Guizhou Province, Part II (and probably the last...)

Alice, Rachel and a 15-year-old Miao girl in full costume at Datong.  Her grandmother sat watching. This village was the "short skirt" Miao, as opposed to the "long skirt" Miao.

It was a cool morning, so the girl had leggings on.

 

 Then the grandmother showed us what she does in the village--weaving.

She was so fast!  Notice the new washing machine, but the window was the 

major light source.

 One of the big male pastimes is fighting bull water buffaloes. 

This one might have been on his way to a fight, or just off to a new owner.

The Miao do not eat beef of any kind--cattle are sacred, after a fashion. 

 Terraced rice paddies that have been cultivated for several hundred years. 

The rice is planted and harvested by hand.  In one location,

we noticed a new-looking rototiller being used.  These plots are too small for a tractor

but a rototiller is far better than a foot and a shovel!  It was probably purchased with the help of a micro-loan.

 At the village our guide was from, everyone left off the work of the harvest to greet us in their traditional dress, with a rice wine ceremony.  Kevin had alerted the guide on the first day that our group (all LDS) did not drink alcohol, so the village used Sprite for the ceremony.

The only problem was, they used the pitchers that have been used for rice wine for years, and the Sprite didn't taste like usual!  It burned a little as it went down and had a sharp flavor.

So I guess I kind of know how rice wine tastes...

I priced one of those silver head-dresses in one shop, and it was about $2500.  

 Miao folk dances.  The musical scale is 5 notes. Interesting!

The final dance invited us all in.

 Such a bunch of cute girls!

 Harvested corn hung off of every building, and made a great backdrop

for a happy couple.

A woman using a scythe to harvest the rice.  I don't think I'd be happy squishing around in the mucky water and mud!  The people put small fish in the paddy in the spring, and then harvest them after the rice is out of the way as the water dries up.

I loved the straw sheaves.  It reminded me of a fairy house.

 The Guiyang river walk might not be as unique as the San Antonio one, but it was really nice!

Well-lit, with a beautiful pagoda at one end and city lights reflecting in the water.

It was probably best seeing it at night.  (At least that's been my experience looking at rivers in cities in China--not pretty.)

 After the first day, we had low clouds, haze, fog, and even rain.  

The vista was diminished, but the steepness of these limestone mountains is breath-taking.

 Across Heavenly Lake, and into the Dragon cavern.

 "Watch your head" was the instruction given before the boat ride.  Yeah, right!  These huge stalactites were just about head-high and the boat pilot liked to take us right under them.  

But we were wise, and no one bumped their head.

And in true Chinese fashion, because a cave isn't amazing enough,

there was a laser light show in one cavern.

 Kevin vs. the Dragon.  

 Huangguoshu Falls.  I was expecting some awesome name, but it just means "yellow fruit tree" because there are some in the area (I'm not sure which fruit--I did see a couple of banana trees).

The largest falls in Asia.  For those who've seen Yellowstone Falls, or Mesa falls, or especially Niagara, this was underwhelming, along with the fact that we had to be there by 7:30 in the morning to avoid the crowds.  The day before, so many cars were in the national park that a traffic jam occurred and many did not get out until late that night.

We did get to walk around and go behind the falls.  That was fun. And wet.

 And it rained.  

Chinglish.

 After riding an escalator back up to the top of the canyon (yes!  an escalator!)

we had to wait for our bus.  This enterprising gentleman had fresh "bell" peppers for sale

right off the plant on his back.

 Another minority group.  These used embroidery instead of silver for their head-dresses.

I don't know how such a hat became the norm.

 We also got to watch a village "opera", which means it was a dramatic presentation.  The bad guys are distinguished by having bigger noses.  (Like westerners have bigger noses?)  Fortunately, it only lasted 10 minutes, and wasn't even closely related to Beijing Opera. That stuff is unendurable!

 The second falls.

And a great time was had by all!

National Holiday in Guizhou, China

With a week-long vacation decreed by the government beginning October 1st, we decided to join with another tour organized for the BYU teachers. So we were off to a little-known spot in southwestern China to see mountains and ethnic minorities.  I came home with over 1000 photos which were edited down to just under 400, and I'm sure you don't want to see all of them.  I am reminded of the seemingly endless slide shows someone would bring back from their vacations when I was a child.  

The truth is, most pictures are only meaningful if you were there.

So, I'll do the best I can to give you the flavor of Guizhou Province, without going on and on and on ...

First, I was happy to find out that although it was in southern China, because of the altitude the climate is quite moderate--no snow in winter, but not too hot in the summer. 
We arrived with the rice harvest well under way.  Often the rice straw is burned.  Other times it is fed to the water buffalo or used as their bedding. 

Our first afternoon, we visited Qingyan ancient town, which turned out to be lots of shops selling

mass-produced trinkets (and some genuine souvenirs)

and we got to pay an entrance fee for the opportunity to shop here.

At least many people were in native dress, and the town streets were old. 

  There were lots of Chinese, and no other westerners,

so we were stared at a LOT, and a lot of pictures were taken of Alice and Rachel, as well as different BYU teachers.

Many people said "hello" to us and were SO excited if we said hello back.  

And really excited if we spoke any Chinese to them.

In Guiyang, a small Chinese city of 3 million people, there are tunnels under the main intersections so pedestrians can cross safely.  Normally, these tunnels are filled with shops.  This one was under renovation, and we were amazed--in the US an area like this would not allow anyone in--there were live electrical wires hanging down; sharp metal rods sticking out about knee-height, and so on.  Not to mention the cement dust in the air...

Still, we survived!

Once we were above-ground again, we were in the city square of Guiyang, which happens to be the capital city of the province.  It was here that Mao became the leader of the Communist party in the 1930's.  I've been reading a very interesting history, "Wild Swans" about a woman and her family's experiences over the past 100 years in China, and my opinion of the Chairman has been

going down quite steadily.  

Looking the other way--the city square, and an amazing sculpture over an open-air auditorium.

With temperatures in the low 70's, it was a beautiful evening, and thousands of

people were enjoying themselves. 

It doesn't matter which city you go to in China, in the evenings and the mornings, there will always be a group of women dancing, doing a type of Chinese line dance.  We joined in, a couple of nights, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was like doing "Just Dance" on the Wii, only following a live leader.

Next day, we drove several hours by bus to Kaili, then on to Leishan. The route is now a 4-lane highway, with tunnels through the mountains. In the past, this area was very isolated. Most young people left and went to the east coast (Shanghai, etc) for jobs,

leaving the grandparents to take care of their children.

And since these are minorities, they can have 2 children.  If they stay in the country, they can have 3 children (but cannot move to the city).  It was fun to see families with more than one child.

Now the government is building more roads, a high-speed railroad,

and encouraging foreign companies to build here.  They are even building tourist attractions to bring other Chinese in.

At one point, due to an accident, traffic came to a standstill.

We were able to get out and look around, watching a local family harvest their rice. I loved how the sheaves were stood up and looked like pictures from the 1700's in Europe.

The road began to parallel a river, and it is the first river I've seen in China that had clear water.

It was so amazing to see that I ended up taking tons of pictures,

because it looked like a river in the Rockies, pine trees included!

But one thing you won't see in America--cars pulled into the river to be washed.

Langde Miao minority village.  The Chinese have named these minority peoples "Miao" (sounds like someone calling their cat!)  The people have their own name, and they are actually Hmong, and related to those of Laos and Cambodia, some of whom relocated to the US after the Vietnam war.

These people used to live further north in China, but kept moving southward with the aggression of the Han Chinese.  They ended up in the remote mountains for their own protection.

I was struck at how similar their homes are to those in the Alps.

The area is known for embroidery and silver.  Most of what we saw was mass-produced.

Only in China... a pony was being used to give rides (for a price, of course), and happened to walk by just as I was taking a picture of a group of people at the bottom of the stairs.

What had me so interested down there?

A couple of women were washing all the dishes that had been used for lunch in the open-air

food court, but right next to their big dish pan was a bunch of dead chickens that were being plucked and butchered.  There was no water for rinsing the dishes.  No place to set them out to dry.  And of course, no mess from the chickens splattered that way, right?

And that's why we ate off paper plates and didn't eat chicken.

At least the water used for the dishes was good and hot

and I was impressed with the make-shift stove.

The girls purchased pan pipes and with their musical knowledge, it didn't take long to get

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star" going.  

That probably hadn't been heard here before!

Eastern Qing Dynasty Tombs

Mid-Autumn Festival:  the first full moon of the autumn (according to the Chinese lunar calendar) and a national holiday, this year occurred last Thursday, Sept. 19. So the government decreed an extended holiday--Thursday and Friday off, but Friday is made up on the following Sunday.  (Kevin took a vacation day for Sunday).

 We used the holiday to go to the eastern Qing Tombs in the mountainous area north of Tianjin, in the same general area as the Great Wall.  Although we've had several free weekends since coming back after summer, the weather was too hot and humid to want to go out and do something like this.
Now the weather is moving into Fall, and much more to my liking!

 Here, the emperors, empresses, and favored concubines were buried from the late 1500's up

to the last empress in the early 1900's.

 Above ground:  a beehive-looking mound.  Below ground, the tombs of the concubines.

 Descending to the tomb of one of the favorite concubines of one emperor.  She had been from the western region of China and was instrumental in helping unite that area with China.

 The grounds were undergoing replanting--new mums everywhere.

And a discreet toilet.

With the renovations going on, the plantings are going to be beautiful,

but meanwhile, we had to walk over and around piles of dirt, and broken rocks.

 In the "underground palace" built for each emperor's tomb:  a vaulted ceiling of rock.

 Carvings of the things the dead would need:  food!  Some of the religious items were
definitely Buddhist, but others were not familiar.
Still, obviously there was a belief in an afterlife.
By many of the coffins there rested offerings of bottles of water or different fruits.

 Heavy stone doors swung on massive hinges to close off the tomb area.

 Concubines had small beehive-tops.  This emperor had a massive "beehive" atop his tomb!

 A carved "tree of life"?

 Similar layout to the Forbidden City, but not as big.

 The tomb of the last empress, Cixi.  Her coffin is encased in a glass covering (as were the others). As we visited, we suddenly realized we were alone--no other visitors--and every word we spoke echoed and re-echoed for 5 or 6 seconds.

Kevin was the first to try singing a tone and timing how long it lasted.

Then, he sang 3 notes of a chord--and all three notes could be heard for several seconds.

You could sing harmony with yourself!

So we sang a round (Row, Row, Row your boat--interesting how we couldn't quickly think of a better song!), and listened to the echoes filling in behind our voices, sounding like a choir.

I think this will be a favorite memory--singing harmony in the tomb of the last Empress of China!

We would have stayed and played with the acoustics more, but another tour group began filtering in and our exclusive time in the tomb ended.

I loved the evergreens (junipers and cedars).  

It would have been nice if the day had been a clearer day.

Still, some local person (probably one of the ticket-takers at a minor empress's area) 

had their wash hung out. 

From the valley, a road had been constructed to the tomb area.  

The center, a smooth marble walkway was only for the emperor.

The rocky cobblestone was for everyone else.  

After spending the morning touring, and eating a vastly overpriced lunch

we wanted to use the restroom.  Sure!  

Out through the kitchen, then into the backyard...

...by the wall with the broken glass bottles on top...

...and there we found what we affectionately call a squatty potty, the standard

Chinese bathroom facility.

They are always filthy and smelly.  But at least you don't have to

touch anything--that is if you have good balance,

and aren't trying to hold a purse or backpack.  And it's BYOT--bring your own tissue.

On the way back to the door leading into the kitchen,

I noticed the kitchen window. 

Apparently no exhaust fan at this place!

Ewww! And we ate there!

(It was good food though).

Just one more experience in China.