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Published: April 6th 2011
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Ever since I got my trusty mountain bike, me and my friend Michael, dart into the country side for exercise, laughs and fun, unexpected adventures. This week we were returning to a village to visit some friends we had met a couple of Bike Ride Adventure Days earlier.
Rewind:
Three weeks ago, we headed out on our usual route. The country side around us is a mixture of land development (mass construction), small mountains and villages. Besides the huge dusty work trucks that ‘breeze’ past us and the construction sights, the morning is quite magical. On this particular day there were several large red lantern balloons shooting up from one of the villages off the main road we usually ride on. I yelled at Michael to check it out and we did. The large red lantern balloons usually signify celebration of some sort. We followed the streets and the balloons to one sight in the center of the village. There was a temple and lots of women, young and old, children, and some men scurrying about with baskets full of all kinds of goodies. We parked our bikes, I got out my camera and Michael began to investigate…he speaks quite
good Mandarin. This was the scoop: we had stumbled on a once in 4 year celebration of the town’s local god. Many people in China, especially in the villages, strongly believe in Buddhism and practice it. The baskets full of goodies were offerings for that particular god. Beer, cooked ducks, small pastries, fruit were all included in the offerings. I made sure to ask Michael to ask if it was okay to take pictures as I didn’t want to be disrespectful. As usual, it was a-okay and I shot away. Incense filled your nostrils, stacks of the yellow paper money associated with offerings to Buddhist gods were burnt and lots and lots and lots of firecrackers were lit. It was quite the affair! While I was shooting the scene, Michael had accumulated a small congregation of children. One child, an 11 year old girl, was very helpful. She had a strong sense of maturity for a girl her age, but not the kind of maturity that dulls a child. She, as were many of the young girls, were tending to their younger siblings (what?!? I thought China had a one child policy! It does, but, as we all know, things
aren’t always black and white…and there are a lot of grey areas with the policy) while the women made their offerings. Su Kai Ling, our new friend, was a wealth of information and filled in the gaps for us. She and some of the elder villagers told us this was a 3 or 4 day festival and the best time to see things would be Monday night when there would be opera performances and other delights. We soaked it all in and then went on our way. As we road out of the village, Su Kai Ling and her little sister followed on their bike to see us off.
The following Monday…
My class ends at 6, I speed home, change into my bike riding gear, and me’n’Mikey set out to enjoy the festivities of the festival. We bike 10kms in the dark (we have lights on our bikes, but it’s dark). Approaching the village, you can already hear fireworks and firecrackers. When you are at its gate, you can see the fireworks. We turn off and are guided by a string of red lanterns to our left. The road is busy with others that are there to enjoy
the celebrations and we ride along with them to the hub of it all. Almost to the main temple, I begin to notice hundreds of tiny tables full of offerings and lanterns. It was surreal. There were two stages with opera, one up the little hill and one down. Along with all the tables and firecrackers, there were, of course, a ton of people. I was beginning to wonder how we would find Su Kai Ling, but out of nowhere she popped up right next to us. She helped us find a place to park our bikes and we started to look about. There was so much to visually feast on and I can’t even begin to accurately describe just what I was seeing. I did have my cameras, but it was quite dark. There was one point when all of the women began streaming from the tiny tables to the fire pit next to the temple with the stacks of yellow paper money. They would throw it in and then headed back to their tables. Everything was packed up and the tables were folded. The next thing you saw were streams of people carrying tables amongst the firecracker and
firework smoke that had engulfed the area. Seriously, there was so much smoke you would think it was some kind of war zone or disaster if the people weren’t walking so calmly. Fireworks were popping in the sky above repeatedly. Boxes and boxes of fireworks were popped. So much so that it was a good idea to pull up your hood or top your melon with a hat because there was firework debris pooping on our heads! It was unreal! So we hung out and enjoyed the evening before heading out. Our little hostess had brought us some dried yang mei (look it up!) for making juice. She took very good care of us and needless to say, we were in love with the village and very appreciative of Kai Ling’s hospitality. We promised to return for a visit.
This brings us to today: January 1, 2011
Kai Ling called Michael and invited us to her house. Seriously, I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the first day of the new year! And, boy, it was a good day! After we arrived, we went to another small temple where Kai Ling was to meet us. Her and
her hyper little sister greeted us so warmly, big smiles and ‘hellos’. They led us through the narrow village alleys to their home. I think Grandpa was quite surprised to see 2 foreigners trek through his courtyard. Kai Ling’s mother was waiting to greet us as well and they ushered us into their home for snacks and tea. They also made lunch for us. We ate and played with the girls. Kai Ling gave me some candles and some colorful beaded bracelets she had made. I brought some Canadian coins and a US dollar for her and some salt water taffy (thanks for picking that up, Mom) for her little sister. I think I finally got my official Chinese name. I usually tell my students to call me ‘Alex’ as it is easier, and I was introducing myself to Kai Ling’s mother in the same manner. She interpreted it like this ‘Al-i (as in ‘sick)- ka’. I’m not sure that it is an actual Chinese name, but it is unique and I am honored to have her apply it to me! It was a really nice afternoon. After we were given bags of the special rose for tea and some
kind of radish for cooking and the remainder of the cherry tomatoes, we said our ‘see you laters and thank yous’ and headed off to find some hot springs that Michael was told about randomly by a guy he met eating BBQ.
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