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Published: April 8th 2009
This past weekend was Qing Ming Jie or Clean the tomb. A time when people go to the mountains where the dead have been buried. There they maintain the tomb; and resupply the past away with food and money by burning incense, fireworks and paper money. They also make a few special treats one is quan zi (read chuan zi not Kwanza), a triangle ball of beans and rice wrapped in a thick green leaf and steamed. The other is ba ba a green glutinous rice flour patty with sugar, honey and peanuts in it. Sort of came out tasting like baklava but the rice flour is like a gooey green tamale also wrapped in a bamboo leaf and steamed. The latter is much better than the prior. Our students got 5 days off and most were headed home for the holiday. Many of which live up to 4 hours away by bus.
We didn't want to spend the entire time on the road and we had a few holiday goals. Only a few weeks after arriving my soles broke in two. After searching all the lands it became apparent that my soles exceed in breadth and depth beyond any
other Jianghuaian. Also both of our mythical bodies seem to be outside of the realm of possibility for this area. So we needed to get to a mighty metropolis or tourist trap for shoes and clothes. Even more importantly we were on a search for CHEESE. Yes even more elusive than the clothing for giants. Yet we had heard legends of secret hiding places and maybe even a pizza. Off we went back to Yangshuo our closest tourist trap about 5 hours by bus winding through pillared mountains and endless farmland. The land doesn't rise and fall it soars and plummets. All the farms are on the flat base floor frequently parted when the ground explodes straight up like a botanical sky scraper. They are the climate controlling green roofs, the water collection systems and the wind breaks that so many other farms in the world would love. Not to mention a great place to put a tomb for Qing Ming Jie making natural pyramids for every farmer not just the kings.
We had left Friday after class and got in late just in time to hit up a pizza and chicken enchilada at Red Star Express off West
street in Yangshuo, the rock climbing and backpacker haven. The next day we wandered around town a bit looking at all the knickknack stands that wound us down to the Li river. There we were trying to flee an over eager jade chopstick salesman who knew he was chasing us down a dead end row of stalls. But alas at the last moment a stone arch opened up to the left and we slipped out onto a stone dock where PVC bamboo boats were lined up to take people around. A woman who had been more stealthy following us during the chase now offered us a boat ride on the bamboo boat. It was a warmish day and the river water air felt cool on our faces. So onto a PVC"bamboo" boat we went--a wonderful idea for anywhere without bamboo just bend a bit of PVC and cap it off tie it up and there is your boat. It was a misty late morning and we got to putt-putt along taking pictures of the spires, many of which are the inspiration of so many of the famous paintings. Along the way we also saw many cormorant fishermen. They use the
birds to catch and bring back the fish. The rest of the day was spent shopping and wandering around town. The woman pulling the silvery stuff is actually kneading the dough for those puffed rice cracker things you can get at Trader Joe's and the like.
Later, we had gone to Drifter's a place with alleged good food and Apple crumble. The food we got wasn't too great but the apple crumble ala mode with real ice cream (also yet to be found in Jianghua) was quite good. While there, the Australian teachers who recommended the place months ago walked in. Not too surprising on a holiday as they also are only about 6 bus hours away, though in a different direction. We made plans to meet up with them later as they had brought two Chinese English teachers with them that were only in town for the day. We continued our walkabout the rest of the day and found a small massage parlor where we got beat up on by small but strong Chinese people. Our bodies loved it. We ended with an evening happy hour at a rock climbers bar and restaurant where I was enticed by
the margarita and another pizza. They are smaller pizzas but they have cheese on them. The red star pizza turned out to be better and the margarita was weak and flavorless as limes don't exist. Keren, however, got a tasty Death by Chocolate drink and we got garlic cheese baguettes (there are no baguettes in Jianghua). It was a pleasant evening with Manu Chao, one of our favorite bands, playing on the stereo and listening to a group of men about 40 somethings talk about which spires they had climbed. There was also a lot of talk about how nice it is to have rent not be such a part of your life here where as in the States it is your life for many people. The main speaker also had found a job teaching business English in town so he can go climbing on weekends and in the afternoon. We left there and on the way home found a bakery that had cheesecake and a tiramisu knock off.
Sunday we did a bit of walking around and then met up with one of our administrators who has been here for 6 years and has got a lending book/DVD
library. We traded movies and books and chatted. The Aussies showed up and we went to the western restaurant supply depot. It isn't a store but they let you buy the stuff anyway. It wasn't cheap but 2 months from cheese, butter and peanut butter and we were ready for a few treats to take back for our next two months. We chatted most of the afternoon we talked about how things are going and Laurie, a 70+ WWII vet and retired canadian college lecturer, talked quite a bit of his experiences of this and that. We had dinner with them and then finished up our shop touring. Keren picked up a beautiful green silk jacket and a pair of hand tailored linen tie pants that she had ordered before dinner.
Monday we were up before the sun rose above the pillars so we ran down to the river to catch it. It was quite foggy but still rolling around as we waited for the sun to crest the peaks. As we walked along the river bank the old men began to come out to do their morning Taiqi and exercises at the exercise park. We caught the bus
back and have a couple days in Jianghua to relax and get things in order before classes begin.
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Jenn
non-member comment
So beautiful!
All the pictures are so beautiful! I'm very glad you guys got some cheese and butter, I was starting to get worried! Hope Keren found some shoes! love and miss you both! Jenn