The China experience

Yesterday we realized that we were not just in China, we were DEEP in China. The thought came to us as we rode the little public transportation bus up to Xingping to our raft trip on the river. We were the only westerners on the bus. It took us up a local road past little hamlets and farms. The passengers were local townspeople and farmers. They brought all sorts of things on the bus with them and the other passengers helped them with their stuff. (bags of feed, etc.). We rode past lots of orange groves (they may have been pomelos, a local popular citrus fruit) which were in full bloom and the smell was beautiful and powerful. On the other hand we rode by open sewers and men cleaning out septic tanks to use as fertilizer.



We saw scenes that are cliches in photographs of China such as men plowing with water buffaloes, rice paddies, people carrying things using shoulder yokes. There were many graves along the road, not in formal grave yards but they tended to be gathered in groups. Perhaps family groupings? All had red ribbons attached which I think may be related to the new year. Houses in Xingping all had red banners in the door posts asking for luck for the new year.

Jim and our guide Li Jiang Feng walking in
"Downtown" Xingping.

All is not always what it seems, however. Jim went cycling today and inside a rather humble, ramshackle farmhouse, he caught a large TV blazing. So, you never know.