Nanling Landing

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July 4th 2006

Published: July 5th 2006

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TWIG project Together We Integrate Growth

Morning Misty Mountains

...from Rich's journal

Nanling Forest National Park

on the 23rd of june we arrived in shaoguan train station
where we were to meet our hosts for the coming two
months. representatives of nan-ling ecotourism
huang xinghai and yu ying collected us from the taxi rank
in front of the station and took us after some lunch to the
mountains and our home for the foreseeable future.

over the course of these last ten days we have been
given many tours of the area, introductions to the local people we share this space with, and all the information we could possibly need-- in short: much support! we are very
grateful to all concerned and especially to the aforementioned huang xinghai and yu ying.

the fact is i could go on about the support thing but in
the interests of readability i'll leave it there.

this is a wonderful land we find our selves in. the
mountains are an ever-changing chameleonic backdrop
to this hardworking yet sleepy town, comprised of
many beautiful representations of nineteen fifties rural
chinese architecture. its lovingly cared-for gardens are full
of ginger, peanuts, soybeans and fig trees --to name a
few crops most people will recognise--

Grass Granny in Nanling

Oh she'll coming down the mountain when she comes...

in addition to many more unfamiliar plants.

there are many --too many to count-- different kinds
of butterfly dipping in and out of dappled forest shade.
and there are bugs innumerate: from the spiders we share our bedroom with, which are the size of my hand and as fast as a honda fireblade, to the most raucous and invasive
insects in china... every size, shape, sound and smell
imaginable.

this land is fertile and diverse on one level and in another sense spellbinding and alluring, and a constant reminder
that we exist in a perpetual state of flux.

-rdt

A few more tidbits:

Living spaces here are communal: our room is a bedroom with a sink and small bathroom, but the 'living room' bit is outdoors: a roofed walkway in between two rows of rooms like ours. Neighbors eat, talk, cut hair and play with babies in the outdoor living room we all share.

We have made fast friends with the village children, (they've taken us swimming in the river, catching bugs and fishing for minnows... all the while patiently tutoring us in Chinese)

Home is Where the Laundry Is

our home for our two months here: simple and perfect, shared with a troupe of fraidy kittens down the way, as well as an ever-laughing new baby.

and we will commence our six-week

TWIG summer experience for children

in five days. Posters and brochures, beautifully co-designed by Richard and Huang Xinghai, have gone out around town and we are looking forward to our registration/introduction day, which will coincide with the opening of a new library for the village, Saturday.

Here is a link to the company website, announcing our project:
http://www.eco-nanling.com/

Yesterday for Rich's birthday we took a motorbike up to the top of the mountain in Nanling Forest Park. We didn't see any tigers, but did get visited by a pheasant mom with three chicks, and a pair of bright green bee-eaters. We found two wicked fairy crystals as well, right at the top of the mountain in a grove of trees with gold leaves. Not kidding: these looked like cheaply spray-painted gilded trees, some kind of tacky table decoration for a Julius Ceasar-themed wedding reception. Then the Nanling Ecotourism company surprised Rich with a rooftop birthday party at dinner: Chinese fish n chips at sunset and a full-on birthday cake (decorated with the exotic fruity delicacy of cherry tomatoes) as the halfmoon glowed.

The best birthday present of all, though, was a chat