Modern Ancient China - March 4

We spent a warm night under two duvets, with down socks and jackets. The room seems to remain between 60 & 64 degrees with or without the heater on. The cafe heater is turned on while we're in there & we've found just the table to make the most of it.

At 9:00am we left for our Li River trip, with the driver taking us to the starting point at Yangdi Town. According to our map, it is not too far from Hoping-husband-returns Hill. A woman met us at a storefront & motioned to follow her. After a quick stop at a public toilet, we proceeded down to the river where dozens (hundreds?) of "bamboo" rafts awaited their passengers. The rafts are plastic tubing, fashioned into the style of the typical fisherman rafts of old, and are now motorized. Turns out the lady was also our raft driver, with only the two of us aboard. The hotel had once again sent us out with two blankets for which we were most grateful. Though it was "raining (misting)", we had a roof over our heads and were comfortable with our many layers and the blankets. 

Though we didn't see the karst mountains in picture-perfect conditions...bright sun & blue sky...the mistiness lent a mystical aura to the river trip--rather like Lord of the Rings. The sharp peaks faded in and out as we putted by. Thanks to our map, we know that we passed Pen Holder Peak, Grandpa Watching Apple, and Chicken Cage Hill. We got more than a few double takes as a passing raft tourist would elbow his or her partner to look at the "foreigners". We didn't see any "foreigners" other than ourselves. Bet it's different in the summertime, though, as TripAdvisor is full of comments about the raft trips and all the other activities in this area.

The trip ended an hour and a half at the point famous for being the scene on the 20-yuan note. Our driver picked us up there & drove into Qingping. We had 20 minutes to walk around the "old city" part, though we couldn't tell much difference between it & the other towns/cities where we've been.

Apparently all the roads around here are paved, even the small off roads. Except for short construction areas, we have yet to drive on any dirt or gravel roads. Drivers are courteous, beeping politely when they want to pass, slowing down when oncoming traffic is approaching. There are a lot of bicycles & motorbikes, along with wagons & 3-wheeled trucks, even an occasional cow, but nothing compared to India.

We shared a BLT at our hotel (delicious!), except all the tomatoes went to LuRue, then we had a little time before our Tai Chi/Qi Gong class began. On our way to the car, out through the alleyways, a Chinese couple was taking photos of the quaint area and then from a doorway, out we pop. The Chinese lady got really excited and asked something about a photo. LuRue thought she was asking if LuRue would take a photo of the two of them in the Ancient Village. But no! She wanted her husband/boyfriend to take her photo with the two of us. For the second photo, she tipped her head & said, "My cousins!" Guess we made her day!

Our driver took us a few miles down our back road to the Long Tou Shan Martial Arts School. The owner Mei spent an hour with us in her front courtyard, in view of any passersby. That must have been worth a giggle or two! She showed us some photos of the new school she is building "in the mountains". Some students come to live here at her school for as long as a year...studying every day. Mai lived in Denver, CO for three years, so speaks good English. It was a great experience!

One thing that LuRue has noticed is that the elderly people often look like a snapshot of the past. They trudge along the road carrying baskets of grass or other items...one basket on each end of a pole. They ride bicycles rather than motorbikes, sometimes wagons are attached to the bicycles. They sit in small groups, often playing some sort of checkers-like game. LuRue can only try to imagine all the changes they have experienced during China's turbulent history.

Montana was on display for awhile this afternoon. She sat in the bay window to listen to music; a young woman walked down the path, then whipped her head around again. Her friend joined her & they took photos of Montana. She might show up on someone's Facebook page!

Eric here. I updated the background and tried to standardize the body copy, but Blogger is not acting logically! Anyway, the picture is called "20090529 Great Wall 8185" by Jakub Hałun. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.