The Dragon's Spine - Long Ji

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On our way to Kunming we decided to take in what has been banded about as one of this areas 'must see' areas of China. We thought, "well, we've got a day to kill. Might as well pop over on the way".....It was stupendous!

Literally meaning "Dragon's Spine", Long Ji is a range of hills that has been sculptured into extreme rice terraces over 80 generations or 2000 years. We went with a tour but as soon as we got within hiking distance of the terraces we ditched the tour bus and went it alone (well with some Mancunians we picked up). Part of the fear of staying on the bus was that we may be married to a local. Obsessed is not the word. We have heard of guides picking up commission on making their tourists eat at a particular place, but to marry us off?? All the guide kept talking about was how to say "I love you" in Zhuang language, (I suspect it may actually have been how to propose). Lara was not so worried about adopting the local marriage rites. In fact, given that she could have had her pick of the bunch, had him move into her life, be cooked and cleaned for it's not a bad deal for the ladies．Not sure where she would plug in her GHD's in those huts though - yes they are still going strong....mmm. The blokes however, having performed all the housework before going to work in the fields, on return, have to eat 5kg of meat per day to show their manliness. Definitely the rough end of the stick. So, safely unmarried (we think), while the other muppets sat in that stuffy minivan and drove up the windy mountain road to be pressured into eating in some place affiliated with the tour company (see above), we walked through the hills at our own pace and took in all the best viewing spots. Obviously the minority women, who had the longest hair in the world....literally, were out in force and before we knew it we were being led up the path and it took a lot of persuasion (and I think 100 Yuan) for her to find some other tourists to pick on.

The main village, Ping An, is a beautiful mess of wooden homes squeezed into a little crevice between the terraces where it barely seems to fit. The pictures speak for themselves...bootiful. If only it was a bit clearer. I think this is something we will say a lot about China. It makes all the difference when seeeing somewhere like this if the sky is clear and blue. We can only imagine how beautiful it could be. The terraces pave the hillsides as far as th eye can see (not so far if you are our eyes on this foggy winters day). In between the cattle strolling the terraces you can find locals farming the rice, bamboo irrigation pipes and oddly enough grave yards.

I really must try and not think about the rice I eat, or for that matter the meat - China are not famed for being honest on the menus. It is already difficult enough working out which kind of decayed animal I am chewing on, let alone adding into the mix whether the flecks in my rice are really herbs or are they a dead man's remains - YUK!

So, having munched up our bamboo rice which definitely had flecks in (although they said it was ham??) we left for Kunming.

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