Living Simply – Page 11 – HurricaneMaine

Food and friends

I am grateful to have a variety of friends from different activities and tours I have been in since arriving in China. They all have found incredible places to eat.

I am eating out more and more and enjoying the amazing delicious food in this city (it is really renowned for is cuisine and variety).

I started last weekend in a Friday afternoon at a golf driving range. I didn’t take pictures but I had such a great time whacking at a ball and talking with coworkers I don’t see everyday over snacks and drinks.

The next morning I juggled a long run with a leadership course in assessment. Of course there was homework, but afterwards I met my friend Morgana and co-worker Dirk for British day. If course there were fish and chips and pints of beer.

At night there were long established plans to go to a 2 star Michelin restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental hotel. The restaurant is called Jiang by Chef Fei. It is an amazing restaurant.

Drinks in the upstairs bar while others arrived. They have an unbelievable selection of gin.

Netherlands, Germany, UK, Canada, NZ, Singapore, and US represented here.

Part of the 9 course set meal some chose.

When did arrived and everyone takes pictures!

Some photo shots afterwards. We crowded into an elevator that had a bellman and trolley. He did not know what to make of us squeezing in that way instead of waiting for another elevator.

Downstairs in the Mandarin Oriental.

I also went to dinner on Sunday with my friend Elaine. She knows of a great Thai place in Po Park. The fish curry was amazing. So hungry we forgot to takes pictures. Another highlight was sitting in the Tesla cars in the mall.

Another dinner a day later at a different Cantonese restaurant to start the week.

Apple shrimp, a great mushroom fish, and a casserole with crab roe.

And more window shopping… This place was a one stop shop for a bunch of things. Stationary, snacks, wine (right next to the toys)…

Looking in a clothing store brought back memories of shopping for similar flannels for the kids and I to wear for the holidays….. Miss my family….

Kaiping

I traveled with Global friendship and Pachamama tour to a village outside of Kaiping for day of the dead celebrations. It was a two plus hour bus ride out of the city.

Kaiping area is home to hundreds of unique Diaolou-fortress watchtowers. They were used to protect the city from invaders and we’re built during the second world eat and with conflict with Japan. Kaiping is the hometown to many overseas Chinese many of which have an interest in maintaining and finding use for the many abandoned buildings. The villages are historic and surrounded by agriculture and traditional way of life. The Diaolou and villages are enlisted as UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Tangkou village

The TK-SPACE is a communal space for international people to get together and learn and interact in rural practices and developments.

Two old factories were renovated to build this hostel and restaurant. The largest part was an old watch factory and the other made lampshades.

The place was already decorated for Halloween.

We had lunch and settled in then took a walk around the village where the abandoned buildings and diaolous. Many of the buildings the owners cannot be found or descendents won’t spend money to transfer ownership. As all the owners here are from other countries many are not here anymore and are elderly.

The design asking the to of not in concrete but of pressed rice and has survived the years.

Wet painting. While the concrete is wet, the paint is applied and they must work fast. The color stays many decades later.

This old place is like a mansion. So sad to see it empty.

This is the post office and all collect calls in the area came here which means they needed to be arranged in advance.

The Diaolou.

An old Diaolou. There is writing on the wall from 1946 where soldiers used this as a hideout during the war and to keep a lookout for japanese.

In every rice field there will be an altar for good crops and always near a banyan tree which must never be cut down.

The flowers and seeds (rice) in this rice paddy. You know how you cook rice or open a rice package and smell the rice? Standing next to the rice paddy, that is what you smell…

We painted pumpkins or skulls and are mexican day if the dead bread made as gifts to leave for the dead on Nov. 1.

Day of the dead party

Morning run

We ran from village to village for a 10k run the next morning and saw this moon. It was the first full moon that fell on Halloween since 1944. The picture here in the morning is better than the one I took at night.

I also went through a UNESCO area but did not take pictures. Unfortunately we did not go back there later that day.

After breakfast, we toured the crops. This place leases land to villagers and then buys back the produce for their center. They supply jobs and economic incentives.

This rice is within two weeks of harvest.

This bathroom is state of the art for the area and had brought in tourism as a result.

In front of this Diaolou is water chestnuts.

Wugong mountain hiking

Wugong Mountain is in Jiangxi Province. This is one of China’s three great mountains south of the Yangtze River. The view of the alpine meadows is spectacular. One I have not seen on other hikes.

I took a super long metro (over an hour) to get to the high speed train station. From there the three and a half hour train and shirt car ride put us at the hotel at the base of the trail. The next morning we hiked.

We hiked 2 hours through the bamboo forest.

As we climbed higher it began to change to alpine forest then alpine meadows.

Eventually we emerged on the alpine meadows. We walked up and down through the meadows to where we stopped for lunch.

A few more hours of hiking up and down through the hills we reached the golden peak. Here you are surrounded by fields of tall grass that turn golden in autumn. They were just starting to turn but not at their full colour yet.

There were also quite a few temples at the top including this Taoist temple called the fairy temple.

While we were hiking the weather changed dramatically with a lot of wind, some rain, and the clouds taking over. Every turn brought different weather conditions.

Another hour of hiking and we arrived at the tents we were to stay for the night. An earlier festival had been rescheduled for this weekend.

We hiked 18.8 km and covered much elevation. There were rough shower and bathroom facilities but grateful to have any!

The next morning some of us tried to capture sunrise but there were a lot of clouds.

We had breakfast, returned our sleeping bags and mats then started the hike down. Downhill is not my favourite (my knees are starting to hate that). There were many very steep sections in the meadows to get through.

The hill was called desperation hill. It spanned 1300 meters and we were all pretty desperate just to get to the bottom.

There were many rocks to maneuver over. Just when I thought it was so tough were saw this man carrying the drinks they sell near the peak. Carrying that much weight is a feat.

A landslide from 4 months ago destroyed much of the pathway and we had to find our way over and back across the stream which was still flowing around all of the debris.

At the end, we were picked up by a car and driven to the hotel we stayed in the first night. A nice shower, late lunch, and playing with the puppies that resided there was a nice end of the day before taking the train back.

Cave village in the suburbs of Xi’an

Clarence drove us to caves after the Temple and before we arrived to see the warriors. He was setting the stage for really old rural Xi’an life dating back 5000 years. The villagers today have stayed in these caves living a simple life and pass it down to their families. 20 families live here.

Clarence. Or tour guide and owner of the apartments. Really nice guy.

Inside the cave is one big room with other rooms behind it.

The kitchen is outside and on the right you can push and pull the bellows to fan the flames.

The old woman has already prepared hey coffin for when she dies.

Like the Japanese, they use hard surfaces for a pillow. Here they use a smooth rock.

This is used to measure the weight of produce as they are farmers that sell to people in the market.

Community bathroom. To the right are did kennels. Unfortunately, one villager breeds dogs to sell for dog fighting. Yes they are pit bulls which are illegal in China.

They have walnut trees and many others. In the front is pomegranate. Behind is a persimmon tree.

Ba Xian An, Temple of the 8 immortals

This is the biggest Taoist temple in Xi’an and is a famous Taoist architecture in northwest China. This was built in the Song Dynasty but the fastest renovation was in the Qing Dynasty. This place is very peaceful and serene and why I was attracted to chinese culture.

Outside of the Temple were antique sellers on the outer streets leading to the temple.

The immortals are legendary in Chinese mythology. Each immortals power can be transferred to a vessel to bestow life or destroy evil. One of the immortals is female. The may have been named after the 8 immortal scholars in the Han Dynasty.

The paintings in the ceiling are impressive.

Taoism is based upon the writing of Lao-tzu from the 6th century BC. It is based upon humility, living in harmony with the Tao, and religious piety. It is the oldest religion in the world and as much philosophy as it is religion:

It emphasizes doing what is natural and “going with the flow” in accordance with the Tao (or Dao), a cosmic force which flows through all things and binds and releases them.
https://www.ancient.eu/Taoism/

Taoist temples are usually not in cities but in mountains which makes this one special. It is said you will meet the immortals when on the bridge.

The eye on left hand off this sculpture means it can tell whether you are a good or bad person.

The colors of the faces have particular meaning. Green stands for green dragon and is the god of east. The white tiger is the god of the west. The black turtle is the god of the north. The red bird is the one for the south.

When die you go to the west as sun sets.

Taoist people wear their long hair in a knot on the top of the head. This was also seen in the terracotta warriors as that was the religion back then.

This is the oldest religion. All other religions were brought to China on the silk road. As I walked through a passage, people would put their hands in specific phrases on this plaque. You can see where people touch the most.

Silk road extended, Xi’an and the terracotta warrior apartments

Despite a little trouble on the airplane with extra requirements as we were foreigners, the rest of the trip was uneventful. I am really beginning to wonder what the narrative serves by thinking that only foreigners moving around need scrutinized and not Chinese. They have to register with the app like we do, but they do not need to be virus tested before traveling or having to show the date when we arrived back to China.

Regardless, we found someone to help us register the health code on the plane and the owner of the apartment picked us up. He gave us history of Xi’an.

His apartment is called Warrior pit 1 (he also has a Warrior pit 2). As a tour director for decades, he outfitted the apartment with clay warrior sculptures.

Entrance

The backsides of these waitress are in the bathroom!

Living area

Bedroom

Bathroom

We went out to the Muslim quarter to look for food.

Bags of ice in China are small amounts of ice cubes not like the big bags in the US.

The poor little squids. I already ate the larger one.

Fun with the warriors

Relaxing in the apartment we thought of funny things to do with the warriors. We will think of more…

Huangxiqiao ancient town, Hunan

The town was first discovered in the year 687 during the Tang Dynasty.
There was often fighting between the Qing Emperor Kangxi and the Miao ethnic minority group. This town was rebuilt for military purposes (along with the southern great wall).

There are four gates. The south gate has been permanently closed. The eastern gate is called
the “lucky gate,” and is the one used most often. It is the entrance for events such as weddings. The north gate is used for funerals. The west gate belongs to the chief of the Miao people in ancient times and only he could use it.

Besides the ancient city wall, the interior of the town is similar to other villages the area. People live here peacefully. They have livestock
and local residents grow and process corn outside their houses.

In a few years, the town will be rebuilt in the style of the Tang Dynasty, and no one will live
here. While this might be beneficial for providing tourism, it is a shame
that tourists will no longer be able to see this way of life.

This game the kids played is like Rock, paper, scissors but with feet. If you choose the same footing as the champion, you lose. This young man had been game champion many times.

Furong ancient town, Hunan

We traveled to a remote area halfway from Zhangziazie on our way to Fenghuang ancient town. It is not as popular as our ending destination and it is for this reason it is quaint and worth a stop to see as it is not touristy.

Furong Town is also known as Hibiscus Town. It was originally Wangcun Village but changed after a popular and award winning movie Hibiscus Town that was filmed here. It is found in the Western Hunan Tujia and
Miao Autonomous Prefecture.

Today the old town is a mix of Tujia (original people here)
and Han Chinese people. The town is beautiful. The scenery is lovely with cliffs and a waterfall to the You River.

Lunch was amazing. We are just outside of the gates of the old town. The potatoes are unbelievable and the spice here in Hunan is hot but so delicious.

Pickled daikon with red wine vinegar and tofu with lots of chilies.

The typical Tujia “Diaojiaolou” building is high on the cliff for easy defense against invaders.

This “Xizhou Bronze Column” marks the ceasefire after a long war. It is inscribed with over 2300 characters of the story of the war and teens if ceasefire.

The waterfall was closed but we went around the one side where there was no guard to go behind the waterfall. It was so hot that standing under the water felt great and just what we needed. I was waiting to be going out but we made it through without interrogations.

Some of the others on the tour “saw” us.

Behind the falls are statues of native Tujia people.

At the top of the falls.

From there we had another 2 hour ride to get to the next ancient town. As buses are not allowed into the town, we had to transfer to a shuttle bus. Unfortunately they did not know what to do with foreigners as covid-19 restrictions have changed. Finally they were able to straighten out whether it was safe to let us enter.

Zhuanjiajie, avatar mountains, day 2

We started the day at the same entrance at the Bailong elevator, this time going in a different direction than the day before.

Tianzi Shan

There narrow strip of green between the two mountains is where we hiked yesterday, going uphill to get to the beginning then going down into the valley.

A closer view of where we walked yesterday.

This naughty money listens for plastic bags then runs and breaks a hole in the bag to steal some of the goodies.

Tujia minority

One of our guides is from the minority village. They had an information center explaining much about the culture.

This outfit is 24 kg total in weight. Girls who wear this much have been rewarded with riches by a suitor.

They make there own alcohol, baiju. We tried plum but this one has snakes in the alcohol as it ferments.

Yuanjiajie

From there we took a bus to get further towards a trail that we would take to get back closer to the town. It was a lot of downhill but at least the steps here were dry.

Ten mile natural gallery

In search of…a pool

It is pretty hot here in China. Much like the southern part of Florida. Very warm with high humidity. I run in the morning and still walk outside during the day but works love a pool.

I do miss the infinity pool at my last apartment. It is open but I moved because I wanted more space. The pool at my new place probably will not open as there are many kids. But since school is still in session for Chinese schools they may be waiting to fill the pool. Covid-19 had changed many things.

There are a few places to go and some tours to get to water. I took a tour with global friendship to a water area outside of the city.. it was a fun tour with people I know and others I have not met before.

Gulao water village

The water village is still in Guangdong province but outside the city. The ponds used for fish and the planting fields have been relatively unchanged since the Ming dynasty.

We then took a short bus ride to the restaurant that had the most awesome fish hot pot.

There are three varieties of fish we cooked in the hot pot.

Yes that is a chicken head. I didn’t eat it but the person next to me did.

We then went to a water hole but the locals were not very friendly at letting us in the water. They had us go further downstream. My friend is Chinese and was very upset that she heard then say we were bringing the virus to their village. We have all been tested before traveling (again!). It gets really upsetting.

Some images of butterflies and dragonflies…

I also went to my friend’s Trisha and Dan in Huadu. They were very generous to invite Morgana and I up to visit. I went up to enjoy their company, swim in their pool, eat dinner and then brunch, and watch a movie. I also went for a run in their much larger complex, finishing the RunOBX 300 mile run challenge with a 7k run.

Just outside the fence of Mulian residence complex is how some rural Chinese live.

The pool was lovely but even lovelier with the company.

It is blistering hot right now. 30C in the early morning and 40C in the afternoon. That is with high humidity.