Spring Festival Holiday 2009

Check out the pictures on Ruth's site too.

First stop - Beijing for a weekend.

This was posted before we went off on the major portion of the holiday,  so if you missed it just scroll down on this page.

Next a Week of Celebration in Jenny's Village in 河下 (hé xià).

Jenny's brother was getting married.  Since we were planning on taking Jenny with us to Hainan, after her brother's nuptials, we more or less invited ourselves to the wedding in her village,  just to keep things simple.

 
We wanted to travel by soft sleeper train,  but as usual the tickets were impossible to get. 
So Jenny got her first plane ride to Nanchang.

Ruth and Jenny get our tickets to Shui Bian while I watch the luggage.  This became our standard procedure.

From Nanchang it was a bus ride to....  Shui Bian (Beside the Water)

Where are we,  and what are we getting ourselves into here?

 where Jenny's uncle picked us up in his crew cab for the ride to her village,  He Xia (Down River)

This is village which has never had a foreigner visit before.  That doesn't mean they have never seen a foreigner.  They have a lot of satellite dishes and television sets,  mobile phones,  vehicles.  What they don't have is running water or indoor plumbing.  Their water comes from a well in front of the uncle's house,  and is pulled up by hand using a rope and bucket. 

Heat consisted of a charcoal pan in the living room,  like an indoor campfire.  Since there was no chimney,  the smoke simply found its own way out through the roof.  We now understand why Chinese people want to have doors and windows open even in the winter.

The hand to his head doesn't indicate a headache.  Mobile phone services has come to He Xia

 
Now this is culture shock. I'm a bit heavier than most Chinese field workers.  Are those boards really
going to hold my weight.  Because if they don't I'll really be in shit.

Personally,  I'd have different priorities.  But then maybe not if I'd been born in this village..

We toast Jenny's father with the first of many bowls of rice wine.

Of course we were treated like visiting royalty.  I was impressed with the self-sufficiency of Jenny's people.  They grow cotton to make their own comforters,  grow their own peanuts, meat, fish, frogs, turtles, chickens, rice, fruit... and we're toasting with a home made rice wine that was quite palatable.  At least it was for the batches they served first.  I think the later offerings were a bit harsh,  but by then nobody cared.

Brothers.

The warmth of the family was almost overwhelming.  I loved being in the mix of generations,  the old people and the kids,  all quietly appreciating each other.

 
I think the word is demure.

We went for a walk - followed,  but at a safe distance.

His cow is just behind me as I take this picture.

Nearby workers unload logs.  This is really manual labour.

The oxen here are not pets,  or on show for the tourists.  They work.  Almost as hard as the people.

She offered us each a 柚子 (yòuzi,  a pomelo.) They were in season here and littered the ground. 
The kids use them for footballs.

We had lots of time to explore,  and marvel at some of the equipment. I think this is a manual rice hulling machine.

Jenny,  our friend, interpreter and hostess,  happy to be back in her home village with her family all around.

Yes,  female frogs croak too.

As Ruth commented,  a shell doesn't help much.

We seemed to be constantly eating.  This wedding was about food and family.  Family and food.

Eyes that have seen changes to the world.

And are still watching.

The joy of grandmotherhood.

Jenny's dad did most of the cooking at this huge wok.

Of course Jenny's step mom did her share as well,  mostly acting as the sous-chef and server.  A wedding is a lot of work.

I was disappointed to find that the turtle and frog was simply too spicy hot for me.  But most of this was delicious.

Click on the above picture to see a short video clip of this activity.  They're grinding  a special rice  into a thick slurry or
thin paste.  The blood from the pig will be added to it,  and the result is a blood pudding.

Her blood. 

 
The ground rice awaits.............................  and so does the knife.
Click on either picture to see the fate of the pig,  but not if you are squeamish. 
Warning.  This is real life and death in China.  Reality is sometimes not pretty.

Here are two more short clips.  Scraping the pig,  and stirring the blood pudding. These may take more time to load than they are worth.

Oh,  the indignity of it all.

Disassembled.

With the pig making her contribution,  the kitchen fires really got going.

And that rice wine flowed.

Now this is a bucket of rice.

Like father,  like son.

Click this picture to see a short video of the wedding presents arriving.

After He Xia it was on to Haikou,  on Hainan Dao (Hainan Island).  But if I add any more pictures to this page it will take forever to load,  so just click here for the next installment.

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