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Published: August 7th 2007
As we waited for the morning bus to Nansha, there seemed to be way too many people for comfort and I had visions of a typical Southeast Asian bus journey, with aisles crowded and all space occupied with humans or cargo. However things seem to work differently in China. Not only was another bus laid on, but the ticket-woman elbowed all-comers out of the way in order to reserve the best double seat for us. In case I sound like an ardent Sinophile after 2 days in the country, I'll also point out that public toilets here - for which you unbelievably have to pay - are as bad as legend says. Even urinals reek, but the trench toilets - containing turds that haven't been flushed away since God knows when - are something else. I've already decided I owe it to myself to never take a dump in a Chinese public loo.
Gejiu->Nansha was no great distance, passing through terraced hillsides and forested mountains under a sunny sky, and Nansha->Yuanyang was even shorter, for which I was given the front passenger seat and the driver even offered me a cigarette.
Yuanyang was not the best place to arrive
in with few accommodation recommendations. The one place we'd read about on several forums turned out to be non-existent. It's pretty much imperative to have the Chinese characters written down for destinations, hotels, etc unless you're confident in your Mandarin pronunciation, and unfortunately we had nothing. And it's not always easy to recognise a hotel anyway. We found a government place but the rooms were twice as expensive as what we'd paid in Gejiu so we figured it was overpriced. We even went to an Internet cafe to search for other accommodation but found nothing useful.
While splitting up hotel-finding duties, we took it in turns to sit on a pedestrianised street with our luggage. During my stint on backpack-guarding watch, I saw a guy carrying his own IV tube as well as 2 Westerners (my first in China). I also had a short chat with a guy who spoke some English, the spectacle of which attracted a crowd of 15 curious onlookers.
We eventually plumped for the government hotel as we were weary of searching.
Yuanyang is famous for its rice terraces, created by the Hani people who built them to leverage the fertile valleys of
the Red River. We hired a minivan and driver to take us round some of the best viewing points, which necessitated a 4:45AM rise in order to get to Duo Yi Shu for sunrise. The driver played the same tape of Chinese dance music over and over, which included 2 Mandarin versions of "Dragostea din tei".
Duo Yi Shu was already awash with (Chinese) tourists when we arrived, as well as some enterprising hilltribe folk selling everyone's favourite breakfast item - boiled eggs. It was an impressive introduction to the rice terraces, with hundreds of them stepping down from the ridges to the valley floor, and most filled with water. Unfortunately there was no proper sunrise, leading to a shortage of photo ops, but they were still an amazing feat of engineering.
The driver then stopped at a few places so we could get different viewpoints on the terraces, as well as some where people were working. The final stop of the morning was at a Hani village called Qing Kou, where we saw some examples of their characteristic "mushroom" houses and were greeted by kids who subsequently wanted money from us (we'd already paid to enter the
village).
We were picked up again from Yuanyang in the later afternoon and progressed to Meng Ping (Tiger's Jaw), supposedly a good sunset viewing point. Unfortunately there was no sunset either, but we did have an amusing "conversation" with a guy who clearly had more curiosity than English-speaking ability.
On returning to Yuangyang, we noticed a small funfair had been set up in the plaza adjoining the hotel. Activities included a train ride that went round a circular track no more than 5m in diameter, and a bouncy castle whose pre-school inhabitants seemed so eager to please when we got our cameras out that I was concerened they'd tip the thing over. There was also a game of what looked like a Chinese version of chess, surrounded by such a large crowd that the moves were mirrored on a supersized board for everyone else's benefit - like a lo-tech version of the big screen on Henman Hill.
We dined at the same place we'd eaten yesterday and were greeted like old friends. Again, people's warmth here is way above all my expectations.
Dull but possibly useful info Getting there: Take a bus from Gejiu to Nansha
(many through the day - we took the 10:50AM), costing 15 yuan and taking about 1 hour 15 minutes, then take a bus to Yuanyang (many through the day), costing 10 yuan and taking about 1 hour. Note that Nansha is often referred to as Yuanyang - the "real" Yuanyang is called Yuanyang Xinjiezhen.
Stayed at: The large Government hotel next to the plaza (a couple of hundred yards downhill from the bus station). Cost 140 yuan for a double. Would stay here again.
Ate at: Sichuan restaurant next to the plaza - good food and an English menu. There are also numerous hotpot places where you can point at the ingredients you'd like in your hotpot.
Notes: i. If you want to see the rice terraces, then unless you have your own transport it's simplest to hire a car and driver for the day. You can do this through Window on Yuanyang (walk down the steps from the plaza, look for the Ordinary People's Supermarket on your left, then descend to the lower road on your right and look for the company's sign). It costs 200 yuan for the car and driver, who will pick you up early to
see some terraces in the morning, then return you to Yuanyang for a few hours, then pick you up again to see further terraces in the late afternoon. Note that it's cold in the morning!
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Beckie
non-member comment
Your photos are beautiful x