Visit to Zhen Shan

OK, I'm babbling again tonight-or shall I say this morning for you all. Um, let's see...Katie woke up at 6 am as usual and we ate breakfast at the hotel. After that our giude took us to a village about an hour south of town called Zhen Shan. Guizhuo province is known for having lots of (like 80) ethnic minorities (majority in China is Han). The biggest minority in the area is Miao (a.k.a. the Hmong - part of the ethnic grouping that includes all those refugees that migrated to Wisconsin and elsewhere a few decades ago). There is a strong possibility that Katie is ethnically Hmong - but I think Karen already covered that. Anyway, today's visit was to Zhen Shan, an enclave featuring another minority referred to as the Buyio. It was challenging to keep Katie occupied during the drive, but we muddled through. As Karen mentioned seat belts are still problematic. On the way there and back, we got a peek at some of that karst topography that southern China is known for, with the steep, lush limestone hills. We also saw a fair amount of terraced fields for rice paddies. On a bright summer day this would all look stunning. Even on a hazy gray January day, when the paddies are dry and brown the view was impressive. As a shutterbug I have been struggling to to find a killer shot of those limestone hills, but something always seems to clutter up the shot. The best vantage that I have had so far is of the towering hill along the reservoir near Zhen Shan (in the background of the shot that I sent earlier) . The town itself is quaint with a odd mixture of old and new. People are cooking with coal stoves (and propane torches) but there are TV sets, and I saw what looked like a digital thermostat. We got a couple locals to don their ethinic festival clothes for us (embroidery is big among many of the minority groups). It got us wondering: If tourists from far away came to our house what would they take pictures of? Our stove? Our bathroom? I guess in retrospect I pointed my camera to the oldest looking stuff, but there was lots of newer stuff, too. In many places China looks so run down, but I know from house-hunting during late winter that without snow winter can be pretty ugly. At least the area is warm enough that there are some green plants and even flowers. Everywhere, even in the countryside, it seems like there is so much under construction or renovation. The labor seems a lot more manual here. I'm guessing that might be due to a large, cheap labor force, but also in crowded areas (this backwater city has over 3 million people) there might not be much room for larger machines. The traffic here is crazy. The days of everybody on their bicycle are gone (though we have seen any number of rolling contraptions). Our driver here (Mr. Wu) is the best urban driver I have ever met.

After we got back and had a late peanut butter on cracker lunch we stepped out again because our romm had not yet been cleaned. Karen and Kris found a place to read in the hotel, while Katie and I took a walk (well, she rode on my shoulders as usual) along the river walk to a scenic pavilion/bridge a few blocks away. Turns out there was some sort of music/dance performance being shot there, with four sets of dancers, camera booms, the whole nine yards. I'll probably never know what that was all about. The sun came out during our walk and it got warmish - I probably did not need my winter coat.

We got resettled into the hotel room and Kris and I again hit KFC in WalMart for takeout dinner (Karen's idea, believe it or not). Katie is to the point where she does not cry very long when I leave - she probably just wants to get out of the hotel room. I think I noted that the WalMart here is somewhat similar to that in the US. I have fun looking for all the products that you find in the US with Chinese labels: Coke, Pepsi, Frosted Flakes, etc. The shopping carts (called trolleys here) pivot on all four wheels, not just the front two. Kris has done quite well with that. The strangest section to my eyes is the grocery section. I have seen live lobsters in grocery stores before, but this store also had live fish, snails, turtles and frogs! No, I did not accidentally wander over to the pet section, and, no, I did not see any dogs, though my guide tells me there are some markets where they are sold.

After dinner we unwound in the hotel room and we put Katie to bed about 8-ish. Tomorrow should be a pretty quiet day. Maybe we will trek the 30-40 minutes to Pizza Hut. Even the items on that menu look a bit different than what you might expect, so we will see how gastonomilcally brave we feel. :*)