channeled into a chute about a foot wide, causing the water to build pressure. When released, the rushing water pushes against a set of paddles on the underside of the carousel. While this ride gains its momentum slowly, it eventually travels as quickly as any merry-go-round on which I have ever been (and it can make you just as sick to your stomach).
In the coastal Northwest region of the United States, the Native Americans display large wood totems as monuments of their tribes history and beliefs. In the Yi village, the totems are made of stone, but play a similar role. The very top of this monument displays three panthers. Many Yi minority monuments show some type of large cat--panther, leapord, tiger, etc.. I never learned why the cats are revered so much, but suffice it to say that one can tell when he is in a Yi village, because pictures and statues of cats abound. Also, for those of you who have looked at the posting on the Minority Village, you may recognize this type of totem from one of the pictures displayed in that story.
Oh! Candy! Look out! There is a large snake behind. . . ! Oops, too late. One of the more involved attractions at this park is a hike along a primitively paved trail that follows the creek into the hills. We saw how the Yi people channeld the water into their villages (hollowed out log pipelines), and we saw concrete likenesses of the animals that used to live in the area. Candy, one of our elementary ELD teachers, has been snuck up on by the Chinese version of Ka from The Jungle Book. Happily, this snake's bite is a bit petrified. However, the Chinese people watching got a nice laugh out of the entire photo option.
