Zhaoxing

This is a shot of the village Zhaoxing where we're staying. It's the most touristy Dong village we've been to, with hotels, restaurants, and of course an internet cafe, but it's also a working village with many farmers and people living in ways that don't involve tourists. It's tucked away in green mountains and surrounded by these paddies.

They have fields everywhere! The mountains are all cut into steps so the land can be cultivated despite its natural slope. Farm land in the US means as flat as a calm ocean, but here farmland is in the moutains! Much harder to work and each field is much much smaller but great views. It's so green and peaceful here. People live in these wooden houses with their animals in their basements, but they still have their flat screen TVs and satellite dishes. We saw a new wooden village under contstruction, and it was being built the same exact way as the older ones. They are happy to live this way it seems. If ain't broke...

Minority Cultures - Miao and Dong

Kris and I are exploring the Miao and Dong villages of the Guizhou Province. Today when we arrived in a Dong village, women dressed in their traditional clothes were singing. There were also video cameras taping two young people that looked like they were hosts of some show. Before Kris and I knew it, we were part of the Dong welcoming ceremony that was going to be aired on Chinese TV some time in the future. We were given some liquor from a ram's horn, and embroidered scarves as well as a dyed pink egg wrapped in yarn around our necks. We then walked down a gaunlet of the costumed singers as they sung. It was pretty cool to be part of the ceremony and funny that it will be viewed by maybe a billion or so people. LOL! Pays to be white--even in China--they put you on TV. :)

I've started taking pictures of the people were seeing, not just the scenery. I love faces. You know how some racists say that all Asians look alike? That couldn't be further from the truth. Even though I've been here for over two weeks now, I don't think I'll be able to go back to Hawaii and pick out which people are of Chinese decent. They all look so different from each other; so many faces of different colors, different shapes, different features. There's no classic Chinese "look" that I can discern, especially after meeting the minority cultures. So, from what I've heard (someone told me about a study) and from what I've seen, I think they are much more right in saying that white people all look alike. Ha!I thought this lady had a great smile, so I couldn't resist. You can sort of see from the background how pretty the scenery is around here.

Zhenyuan

We love it here. It's not that small of a village, but certainly the smallest we've stayed at. It is also, by far, the most picturesque place we've been. The buildings have an old style to them and the streets are narrow and windy. There's a turquoise river that runs through the town that's set in lush green mountains. It was a foggy and rainy day, but that just made everything greener. In some ways, we feel like we've finally made it to China.

The bus ride was bumpy and curvy... not great for the stomachs, but we were okay. An old woman came on board with her live chicken. Ha ha! I loved that part. They played a funny Chinese movie (The Conman) on the bus that had English substitles. That was cool except for the fact that the reading worsened our queaziness.

Tomorrow we're off to Shibing after a boat ride to look at some gorges. It will also be Kris's birthday (October 26th), so we're going to have to find a bakery. Yay cake!

Oh oh, I have another funny lost-in-translation story. So there was a man acting as our translator at our hotel in Kaili, and when I thanked him for his help, he replied, "no sex." Figuring that he was trying to say some form of "no thanks needed" or "you're welcome", I tried so hard not to laugh and failed. I tried to play it off that I was laughing at something in the guide book I was holding, but I don't think I was believeable. I felt really bad, but it was too funny. Of all the responses he could have given... It was a great moment, and I crack up every time I think of it-- like now. LOL!

Fun with Chinglish

This is a great example of badly translated English. I mean, I know we're Americans, but unless lotus flowers contain oil, I don't think we're going to "launch the destruction."