The Dong show

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An early start saw us pootling out of Sanjiang in a bus packed with the usual mix of smokers and chunderers. It was clear when we passed from the province of Guangxi into the richer province of Guizhou, as the road suddenly became tarmaced.

Shortly after entering Guizhou, there was an interesting incident that made both of us wish we could speak Mandarin. A group of men got on the bus, 2 of whom started a loud and protracted argument that eventually several other passengers joined in. Suddenly a pack of cards was produced, and there was a mad scramble by all and sundry to hand over 100 yuan notes - presumably stakes in some sort of gamble (and not an insignificant amount of money, possibly a week's income, for locals in traditional employment). We couldn't see what happened next as a scrum of people gathered around the man with the cards, but there appeared to be some short game played, then there was a bout of pushing and shoving between several guys, then the original group got off the bus. We assumed that they had been running some sort of scam but, regardless, it had livened up an otherwise dull trip.

Our destination was Zhaoxing, a village containing both Miao and Dong people. With 5 drum towers built in different styles by various clans, an assortment of bridges, and much of the population going about their business in a low-key fashion, it's a stress-free environment for seeing some aspects of the traditional lifestyle. It's on the Western tour group trail but oddly we didn't see many independent travellers (though, on our first evening, coming downstairs from our guesthouse room to find the entire restaurant had been taken over by Westerners was a shock).

Our visit coincided with harvest time, with rice, radishes, chillis, and cotton all spread out around the streets, or hanging from balconies, to dry. The strange sounds of lusheng (a bamboo instrument found under the drum towers in many shapes and sizes, upon which apparently any passerby can have a tootle) and the whacking mallets that give the shine to Dong cloth, were the dominant noises. Splotches on the ground marked the places of manufacture of indigo dye - this is a town where you can literally go through a purple patch.

Unfortunately the fruits of the harvest were no doubt also responsible for LA Woman's allergies kicking in with a vengeance, and she cut an understandably miserable figure with watering eyes, a runny nose, and regular sneezing tirades. I also had watering eyes, but for different reasons, when a hard-bargaining tribeswoman hustled me into paying probably 50% too much for some tat.

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Photos

Indigo dye
During the manufacturing process

Potato Service Hotel
Featuring the Dong Song Sing on Stages

Comments

[mattylee]

No way, those scammers were on my bus!
I had exactly the same experience with the card scammers on the bus to Zhaoxing: [diary=178836] Nice photos as always.

[rain]

what is the snack made of?