Village hop in China (part 1)
This may be my most memorable experience of my stay in China.
I arrived to Wuyuan by bus and after a brief price negotiation I hired a car to take me to a small village in the country side. When I arrived there, it was night and we had to find our way to my shelter for the night and ask them to let us stay there; luckily they accepted. The house was large and very old, going back to the Qing dynasty; it once belonged to some important official in the Qing dynasty. The room I stayed in had an antique wooden bed: the kind I've seen in several Museums in China. The people living in this house were very nice and friendly; I ate all my meals there for the next 3 days; they were delicious and very cheap.
That night I walked the narrow streets in the village with a flashlight showing me the way; the village was very dark with few lights. I saw shadows of animals and people rarely passing me by and dogs barking in the shadows; It felt like I was in a mystery movie, taking place in 1800s London.
I woke up late in the morning, it was raining; I was lazy getting out of bed, but I had a great meal awaiting me. The village looked great in the rain, the colours of the rice fields, green vegetables growing on little farms, the surrounding hills, mystical forests nearby and the river flowing through town were all very vivid. The village was quiet and serene; one could enjoy the peacefulness of a place like that for many weeks and months. Despite the rain, I was on a mission to go on a long hike to visit a couple of nearby villages; I had an umbrella, rain jacket and a flashlight for the darkness on the way back. There were two villages I wanted to visit; one was a picturesque village similar to this one, the other was a smaller and lesser known village: but it was the home of a rare fruit that we waned to have a look at.
I hiked with a local friend through nearby villages, at times following directions on walls and otherwise asking local villagers for help; the villagers are very helpful here and often want to make sure you get to where you are going, they keep following you and giving you directions :). The rain was drizzling ever so slightly and the country side scenery was gorgeous, beyond what my words can explain or pictures can show(pictures coming soon). We walked through the farms along narrow paths, we walked by the river and after several hours we reached our first village; the village was known for the beautiful ancient wooden bridge and an old tree that grows upside down (ie. you plant it with it's roots up). I took a break on the bridge, with a roof over me, and looked over the flowing river, the surrounding farms and the hills nearby: it was the perfect place for a break. We were very determined to get to the other village, so we didn't stay long in this one. We passed quickly through the streets saying hello to the locals of the village.
The path to the little village went on for another hour; it went through farm fields, along some small hills and land covered with red soil. As we approached the village, we saw a farmer going to get his Water Buffalo, used as cow in China; he greeted us warmly. We inquired about the rare fruits that seem to only grow in that region. He took us to his house and showed us some wine that he made from those fruits and brought out some dried ones for us to try. We ended up buying a little bottle of wine from him. Soon after a woman came in and took us to her house to show us the ones she had; we sat sipping tea at a table in her home surrounded by her family and neighbours looking curiously at us. We purchased another bottle of the wine from them and not a minute later, we were shown some other delicacies that they had at the house. They let us try some fresh honey that was still inside the honeycomb; it was delicious! My friend ended up buying a bunch of it. We were later shown some huge chunks of home made tofu, which my friend also purchased in order to cook that night, but it turned out to be quite bitter and not very eatable.
We sat chatting with the farmers; they were all dressed in old rags, some had holes in their pants with visible patches as well, others wore old suits that had shown the signs of age ... but all wore a smile that was very welcoming. They told us about the village and the people living there; we were told that most people live there make enough food for them to survive and most go on to live long lives into into their 80s and 90s. In the room we were sitting, there were two small kids playing together with the help of their parents. One of the woman walking with her child caught my eye; based on her clothes she seemed very poor, but also had a very kind look on her; I inquired about the woman. We were told that she was a neighbour and was indeed a very good person, but couldn't speak. I felt very sad hearing this about the woman; we had to get going as it was getting dark, but before we left, I wanted to give her something ... but I didn't have many things ... so I decided to give her a Canadian coin. She seemed very happy.
We left their home first going into the bamboo forest that was growing up the hill. It was getting quite dark and there were no real paths we could follow, but we pressed on. The forest was misty but very vibrant. We walked enjoying every step. Along our path we saw the water deliver system used by the people at the village; it consisted of bamboo trees tied to gather to let the water flow through them from nearby streams in the mountain. We also saw a pulley system used by the villagers to transport heavy objects, like wood, from the top of the mountain to the bottom. As darkness came, we proceeded back to the village.
We walked in the night with an occasional rain drizzling. We proceeded based on memory of the path. There were sounds coming from the bushes and we could see the reflection of onlooking eyes from a distance at night. Although, at times uneasy, the walk was quite pleasant. Once we reached the first village, we got lost for a few minutes, but the help of a local, we found our way again. We walked along the river for another hour, looking at the silhouettes of nearby mountains surrounding us. I was very happy to reach our village after a tiring day. When we arrived, some warm tea and a warm meal awaited us.
And thus ended my first day in the village. It all seamed like a ferry tale to me.
I arrived to Wuyuan by bus and after a brief price negotiation I hired a car to take me to a small village in the country side. When I arrived there, it was night and we had to find our way to my shelter for the night and ask them to let us stay there; luckily they accepted. The house was large and very old, going back to the Qing dynasty; it once belonged to some important official in the Qing dynasty. The room I stayed in had an antique wooden bed: the kind I've seen in several Museums in China. The people living in this house were very nice and friendly; I ate all my meals there for the next 3 days; they were delicious and very cheap.
That night I walked the narrow streets in the village with a flashlight showing me the way; the village was very dark with few lights. I saw shadows of animals and people rarely passing me by and dogs barking in the shadows; It felt like I was in a mystery movie, taking place in 1800s London.
I woke up late in the morning, it was raining; I was lazy getting out of bed, but I had a great meal awaiting me. The village looked great in the rain, the colours of the rice fields, green vegetables growing on little farms, the surrounding hills, mystical forests nearby and the river flowing through town were all very vivid. The village was quiet and serene; one could enjoy the peacefulness of a place like that for many weeks and months. Despite the rain, I was on a mission to go on a long hike to visit a couple of nearby villages; I had an umbrella, rain jacket and a flashlight for the darkness on the way back. There were two villages I wanted to visit; one was a picturesque village similar to this one, the other was a smaller and lesser known village: but it was the home of a rare fruit that we waned to have a look at.
I hiked with a local friend through nearby villages, at times following directions on walls and otherwise asking local villagers for help; the villagers are very helpful here and often want to make sure you get to where you are going, they keep following you and giving you directions :). The rain was drizzling ever so slightly and the country side scenery was gorgeous, beyond what my words can explain or pictures can show(pictures coming soon). We walked through the farms along narrow paths, we walked by the river and after several hours we reached our first village; the village was known for the beautiful ancient wooden bridge and an old tree that grows upside down (ie. you plant it with it's roots up). I took a break on the bridge, with a roof over me, and looked over the flowing river, the surrounding farms and the hills nearby: it was the perfect place for a break. We were very determined to get to the other village, so we didn't stay long in this one. We passed quickly through the streets saying hello to the locals of the village.
The path to the little village went on for another hour; it went through farm fields, along some small hills and land covered with red soil. As we approached the village, we saw a farmer going to get his Water Buffalo, used as cow in China; he greeted us warmly. We inquired about the rare fruits that seem to only grow in that region. He took us to his house and showed us some wine that he made from those fruits and brought out some dried ones for us to try. We ended up buying a little bottle of wine from him. Soon after a woman came in and took us to her house to show us the ones she had; we sat sipping tea at a table in her home surrounded by her family and neighbours looking curiously at us. We purchased another bottle of the wine from them and not a minute later, we were shown some other delicacies that they had at the house. They let us try some fresh honey that was still inside the honeycomb; it was delicious! My friend ended up buying a bunch of it. We were later shown some huge chunks of home made tofu, which my friend also purchased in order to cook that night, but it turned out to be quite bitter and not very eatable.
We sat chatting with the farmers; they were all dressed in old rags, some had holes in their pants with visible patches as well, others wore old suits that had shown the signs of age ... but all wore a smile that was very welcoming. They told us about the village and the people living there; we were told that most people live there make enough food for them to survive and most go on to live long lives into into their 80s and 90s. In the room we were sitting, there were two small kids playing together with the help of their parents. One of the woman walking with her child caught my eye; based on her clothes she seemed very poor, but also had a very kind look on her; I inquired about the woman. We were told that she was a neighbour and was indeed a very good person, but couldn't speak. I felt very sad hearing this about the woman; we had to get going as it was getting dark, but before we left, I wanted to give her something ... but I didn't have many things ... so I decided to give her a Canadian coin. She seemed very happy.
We left their home first going into the bamboo forest that was growing up the hill. It was getting quite dark and there were no real paths we could follow, but we pressed on. The forest was misty but very vibrant. We walked enjoying every step. Along our path we saw the water deliver system used by the people at the village; it consisted of bamboo trees tied to gather to let the water flow through them from nearby streams in the mountain. We also saw a pulley system used by the villagers to transport heavy objects, like wood, from the top of the mountain to the bottom. As darkness came, we proceeded back to the village.
We walked in the night with an occasional rain drizzling. We proceeded based on memory of the path. There were sounds coming from the bushes and we could see the reflection of onlooking eyes from a distance at night. Although, at times uneasy, the walk was quite pleasant. Once we reached the first village, we got lost for a few minutes, but the help of a local, we found our way again. We walked along the river for another hour, looking at the silhouettes of nearby mountains surrounding us. I was very happy to reach our village after a tiring day. When we arrived, some warm tea and a warm meal awaited us.
And thus ended my first day in the village. It all seamed like a ferry tale to me.
posted by Alex Pilchin at 6:28 AM
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