Guangxi Province Part One (Mystery, Beauty, Immensity)

The China the West always sees in movies is a land of mystery, of beauty, and of immense proportions. Really, China is all three of these: mysterious, beautiful and immense. On a recent trip to Guangxi Province, Guilin and Yangshuo cities, I came in contact with all three of these attributes. The land is so strange, gorgeous and huge that I cannot possibly fit it into one blog entry. So here is the first.

If one has ever seen the movie The Painted Veil, one will recognize the landscape in the picture below. According to our guide, a great, undersea, upheavel caused these jutting mountains over three-million years ago. I prefer to believe that He created a landscape unlike any other on the face of the earth. These mountains stand like individual teeth, row-upon-row, disappearing into the mist. The Li Jiang river, one of many in the region, snakes its way through these mountains and provide the transportation and livelihoods needed by the Dai, Bai, Zhuang, and other minorities living in the area. While The Painted Veil could be viewed as one of the most thoroughly depressing love stories, it does have its moments, and for anyone looking for beautiful, realistic Chinese cinematography, the movie was almost entirely filmed in Shanghai and Guangxi Province.
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.