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Published: November 7th 2010
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Bai Architecture
Although this building is new, it has been built in the traditional Bai style. On Saturday, Dianne and Linda went exploring on their own. From Dianne’s keyboard: Linda and I wanted to visit the village of XiZhou, near ErHai (Er Lake). Max told us how to find a “bus stop” on the busy road at the edge of town. So off we went, dodging the traffic - lots of big trucks, climbing over the railing, ending up on the opposite side of the road. We saw some people standing at a break in the railing so said “XiZhou” (translate that to mean “Is this where we catch the local bus to XiZhou?”). Head-nodding led us to believe we had found the right spot. A bus came along and we asked the assistant (each bus seems to have someone who collects the money, puts out small stools for sitting on if there are no more seats available, picks up garbage, etc.) the same question. “Bu”, came the answer.
After a few more crammed buses went by, we got on a bus that would stop at XiZhou. The ride cost us 5rmb each and we managed to find seats. Being the only foreigners on the bus warranted much staring. The bus ride was crazy -
Enjoying their work
As we walked along the road, we came across this very friendly couple who were using a treadle machine to separate the grains of rice from the stalks. This is a step-up from the people who were hitting the rice stalks against the sides of large wicker baskets to separate the grains from the stalks. very heavy traffic (motorcycles, bikes, cars, donkeys pulling carts, large and small trucks not to mention piles of rice and other things along the side of the road). All of this on a two-lane road! Our bus driver and many other drivers thought nothing of pulling out to pass (with horns blaring) when a large truck was approaching. Sometimes, there were 4 lanes of traffic passing on what was a two-lane road!!
We managed to get to XiZhuan in one piece and the attendant made sure we got off at the right place. We started walking through town hoping to eventually find the lake. We stopped at several outdoor markets and had great fun looking, being looked at, gesturing and buying. Off we went again past rice fields where harvesting was in full swing. We saw all aspects of the harvesting process. Two men who were raking some rice to spread it out for drying on the road were quite intrigued that we would stop to watch them.
One horse power taxi As we entered another village, a “vehicle” stopped to offer us a ride. The vehicle was an open, but covered, wheeled horse-drawn cart with seats
One horsepower taxi
Seven people and a driver. Not bad. This is the cart driver who took us - eventually - to the lake. Note the baby walker squeezed in beside me! for 6 or 7 people plus the driver. There was a woman and her 2 children - a boy and a baby plus an assortment of items - a walker for the baby, a package of disposable diapers, food, etc. We squeezed in and, with much smiling, off we went. Along the way, we picked up an older woman who had many bags of produce and a young girl. Much smiling and laughing by all!
Eventually, we drove into another village and stopped at the village square. As this was definitely NOT a tourist town and we were sharing the cart will locals, we received many stares from the collection of old people sitting on the stone benches. The older woman, the girl and their many bags of produce were unloaded and off we went again (no money for the driver). Much waving, smiling and saying goodbye in Chinese! Some time later, the driver stopped and we unloaded the woman and her 2 children and all her goods. This time money was given to the driver. More smiles, waving, etc. Now, we wondered, where are we off to?
The Lake Sure enough, the driver finally got us
Tending his fishing net
We finally reached our destination - Er Hai (Lake). This man was busy tending his fishing nets. to the “beach” where a derelict set of empty buildings, including A-frame chalets, indicated that someone’s development dreams had faded away. We watched local fishermen working on their nets, tending their boats, and eating; women were busy mending nets and some children were jumping off a cement pillar into the lake. We walked around, got back in the cart, and off we went again. By this time, having great faith that our driver was a good man, we knew (hoped) that he would take us back to XiZhuan.
Sure enough, we eventually stopped right near the main road fairly close to where we had originally got off the bus! We paid the driver and said many thank-yous. When he realized that we were planning to cross the insanely busy road, he made us get back in, pulled out onto the busy road, and convinced his horse to keep going. He dropped us off right where we needed to take the bus back to Dali. We got on a bus that was heading home and finally arrived back safe and sound!
And now back to the regular blog!
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