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Published: June 17th 2005
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Hi again,
From Longji we took a route through several villages of different minorities to the city of Kaily, only 300 km away. The entire trip took about a week all together.
The first minority we met along the way were the Dong. The Dong are known for their drum towers and their rain-and-wind bridges. The drum towers used to be for alerting the villagers in time of war or when there is a fire. They are usually meeting places and have the village square around them. The bridges are covered and are also good meeting places, and they also have little shrines in them for worshiping the local gods. Everything the Dong build is made of wood, and they don't use nails for building it, doesn't matter how big and complex the structure is.
The first Dong village we visited is Chengyang. There is a big bridge there with 5 pavilions, that today is used mostly for selling souvenirs for the tourists. When we walked around the village we came across a group of Chinese tourists. They were military officers and their wives, and we decided that this is a local HEVER tour. We walked behind them, knowing that they
probably go to the interesting places. When we arrived to the drum tower there was a show of the local people dressed in their festival clothes (arranged for the group) and we could enjoy it as well.
After that we walked around the small villages around, each with its bridge and tower, a nice settings of wooden buildings between the green fields. Then I saw how these people make their living - and it's not from tourism and not from growing rice. I saw a room filled with people that work with small machines. When I came closer I saw that they are polishing small stones. They claimed it to be diamonds, even though i find it hard to believe. Later I saw many more diamond polishing factories in the small village.
Another cool thing in that area is the water wheels that are used for watering the fields. These are made of bamboo, and they take water from the river, using the river flow for rotating, and pouring the water into the irrigation canals. Most of the water is spilled on the way up, but still the fields are flooded with the water needed for growing rice. Nice engineering.
The next day we said goodbye to Cesar, and continued to Zaoxing, another Dong village. The ride was long and dusty, and some parts we did in a Dong-Taxi - a tractor with some seats at the back. We had a flat tire, waited for a another tractor to pick us up, and arrived late in the evening very tired.
Zaoxing itself has 5 towers and 5 bridges, each a little different. The people are the same, but I didn't see any diamond polishers...
We rested here for a day, and then had another long day on the road to the city of Kaily.
Then my last partners left, and I stayed for a few more days all alone in the Kaily area.
In that area there are some more minorities. I started in Langde, a small village of the Miao minority. Once again I was lucky and there was a group there at the same time, and I caught some free dancing and singing in the Bronze Drum Square in the village. Many people from the village were sitting around enjoying the show as well, and it was fun. After that I walked around in the village and the
surrounding area.
The next day I went to Matang, another nice village of the GeJia minority, which are a sub-group of the Miao. The cool thing here is that they are wearing their traditional clothes even when they are working in the fields. Once again I walked around the village and the fields, and had some interesting encounters. First I met some kids on bikes and played with them until they decided to sneak into a rice field, then I was invited by a local man to a tea on his porch while he was smoking his pipe, and so on.
The last day in Kaily area I went to Zaoxi, where a Miao market took place. It was like all other markets I've seen before, and the only thing worth mentioning is the hair style of almost all the women there. Just look at the picture. It looked like it was glued to their head in that way.
Some other experiences were trying to buy the train ticket out of here - while NOBODY in the train station knows any English, and even the phrase book didn't help. Eventually they called a local genius on the phone who played
the translator. The problem was that they just couldn't sell me that ticket in the station and I had to buy it on the train - but I just couldn't understand it with my fluent Chinese.
Well, till next time (which I hope will not take that long),
R.
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kanu asodaria
non-member comment
thanks
hello sir / madam i like a diamond polishing photogaph if you have other photgrph send me please i like it Thanks With best regard Kanu Asodaria