There were signs like this all over the "ancient civilization town". They were all very funny, and I won't put all of them in my blog, but Misha and I found them very entertaining!
These are the roof tops of Lijiang, the ancient city.
On our bike ride, we saw people harvesting their wheat. They would put it in the middle of the road for cars and trucks to drive over, and then use fans to blow the chaff away. Very ingenious.
We spent the first couple of days in Lijiang. We walked all around the town, and one day we rented bikes and went for a ride, where we met some new Chinese friends and British friends. Many people were dressed in their native dress, and it was really fun. We had some interesting food. On Tuesday afternoon, we drove the three hours to Shaxi, where we stayed with Yunxin and his wife Jingpian in their village community center. What an amazing drive. We saw so many people out planting their rice fields. Misha and I took a million blurry photos as we rushed by these amazing farms. That evening, Jingpian made us a really nice meal.
This is me, Yunxin, and a guy that was staying with him to arrange for some students to come for a stay in the summer. Yunxin shared very interesting information.
Here are some of the beautiful scenes we saw. The rice fields were beautiful. Many people were dressed in their native costumes, just as part of their normal every day lives.
The next morning we woke up and had a big breakfast, and then started on our 4 1/2 hour hike. It was really steep and a lot of work! But so beautiful. We loved every minute of it. We were hiking to a small village on the top of the mountain. This little village was started 400 years ago by two families. There was a salt mine on the other side of the mountain, that merchants would travel to, to get salt to sell to the valley below. The local government wanted to collect a toll for going through the pass, and asked these two families to go and start a village. There is still no way in or out of the village other than by foot or horse. Now there are about 36 families. Only a couple of them have electricity from a generator. When we arrived, I believe we were greeted with about 1.6 billion flies. I have never seen so many in my life. We were to stay with the chief and his wife in their home. They were very welcoming, and she had noodles waiting for us when we got there.
It was an amazing experience. I don't feel like I can give it justice on my blog, it would be WAY too long of a blog! There were no bathrooms. They did have a tap in the kitchen for water. The kitchen was indoor and outdoor. The stools we sat on were shorter than 1 foot. There was a cute little grandma there who chain-smoked. After lunch several neighbors came over to talk, smoke (and I'm sure check out the strange foreigners). They were polite, though, and offered Misha and I a cigarette... We had hot water instead, which was really strange for them, considering they always drink tea. I think the tea would have covered up the charcoal tasting water a little, though. These were definately people of the earth. They farm on the steep mountain-side. They raise goats. They just work continually trying to scrape by. They were very generous with us. Da jie (meaning big sister, which wwas what we were told to call the chief's wife) worked very hard on her wood-burning wok to make meals for us. She even gave us the first mushrooms of the season, a very special and rare treat. The chief came home at dark with all of his goats, very tired from a long day at work. They made a little fire in the middle of the big cement room that was their kitchen/family room and we sat on little benches. Their two grandsons came for a visit. What darling little boys! They were very cute with Misha and I. They even brought us flowers and sang a song for us when we asked.
Neighbors out front for a smoke.
Sweet little boys!
Misha and I had a little trouble falling asleep that night. We were afraid we might get fleas or lice from the blankets they gave us. Also, we were just sure there would be critters after we turned out the lights. It took me a while to blow out the candle.
The next morning, we went to the little one-room school. It was actually a holiday, but all of the children came anyway. We taught them 4 english words. Mountain, sun, moon and cat. Mountian was near impossible. They were eager students, and afterward Misha passed out the books, pencils and coloring crayons to them. You would have thought it was Christmas. They were so excited and loved their new treasures.
Afterward, we were invited to the community center/theater/temple where there were ladies preparing an offering to their gods. That holiday was for good health. They believed if they found herbs that day, the herbs would be much more strong than normal and work much better. These ladies were so sweet and fun. It reminded Misha and I of enrichment. Some were praying, some were making a meal to share, and some were making paper flowers and clothing to offer to their gods. Misha said," They are doing what ladies do all over the world... Make food and make things beautiful." I agree!
After our visit with the ladies, it was time to start our trek back to Shaxi. We hiked down the other side of the mountain for 4 1/2 more hours and into the valley of Misha. Of course we had to go to Misha! It was beautiful. There was a car there to pick us up and we drove back. I have to say that was the best shower I've had in a long time!!!
We had such an amazing time. I will never forget the time we spent with the Bai people. It truly changed my view on life. We flew back the next day, and met the family at a Chinese Wedding for one of Mike's buyer's, Jessie. That was quite the experience as well. There was some interesting food there! Our family were the only foreigners. The food was extremely chinese, with bird-heads, fish-heads and all. There was also something that reminded me of what might be a beef flan. We don't really want to know what it was. Jay and Rachel went up and sang twinkle twinkle little star. We all toasted our orange-juice and pop with the bride and groom. They were very proud that they had a bilingual marraige, as they did it in Chinese, and had an English translation.
Just a few more glimpses of the wonderful people we saw...
What a great time we all had with Misha. Thanks for everything, Meesh.
