into Guizhou

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15/04/05
Left GuangXi into GuiZhou province, although it was only a little bit more than 100km distance, it took us well over 6 hours to made it to ShaoXing in LiPing county. the journey first ran along DuLiu river which act as the border line between GuangXi and GuiZhou, many piers along the river has boat crossing services. we turn inland at DiPing village, and there the bus picked up Marie and Samuel from France. the bus was packed and they were being pushed to the back. the unpaved road became worsen into a dirt track wounding up and down on the precipice of the mountain. we then passed LongArh which held market today, luckily it was still early, otherwise it would take aged to get through the narrow street, we then drove through a valley full of terrace fields. still wounding along the cliff but we began our descending and approaching ShaoXing. in the distant an eye catching view with a dark spot which I could make out to be a village lay quietly in the valley, one could almost outlined the 5 pinnacles of the drum towers. which is what made ShaoXing different from other Dong village, as Dong village mostly own 1 drum tower. I was surprise to see a few signs in english when we got off the bus, a guy approaching us while we were shaking off dust which covered us like brown sugar from the bus trip. said he is from the local culture department which run a guesthouse could take foreigner, why not as we had no idea of this place so we followed him. it was a tidy and rather clean place for reasonable price,( 15 yuan for the room but on top with a entrance fee, another 15 for visiting this area which every guesthouses collected for the department.) we did find out later that there was more guesthouses in town but I guess the one we are in could be 1 of the best here. beside... Lu(again... 80% of the villagers has the family name Lu) the manager was a friendly and fair enough guy, who gave us all the information we need as long as he knew. ShaoXing is small even it is the biggest within the Dong's community. a quick tour on the main street I find almost 10 guesthouses, 3 bars, 1 internet place, couple of souvenir shops, but strange... I saw no hair dress shop as it was a must in every town or village regardless of its size. or could it be that they don't need hair stylist here as I can see most of the kids had their hair shaved with either one patch on the temple or 2 patchs on each side... haha...! about the drum tower, they are a bit disappointed, the style are different from what I had seen in GuangXi, here the tower has no walls, it was supported only by pillars, 12 at the circumference and 4 in the inner part. and it has a crown shape pinnacle, but it doesn't gave out any grandiose atmospheres, they are trying to made it prettier by drawn alot of paintings on the tower, but in fact those child-like painting gave an anti-climax. It started rain in the evening, and it might ruin all my planing for tomorrow. hope it will stop later. finally had someone to share a meal after 3 weeks. Marie and Samuel had about 4 weeks in China and it was their last few days before flying back home from Shanghai. they were trying to walked from ChingYang to ShaoXing with a local man they had hired for 130 yuan/day from ChingYang. they arrived at DePing after 6 days and decided they had enough and that was why they appeared in the bus stand this morning. Samuel is working for city planning in France and Marie is in between job, both like trekking so they are brave enough to try something that out of the track in this area.

16/04/05
The guesthouse is a Dong style building which made of wood. so every foot step could created horrible noise no matter how careful you move. it could be more worse when there was Chinese tourists in the house. I think they ere all small time so-call business man, and they also think they own the place I guess. I heard footstep, running up and down staircase, door banging, shouting conversation...! it should be 8 or 9 I guess, but when I check the time it was only 05:30 AM!! what kind of animal are they! I was plan to visit a market nearby this morning, but I need to try to hitch a ride with the local truck early in the morning as there was no bus untill noon, not a good idea to stand on the back of the truck under rain and muddy road condition. right... give me a good reason to stay in bed! beside there is only Dong and Miao in this area, there won't be much different in any market, I will make the shot in ShaoXing market later. There was no rain when I woke up... again! got a double breakfast then I went for my hiking trip. there a ecoloical village(I never know what make a village ecology?) up the mountain somewhere, so I heading that direction after confirmed by a right finger pointed! it was surprising nice and comfortable walk on a well paved trek with slate stone, I was surrounded by rice terraces. there are people working in the field on different levels so I can easily ask for direction, and one again the familiar sensation came back to me. I received the true and pure heart with nothing behind its intention. that was the same sensation I had when the first time I visit YuanYang. that why I appreciated and treasured every minute here, as I know this wouldn't last long, I was sad to admitted that but it was just the way it will be, once the place has turn into a tourist center(as I can see a lot of developing work is underway at the moment), people will change and all those sweet memories was history! there will be condition for any request, fee for any favour... true and so true! XaiGa is a nice village half way to TengOn the ecological village. I saw villagers was slaughtering pig in group, in my experience it should be festival, and they told me today is "GuYu", the date for seed into water. mean start from today they will begin the seeding work. and now with the help from technology, they had developed a new method by kept the seed in a green house which a hollowed space had been pre-created underneath, so they can put wood fire to heat up and created a warm and humid enclosure. and in this way the seeding grow faster and in 5 days they can transplant it into the field. it quicker the procedure for a month time! from here the terrace scene has more perspectives while I climbed higher, passed a watermill then I saw TengOn in the distant. the fog flow in together with powder rain. as a named village there should be something special. ok... of course they need to create it. a brand new gate, you know the kind of style the chinese so crazy about, had been erected on both entrance of the village, all the street in the village had been laid with slate stone, a(same)child-painted drum tower with a spring water well beside. a couple of bio-gas well(perhaps that was the reason for the ecological brand) couple of new buildings and some still under construction, heard one of it will be a museum and restaurant for the village, woahhh... a museum, couldn't wait to see what will be showing inside!! and what a great combination... muesum +restaurant!! it was a nice looking village, and it was rather clean compared with ShaoXing. old men was making 2 very long ropes with straws in the tower, as 2 of the man back stepping higher and higher up the staircase behind the tower while holding on one end of the rope, twisting and turning in rhythm with the others in the tower whose kept added straws onto the rope. and the last part of the procedure is to twisted the 2 ropes into one. now all the kids around came into the scene as well, they pulling at the thick rope like in tuka-wars while an old man twisted in front against the other 2 men who had holding the other end. at the same time someone sharing preserved dry fish, the Dong's speciality. to whoever in the vicinity, followed up with round after round of rice wine, of course I had no excuse to refused the offer... would I? haaa...! ok... what is the rope for? the answer is for carry the dead body in funeral. I wanted to wait a bit see if the fog would clear up so I could took some pictures of the terraces, but seem like it won't. still I began my descending delightfully, smiling and helloing with everyone involuntary and received the same. what a lovely day!

17/04/05
It was raining... sort of raining! and I feel a bit lazy this morning, so I stick to the bed until noon. Marie had fever last night and she was worried of malaria, so they would like to stay in for today, me... as a journey man could never sit still, I pick a short route to stretch my leg, actually there was a destination in mind, a village call ShangDePing, a 7 or 8km walk, it wasn't as well paved as the trek to TengOn, but it wasn't in any bad condition at all. started by following some guys they was going up hill to setup traps to catch wild animals, they even admitted there was tiger up there somewhere, but I wouldn't believed it, if guys like them knew about the whereabout of tiger, it should already end up in a secret market somewhere. the trail went up and up through steps which cut out from yellow earth. terraces leaned on the steep precipice like wood-ear on tree trunk. here planation work hadn't start yet, the fields are full of weeds or straws from last crops. asked about how far is ShangDePing along the way, the answer all is "not far, only an hour". seem like I will never get there! the trail reached deeper into the valley which went along a water channel, up through a pass and there was another, the scene here wasn't much exquisite with all sort of tree in a disorder surrounding. then the trek began to go down hill, strange... I always thought the village should be on high ground, am I on a wrong road? checked my watch it report back 15:00, even if ShangDePing is down there I will not press on either, I wasn't fancy to walk all the way up again on this uninteresting up hill road in the dark, perhaps more worse... in the rain. so I turning back and saw a Dong woman coming this direction. "ShangDePing"? I asked while pointing down hill. a positive reply and I ask how far is it? guess what... of course you already know... "not far, about an hour"! she invited me to followed her, I thank her and said it was late and perhaps some other time. and... tracing back the already 3 hours walk I had done. perhaps I can make it in AN HOUR.... haaaaa...!

18/04/05
Foggy, misty and hazy, top it up with a rather warm and humid climate, guess it deserved a day-off. I spend the time in ShaoXing village, walk from one end to the other, water was being drained from the field by the concrete bridge preparing for the seeding work. but before that they need to take care of all those fishes they had kept in the field, a man invited me to come around later in the evening to savoured the BBQ fish, I might check it out later. some of the back lanes are a little insanitary with waste and dirt which swarmed with flies, sound of the loom from above behind wooden wall. weaving still prevailed within the women here, with the tourists business, they kept this handicrafts live and sounded. almost every house has a loom. you can see women spinning thread outdoor, spirit of neighbourhood and community can easily witnessing here, when time to prepared thread to loom, sisterhood came together in the open, knowledge and experiences exchanged while hands and fingers participated. further down a new house is being constructed and there was more than 50 people join in the action, mostly are friends and relatives, couple of huge cooking pans had been setup nearby preparing foods, 2 pigs had been slaughtered. guess it was the modest courtesy to treated the helping hands. same as the rope making crowd in TengOn. these are the fundamental spirit within a community or society. but look at what we had in our modern city, we closed our door, we seldom speak to our neighbour. scarcely initiated a helping hand. there was no trust in our world, we only wanted to hide inside the little square box that we call a home. and we actually said we are civilized... haaaa...! some travellers had show up from different guesthouse, 3 French, 2 Germen, 1 Japanese and couple of Chinese, see...information travel fast in small village! not a big crowd but at least they might patron the 3 deserted bars which I hardly saw any customers. think business might take a while for this pioneer investors. trucks loaded in all sort of goods for the shops here, because tomorrow is market day, and I was looking forward to see it.



19/04/05
not much a market in ShaoXing, so I press on to LokShang which held a market today as well, and it was the only place where I can catch bus to ChongJiang. bus only operated on market day between ShaoXing and LokShang, the 8km distant drop me into a concrete village but the market was livelier. mostly is Dong... of course! no different from those in ShaoXing with dark outfit, some with two pieces of triangular embroidery on the front collar, and there was few colors strip around the elbow area. the most popular merchandice is VCD of minority singing as I could see most of the crowd are gather around the tv which playing the music. carry on my trip on a well paved road, we crossing back into GuangXi province where we catch up and run along with the DuLiuJiang into ChongJiang, back into GuiZhou. I had a brief overnight stop in ChongJiang couple of years ago, hadn't see much of the town, and know I do recall that I had vowed never came back here, because one place claimed to be the only hotel that could take foreigner and there was a sign written price for Chinese and price for foreigner. double price standard wasn'r exist for a long time in China but that hotel do it openly. I hate it but there was no other place dare to put me up. I could still remember those ugly faces which send out message "stay here or you sleep outside"! but... never say never, here I was standing opposite that unfriendly hotel, it still there. but the town got more buildings and local guesthouses now. this time I walk over the bridge to the other side of town, actually there is the old part and the center, but still... nothing particular to write about. here I find people with sad faces, no one seem happy in this town, together with the hot and humid weather, it really got into my mood.

20/04/05
what do you expected from a 10 yuan room! a lot of deadly looking mosquitoes swarming in my room last night, I than hurry to buy mossy coil just before the shop close up. yeah... it dose knock them out but it gave me an allergy, sniffing with running nose and top it up with a headache, at least I got through the night with zero bite. Went to the bus station this morning where they had a detail map for the county, still didn't know what I wanted to do today, I saw couple of buses still stand at the platform waiting for departure, strange as the time table in the station seem like only has 2 time schedule, 07:30 and 14:00, every bus leave at the above time excepted the hourly YongJiang bus. the destination for the waiting buses are ShoTeng and JiaKau. a quick check on the map, both are out of the way and on the end of the road line. should be interest and I choose the ShoTeng bus as it leave sooner. I just want to get away from here. It was about 90km trip running on a unpaved track with some hair rising scenes while drove over a curve on the precipice, an inch to the vertical cliff wall drop straight down in the river valley. we had changed the route because of landslide on the main road, so we drove pass the main tourist site in ChongJiang, the BaSha village, a Miao coummunity famous for it traditional costume, men or most men still kept the ancient hair style which shaved all hair excepted on the top part and kept a long tail and make knot, kind of like the old Japanese hair style. now the village had been created into an artificial image with ugly gates and shining pinewood shops and restaurants along the road. I made a mental note that I will skipped it even if I ever come back this direction. the bus wounding around the mountain road which made me sick, perhaps because I hadn't ate anything since this morning. but soon I overcome the nauseous sensation by concentrating on the scene outside. the area we passing through are mostly Zhaung inhabited , which I had mistook them were Miao as the women dress with the kind of plaited skirt similar to the Miao, and their cloth are similar to the Dong. it take some time to adapted to the variety of costume here. the most remarkable scene is around the village PingJen, it got all the components to made a good picture, hill and mountain full of terraces, a lovely clear river which double back with a 180 degree curve around a nicely built Zhaung village. the driver said I should came to this area yesterday to see the minority as it was market day further in GangBien. right...I should...if I knew! all along we saw nice setting villages untill we finally got into ShoTeng, a quiet single street village. it is the end of the highway, and it was. because an extension of the road was being built into GuangXi, who know what will become of this area later. choose the most ideal guesthouse to check in, 10 yuan again but it was far more better than the one last night, and it come with a toilet inside. went for a walk after a short siesta, no idea where to... just follow my instinct. soon I got to GanDong, I guess all village are good to look at from the distant. it usually ruined your expectation when you walk inside. it was smelly and dirty with all the partition wall falling apart. Dong's houses are big, some are like the long-house in Sarawak, it could composed with more than ten rooms long. and here they sometimes paint the outside wall with different colors, it gave an exotic feel that remind me of Darjeelang in India. this short walk lead me through nice terrace field where I need to walk on the ridge, and from NanMa village there was a short cut back down to ShoTeng. it made a good circular trip for a short hike. and good enough for my day exercise, market day is the day after, so tomorrow a full day for exploring the area. later the night Mr Leung the owner of the house asked me to dine with him when I heading out for food. why not then, the table laid with couple of local dishes, all with pork fat and pickles in spicy favour. of course... no meal go without alcohol! Leung told me to try the bees egg which was stir-fry with chilli and tomato, not like they deep fried in Yunnan which I perfer more. but the most speciality is the sour pork(fat) which he said is the real special in this area. indeed it was so soft and in good fragrant even the skin part was chewtable. but save something for the last... he then told me it was raw meat after I had swallowed many of the slices. he said the pork fat need to prepared for more than 8 months with chilli and wine in a preserving jar. I would never dream of eating raw pork in my life. but... I bite on another piece and told him it taste so good! indeed it was.

21/04/05
Mr Leung told me there was Some Yao community live around the area on the direction to GuangXi. and he slow me the short cut route to start my day hiking. it was through a small trail behind his house which lead to the being constructed highway, it was a steep climb with a great view back in to town. but then the highway part was so boring, villagers was working on differeht part putting small rock to flatten the road before the tarmac work later. they all wanted photo taken from me. no problem... and beside I can asked for direction to the Yao villages. conversation always started with "boss, what business you come here for"? no one will believe when I told them I was a tourist and come to see minority. when I said I come from HongKong then they visualized a rich man come for salvation. sometimes they began suspicious about my motivation, anyways... I can only gave an honest answer to them, and what they want to imagine are their entertainment. The brand new mileage mark 7km when a guy pointed to the left side of the river said "there is LaYeu". followed his finger I saw a school perk on a small hill top, some kids was looking for crab while turn up rock and stone in the river, I could hear childern laughter came from above, right... it was lunch time and siesta. there was only some rock laid on the shallow stream act as a footbridge. a three classrooms school set in a two storey wooden hut, the upstair is the teacher quarter and their living room and kitchen. a 10 by 10 feet playground with a sad looking ping-pong table while childern waiting for their turn around it. I was invited to the teacher sitting room, not much furniture but a 40 inch tv occupied one side of the wall. said it was for kind of long distant teaching project, they were supposed to learn their lesson in-step with Beijing where they broadcasting lesson which they could receive through the 40 inch color tv, but so far there was no telcommunication to this village, so the department send in lectures in VCD instead. "same same" the teacher said. they said now the Yao people don't wear the tradition cloth any more, said I won't be able to see any even on market day. the village is only with a couple of wooden houses scattered on different part of the hill side, as they told me most Yao village are like that in this area, small settlement on the hillside. houses are same style with Zhaung or Dong, ground floor mostly for poultry and animal, while first floor are rooms and the top floor are kind of living-room open up one side with a balcony. hang around for awhile then I walking back the same road, again seeing all the workers along the being build highway. those hadn't asked me question on my first passing now pour in their "boss, what business you come to conduct here"? I smile and watch their faces, they might wondering now... this strange guy must had finished some secret contracts down there... he must had find some mines... he must... I said again "I'm tourist", kept smiling... left their suspicious mind behind me and I heading back to ShoTeng.

22/04/05
There wasn't really busy in the market today, they said it was because of the planation preiod, most villagers were busy in the fields. still some minority dressed women did appeared, I saw only Zhuang but after I quick guide from the local with finger pointing while we squatted by the main entrance of the town. "this is Miao, that is Zhuang and there... there, see... she is Dong"! I couldn't see much different between them at first, but then by study closely, right... there are very tiny different, especially between the Zhuang and the Dong. they all has a apron hood over their neck kind of like what we wear in kitchen, embroidery mostly on the collar, but the Dong had embroidery filled the apron's clothes on the chest. that actually is the only different in dress between Dong and Zhuang, about the Miao, there will be a gown on the outside which has no buttons, embroidery along the rim of the cuff and lapel. another waist apron on top of plaited skirt which the Miao knot behind over their gown while the Zhuang knot it under. and the material is dark black for Miao while the Zhuang wear a color cloth in front. all of them wear leg dresses and no head dress. there wasn't much action in the market as well, the most crowd shop seem to be the VCD seller which attracted the local with music in all kind of minority favour. the next popular is the gambling sector which set up few slideway for 3 super size dices with animal figure instead of numbers, tiger, elephant, chicken...! but look closely... a big crowd... perhaps it should be the champion of today market. gambling never short of follower in China! it is the faster and easy way to get more money if you... do win! ShoTeng is settling in a small valley with steep hill on both sides. and it gave a very good exercise for early morning or late afternoon hike, through villages and treading your way along the ridge within the terraces is always my favour, especially when the folks are friendly as they are here. I passed 3 days in an easy and peaceful pace. and tomorrow I am planning for a big walk in to another prefecture if no rain, because the sky look like it tonight will see.


23/04/05
Perhaps the celestial up there had read my deepest lazy mind, it rain like hell last night, although it had stop this morning, but I had the bad experience 2 years ago trekking after a rainy night and got myself wash out into a river. so I gave up the hiking trip by took the bus back to ChongJiang, where I can check out the weekly market tomorrow. I went to check my e-mail and surprisingly find a message from a friend in YuanYang who asked me if I was interest in helping him to set up the ECO project for tourism in YY. I knew about this project before but didn't expect he will ask me that soon, so... plan will change and I will go back to stay in my beloved YuanYang for a while after June.

24/04/05
Merket in ChongJiang was setup on the other side of the bridge, where the only street in the old part of town, it created a busy scene even it wasn't a big market. here you can see mostly are Miao and Dong while Zhuang and Yao had been disguised as Han now a day. not much can write about the Dong as they wear dark top very similar to their neighbour in ShoTeng, but here they put on trousers, for the Miao also similar to those I had seen in ShoTeng, but bodice was a diamond shape cloth which hang out in front, also some women are from the area near RongJiang which belong to other Miao's tribe. they mostly wear dark cotton dress and without much embroidery work on it, and they wear the leg dress like a trumpet, to me it look very fashionable. and they all had very beautiful hair pin. about the Miao man which I had mention before, the SaBa tribe, the special hair style and that was the reason I choose to stay for the market today. right... very few men kept that hair style as what I could see in the market, anyways... my curiosity had been satisfied. I end my market tour unwillingly by a blow of sudden rush in my stomach, which force me running back to my room for released. hopefully it wasn't any diseases but cause by the spicy BBQ from last night. Press on to RongJiang hoping to catch on with the market there. almost 2 o'clock when I got there and the market was on the last moment. still I hurried out for a quick surveying, same... mostly Miao and Dong, the Dong are more simple in dress, right lapel blue shirt with a dark stripe along the rim, and black trousers, that's all... oh yes... a moon shape wooded comb for setting hair on their head. you wouldn't mistook them. there was 2 type of Miao, one is the trumpet leg dress tribe, and the other was like the ShoTeng tribe but with very beautiful stitching work on their leg dress in orange colour, and some women wear head dress as well. in both markets you could still see almost all of them made their cloth in hand weaving cotton. RongJiang is huge compared to ChongJiang, although it has no city bus but they do have taxi, 2 streets and 1 of it was full of shops. I couldn't find much interesting thing to see beside the market. so... it will be a new town for tomorrow, but where to? the problem is all market seem to be set on Sunday in this prefecture. guess I will toss a coin!

25/04/05 Rain again since last night, so I sleep in until noon and took a bus to LeLi about 70km away from RongJiang. no particular reason, only heard a local mention about this place, the trip went through dense green valley, mainly on a good road in the Dong community. it took 3 hours to get to LeLi, it was more a village than a town and I like this better, same setting between a valley with terraces on both side, and I find myself walking involuntarily on the hill side a minute later. It always made me energetic whenever I was on a terrace ridge. here you only find Dong and of course... Han. and this Dong had no tradition to build Drum tower. their dress are like the kind I had seen in RongJiang yesterday, blue long sleeve shirt with some color patterns around the elbow area. and embroidery work on the collar and front lapel. black color trousers, but some women still wear long black plaited skirt which slightly cover their leg dress. some old women wear their costume in totally black which according to them was winter dress, while the light color costumes like blue, white or green are for summer which the material are thinner. Hair was nicely set and tweak neatly on top of their head and fixed with a moon shape wooden comb. you could see women doing embroidery or stitching work everywhere in town, most patterns are dragon and phoenix, flower or vegetables, which they would proudly displayed on their costume. local said I just missed the market which was yesterday, right... it really seem like this in here, all market are on Sunday. but they encouraged me go further to LengWan where the Miao had the most shortest skirt in GuiZhou. was it here? I had heard about this mini-skirt Miao before, but alway think they are in RayZhou district. seem like I just run into a treasure this time. will definitely go there tomorrow.

26/04/05 The first bus passing here from RongJiang to LengWon by 09:30, and it took about an hour. a small town by the river which is similar to LeLi, but here still had no running water piped into the house, you either invested a pump or get water from the river by man-power. the town was composed with a small Miao settlement on the left side of the river, while the whole town are mixed with Han and Dong. Nnnnggg... mini-skirt Miao...? nowhere in sight, but lately I did saw an old Miao woman wear the skirt on the street, it was pretty much like the ballet skirt but in totally black. not very short though but definitely shorter than any Miao skirt I had ever seen before. the top is dark indigo cotton cloth with length cover till lower hip, the wide rim cuff was being folded back up to the elbow which shown the light blue from the down side of the cloth which turn out to be a decorating acted. a hand weaving girdle with stitching work was wrapped around their waist. also a pointy head dress which tie with a thin hand weaving ribbon. now most of the women was in this outfit, but instead of the mini-skirt, they all put on an elastic pant kind of like the kind you see in the gymnasium. I did walk to one of the Miao village up the hill, surprised to hear that western reporter been here before, even some HongKong people been here as well. surprised! from here you can have a nice view over looking the whole town below, very pretty indeed. chatted up with an old man by the field who is a real treasure of hidden market places, he had solved my itinerary for the next 2 days until the market in this town. so... better had an early sleep for a long walk tomorrow. all in all... the best surprised today is the rent for a room here.... only 4 kuai!

27/04/05
"just follow the river"! that was the reply whenever I asking for direction to JenMo.and it was rather true as I just kept the river on my left, somehow I would lost sight of it, but I could still hear it. first through a narrow valley then I came to an open one, the walk was rather comfortable as there wasn't too much up and down. after the border mark between RongJiang and JianHe Prefecture, and the river name also switch from LengWonHe to TaiYongHe, it was then only 1 more km for my destination. It wasn't that much people walking on this trail, I was mostly alone but... was I? I could hear the howling of the buffalos, dragonflies and butterflies criss-crossing around me, tiny frog jumped on my step while grasshoppers bounced in lightning speed, spiderweb caressing my arm and face, troop of ants carrying a dead caterpillar falling behind my step slowly, fishes jumped and cause ripples in the watering field. beside there was villages along the way, I was never alone. A very small market in a very small street with no more than 10 vendors . just listen to what the village's chief said with whom I met in the market, "see how poor we are, we couldn't even had more than a hundreds people in a market"! he kept telling me how poor they were and hope that I could reflected it to the central government, he must think I am a reporter. and it didn't take long to find out while he said to me "never had any reporter came here before"! I told him I'm not reporter, but guess it wasn't convincing. I then gave him my usual speech...." China is a huge country... need to know your own status and condition... developed need long time and step by step... reality... " Did I scared him? because he looked beaten, eyes look down and quiet, but he wasn't angry or unhappy, just look kind of sad and lost. perhaps he finally came to the conclusion that I was actually from Beijing! he thank me and walk away. back to my market, here are mostly Dong, same kind of blue shirt and black trousers, but some old women kept their long plaited skirt and leg dress, here they wear flat-top head scarf also in blue color. there was Miao present as well but in a rather plain cotton costume in black, a thin hand weaving ribbon tied around their waist, they wear trousers and a black color head band outlining with color thread. the market started rather late, I thought it would be crowded when I got there after 10, and I find it wasn't really start yet. and people still coming by the time I left around 1. again... another 7km ahead of me, but I walked on with pleasure...and again...just follow the river!

28/04/05
"just follow the highway", that was again what people told me when I asked for direction to BaiDo yesterday. so easy then. Hit the road this morning with a sad looking sky, I thought it would be a straight forward trip like yesterday so I didn't care to consulted anyone before I left the village, beside I could always ask along the way. to my surprised... there was scarcely any soul on this so-call highway, it was a muddy track newly open up traffic, and the mountain was designed as a preserved forest, so hardly villagers came up here because they can not do farming here. Up and up I walk following the highway when my worse nightmare appeared... a junction tee-off! no one had mention about a tee-off along the road, help... which one? no one in sight, I was actually alone, no buffalo howling, no frog no fish, only the invisible birds and cicadas squeaking behind the dense forest. left right left right left...which way? I mentally measured the width of each road, ok... this one wider and it wasn't climbing up, so I kept on moving and left the destination to the celestial above. it seem like no ending on this chosen road, neither up nor down, it was just surrounding the mountain, I was getting uneasy, what if... what if... you know that kind of thought just came through my head, then I saw another tee-off, it was going downward but it doesn't look like a highway, so I kept on cause. still worrying but then I saw something through the tree lines, white color, a building... it was a building, you wouldn't believed how happy I was, picked up my speed as I really wanted to left the solitary atmosphere behind. it was the forestry police out-post, and I got the positive confirmation, 3km was what I got in front of me, and the guy told me to catch the short cut right before the curve. I guess I saw it but I deliberately skipped it because I heard the sound of engine, a machine which should belong to a truck, I was hoping I could get a lift, so I walk on the main road, down and down I go, still no car and I looking across the valley where I could see the short cut trail along the hill side which go directly right down to the bottom, here I am walking on this longer track. haha... the sound of engine! I waited by the road side waving, smile... but it only gave me dust and a bop bop! how cold blooded and cruel, while I was still mumbling outer space languages than I saw a village after a curve, it must be BaiDo, no wonder the truck not even bother to stop. guess I need to clear out all the previous deadly swearing! and the second surprise was the entrance of the short cut, it was just right outside of the village, I would walk up from here later. Market is slightly bigger and busier than yesterday, and it definitely were noisier as there was 2 tv playing VCD of minority songs while fusing with Taiwanese bikini music. I could recognize some faces, the medical man who sell magic lotion which could heal sufferers in 3 days. the dentist which would check eyes and do ear cleaning. a woman selling chinese green cotton-shoe and all kind of plastic slipper, those are market tracer who do business following the market cycle. A quick look around, no surprised with any costume, they told me here is only Miao, but I do spot some women dress in Dong style, even though they claimed those were Miao too! I had no idea, perhaps hear this guy out who had made this statement when I asked him, "they only wear their beautiful dress with many silver ornaments on festival time, in normal day they just put on whatever they find without much thought". I don't totally believe and I don't think so. if they prefer to wear costume they would followed their identity. here the style that most women wear was a shirt which open from the right side of the lapel, there was one patten-stripe sewing from one side of the lapel over the the upper arm then the back side onto another arm and end at the lapel on the other side, strange design but it look ok, and another strip run along the rim of the lapel. some old women wear head-cloth which created a rather interesting image while 2 pieces of cloth in triangle shape covering their ears. not much happening and I waited until I had been recharged after the coming trip, then I was ready for the up hill climbing, another 3 hours walk trip, but this time I had no worry about the direction, or should I say "just follow the highway"!

29/04/05
No need to walk for the market today cause it was right here in LengWon. but I did got up earlier than the last 2 days as I wanted to see how it was start. woke by the horrible squeal from a dying pig, while his companion (another pig) waiting by the butcher table, piss and shit shiveringly but wiggling her tail at the same time, wondering what she was thinking. anyways... it was a rather smooth operation, a quick blood draining with a short scream, chop chop chop... 1,2,3,4 big pieces delivered to different tables along the street. it was still before 7, not much happening yet, noodle shops came first, streaming smoke from stoves, chopping sound of wood logs or pork meats. still not much motion in the open street, perhaps because there was no school as the 5-1 holiday started today. trucks began loaded in by 8, fruits truck... well, seem like they only saw fruit one a week, no wonder it took a whole truck for the market. shoes, daily product... of course... truck load of villagers. makeshift stands was being setup on both side of the street, shop front had been open up which I hadn't seen for the last few days, I name it One A Week Shop! approaching 10 and still rather quiet, only action was in restaurants where all the vendors ate their early lunch. I made a tour from one end to the other, it started with a row of baby pigs and cages of chicken by the concrete bridge at the entrance of the village, followed by couple of deep fried pancake stand which I ate with delight as a change of taste, coming up was clothes and other stationery stands, suddenly Hotel Carlifornia came through the air, must be from the one week electrical shop. now we approaching the fruits area, quite a few variety, apple, banana is a must, together with pineapple, pear, orange(very tasty), peach and water mellon, next stand the meat section and vegetables stalls, old women laid out whatever they got from their backyard, further back a men quarter gathering up sampling tobacco, next sat couple of old man, mouth with dangled pipe, waiting for business in front of their hand sowing machines and hand made bamboo baskets. here street vendors thin out and walk on we would see another crowd squeezed inside the bank, which was one of the main business for villagers for market day. turn left by the end of the street we will came to a wooden bridge right next to the local high school, crossed the bridge will came to the last market business... the childern world! a blowed up castle with slide which kids can jump and fall inside the cushion platform. not for me, I was just over the age! back to the market, people began to pour it, not very very many but sure more than the last 2 market experiences. beside the Miao, only couple of Dong women with costume, and all the rest are in our beautiful Han dress! many Miao came with their mini skirt, the black plaited ballet skirt with at least 5 or 6 layers, it swaying like a pendulum when they walk. and a front apron with geometric stitching had been wrapped around their waist. those not wearing skirt were in black color elastic pant. but the pointy head gear was a must for all the women. I was satisfied with the last minute picture for the mini-skirt in a good atmosphere market. Went back to LeLi this afternoon as it was easiler from here to PingYang market tomorrow. I treated myself with a bottle of beer tonight but it should be consumed yesterday as it was for my one month completation of my trip, but the toilet was a mile away for the 4 kuai room, I wasn't fancied struggled a long way for pee in the middle of the night, tell you what... the rat is bigger than a cat here!

30/04/05
It was just a market in PingYang, although a rather big one but you won't see much minority dress there, beside it was the same Dong that I had seen in the last few days, no Miao at all or they were just disguised as Han. I waited untill well after 11 and there still nothing going on in the market, we all waiting, me... for surprised, they... for business. then I took the 1 hour bus trip back to LeLi where I switched another bus to LongDong, which had market tomorrow. 33km away on a dusty road, our driver's hair turned grey in just an hour! LongDong is a small village mixed up with Han and Dong, and the Miao live on the hill nearby, a statue erected at the end of the single street which dedicated to the Red Army stationed here for couple of days in December 1943 during their famous Long March. so and so... and it was a tourist point for some patriot(fake or real). I came here of course for the market, but also because they told me there was plenty of bus going into JenHe Prefecture. but now I find out there was none, luckily there would have trucks run on that road on market day, so... I should be able to mount on the back of one of those truck tomorrow afternoon... if I can squeezed in! Today is the hottest day so far on my trip, it was burning! as there wasn't much here to offer in LongDong, although it was a rather wide open valley compared with all the other villages I had seen in GuiZhou, although the sky was rather blue, although I could see villages in an easy and reachable distant as it wasn't in steep valley, although it was still early in the day... but... it was hot!! think I would rather take an easy half day off.

LongDong
01/05/05

A lot of surprises today. Went out this morning, market began to build-up. find and internet place and I went in, just open and the guy was cleaning the floor which littered with cigarettes butt from last night. "can I upload photo from here" I asked with my Hongkong accent chinese while holding my Minolta , trying to impressed him as a professional tourist. he look up at me said"yes"! that simple. I was in heaven but still... doing the photo need much time to resize and choose the right one to upload, and he might worried if his boss came around suddenly as he need to reorganized the system for me to do so, I was still happy to able to updated my diary. see... I always believe in small village friendliness. Coming out from the cyber place the street was already crowded, it dose fill up earlier than the last few markets I had visited. and something really caught my eye... it was full of costumes ... and the colors...the sharpness of the red-orange color... it was the Miao! so much similar to Yunnan, I was still scanning the street, there was 3 different kind of Miao, the pointy hat with mini-skirt one, then there was one wear plain dark cotton clothe, a dark color front apron with white geometric cross-stitch tied around their waist, wear trousers and head band. the 3rd one is the colorful one, a kitchen style top apron with whole piece of colorful cross-stitching on their chest, while the lower end tied around their waist, short black plaited skirt but mostly covered by two aprons which was all laid with crosss-stitching design, one in front and one at the back, they all wear colorful leg dress too, hair was set with a comb and they all wear big round silver earrings. it was the most busy and colorful market I had seen so far, but guess what the local told me when I asked them was it like this every week or was just because of the 5/1 holiday today? "not many people today because of the plantation work at the moment, it would gathered more than 5000 people in peak season", he said in a matter of fact way. I was already visioning what it would be like with more then 5000 people here! Still very hot today but I was energetic.walking up and down the single street looking for beautiful faces, without need to worry about the capacity of the storage card as I had just emptied it all into my potable harddisk, now a fresh new card! but still I need to looking for the transportation to NanShao, "no, no and also no"! that truck hadn't came today they said, the only option was took another truck to a village where I still face more than 20km... with my feet to covered. "no problem" I said but when will that truck leave here? "soon" was the answer! it wasn't appeared until 3, I was being squeezed on the back of the open truck, people climbing in from all side, loading in case after case of beer, soft drink, cement, chicken... or whatever! "it should be more than 2 hours" they told me this important information while we all breathing on each other faces. two hours... it would be well over 5pm, and I still need to cover 20km after this tiring ride which definitely would gave me sore arms and legs. should I stay or should I go? and the decision was made by a sudden thunder and we all looking up to the growing dark cloud in the sky. "it will rain... " they all said, I quickly made up my mind, climbing out over the barrier from the side of the truck against the incoming wave of people, with the help of the others who was far more happy to gave me a hand with my backpack as they could took over my space. still not really happy about no able to made the trip but I was please an hour later when I was inside my dry and warm(which I call it suffocating hot)room while it pouring with lightening outside. now I need to re-routing a bit about the trip, perhaps I will enter LeiShan tomorrow, will see.

02/05/05

There was a group of Chinese arrived last night, the whole guesthouse was full but with no electricity, think it got something to do with the thunder. so I slept early as I wanted to catch the 6 o'clock bus to LeiShan. I was waiting for the bus by the door, it was almost 8 but the bus still hadn't arrived, those Chinese was up and ready for their tour of the day, after a short exchanged and they encouraged me to came along. normally I wouldn't try any tour to the minority village, but I gave in this time, perhaps it was the loneliness, I wouldn't mind to had some companies for a day, why not being a tourist for a day. so I got inside their rental bus, our destination is KhonXin, the village for the mini-skirt Miao, the usual procedure I could foresee, villages came dressing in brand new costumes, Lushen and dance, together with a bit of singing, nothing you can complaint about, also nothing special about too. but seem like it dose attracted couple of groups every week came for the show. they said the official price for the performance is 500 yuans, but we bargain it down to 300. and the lunch in someone house, didn't know how much, anyways... we end up spending 56 yuans each including everything for the whole day. still not very much to share with more than 10 people. this group of Chinese are from Beijing, knew each other through internet, and got in touch with a guy here who try to promoted the local tourism through the net, and that was how most other tourists got to know about this place. as I saw 2 Japanese and one other Chinese group in the village for the show as well. anyway... people are friendly enough there no matter it was the after effect of the money that being paid. I did heard that the money are for the whole community of the village, so that was fine. tomorrow I will go back to my traveler trail and that what I prefer better.

XiJiang
03/05/05

Onward my trip into LeiShan Prefecture, went through the same way from PingYang, up into the LeiShan forest area, the road became well paved once we cross the ridge at 1300m, already many chinese holiday makers drove with their own car cruised along this mountain road, couple of man-made pavilion along the road together with a ticket booth, seem like a well organized tourist attraction. our bus finally descent the valley into LeiShan town, a concrete small city. surprised to see so many travellers around the bus station, either heading out or coming in, some going to KaiLi and some heading to LongDe, and I was planning for XiJiang for my destination. glad to hear this word "it is today" when I asked the driver when was the market for XiJiang. and he told me it will be on until later afternoon, so... even I arrived there by 3 I still can see a bit of the market scene. drove through the dirt track but still a rather smooth ride, we got there in less than 2 hours. but half way on the bus trip, a little boy shout something like "shiiie", seem like no one understood but his father and the driver, the bus was absurdly called to a stop with the tail swung almost to the edge of the cliff. door banged open and out jumped the 3 of them, still shout in a rather exciting voice while running to the bush on the hill side, now we heard they said "snake" but we see nothing yet. but in a spit of a second the father darted his arm into the bush like the way you try to make a lucky draw. and pulled out a yellow snake with dark spots in almost 2 meter long. what a fast and skillful move with total confident. back on board with some minor scratch on his hand he said "not a lethal snake, no poison, it is flower snake", and the whole bus began to discussed what can be done with the poor animal, "stuff it into alcohol.... deep fried... swallow the gall...", and the father kept the snake out of the window for the whole trip, guess he already knew what he would do with his new capture. XiJiang is said to be the biggest Miao village in China, actually composed with 4 villages on both side of the river, claimed more than 1000 families was living here. it was a rather pretty village indeed and reasonable clean, there was a view point by the hill side before we rolled into town where you can got a panorama of the whole village. market wasn't very big and you won't see and dressed minority, all you can see in common with the Miao women are the decorative flower on the hair. because of the 5/1 holiday, there was so many travellers including dosen of westerners as well. heard they said this part of GuiZhou has became very popular within chinese tourist since this year. what was the attractions... beside the so call biggest Miao village, here you could call and arranged performance anytime in any date, and in any numbers, as tonight there was 4 shows going on in different location in the village, you could almost hear the Lusan in any direction you walk. and one other interesting thing is you can asked any family you want for they will cook you local dishes, guess that was why there wasn't many restaurant in town. so we(the chinese traveller I met on the bus trip here) walk through the small lane inside the village before dark looking for a home that would be our host. first I thought they will approaching us if it was a known fact for travellers came to looking for foods, but in fact there was none and we started to asked "you make dinner"? and right... they all positive and lead us to their kitchen, even one house was full of half drunk women whose tried to force us to drink with them, finally we had to down with 4 glasses of rice wine before we could walk out the door. later on we picked one kitchen with fresh fish because Hung wanted to try hot and sour fish soup which she heard is the speciality in this village, so... for 25 each we had fish, chicken and 4 side dishes and of course... wine to go with. not that something very delicious (oh...the stir fried potato is lovely though)but with the accompanied of the owner we could asked any questions we interest to know. foods gone and wine finished, Hung wanted to see the show but I quit, we said goodnight and goodbye as she will leave tomorrow, I walk down to the main street and there still many tourists arriving, then heading in all direction looking for room. well... it would be a pleasant village to stay for a few days in a local family wooden house in any normal day, as the people are still quite honest and friendly.

04/05/05

A day to explored a bit in the area, I was planning to start early and back but noon to rest. so... made my move before 7, heard about another big village near by held more than 500 families too, I went up hill on this fresh and clear morning while the sun slowly raise, villagers already up there minding there crops, family with young and old going for wood logs, I followed an old man who carried fertilizer-muds to his field and it was on the same direction, crossing the windy ridge I could see KaiZuo village laid quietly down on the other side of the valley which surrounded by rice terraces, but as I approached closer I noticed there was truck drove into the village on a motor road. disappointed... I thought it should be a village accessed only by foot. U-turn... I followed the water channel which caught up with the main track to Leikungping, no idea what it was there but most villagers I met on the way said that was where this road leading to. it supposed to be a preserved forest area, but before I hike up there was a pretty view point to the valley below where the whole XiJiang village could be seen amounted the paddy field. I hadn't planning for a long hike this morning, so... all I got was only a bottle of water, got no foods at all! think I wouldn't able to made it all the way to Leikungping, as the local said it should be more than 2 hours walk, but then the other said it should be more than 3 hours once I was up hill somewhere, it got more crazy when the higher I climb, an old man said"for me is 4 hours, but you... it might need more than 5"! what? I thought the time should be less the further I up. anyway... I already gave myself a guideline... whenever the hunger strike me, I will set my course backward no matter how close I was to Leikungping. there wasn't much to write about about the trip, it was no different from any other country walk, here I was to followed the water channel, to which I was safe about the provision of drinking water, as the water was so sweet and cold which came all the way from LeiKungShan. not much view along the trail, and I finally turn my way back after almost 4 hrs hike when my stomach gave me the signal. I had seem many chinese tourist coming down as well, and they was staying up there last night, soon I realize it was a picnic place for holiday-makers, and they said Leikungping is just a big grass land and that was all. think I hadn't miss anything then. Tonight I went back to the same Miao family for dinner, and there was a group of chinese travellers so again I got companies for the meal and... drinks! then I join them for the music show which is right in the middle of the village, very good atmosphere as it was surrounded by the wooden houses, and the show has turn out better than I expected, all the performers are really into their play and gave their best as you can see it from their expressions. I was even impressed they do a song which was celebrating the 1997 Hongkong back to China, I was wonder what it got to do with the minority here in this matter. anyway... I left before the show had finish as the alcohol really got me. night!

DanZhai
05/05/05

I picked DanZhai for my destination for today. only one bus run from LeiShan each day around 1pm, and it took 3 hours. the whole trip are run on a dusty road, the landscape became wider once we left LeiShan prefecture, actually the bus pass through KaiLi region then back down into DanZhai, the valley here are more flat and rocky, we are still in Miao land but here they have Shui as well, a quick enquiry and I got couples of market days which could see me through for the next few days. DanZhai is rather big and a rather new expanded town with many new buildings, a real contrast to see all those horse-carts stand by the road corner waiting for hire, it was a combination of old and new. you can still see minority dressed women around, mostly are Miao whose dress in 3 different ways, blue or dark color clothes, some has an apron in front which hang around their neck with a silver chain, also a ribbon tied both side of the apron around their waist. some wear head cloth fixed by a silver hair-pin decorated with a butterfly. all wear trousers, and some had a low apron in front that wrapped around their waist. and the whole costume are rather plain without much embroidery.

06/05/05

A more closely observation in XingYen market today which was only 15 mins ride from DanZhai, now I could give a more accurate account of their costumes. there should be 5 different tribe of Miao today. 1. plain blue and dark color clothes which covered to lower hip, a plain kitchen style apron in which usually fixed with a silver chain that hanged from their neck, wear knee lenght baggy trousers and hair covered with head cloth. 2. right lapel tight clothes with a stripe of different color ran along the lapel, 2 lower aprons one in front and one on the back, the one in front was bigger with a color stripe pasted on the top edge, and there was a nice looking belt made up with silver chains and buckles wrapped heavily round their waist, but it was mostly hidden under their clothes. same knee lenght baggy trousers and some women still wear leg dress. 3. tight right lapel dress with patch of colorful stitching work round the collar and lapel, front and back lower apron in almost same size with a vertical color stripe on each side, they wear long trousers, and the head dress was a nice looking set of silver buckle mingled with their hair. 4. normal minority clothes with a top apron which rather similar to number 1 from above, only there was a set of embroidery on chest area, they wear short skirt and leg dress. 5. I only saw 2 or 3 women in this tribe and top cloth are in normal Han style, but they had different lower apron, front and back which full of sharp color embroidery, and the unusual thing was the front apron is shorter than the back one. Yesterday I was still in LeiShan region where tourist industry had started quite well, as I could see many travelers and holiday-makers with their own car, but... hardly I saw any minority dress in their costume, everyone heading there looking for exotic image, and they all satisfied with the festival dress-up costume which they seldom put on in everyday life, and I doubt it was totally authentic as there was many added articles into their costume to try to made it more stylish and attractive. and you need to pay to be able to see it! but here only couple hours away, they are everywhere, full of life, walking around in their own costumes. The market started pretty early but won't get busy until noon, a local explained to me said "there was thing to do in the morning, like check out their fields, collected wood-log, so they usually arrive rather late, some even came here after lunch"! so it gave me time to really distinguished the differences between all of them, together with the help of the herb vendor who pointed out any woman whoever had pass along the street with different dress. and had confirmed all the market date for me, of course... more new market days!

07/05/05

I picked a wrong restaurant last night as the foods wasn't very taste and with no hot rice(which I disliked very much), also slightly over charged. but I did made a right choice for market place today, as there was another market in PuOn, but again... I didn't know what it would be like there, but still I was happy to be in GonKan for the market. it was about 15km from DanZhai which after a short highway then turned into a country road, and the road became rocky and bumpy after the high-pass and descent to GonKan, it was a stunning view over the cliff down the valley, with the cloudy sky which produce a rather grey scene, the small village really look like a kind of movie setting, you know "the morning after" mood, or the kind of ghost town after the devastation of the world from nuclear war in the year 2150. because the village was used to be a mining town since the 40's, that was what the village name mean, Gon mean mercury and Kan mean mine. and all the buildings are made with sand brick or stone which gave a darkish color, it was deep in the valley surrounded by steep hill which also gave an isolated atmosphere. and now the industry had been finished as the resources had been running out, now most of the buildings was broken down with no people live in, heard the government will relocated the villagers into DanZhai, that's why there was many new building site in DanZhai. market was small with no busy scene but it got a small village feel. no ear blasting loudspeaker from VCD, no gambling dice, no 1 kuai 2 items... just simple, nothing has double, each sell their different goods, but still... medicine and farming tools are the first of the list, and here I saw silversmith and indigo for sell, charcoal wood-log, fern grass which kept fish-eggs, and some other usual market day merchandise. not many market goer now as they said"since the mining business went down 10 years ago, most people moved out, but we used to had up to 2000 people in market day, very busy, but... those were the day... ". here almost every women wear costume, the Miao is the plain color one with head cloth fixed with hairpin, but here they used more colors other than just dark blue, I could see, green and pink in varied tones, here I again feel the market spirit, they put on their better if not the best dress especially the young woman, and they wear more decorated articles like most of them had a heavy solid round silver neck ring. And there was Shui people as well, they wear also simple minority style clothes and trousers, a kitchen style apron with embroidery on the chest, the head dress is how you distinguished them from a crowds of people. head cloth in cone shape while wrapped with a cotton band with multicoloured stripes which gave a festive scent. some women just simply put on a headband with the same multicoloured stripes together with some silver buckle. it won't took me much time to made myself known in this short street by walking up and down. they began to encouraged me to take picture and I got most of the shoot I wanted. time still early so I decided to walk back as the view was attractive from above where our mini bus came from, so I followed the short cut up hill where I passed the entrance of the old mine, I was tempted to go inside but stop by the faded sign on the cliff wall "dangerous inside for collapsing", right...there was no gate and it was very dark inside, I don't need any mercury either. carried on my uphill trail and soon I got to the viewpoint. the after 2150 devastation feel had gone, perhaps because of the sky getting brighter. but still... you got the sense of deserted and isolating. back on the track I went into a village along the way, met a local teacher who redirected my route after knowing I was planning to walk back to DanZhai, said all I need was down the valley along the terraces ridge(which mean going back down all the way to GonKan), cross the river, up again ... "there... you see the village there, is WuYi, but don't go into the village, before there you take the short path left along the field which will lead you to JinZhong, and from there you will see DanZhai", sound good and how long will it take? the answer was"no more than 3 hours"! great... I thank him and followed his direction through some pretty terraces and with no difficulty I got to the other side, villagers are all busy in harvesting for wheat, the whole valley was full of beating sound of straws on wood. the trail was exactly as our friendly teacher had described, but it wasn't like that when I find myself back on a motor highway after out of the country road. DanZhai was nowhere in sight. ahhh... I know now, people said DanZhai which actually mean the region of DanZhai, like when I was hike up the short cut earlier from the market, on the trail the local told me further on is SanDu, which actually meant the region because SanDu city is quite a distant away. so here... I still face 6km on a highway, but I was hoping for a shortcut route so I press on a bit even locals told me there was none, yeah... not much fun to walk on a highway after 2km and I was niping on my ice-cream by a road side shop. "no short cut, go with the 3-wheels, only 1.5 yuan"! followed his finger I saw a tuk-tuk coming, without much argument with myself as I was satisfied with an enjoyable walk already so I waved it down and got in... with my ice-cream! With the failure in foods hunting last night, I decided to feed myself with all sort of snacks and street foods tonight, as I did see a lot of variety in town here, ok... I gave a try on the wonton soup when I saw it laid lovely on the kitchen stand by the road. "2 yuan or 2.5 yuan?" the owner asked, of course the small amount one as I need to save my stomach for more foods later. but it turn out she asked me do I want 3 yuan or 2.5 yuan of wonton soup. I felt like being cheating as it wasn't the normally way to quote the price here, it should be start from the small amount and up. anyway... no big deal and the wonton taste good, but just need more time for digested! then it was time for the cold noodle which I wanted to try very much, square column that cut from the rice pudding in long row, topping with all sorts of pickles and spices which I couldn't name... at least in English! here I could identified... seaweed, green pepper in tomato pasted, peanut in red chilli, spicy cucumbers, garlic vinegar... cold dishes not always my favourite but this noodles are very tasty and in a rather big portion which only cost 1.5 yuan, I couldn't ate it all so I left and looking for my next target. yes... there was spring onion pancake down the road, got a piece for 5 jiao, but the favour was a bit bland. opposite the street where I find steam dumping, taste was ok but the skin was bun skin, come on... you are not in Hongkong Tam! I saw the sign "sour soup" while I was with my dumping so I asked for a small portion if possible as I really wanted to try since it was one of the main dishes in this part of GuiZhou. it turn out to be cold drink, sorry... it was serve cold they said, and again the taste was rather bland with too much sour and no spicy at all, it was mainly boiled with cabbage, bean sprout and red pepper, it was quite a refreshment after eating 10 dumpings in chilli sauce, I told myself to try it in a hot afternoon next time! I felt a bit full when I walk out from the shop. patting my stomach I strolled down the road. "smelly tofu" this sign caught my eye, you either love it or hate it in HK, people would tracing the smell from the beginning of the street to the end or fled even the tofu was mile away! "gave me one kaui" and the woman lay 3 pieces in the hotplate, I wonder why they call it smelly tofu while it doesn't smell at all? while waiting for the non-smell tofu I saw smething new in black on the BBQ stand, "moyu" she told me,(the root of some kind of vegetation which grounded and transformed in to the shape of a sponge in a way like making tofu) I love this food and I never thought of grilling it, and it turn out acceptable and chewable. it was time for the tofu and it became golden brown on each side and the woman cut it into small pieces and I ate it from the hotplate, the ferment favour of the tofu was just fine with the crispy skin while the inside was softy warm, I didn't even need any sauce to go with. I think it was enough dinner for tonight, but before I got to the guesthouse I still lost 1 kaui on the XinJiang BBQ, right... that counted one more minirity here, the Moslem, the woman told me there was only she and her husband and their son here, I would like to ask her more but her Chinese was very limited. full stomach when I back to my room after a saturday night out.



08/05/05

It was a huge market here in DanZhai today, if not I had seen most of the minority

from the last few days, I would be overwhelming by the differences of the costume.

and here you can see most women really put on their best dress, many used new

material other than the traditional plain black or blue, I saw shinning buckles in

red and pink, I saw material with hair like fur, some even dressed in a clothes

which made from a whole piece of cross stitching material , they really are trying

their best to made themselves look more beautiful, many had the heavy sliver round ring

on their neck and couple of decorating silver ornaments to fixed their hair. to

caught up with the world, many of they came with high-heeled shoe as well. You won't

disappointed in this market, I saw all the tribes I had seen from the last few days,

and one new tribe of Miao who came from the eastren side of the prefecture, which I

was eager to get there on their market 2 days later, locals also said there would be some

more different tribes with different costume, great! Foods had more variety on day time, I started my day with one of my favourit... soya

milk with deep fried dough, then I move to the next stand for a fried smashed potato

which taste so good which I came back later for lunch, swallowed up with a stir

fried noodle. I top up my breakfast with dough-balls in sweet wine, yes... it was

wine in the morning! but it was very weak which I need to call up the help of

imagination. because most of the action was around this central market place, so I

was always near the food stands which I had no power to resist the temptation, a

bowl of wonton soup, glass noodle in herb gravy, fried sticky rice with red bean

paste... it was market day! hhaaaaa....

09/05/05

There wasn't any market in DanZhai prefecture today, but there was one in SanDu, and it

was only an hour away, so I made a day trip down there this morning. it was a big

market indeed, but for minority scene... it couldn't compared with DanZhai. here the

majority are Shui though you can see some Miao too. 2 kinds of Shui, one is the kind

you see in DanZhai which has a head clothes wrapped with color belt. the other one

wear long shirt, buttons on the right side, a row of embroidery run along the rim of

the lapel and across the back from shoulder to shoulder. a kitchen style apron with

embroidery on the chest, wear long trousers and either white or black head scarf,

and they like to stick a small comb underneath their head gear which pointing

downward from the side of their forehead. There really not many Miao here, and it

almost look the same like the Shui with the same kind of apron, only the shirt is

shorter and no head scarf. foods in market here almost the same as in DanZhai but

with less choice of snack. herb medicine seem like a big demand here, otherwise

there wouldn't that many medicine man gather in a section. hadn't seen fortune

teller for a while and here they had couple of man prophets, all you need is pick 3

envelope out from the whole pack and HE will tell you what is waiting for you in

front according to the writings inside the envelope .... only for few kuai! The big

success today was the discovery of most of the market date in SanDu prefecture which

I can plan my trip after coming back down this way in the future, for it was time

to made my way into Yunnan.

10/05/05

PiDel is about 2 hours from DanZhai, got there through a rocky country road under a

cloudy sky, not very promising weather but at least it didn't rain. the market is

lively here with some of the tribes I had seen before, like the Miao with butterfly

hairpin, and the one with heavy silver belt, also the GonKan Shui people. two more

tribes of Miao could be identified here, one I had seen couple of them in XingYen

market before, who had a cross-stitching front apron which is shorter than their

back apron. but today there was more so I could get a better observation, their hair

was well set, tight clothes open from the right side, front and back apron which

decorated with cross-stitched pattern, and they wear long trousers. the other tribes

wear tight blue or black top with bottons open from the middle, a very short ballet

skirt in black which mostly for decoration I guess, it cause the front and back

apron floating in motion while walking. and they also wear long trousers, but the

most outstanding feature is their hair, they used tea oil to gel and pressed their

hair into a solid and fixed state, doesn't really need any supported and the hair

was kind of small monument on top of their head, decorated together with a moon

shape wooden comb which has pointy edge on both side. some women coverd it with a

head cloth and it then look like a policeman hat. I press on to YaKui about 30km

further down the road for the market tomorrow. it was even smaller than PiDel with

only one local guesthouse, very basic facility but there was not other choice, and

the owner said "no single room"! there was no street snack, no BBQ, no fruit... come

on Tam... just for one night!

11/05/05

When the owner find out I was from HK when I registered last night, she took me to another

room around the corner, a single room which suppose not exist! "you said you want a

room for yourself, here you are". it was as simple as all the orther room she had

next door, but it look clean because... there wasn't any furniture inside excepted

the bed, I asked her can she change the bed sheet,"no one slept here before" was her

answer. but there was a half bottle of water, cigarette butts scattering on the

floor, half burned candle, right... no one here before. "how much is it"? "3 kuai"!

woahhh... what a bargain then I find out there was no electricity in this room.

doesn't matter, all I need is a room to sleep with no other people smoking and

snoring and spitting inside. but still... in this kind of bed, you always seem to

smell someone bad feet or saliva, psychologically feel itching here or there. in and

out from my sleep, finally I heard the boop boop of the bus and I knew it was day

break. The market became crowded after noon, you could see the same minority as in PiDel

yesterday, but here came the Shui from SanDu area because it was right over the

border, and a new tribe of Miao could be seen, they dress in indigo cotton costume,

clothes is open from the middle with only one top knot, some women had a silver

plaque hanged on their chest, they wear long plaited skirt and a diamond shape apron

full of embroidery, also they put on leg dress. and an encouraging sight to see so

many young girl wearing costume in the market, all in their best dress with silver

buckles. a young man asked me when he saw from the screen of my DV after I had took

some pictures, "what's the use of the photos"? I told him less and less people wear

their costume nowadays "soon... it will be history"! pointing at the image in the

screen, he seem to understand but also seem not give a dime and walk away.

12/05/05

Today is NanGou market which is the only market left in DanZhai prefecture that I

hadn't attended, but it was kind of disappointed as there wasn't much people in

costumes, the area are mainly with the Miao who wear skirt and a kitchen style apron

which I had seen in XingYen market before, but still... you couldn't see much of

them in full dress, they either put on the skirt or just the apron, if not the hair

style with the plastic comb, you wouldn't realized they are minority. a small market

and not many people today, so I walking back about 2km to a village ShiChao where

people told me I could see paper making in traditional way, something to do though.

a village with more than 100 families and almost are Miao, with more than 50

families working for paper production that was I could sought it out easily, and

they said business was good as many people came to buy it from the city. the village

had build a new square by the river and 2 decorating bridges which look like they

are going into tourist business, but it was all just a one time effort by the

government without a long term planning. anyway... they said they still used the

square for the ghost festival every July which is the most crowded season with many

bull fight. I love to see it. so... better than nothing for today outing and it will

closed up my DanZhai exploration.

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